une statue de marbre me conduit par la main...

Math Major

2009-11-04T02:53:45Z

I am in a position of either not getting a double math major, or not taking any classes besides those required for both my majors for the next three semesters. I can do one of the following:
a. give up my math major and get a minor instead
b. take classes over the summer
c. stay an extra semester (unlikely)
d. take only those classes required for both of my majors and not take HOT, or any of the other classes that I want to take....

Even if I choose to get a minor instead, I still have to take Real Analysis (and maybe another class) or I have to take Basic Logic, Combinatorics, and Graph Theory to get a Discrete Math and Logic minor...

To get a DML double major requires Basic Logic, Combinatorics, Real Analysis, Graph Theory, and Field Theory.

Academic audit lied... A lot.

So I guess I need to decide if I'd rather have a second major or actually take some interesting CS classes...

And all this is doing is stressing me out. When I don't have time to be stressed out. And I don't have time to figure this out either.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

xsavvyx @ 2009-11-02T02:10:00

2009-11-02T07:11:29Z

I'm so lucky to have an 8. <3

Change of Schedule

2009-10-27T23:01:25Z

I talked to Mark! HE can't give me humanities credit for my independent study, but if I find someone in H&SS to agree that this counts as Humanities stuff, and I can get THEM to give me a course number in H&SS, then next semester my independent study will count as a Humanities course! Carol recommended that I talk to some people about this, so hopefully I can find someone who is willing to do this. Mark is still claiming that HOT is offered every spring, but I'm e-mailing Crary to confirm... I'm delaying taking Web Apps until S11, unless HOT is offered in S11 in which case I will be taking it next semester.

Apparently I haven't taken very many upper level math classes... So I think I'm going to take Graph Theory with Mackey next semester. I've e-mailed Mackey to try to set up a meeting with him to talk about double majoring in math and make sure that I'm actually taking enough classes to do that. That leaves Real Analysis and another math elective which I will fill with probability (21-325) because it double counts for a CS requirement.

Humanities
Cat 1 (S10)
Cat 3 (F11 / S11)
Humanities (S11 / F11)
Humanities (Independent Study - S10 / F11 / S11)

S10 (Theoretical Scheduleman link here - 54 units)
Algo
Independent Study (hopefully counts as Humanities)
Humanities (Cog Psych?)
Graph Theory
HOT (ohgodwhyamidoingthis)

F10
Humanities
Science / Engineering
Systems course (c.c)
TechComm
Probability (21-325)

S11
Humanities
Science / Engineering
Real Analysis
Web Apps
FLAC? / some PL thing? / something else awesome? / Robotics? / Humanities if my independent study doesn't count...

Schedules

2009-10-27T00:43:02Z

There are so many courses I want to take / need to take. And I can't take them all because there are only so many hours in the day and I am still doing my independent study...

Courses I want to take:
Algo (12 units)
Web Apps (12)
Graph Theory (with Mackey) (9)
Discrete Math (with Bohman) (9)
Independent Study (12)

That's already 54 units right there.

HOT (12)
Robotics (12)
FLAC (9)

Courses Mark will want me to take:
Humanities
Science / Engineering
TechComm

If I take the courses that I want to take, then I will have one class left for my math major (Real Analysis, plus possibly a one unit undergrad colloquium). For my CS major, I will need a systems course, a probability course, and TechComm. Plus, Cat 1, Cat 3, and two more Humanities classes. And two more science / engineering classes.

I'm guessing that Mark is going to insist that I take a Humanities class... But I'd really like to actually have good profs for my math classes and they are taught by different profs by every semester... I really would like to have useful CS skills. All of the upper level CS classes I've taken have been either PL classes or my independent study...

I really wish my independent study had only lasted one semester. It's not even that it takes up so much time, it just takes up units... Or even better, that it counted as Humanities units... It is about the culture of CS, can't that count for my Cat 3 requirement?

So, if I can't convince Mark to make my independent study count as my Cat 3 requirement, or at least count as some humanitites course, then... I will probably be taking these courses: Algo, Web Apps, Graph Theory, Discrete Math, my Independent Study, and maybe a Humanities course? I mean, I guess I don't have to take Graph Theory, but it's something that I've been looking forward to since I found out Mackey was teaching it this semester. If I didn't take Graph Theory I would take a Humanities class, and maybe something else? But probably not...

