I used to think college breaks were excessively long.  I was mistaken.  It’s not that I’m not glad to be back, it’s that I didn’t expect to be back so soon.  Christmas break was wonderful.    Getting back was amazing.  After a four and a half hour flight that left around 5 a.m., fighting my way through DIA in time to make a shuttle reservation, and an hour and a half van ride through Denver, I was ready to drag my bags up the stairs to the third floor and crash.  When I stepped out of the van my second-floor friends managed to appear out of nowhere and snatch up my bags for me.  Those boys made my week by rescuing me from stairwell. (They were also nice enough to lug my bike from my room back to the bike racks).

I dragged my calculus book across the country with me and didn’t open it once.  Note to self: bringing homework and looking at the textbook every day doesn’t even come close to meaning that I’ll actually be accomplishing anything.  More importantly, not doing any work over break doesn’t seem to have had any negative effects in my current classes. In all truth, I’m terrified about this semester.  Physics is notorious for having the hardest tests on campus, and Calc. II is supposedly the most difficult math class offered.   Thus far, they don’t seem undoable, but I don’t want to jinx it early on.  Instead of a lab, Physics has something called Studio which is essentially a two hour session of doing homework with TA’s available to help.  

It’s been barely a week and I’ve already got a steady flow of homework.  None of my professors are wasting any time.  I’m doing pretty well because I’ve kept up with reading the textbooks and doing example problems.   Textbook readings may be dry and sleep-inducing, but they are an indispensable tool when it comes to being prepared for lecture, lab, and homework.  My advice for anyone starting a semester at Mines would be to read as far ahead as possible for as long as possible from the minute classes start.  Once you get behind in a class it’s nearly impossible to catch up without getting behind in other classes.  It’s like a domino effect of failure.

It’s snowed twice since we’ve been back, and when it’s not snowing, it’s windier than a 50 pound sack of whistling lips. (My Texan roommate begged me to use that expression. Mission accomplished) I’ve been hitting the books pretty hard (obviously) since I’ve been back, but I have taken a few days to appreciate Denver.  My bestie and I hit the National Western Stock Show to class it up CSM style.

Max the Brahma, my Bestie, and me

Bet you can't guess where I'm from