Settling Into Academics...

Image via Wikipedia

School started a week ago and I am slowly but surely getting settled into the final leg of my degree program. Boy this is one event I am looking forward to... graduating soon. The past few semesters have been pretty rough and many a time I have felt Tom of, Tom and Jerry cartoon show - running after an elusive target and getting beaten up left, right and center. I hope this will be the end of all this and I will get to turn things around and make academics like Jerry pictured in this cartoon.

That would definitely be a day to celebrate for me, because I would have conquered my degree and not vice-versa. Anyway I will be blogging sporadically, now here and now not here.....

It is Back to School Time

School started yesterday and I am back feeling like being hit by an express train. It will take a few days, maybe couple of weeks to get used to the new rigor, but I will get there....

Right now I feel like this :)

Image Courtesy: Internet

One Week Later.....

In the US people always say one thing: "Life Happens". This is to explain sudden and unexpected happenings which change the course of people's lives. Well nothing of that sort has happened in the past week in my life. But then I use this term to explain why I have not been doing things that I routinely do... like blogging.

School and work have been taking up so much of my time that I haven't spent any time on the internet for a while. Now today I have this opportunity window and hence here I am. Will be back in a bit to post more..

Back to Snow....

Today we are back in the business of staying at home because everything is closed in the North Texas area due to a "Blizzard". Radio stations are abuzz with news about winter storm, schools are closed and kids get to stay at home. I had early classes and went to college without waiting till the last moment to leave home only to come back disappointed that campus was closed.

Yesterday at class my professor who is from New York said he is used to this kind of weather for eight months a year. So it is good that there are only a few snow days in Dallas. For those like me from a tropical place it is too much because we are used to winters without any snow.

Back to School.....

Image Courtesy Dandelion Blu

New year brings with it lots of new things.... including a brand new semester of academic drudgery... but I kinda enjoy it and the above cartoon is definitely not a representation of me. It would be if I get frustrated and can't achieve the academic goals I have set out to achieve. Right now my situation is more like the graphic below.

Image Courtesy Maconaquah Middle School Guidance Department

Struggling with information overload and trying to juggle school, job, life, and lots and lots of books. When this happens often times something often keeps falling off if you are not an expert juggler, which I am definitely not, so when things fall down I have to stop and pick up from where I stopped at. It is going to be a challenging semester and I sure hope I can get through with the grades I wish and keep my job, life and sanity intact.

10 non-blogging days

It has been long since I blogged or even opened up this platform. School, and work have been quite hectic and I am still not update with school. It has been quite eventful so I couldn't be manage the time to blog. How did I manage the time now? Well this is the time when I am half asleep just awake from deep slumber and getting ready to go to school. So I thought I'd use this time effectively and post a short note here.

What has been happening over here? Well nothing much except that my rollerblading skills have improved thanks to the weekly skate meet up with some great people of Pegasus Flyers, Dallas. That has been the only physical activity I have indulged in. Everything else I do is pretty much done sitting on my backside. I hope to get more activity done, let us see if I can accomplish it....

Out of Sight but Heart is fully at Home

It is generally assumed by people who stay back in India that those of us who migrated to other nations, especially to the richer western nations forget their roots. This is not true, given the fact that several non-profit organizations have been promoted by non-resident Indians and these organizations are playing a big role in the nation building efforts. Even though these professionals are thousands of miles away from home their hearts are thinking of India. Here is an example in the form of EKAL VIDYALAYA, DALLAS CHAPTER. They have promoted schools in remote, far flung villages in India to provide education to the poor and underprivileged.

Their next event in Dallas is a Dance, Cultural, and Bollywood Music extravaganza which has been dubbed as "A Donor Appreciation event". The event is being held at Eisemann Center, Richardson on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 5:00pm

$20 & $50 tickets available at Eisemann Center Box Office $5 discount available to students.

The catch line is that an individual can support an entire school for less than the cost of coffee a day ($365 a year). An amount which will not even be enough to pay rent in this country.

Campus Rumpus

Summer classes started on Monday and things have become atrociously busy since then. Six hours of classes every evening with at least one quiz, test or exam every day. This semester is short, just five weeks, 20 days of classes and in that we need to cover 10 quizzes, 5 tests, 3 exams and one comprehensive final exam. What does this mean? 18 out of 20 days we will be having something or the other. The only way to excel or get an A grade is to obtain 90-100 in every one of the test, quiz or exam.

When I first started college in the US last year somethings were shocking. For one thing students never address professors as sir/ madame, it was by their name. On the contrary some professors address students as sir and madame. Something almost impossible in India... at least in my college days.

When I told people that I was studying, they would ask me "Which school do you go to?" Initially I wondered whether I look like a high school kid or are they pulling my leg. But later I came to know that here, a university is referred to a school and a PhD research scholar is also going to "school".

Students come in and go out of classes whenever they please, no need to ask permission of the faculty.

Most students come into class carrying bottles of cool drinks, tall mugs of coffee/ tea, snack boxes, sandwiches, etc. Classes are like picnic spots, students can eat, drink, chew gum, etc. The only requirement is to listen to the lecture and not disturb other students. Even professors bring drinks and sip on during the lecture. This never happened in India. I remember in my college days if anyone was found eating in class, he/ she would be sent out.

There are hundreds of similar differences I could write about. For now this is enough I guess. Would like to know your thoughts.