April Mayhem

It’s April here at university and you know what that means…. April Mayhem! sing it in Daily Grace’s Sexy Friday tune

In a way, I’m really happy that Brown has Spring break, because it allowed for some much needed rest. But on the other hand, having a one week break in the middle of a really packed schedule has made me somewhat less motivated to study. I’ve kind of slacked a bit after coming back from holiday, like I just haven’t been able to pick up where I left off. So, as you have probably guessed, this blog post is kind of a way for me to procrastinate…

A lot of thoughts have passed through my mind recently. One being HOLY COW SPRING SEMESTER ENDS IN A MONTH I NEED TO GET MY SHIT TOGETHER, FOR REAL. I’m doing pretty well in my classes, except for my Software Engineering class, which I’m kind of struggling a bit because of the intense course load. Seriously, new projects are being released the day after the previous project’s deadline, not really allowing for much breaks in between. I’m not regretting taking this class though, because it’s been really fun, and I’m really learning a lot from it. Maybe not necessarily learning new things, but more of getting more experience in terms of software engineering. As I said in my previous post, the class is more about learning good design and gaining more experience.

Aside from that, I have two projects due this week, a Psychology study due in one and a half weeks, my Software Engineering term project to complete by early May, and also another Artificial Intelligence project due by the end of April. Oh, and not to mention the fact that I still have finals and I still need to think about what I'm gonna do for my photography final project… God give us students mercy!

Another thing that has crossed my mind quite recently is OH MY GOD I’M GRADUATING NEXT YEAR I NEED TO GET A JOB AND I AM GOING TO BE A GROWN UP SOON WOW WHAT IS LIFE. I feel like ever since I left the comfort of my home to start secondary school in Singapore, my life has been on fast forward. I spent 1.5 years in Singapore, 1.5 years at Green River, and now I’m at Brown. I won’t even be 20 when I graduate, and in a sense, I’m graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in only 3.5 years, because I started attending college in January 2012. To be completely frank, the thought of graduating and having to work to support myself is terrifying. I’m confident of my CS skills, and I’m confident that I would be able to find a decent job as a software engineer here in the US, but still, it’s scary. I’ll have to pay my own rent, bills, and taxes.

The thought of graduating so early has sparked the idea of getting a Masters degree, possibly in Computer Science (focus on something more specific like Machine Learning maybe), or Management Information Systems (although I’ve heard that it’s better to get experience before studying MIS, so this one’s less likely). I feel like while I’m young and still have the motivation to study, might as well stuff more knowledge into my brain. Most masters programs take one or two years, which means that by the time other students my age graduate, I would have a Bachelors and a Masters, compared to just a Bachelors. This would give me an edge in job searching (although the job prospects of simply a Bachelors in CS is already high). I’ve been warned that big degrees with no experience is alarming, so in order to supplement my degrees, I would likely find internships during the summer. But anyways, I haven’t really thought much about this. I figure I’d have more time to think about it during the summer. 

Another thing I’ve been thinking about a lot is doing a study abroad program. As a transfer student, I don’t really have the ability to do a study abroad program and get credit for it, because I’m already a junior, and I need to spend at least four semesters in order to graduate with a degree from Brown. Nevertheless, I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently. Yes, a lot. It’s probably because of my recent obsession with everything Sweden. I won’t say what got me interested in Sweden—it’s a rather long story—but I think Sweden is a really beautiful country. I’ve learnt a lot about Sweden recently. For instance, I found out that Swedes actually get compensation to go to school… I mean, how crazy is that?!

In the past, I’ve always refrained myself from learning new languages because I feel like it’s already too late. But I think my love for Sweden has somewhat exceeded this belief in me, and I’ve promised myself to learn Swedish. Ideally, I’d like to be fluent (C2 level) sometime in the future, and if I continue learning, I want to reach B1 proficiency by the time I graduate from Brown. I know I don’t need to learn Swedish, because there’s only 9 million people who speak it, so my interest in it is purely personal. But I still think it would be cool to learn Swedish. In a way, if I can successfully learn Swedish (be able to carry a conversations with native Swedes in Swedish without much trouble), I think it will serve as motivation for me to learn more languages. Spanish seems like a really useful language to learn, especially because I really want to do more community service trips, and most of them are either in Central or South America, where people speak Spanish.

Anyways, I should probably get back to my assignments. I've attached some photos that I did for my photography class, check em out!

With love, Indira