All As

On every midterm I took I received an A. Very pleased. The only classes that are wild cards as of now is Calculus 2 and Medium Voltage. Although I have an A in both classes, Calculus 2 always hold some amount of unknown in how difficult the test will be, and Medium Voltage, another class I have an A in, has the final remaining which is worth 50% of my grade. I have so much homework to catch up on; Electronics 2, Microcontrollers, Circuit Analysis, and Calculus 2. Last Winter Semester I waited until the last minute to finish the work, and I know now not to do that. This weekend I am dedicating myself to Calculus. Next weekend, well Microcontrollers I suppose.

In other school related news, I have a rough idea of what classes I will be taking this 2008 winter semester,
BMGT-201-01
ECON-251-01
ELEC-138-01
CIS-152-01
SOC-151-03
ELEC-136-01
ELEC-141-01
ELEC-144-01

8 classes for a total of 24 credits. This is nearly double the workload of my first semester of college. The 3 electronics classes and CIS-152 Visual Basic Programming should be of no concern, but Sociology, Business Management, and Economics are the beasts to tackle. I can easily handle 23 credits under my belt, but save for Calculus 2 all the classes I am currently taking are ELEC classes. Maybe this is a chance to prove to myself my limits. As much as it pains me to say this, the standards at community college are lower than at universities. Perhaps the workload of next semester will be a way for me to balance that difference. When I transfer to Lawrence Tech I plan on taking credits nearing 20, so I have to prove that I can handle it. If I succeed this winter, then maybe I could justify taking 30 credits... Haha, that'd be crazy! Well, if a 3.7 GPA afforded me 23 credits, then I will be able to tear down any concerns with my 3.92 GPA. Speaking of restrictions, I have to hurry and get Intro to Programming waved so I can take Visual Basic Programming!

Halfway through, Midterms and my new best friend.

Midterms started unofficially with a math test this past week. Unfortunately the review for the test was a lot easier than the actual test, so I had a false sense of security going into the test. I failed to remember all my trig identities(sin(x)^2 = (1-cos(2x))/2) and the integral of cosecant. I passed my last math test with a 99%, so I'm hoping for a B on this test. With a B I can easily make up for it with my other tests, and I may even be able to pull off an A in the class if I get a C on the test(I'm pretty confident in at least achieving a C). If all else fails, I still have the opportunity to make up one test at finals. College is important to me, so I do always make sure to cover my bases. While on the topic of math, I recently purchased a used Ti-89 Titanium. The titanium is, at least in my opinion, the best calculator on the market to own for Calculus. It has a built in solver that handles anything, derivatives, integration, and anything else you can think of. It's a dream come true for me, and I love the diversity of programs available for it. I even have a PLC simulator on my calculator!

Next week I have four midterms, DC motors, Circuit Analysis, Electronics 2, and Microcontrollers. I'm confident in my abilities with Microcontrollers, my favorite class this semester. As for the others, Electronics 2 and Circuit Analysis will provide a challenge, but DC motors should be mediocre in difficulty, at least from what the teacher has provided for sample questions.

Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbons was just released. As I type this my computer is upgrading from 7.04 Feisty Fawn. Although I'm on top of my Linux, Python has been receiving some neglect. With so much going on(school...school...and more school), I rarely have motive to read my Python books on my free time. I hope over the holidays I can dedicate more time to Python, but with learning assembly I may dedicate more time to that instead. I'm probably going to purchase a microcontroller kit at the end of the semester and study assembly for the 68k processor(the processor used on my calculator). Electronics can be so overwhelming, so many things I wish I could learn!