Four Months Later...productivity plummets

Hmm, it has been awhile since I've updated.

I've now finished the course work for my Master's degree. Yesterday was the first day of the summer semester, and I somehow motivated myself to go to school. But, I think I've fallen into a daily rhythm that works:

1. Arrive at 9:30 am.
2. Check my gmail; lament that fact that I have no e-mail.
3. Check Facebook; read the polls that people have filled out in order to waste time, but decide not to fill one out because that would be a waste of time.
4. Check gmail again; no change.
5. See if other people have updated their blogs. Consider updating my own blog, but decide that it is a waste of time.
6. Stupid gmail.
7. Reorganize the files on my computer again so that when it comes time to write my thesis, everything is in the optimal location.
8. Lunch
9. Gmail
10. Facebook
11. Spend fifteen minutes writing Greek symbols in my notebook that sorta mean something related to satellites.
12. Repeat steps 9 and 10.
13. Figure either that I'm being unproductive or that I've accomplished enough for the day, and head home.

I believe that if I keep this up, I'll be done my thesis in 7 years, but I'll keep you posted.

To TA or not to TA

Here I am 65 minutes before my second and last exam, and I don't really want to study anymore. Bev, I understand the desire to blog before an exam, though I will give you props, as it sounds like yours was much harder than mine.

It's tough to muster up the desire to study when A) the exam is open book, and B) when I've done this studying thing before and I've paid my dues!! But, I have to do well in Spacecraft Dynamics since it's my supervisor who teaches the course! urgh!

At the same time, I have to decide whether to take a TA position. Remember Dynamics (SYDE 182, for all you UW alumni)? Yeah, I've been asked to TA Dynamics. I want to, but I've got 3 courses of my own this winter, plus my thesis. But the way I see it, I did the same amount if not more during undergrad, so I should be able to handle this. Famous last words...

58 minutes left.

Almost half done...in a way

Today was the last day of lectures at McGill, which means I'm half-way done the course work of my Master's degree. So, in 4 months, I will probably never have to take a class at school, EVER again. I say probably, because lately I've been feeling more and more that I want to get out into the world and make something of myself. Not that I wouldn't necessarily have that opportunity in academia, but can I really have the same impact stuck in my office reading papers and trying to add a fraction of a new idea to the already massive pool of ideas out there in astronautics??

Yet, grad school could be a means to an end. If I prove myself here, I could end up with the research job in industry or the public sector where I contribute to ideas that actually go into space. Instead of my control systems looking good on paper, it actually goes on the satellite.

And lets be honest: there's the ever present risk of landing a desk job in industry, where you're stuck in an office/cubicle reading reports and trying to increase the company's profit margin by a fraction.

I'm ranting...and I haven't sorted out all my thoughts just yet. But, I think the moral here is that I should work hard now so that I can work even harder later in life at a job that I truly enjoy.