OS Test

So this is what I did instead of studying for my Operating Systems test.

Let the creativity ensue!


It's my name written from photos of objects in my room, in case you can't tell.*

And since Halloween is coming up, I thought you'd enjoy this flashback from 1988.


My brother and I were so cool. Now, let the studying commence!

* Unfortunately, I'm not that creative. I got the idea off of someone else's blog.

Scenes From a Square

Date: March 2, 2002
Time: Around 11:30am, Roman Standard Time
Location: St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, Italy

(Suzie is about to pull open a large, red door. Her traveling buddies behind her are hungry and tired after making their way through the crowded Vatican Museum. Suzie is without her trusted Rick Steve’s Italy Through the Backdoor guidebook.)

Suzie: “Hey guys, this looks like something important.”

Group of friends, together:
“It’s just a door, probably to a storage closet or something.”
“Look! A pizza vendor!”
“If we go anyplace else, we won’t have time for the Colosseum”
“My feet hurt. No more tourist attractions.”

(Suzie reluctantly releases the doorknob. She glances back at the door one last time. She walks off with her friends to get some cheap, Italian pizza.)

If I listed out the five biggest regrets of my life so far, March 2, 2002 would be near the top of the list. This was the day that I had my hand on the door to the most spectacular cathedral in the world, St. Peter’s, and I didn’t go in. Call it ignorance, stupidity, bad luck, it doesn’t matter. Why didn’t I open that door?

Date: October 19, 2004
Time: 8:30pm
Location: Parking lot by Suzie’s apartment

(Suzie is about to get out of a crowded car.)

Driver: “Are you sure you can’t go to the movie with us?”
Suzie: “Yeah, my test is tomorrow. I really have to study.”
(Suzie pulls up on the door handle to the car. The door opens a crack.)

Group of friends in back seat, together:
“No! Don’t open the door!”
“Yeah, come with us.”
“You don’t really need to study for the test.”
“The movie should be good.”

Suzie: “Sorry guys.”
(Suzie reluctantly pushes open the car door. She glances back at her friends one last time.)

Person #1 in backseat (joking): “You’re such a nerd, Suzie!”
Person #2 in backseat (laughing): “Yeah, L7 looooser.”
(Person #2 holds up fingers to forehead in the shape of a square.)

Suzie: “Whatever!”
(Suzie walks to her apartment and wishes she said something better than “whatever”.)

I guess it doesn’t really matter which doors I've opened and which I've chosen to leave shut. There are so many opportunities placed in front of me each day that the good and bad decisions cancel each other out. If I lived my life regretting the doors I didn’t open, I would never give myself credit for the ones I left shut. Yeah, I made a huge mistake by not going into St. Peter’s Cathedral. But I’ve made a lot of good decisions in my life too. And I did well on my test.

I'm Calling It

I'm not much of a sport enthusiast but here it goes: Red Sox vs. Astros. Astros will win in game 7. The Curse of the Bambino will not be broken.

I'm not much of a political enthusiast either but here it goes: Kerry vs. Bush. Bush will win in game 7. The Curse of the Heinz Ketchup will not be broken.

Watership Down

"We take daylight for granted. But moonlight is another matter. It is inconsistent. The full moon wanes and returns again. Clouds may obscure it to the extent to which they cannot obscure daylight. Water is necessary to us, but a waterfall is not. Where it is to be found it is something extra, a beautiful ornament. We need daylight and to that extent it is utilitarian, but moonlight we do not need. When it comes, it serves no necessity. It transforms." Richard Adams - Watership Down

Why do I like this passage? Maybe because moonlight gives us a new way of looking at things. When we picture something in our head, we naturally picture it in daylight. It becomes impossible to separate the object from the light shining upon it.

When moonlight shines on an object, the moonlight does not completely reveal what the object is, as daylight does. The parts that are not exposed by the moonlight are filled in with our imagination. Moonlight changes the object. It puts into shadow the known and beautifully highlights the unknown. As the moon waxes and wanes, different parts are emphasized. Moonlight doesn’t just give us a new way of looking at things, it gives us new things altogether. We don’t need any of these new objects. They exist for our pleasure, like a waterfall.

On a side note, you should read Watership Down. It’s like Lord of the Rings but with rabbits instead of hobbits. The rabbits go on an epic journey to find the one home to rule them all.

Life After SA

Last year, my senior year, I was chosen to be the Executive Secretary of the Abilene Christian University Students’ Association. It was the pinnacle of my college career. I was on top of my game. That job was made for me. Now, I understand that you might think that student governments do nothing more than throw paltry pizza parties, heckle the faculty due to their inadequate attendance policies, and complain about the miserable meal plans on campus. But no, my friends. The Students’ Association has a budget of around $200,000 a year. That’s no measly money! Ah, yes, now your ears perk up. $200k placed in the hands of 4 student executive officers and 30 student senators.

