I’m back, bitches!

(Sorry, I felt compelled to say that even though it’s awkward and lame.)

I promise: I’m still alive.  And after some time away (almost 3 months!), I’m back to chronicling my adventures in math grad school.  There’s a lot going on this semester (and a lot happened last semester and over the break when I wasn’t writing), so I’ve got lots of stories and things to share with you.

As some of you may have noticed, on December 1, 2011, I deleted all previous posts and put up a little good-bye message saying I was done blogging for the time being.  For my triumphant return, I intend to re-post many but not all of my pre-December 2011 entries over the next few days to remind you of the back-story.  (Think of anything that gets re-instated like the “Best Of 2010-2011” collection!)

I would like to point out that while my blog is open to the public and anyone and everyone is welcome to read it, this blog is personal.  It is made up of the thoughts and experiences of an individual.  Sometimes I am happy, sometimes I am sad, sometimes I am annoyed, sometimes I am angry, sometimes I am intelligent, sometimes I am stupid, sometimes I am pretty, sometimes I am ugly, sometimes I am funny, sometimes I am boring, sometimes I am rude, sometimes I am kind.  Sometimes I am all of these things, sometimes I am none of these things.  If you know me, even only in passing or in a limited context, you know that I’ve usually got a smile on my face, but that I’m also loud and opinionated.  You’ll hear me say this time and time again throughout most of my entries, but here it is for the first time (again): if you don’t like or want to hear what I have to say, then don’t read my blog.  No one is forcing you to visit this webpage.  Although if someone is putting a gun to your head and making you read it, then my recommendation is: maybe you should call the police.  My blog isn’t going to save you.

The primary purposes of my writing here are as follows: (1) to stay in contact with friends, family, and current/former colleagues whether near or far by giving them a peek into what I’m doing with my life, and (2) to give the aforementioned audience, as well as perfect strangers who may be curious, an idea of what graduate school (in mathematics) is like – the struggles, the successes, the failures, the highs, the lows, the expectations, the disappointments, etc.  Secondary purposes include storytelling, therapeutic writing (a lot of times working out a problem or situation in the written word is my only/best way of dealing with it), and talking about what it’s like to live as a transplant in Texas.

So, let’s get to it!

My fourth “long-semester” (not counting summer semesters) of graduate school has started and things are heating up.  Some changes have occurred in my responsibilities, but many things are exactly as they were before.  For example, under a new department policy, since I’m teaching a class I’ve already taught before (same), I will have to grade homework for an upper level math course that a real faculty member is teaching (change).  They didn’t have anything like this class I’m grading for at the college I went to.  It’s a how-to-use-your-upper-level-college-math-experience-to-teach-high-school-math class, intended for junior and senior undergraduate math majors who will be getting certified to teach high school math.  I was a little apprehensive, but as I learned more about it, I think it’s a great way to better prepare future high school math teachers for the classroom.  Hopefully the students put forth an effort and take their responsibility seriously.  Time will tell, I suppose.  Plus, it’s giving me some insight into the preparation and expectations for high school math teachers.  It’s already been enlightening (more stories on this later, I’m sure).

As for the class I’m teaching, it’s the same class as last semester, with basically the same structure.  I’m modifying my lecture notes and pace based on what I learned last semester, but it’s largely the same deal.  The first week or so, the students stared at me blankly, and I was afraid I’d gotten a class that would be hard to draw in.  But this morning’s class went really well.  The students were awake, and they were responding to my questions and asking their own questions freely.  I’ve also set a schedule for my lesson plans that lines up with how much time the topics took when I taught them last semester.  So hopefully I have a more realistic schedule this time around.  Of course, the more times you do something, the better you become at it.  You may remember that the thing I most enjoyed last semester was writing exams.  The first two exams didn’t go that well (too long for a 50 minute period) and the students were disgruntled.  But the third exam was JUST RIGHT.  So hopefully I can carry that momentum over to this semester and write three great exams that everyone will be happy with.

The classes I’m taking are similar to last semester.  I’m taking a continuation of last semester’s Lie Algebras course and a continuation of the core Topology course.  Then I’m also taking a reading course (kind of like an independent study, only there’s four of us so I’m not doing it by myself) in algebraic topology and doing some reading on the side (not for credit) in representation theory in the hopes that it could lead me to a possible research (and eventually dissertation) topic.  It’s only about a week into the semester, but so far everything is playing out perfectly and I’m pretty happy with my schedule and responsibilities.  It’s a lot of time and effort and work, but that’s what grad school is, so it’s no surprise.

Okay, I think this is it for my re-introduction entry.  Next time I promise I’ll write something more interesting.