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Elizabeth

Good day, gentle reader! I’m afraid I’ve been away from my weekly blogs here for almost an entire semester. I’m sure I left you in a real state – I can just imagine you checking my page week after week, only to be disappointed month after month, wondering desperately about what kinds of adventures I’ve been having since last I wrote.

Unfortunately, if you ask me about my adventures, the stories I’ll tell won’t involve my coloring book hobby (which I’ve since given up), or my biking excursions, or any of the other adventurous things I enjoy (And maybe “adventure” is a strong term for coloring. I don’t know.). I was “off the grid” last semester because…(wait for it)…I was on a long climb to the top of a mountain. A mountain of homework, that is. (I’ll admit, that kind of mountain a little less exciting than Kilimanjaro.)

This semester, though, while not really being any lighter in courses and extracurriculars than last semester, I’m vowing to be more disciplined and keep on chronicling my week-to-week experiences at Fontbonne University. Hopefully, reading about the life of an average computer science/applied math major (the faithful reader will be interested to know I’ve decided to double-major) will help you prospective students out there to get a feel for college and the rigors of academia. (I’ll be honest: I really just threw in the latter because it sounds pretentious.) It’s good to be back. Have a good week, everyone!

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If I do say so myself, the classes I picked out this semester are a pretty great mix. I’m taking Advanced Stats, which is more fun than it sounds like it would be when you’re in class with a bunch of your friends, Visual Programming, in which I’m learning Visual Basic, a pretty cool language to learn in that you can make Windows applications, and, probably the most exotic of the bunch, Artificial Intelligence.

AI sounds daunting, and there’s definitely a lot of work from the class that’s keeping me busy, but it’s a pretty intriguing topic that’s really a cross-roads for fields like psychology, programming, neuroscience, and machinery. While I’m only skimming (and by “skimming” I mean “really, really, really skimming”) the surface of the field, it’s making me stretch my reasoning skills and my understanding of what programming and machines are capable of.

Did I mention we’re building a robot in class, too? I’ll have to tell you that story another day. Have a good week, everyone!

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This week has been an academic marathon for me – I’ve had a test, a quiz, or a monster homework assignment due every day so far, and…(wait for it)…I’ve been so sleepy in the mornings from staying up late studying that I’ve started drinking coffee. (*gasp!*)

I’m seriously considering disowning myself for that, seeing as I hate coffee and usually avoid it at all costs. Sometimes, though, you have to bite the bullet – or, sip the bitter brown stuff, if you will – and just get through it. I’d say the semester’s definitely in full swing!

Since it’s the beginning of the school year, I’ll introduce myself so you new readers have a little background on me. Firstly, I’m a junior this year, double-majoring in Computer Science and Applied Math with a Business concentration. This is my third school year blogging for the FBYou site, and fortunately, my life is exciting enough that even after two school years-worth of blogs, I can still come up with a new topic every week! I’m the co-editor-in-chief (because the job title didn’t already have enough hyphens, we had to throw in “co”) of the Fontbanner, the University newspaper, and I’m also the president of the Commuter Advisory Board. I do some other things around campus, but I’ll conceal my hand about those this round so I’ll have an aura of mystery as I reveal my other hobbies throughout the semester. (Don’t get excited – it’s not like I swallow swords or anything).

Hopefully, you’re having a good start to the school year, too, and I’ll talk to you next week!

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Well, we’ve made it: the end of the 2011-2012 school year. I had my final class period today, and now I’ve got just two exams to conquer before putting the whole thing to rest.

One thing that I’ve realized worked out really well this year was my collection of friends. See, a lot of the people I became close with freshman year weren’t here this year for a myriad of reasons, from graduation to going back home to Japan, and for a little bit, I was kind of lonely, seeing as I’d kind of concentrated my friend circle around a few core people. This year, I guess because I was forced out of my comfort zone when my friends left, I worked hard by joining new clubs and making tons of smalltalk to gain new acquaintances, many of whom by this time have developed into friends. I still miss seeing my freshman-year friends around campus, and I keep in touch with them, but I’m glad I was able to make new friends in my sophomore year and expand my circle. The people I’ve gotten closer with this year (including all the people I was friends with last year) have helped me grow a lot, and hey, school’s a lot nicer when you’ve got friends.

Have a great summer, and I’ll talk to you in the fall!

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There’s Lots of Learning To Do

by Elizabeth April 30, 2012

You might notice that this text of this blog post is in pink, and of the font “Verdana.” Very observant, you are. I’ve been experimenting with HTML ever since we made a practice web page in my Server Technology class, and I had to go big for my final post of the semester. Anyway, I’ve [...]

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Incoming!

by Elizabeth April 24, 2012

Greetings, blog-readers! We’re smack in the middle of a scary point in the semester: the final stretch.  There’s this exhilarating we’re-almost-done smell in the air, and all kinds of fun events are going on.  A few nights ago I nearly froze to death at the Spring Dance at the Lemp Mansion, which was held on [...]

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The Royal Treatment

by Elizabeth April 20, 2012

Last week, I was hanging out with the Quidditch team (…yes, you read that right. There’s a new Quidditch team on campus, and since I didn’t get in on the action soon enough to be on the team, I’m just a Quidditch groupie now.) and they told me they’d be wearing their new jerseys on [...]

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Go Ahead – Choose ‘Rolling Hills’ Mode

by Elizabeth April 16, 2012

A lot had happened, dear reader, since the last time I blogged.  (I apologize if you’ve been waiting with baited breath to see what will happen  in the next chapter of my ever-exciting life.)  This week was Diversity Week on campus, and to celebrate, I tried something new:  using the weight room in the Dunham [...]

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Wow!

by Elizabeth March 20, 2012

Psssstt…hey you! Guess what? IT’S SPRING TIME! Maybe it’s not calendar-official, but with the dogwoods in full bloom and green grass everywhere and temps in the 70s and 80s – 80s! – I’m declaring it springtime in the STL. I even saw a bunny rabbit munching on some grass today, which reminded me of the [...]

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Supporting My Fellow Griffins

by Elizabeth March 9, 2012

Hi there! How do I show my school spirit?  Well… I guess I show my enthusiasm for the school community mostly by supporting other groups’ events.  I’m not in every club on campus, but I end up attending lots of groups’ events because I know the people running them or I have friends in the [...]

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Students writing for Real Life at Fontbonne are paid a small fee for each post by the university.