Done!

As of noon today, I am officially done with my first year of graduate school! Well, not if you count the summer, I guess, but I prefer to think of that sort of as no-man's land. I was really worried about my optimal control final, but I think it went all right. Oh, and I just checked my grade report online, and apparently my math grade has already been posted. Quick turn-around time, considering that we turned in our final projects just last Friday.

I had to go to the mall this afternoon to pick up a couple things, and in addition, I got a cute pair of white capri pants. :) I've never worn capri pants before because I have chicken legs, and I think they look slightly more normal when my thighs are visible to balance out the chicken-ness, so regular-length shorts are more my thing. I've also never owned a pair of white pants before, so we'll see how that goes... any bets on how long it will take me to spill something on them??

Last night as I was frantically cramming, my mom called and among other things, mentioned that my little sister's featured on the Eastern Michigan University webpage here. It's a short bio of Laura's college experience so far, posted along with some other students in an effort by the admissions office to show how EMU students are involved in different campus activities. Laura actually came to EMU as a transfer student, having spent her first year at a now-unmentionable small college in Michigan. It's funny - I thought I knew the whole story about why she transferred, but it wasn't until I read it in print, in her own words, that I really got how hard it must have been for her to do that. Our family moved once while I was growing up, and the first day of fourth grade at the new elementary school was most scared I had ever been in my 9-year life. Walking into the student center at MIT to begin FUP about a week before my freshman year started ranked a close second. There's something so nerve-wracking about being all alone in a new place, knowing that you're about to embark on something completely new without having any idea what it'll be like, and there's no option to just turn around, drive away, or try it tomorrow when you're feeling a little braver. But at least as college freshmen, you're all in the same boat - as a transfer, you're the new kid on a campus where everyone else already knows how everything works and has a tight circle of friends. I'm really proud of Laura for taking the initiative to get herself out of a situation that she knew wasn't right for her and then making the most out of transferring to Eastern.

The other thing I noticed while reading the article is that my little sister is really pretty!