Wow. Eventful day!
Math, where midterm papers were returned (surprisingly, did well, or at least as well as midterms go!), then computer science, where we did a really interesting concept called directed graphs.
A directed graph consists of a number of vertices, and some of these vertices are connected by directed line segments. We did really interesting problems related to such graphs, like finding out whether two given vertices are "connected" - basically requiring us to see if there's a path from one to the next. Other problems included finding that path, finding out cycles in such graphs, and looking at applications of such graphs -- from analyzing energy flow in nature's food cycles to internet website crawling, to seeing how they are used in production assemblies. Fascinating. I have a feeling it's going to be slightly to completely "wrap your mind around it" (quoting my professor, Robert Sedgewick), but it's very interesting. And hey, what's life without a few difficult challenges here and there? (:
After that, came back and organized my email, which was long overdue. Then EGR 194 lecture, where the professor talked about alternative sources of energy and primarily about solar energy, raising some thought - provoking questions --> How much of the US's present energy needs are met by solar? How many nuclear plants would we have to build to reach the current production capacity of coal, and how much time would it take to build them all? Why can't solar energy constitute more than 15-20% of total energy needs? Oh, and the professor's laptop acted funny and stopped projecting 15 odd minutes into the lecture, so he had to be extra careful that we understood the stuff he was talking about (even though it was pretty simple), given that there was no visual stimulus.
And hold your breath, the day's not over yet! So I come back to the room, read for my writing seminar, and then went off for my writing seminar (yes, I had to skip dinner). The seminar was fun today, and the professor gave us some basic instructions about our final research paper and how we should go about starting it, and she also introduced a new talisman for today's class, the "megaturd" and how we should do our best to avoid it! Fun. Oh, and then a really seventh-grade style-ish grammar exam at the end - Surprisingly, quiet a few people got all of them correct!
Then Frist for late meal, as I had missed dinner. God, I loved having the chicken quesadilla after SUCH a long time. Ran into a few friends, and had fun just making really terrible jokes with them!
PDP Elections! Zayn (current President who now steps down) and the others were really funny. Candidates fought for three positions, and overall I think the results were satisfactory.
Nice, satisfying first day. Oh, and it rained on-and-off today. Can't seem to decide whether I like so much rain. Reminds me of the Indian monsoon though (:
Still work to do. Ground to cover. First class at 11 am tomorrow though, so could work till about 2 without hitch. Sweet.
Thank you, first day, for being nice! (:
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