As secretary, I was “the face of SA.” Have a problem? Come to me, and I’ll direct you where to go for assistance. Have a suggestion? I’ll help you develop it into action. Have dry lips? I’ll offer you some lip balm. Need a scantron? Here, have this extra one that was in my desk. I was the Super Secretary, college student extraordinaire. Mentor to students, friend to administration, liaison to faculty. When people stepped into the SA office, they were in a safe, sheltered place greeted and comforted by me. As the ACU cliché goes, I was bleeding purple and white.

Alas, my term is over. I walk around campus knowing I once had a direct line to President Money, and now, should I ever have a reason to call, I will only be able to reach a student worker in his office. My fame, my power, my authority. Gone, gone, gone.

But there is life after SA. I still mentor students. Although, instead of helping them develop leadership abilities, I advise them on what movies to see over the weekend. I still am a friend to administration. Well, rather to one administrator, Ruby, who works in the CS department office. And I still am a liaison to faculty but only to the professors whose classes I am currently enrolled in. Instead of spending 30 hours a week cooped up in a windowless office in the basement of the Campus Center, I have time to read and hang out with friends. And I know when it rains. I still am college student extraordinaire, just on a much smaller scale.

“Didn’t you use to be the secretary of SA?” someone recently asked me.

“Yes, but I’ve moved onto bigger and better things.” Things that include taking naps, and watching movies, and waiting for a reason to call Dr. Money.

The GRE

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is like the SAT for college students. If you want to get into grad school, you have to take this test. There are three parts, verbal and quantitative (max score of 800) and writing (max score of 6). There is one additional section, either verbal or quantitative that is used only for research purposes and will not be counted towards your score. However, you do not know which section it is.

UTA, the school that I am applying to, requires at least a 400 on the verbal and a 750 on the quantitative, although they will still consider anything about a 700. The test is given on a computer so your verbal and quantitative results are displayed immediately after the test is completed. The writing section is scored by hand, and the results are mailed to you along with the official scores 2-3 weeks later.

This test can make or break someone's college career. Less than 58 questions determine whether you have what it takes to succeed in grad school or not. Most students spend an entire semester studying for the test. ACU offers a class that meets 3 hours a week for three months to prepare for it. I studied for 10 hours, 2 hours of those included registering for the test online, learning the basic directions for the test, and finding out whether or not I could use a calculator.

The first section was writing. I had not practiced writing at all, nor had I even read the directions until the test began. I think I did OK but it doesn't matter because my score is not part of the admission criteria. Next, I began the verbal section. It contained analogies, antonyms, sentence completions, and reading comprehension. I didn't study for it because I assumed I would make better than a 400. Then I began the quantitative section.

I knew the answer to the first question. I clicked the icon to confirm my answer. The second question appeared. Now, I remember this question very clearly. However, I wrote that entire paragraph in cursive about how I would not give away any test questions so I am unable to discuss the awfulness that I saw. I guessed an answer. I saw the third question. No idea. Fourth question. Oh, the horror. I had no idea how to answer any of the questions. After the 10th question or so, I decided that this must be the section given for research only. These questions were too hard. They could not possibly be testing me on this. I finished the 28 questions and laid my head down on the desk for the entire 60 second break.

Then, the final section of the test appeared on the screen. It was English! For those of you who don't recognize the significance of this, this means that one of the English sections I had taken was for research, and the math section counted! It was for real! Those were real questions that I was being graded on!

I made it through the final section and this time laid my head in my hands as my score was being calculated. It asked me three times if I wanted to see my scores. I considered not viewing them, just walking away and pretending that these past three hours never happened. But I clicked yes, and a window opened on the screen.

Verbal 620
Quantitative 740

"Did I read that correctly? 740? It doesn't make sense. Maybe that was my verbal score. No? Are they sure?" I was too confused to celebrate. If someone views the tape of me taking the test, the last five minutes would be me staring dumbstruck at the screen.

It still doesn't make any sense. I won't believe it until I receive my official score in the mail in 2-3 weeks. Either I correctly guessed on 20 out of the 28 math questions or the questions were so hard that no one taking the test got them right. Either way, it was luck.

My Lucky Day

Some points about this blog:
1. Suzie Creamcheese comes from a song by Frank Zappa. "Suzie Creamcheese, oh baby, now what's got into ya?"

2. Even though it is called the Daily Blahg, I will not be updating daily. It was just easier to type in then WheneverIThinkofSomethingCleverBlahg.blogspot.com or There'sNotAChanceIWillBeAbleToUpdateDailyBlahg.blogspot.com.

3. Thanks Teresa for being the first blogger that I know of to link to my blog!

4. I fixed the comment function! Please, leave a comment! If you don't want to register, you can leave an anonymous comment but don't forget to sign your name.

