The welcome back after spring break was short lived.  For me, this week and next are the second round of midterms.  I survived the first set without being severely traumatized, so let's hope the next few are no worse.

In addition to midterms, this week is marked with lots of appointments.  We get to register for courses next semester beginning next week, so everyone will meet with their academic advisor to discuss their progress and potential course schedule before then.  It didn't hit me until I was looking at the course offerings that I will be registering for my senior year of college.  It's really hard to believe that I only have 10 courses left at IIT!  It's definitely exciting to know that I'm only a year away, but its a little scary to think that next semester I will be taking the GRE, applying to graduate programs, and of course, waiting to hear back from graduate programs.  I'm working to not get to far ahead of myself with constant reminders that the only thing I can really do about it right now is study and get good grades so that [at least] one of those schools will be excited to accept me.  There are only 6 universities in the country that offer the graduate porgram I'd like to apply to (MS in Orthotics and Prosthetics).  On the bright side, the list of schools I'm applying to is essentially set for me.  On the down side, I don't have a lot of freedom in choosing where to study.  Anyways....back to the here and now (I told you I have to work not to get to far ahead of myself)...  I also need to meet with a few professors and give updates on the status of projects/papers. 

On a less intense note, spring is finally coming to Chicago!  It's still on the cold side, but the sun is definitely shining (I broke out my sunglasses this morning).  That means I'll be able to resume my walks on Lake Shore Drive soon (I love the walk from the Planetarium to Millenium Park).  I know I could have been doing them all along, but I'm a bit of a weenie when it comes to the cold.  Warm weather also means the return of reading and studying outdoors, open windows, and flip flops :-). Needless to say, I'm excited.

More updates soon.  Until next time.

So far, this semester has been a rather eventful one. A massive blizzard gave Chicago Public Schools and IIT its first snow day since 1999. A friend of mine was the 2011 winner of IIT Idol. Another friend succesfully planned a St. Baldrick's fundraiser and by shaving her head raised $2300 for cancer research. Overall, IIT raised over $7000. I had my first job interview last week, and am pleased to announce that I will be working with New England Orthotics and Prosthetics this summer. I'm very excited!

Academics wise, this semester has been (as usual) challanging. But, overall, I'm feeling pretty confident. My favorite classes are definitely Biomaterials, and Bio Fluid Mechanics. The material is new and incredibly interesting to me. Now we're heading into the group projects phase of the semester. At this point, the same 20 people are in 4 of my 6 classes. 3 of those 4 have these projects, so most of us are forming the same (or very similar) groups in all of the classes. I like my group(s) so it's fine, but I wouldn't be surprised if we're sick of eachother by the time the project deadlines roll around.

Speaking of thoses projects, I need to get back to work. Until next time.