School Coming to a Close

It’s hard to believe that I have a mere five days of classes left. Ever. Over the past few weeks I’ve been making mental notes of the little things I’ll miss.

My multicolor pen. Anyone who has seen my notes from class will understand. I don’t have the neatest of handwriting, and years ago my note-reviewing consisted of deciphering monochromatic blobs of characters. But with a four-color pen and some diligence, my notes are a work of art. Blue: page titles, main text. Red: dates, page numbers, margin notes, underlines, example questions. Green: text for notes/theorems/etc, example solutions, figures and graphs. Black: subsection titles, note/theorem/etc titles. It’s a very involved system, which appears to be coming to an end.

I’m very particular about storing my notes: 2” D-ring binders. I can usually fit three courses worth comfortably in these, clearly marked, with orderly dividers for the sections within a class. I have a shelf for my stats notes, and one for applied math, both full. My stats ones might be handy to keep accessible for the time being, but as I’ve found over the past year, that’s not so much the case for AM.

Can you tell I’m anal?

As I complete my last set of assignments, will I have much opportunity to use LaTeX again?

When I started grad school, I rewarded myself with a new clipboard. In 5+ years of use, the one I picked up during Frosh week was looking pretty ratty. But I don’t see myself using one on a daily basis anymore.

I’ll miss not going to the Bomber, not watching football games where we inevitably get creamed.

Just as I’m comfortable getting around on the 6th floor of MC and orienting myself with the rest of campus while up there, that knowledge will fade from memory.

I’ve never printed anything on campus. I have a $40 allotment being a grad student; maybe I should find something frivolous to use it on.

The cheap food at the C & D will be fondly remembered. It was only in fourth year that I started frequenting there, and it didn’t take long for the selection to grow tiresome. I’ll give them credit that things have been much improved the past couple of terms. Better variety and quality.

I’m sure there was more, but I’m tired and will stop here.