On to today's entry. I think Friday, October 8 was my lucky day.

Evidence #1 – My professor cancelled my 9am class, American Novel. Instead of having class, we picked up a take home exam. But rather than being due on Monday as the syllabus stated, my professor changed the due date to this Friday, giving us five extra days to complete the exam.

Evidence #2 – I was scheduled to take the GRE at 11am causing me to miss my 10am class and my 2pm class. But, another professor cancelled my 2pm class as well! Since there are only two students in my 10am class, my professor allowed us to have a "program from home" day so I wouldn't rack up another absence.

Evidence #3 – The GRE. I made a 740 on the math section! This could not have been anything but luck. (I'll have an update about this soon.)

Evidence #4 – My boyfriend's grub was Friday night. For those of you who don't know, a "grub" is a costume party type thing for members and pledges of a social club. Josh is in "Frater Sodalis," and his "grub" is called "Hay Lay," and the "Brothers," "brats," and their "ladies" dress up as "cowboys" and sometimes "truckers."

On Wednesday, I made cookies for the brats but they had their skip night so they didn't get to eat them. Josh made them write a thank you card for me, and instead of giving it to me privately, the brats singled me out in front of all of the guests a the end of their program to thank me for the uneaten cookies. I consider this lucky because many girls make cookies for them, and yet I was the only one who was singled out.

Evidence #5 – After Hay Lay, Josh and I went bowling with a group of friends at the White Wood Lanes, affectionately dubbed the White Trash Lanes. I made my highest bowling score ever. 91! Yeah, I know, I didn't even break 100. But to make anything above a 60 was a big achievement for me. I was more excited for my 91 than for my 740 on the GRE.

When I was putting my tennis shoes back on at the bowling alley, I reflected on my day. So many good things had happened, the take-home test, class being cancelled, my GRE score, Hay Lay.

"Today must be my lucky day!" I said to Josh. "Let’s go do something else so I don't waste any minute of it." I looked at my watch. It was 12:14am. I realized it was my lucky day 14 minutes too late. "Why did I take that nap between the GRE and Hay Lay?" I thought to myself.

Next time I have a lucky day, I plan on realizing it when I wake up in the morning so I won't miss out on anything good that could happen to me. How will I know it's my lucky day? A lucky guess, I suppose.

Graduation and Beyond

It's been a while since I've last written. Thankfully, my readership consists of only 7 people so I'm not disappointing too many fans. Just to let you know, I have spent my time trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life. And taking naps.

I have two months of school left. Only two months. Possibly for the rest of my life. What will I do next? My routine for the past 18 and a half years has been wake up, go to school, come home. Now that routine has to change to wake up, unknown, come home. What will I fill that unknown time with? I have narrowed it down to three options: 1. Get a job, 2. Go to grad school, 3. Watch Dr. Phil everyday to learn how to analyze the lives of people around me.

Last night, I started to work on option #2. I began my research by looking at the University of Texas at Arlington Graduate School of Computer Science and Engineering website. It looked pretty good. I can be a full time student and graduate in 2 years with a Masters. They have a software engineering track too.

I need to apply by October 22 in order to be considered for the spring semester. October 22! Today is October 5! I have two weeks to complete the application, pay my remaining tuition bill so that registrar's office will send a transcript, request that the registrar's office send two copies of my transcript to UTA, sign up for the GRE, learn what is tested on the GRE, review all material from every course taken at college to study for GRE, re-request that my transcript by sent since the registrar's office lost the first request, do more studying, take the GRE, and still allow 10-15 days for the test scores to be processed and sent to UTA. Why didn’t I do this in September??

Not only that, there is an essay question on the application to the school:
Describe in no more than 200 words your main academic interests, strengths and limitations at this time; explain why you wish to study for this degree in this particular field, and why you have chosen the University of Texas at Arlington; specify what you hope to accomplish during your program here.

This is my first draft for the essay:

My main academic interest is software engineering. I enjoy writing programs and making them as clean and tidy as possible. My other interest is to get through classes doing as little work as possible. If I could study as much as I did in high school, that would be great.

I have many strengths in the field of computer science. First, my undergraduate degree focused on theory of computer science rather than application. I can talk about programming for hours without having any idea of how to apply this knowledge in real life. Perfect for grad school! Furthermore, I am a nice person. What a great strength to possess in this mad, mad, mad, mad world.

One of my weaknesses, which I will conveniently turn into a strength, is that I always complete my work on time. I understand that in the software engineering world completing work on time, and sometimes before deadlines, is practically unheard of and will really throw customers off. In order to fix this problem that I have, I will try to add unneeded and unasked for features to my programs. The delays caused by adding these unnecessary features will surely make any program be completed way past the deadline.

Shoot! That's already 204 words, and I haven't even begun to explain that I chose UTA to be close to my boyfriend.

I guess I better go pay my tuition bill.