Ad Astra:

So almost five months later, I return to my blog. Why such the delay in posting, you ask? Well, let’s just say that twenty-two credit hours can (and does) keep a student busy. This past semester was certainly a challenge, but truth be told, it brought a few of the greatest months of my life. My teachers during my senior year of high school would always throw out a comment here or there on how amazing college was and how much they missed it. I had no reason to suspect exaggeration, but still I wondered how much better college really could be. Turns out, I’ve been the happiest now than I’ve ever been.  College really does change things and it’s amazing how much I’ve changed since I left my hometown. To go on and list these changes would be tedious, so I’ll just leave it at that. The one change I will mention, I suppose, is simply my getting closer to achieving my dream. Of all the things that have occurred in this past year, this statement alone is what really sums it up. I ended the semester with a 4.0 GPA (bringing my cumulative GPA to a 3.95), was offered an internship position at NASA Goddard for the summer, was elected vice-president of Virginia Tech’s Astronomy Club and Student Engineers’ Council Representative for Virginia Tech’s chapter of the AIAA, got a perfect score on each of my Physics exams giving me a semester grade of over a 100%, got a 99% in Multivariable Calculus, and still managed to find some of the greatest people in the world to call my friends. Even with the small details aside, I’d say my freshman year of college has given me an excellent start on my journey toward becoming an aerospace engineer.

So now that the spring semester is over, you’d probably expect to find me back home and relaxing from such an arduous year. A fine assumption this is, but alas not the case. I am actually back at Virginia Tech until July 6 for a summer session of classes. With two majors and two minors, it is not too difficult to understand why I’d be sacrificing some of my summer for academic advancement. People always ask me if I am trying to graduate early when I explain to them my overloads on credit hours and summer sessions. And every time I simply reply, “No, I’m trying to graduate on time.” Of course by “on time,” that will probably come out to be five years of undergraduate study. As strange as it might seem, I am actually somewhat uneasy about switching to the Class of ‘13. The number 12 has always been my favorite/lucky number, so I have always been somewhat fond of the idea of graduating in that year. Those chances are slim now that I have elevated my aspirations. Regardless, this summer session serves as an escape from complete boredom at home. (Why do nothing at home when you can get further in your studies, right?) So instead of sitting in front of my computer all day at home, I am taking nine credits of courses, those being Differential Equations, Statics, and Macroeconomics. Which brings me to another point.

Since I had already decided to take summer classes early on in the year, I would be unable to accept the internship at NASA Goddard for the summer. Of all the things I would hope to never have to say, this would be one of them: “Work at NASA?! Seriously?! Actually get the chance to experience my dream?! Sorry… I have class.” It’s almost funny how these things happen; you dream of one moment in your life and when that moment finally arives, you must pass it up. But I have to believe that all of this will work out in the end. I mean, this is only an internship after all. My real dream is to work for NASA as a full-time employee. On the bright side, I know that NASA has my name in their pile of potential recruits. Moreover, they have already picked me once, so I know I must be doing something right. Hopefully next summer will bring better fortune.

So here I am now at Virginia Tech. I just returned from my first round of exams, both in Statics and Differential Equations, so I am not too motivated to get started on my weekend homework. I do believe I did well on both exams, but now I must turn my attention toward my Macroeconomics exam which is on Monday. Honestly, I highly dislike economics. At Virginia Tech, students are required to fulfill “liberal education” requirements, and since this economics course satisfies those requirements, I chose to take the course anyway. (It’s better than any of the other course options, I’m sure.) I expected the course to be more mathematical, but it’s really just conceptual, and quite candidly I have a hard time grasping the concepts of interest, investment, consumption, and whatnot. Hopefully a scan through the textbook and a thorough review of the lecture slides will grant me an A on the exam.

Well, I think that’s a good enough post for now. So until next time, starry skies to all!

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