And then this is what next year will look like..

Edit: See end of post

The bottom line is that I want a math major, but I also want to take actual, real, useful CS courses or CS courses that I'm actually interested in. I don't want senior year to be only humanities and science classes, because those things don't really interest me. Econ was one of the biggest wastes of my time. Like.. supply, demand, okay we're done. I'm not interested in science, besides mathematics, which should maybe count towards my science / engineering requirement since it is in MCS, but it doesn't. I'm sure that psychology and philosophy are very interesting, and I guess I'd like to take a course or two in those departments, but I'd really rather take something useful... The intro science classes suck (Physics was the worst class I've taken here, possibly with the exception of 3D calc) and I'm not going to learn anything I didn't already learn in high school and then promptly forgot.

No way am I ever going to be able to fit in a senior thesis or other more different research or classes that I'd actually be interested in taking unless I can get Mark to count my independent study as humanities credit... Unless I take summer classes? But those are expensive and hopefully I will have an internship this summer instead of being stuck in Pittsburgh...

Also, HOLY SHIT I AM MORE THAN HALF WAY DONE WITH COLLEGE OH GOD I HAVE TO GO OUT INTO THE REAL WORLD / GRAD SCHOOL IN ONLY 3 MORE SEMESTERS!!!!

EDIT: After talking with Jack, and confirming it with 8, turns out 251 should count for the Discrete Math requirement so I don't have to take Discrete Math. Which will make life much easier. If I can convince Mark to let me count my independent study as a Humanities, then I will be so happy. I still need some other math elective (maybe?) for my math major, unless I can get Mackey to waive it... But I guess Graph Theory would fill that... Actually, probability 21-325 would probably fill that too, so I guess I can even scratch Graph Theory if I really want to take more CS classes...

So my schedule is looking more like this:

S10
Algo
Web Apps
Independent Study
Humanities
Graph Theory / Humanities / Science / Engineering / HOT / Robotics / FLAC

F10
Humanities
Science / Engineering
Systems course (c.c)
TechComm
Probability (21-325)

S11
Science / Engineering
Real Analysis
HOT / Robotics
Humanities (if mark counts my ind. study for 0 or 1 humanities class)
Maybe another Humanities (depending on whether 1 or 2 semesters of my ind. study count as humanities)
FLAC? / some PL thing? / something else awesome?

xsavvyx @ 2009-10-17T00:19:00

2009-10-17T04:19:58Z

Frustrated Kempy is frustrated with everything and not good at anything.

FUUUUUUUUUCK

2009-10-06T04:08:13Z

Hi Elizabeth,

We really enjoyed meeting you during Facebook’s on-campus interviews. We met so
many talented candidates, and we’ve had to make some tough choices. 

After reviewing all of the feedback, I’m afraid we will not be moving forward with
you in the interview process at this time. That being said, Facebook is constantly
growing so I’d like to keep in touch with you about future opportunities.

We really appreciate your interest in Facebook and wish you the best of luck with
your current search! Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. 

Regards,

Marcia Velencia

Sick!

2009-08-15T18:49:20Z

Well, this has been a fun weekend home. We didn't end up going to the Cape because 8 was sick and my grandfather can't get sick... 8 had a temperature of 101.7 yesterday but is now feeling much better. I'm feeling awful now. Sore throat, head ache, fever, cough, sore body. Good times. But, hopefully we'll be all better soon!

Heading Home

2009-05-19T00:34:08Z

I am currently on my way to home (rather, Joshua's home) and I will be at home by noon(?) tomorrow. Don't know when I can hang out 'cause there are karate things and Cape Cod things going on, but give me a call.

Who still needs to finish packing?

2009-05-17T22:03:53Z

Kempy still needs to finish packing.

Graduation! And 213...

2009-05-17T21:50:39Z

Happy Graduation and Congratulations to everyone who's graduating!!!! We'll miss you if you won't be in Pittsburgh next year!!!

I would also like to make sure that I'm not the only person to not receive a 213 grade yet. No one else has either, right?

Some Stuff To Do.

2009-05-15T19:12:56Z

I have some stuff to do:

~~Today:~~
- ~~go to the hub to do something for my mother~~ (didn't quite happen...)
- ~~finish helping 8 pack~~
- ~~start helping ME pack~~

~~This weekend:~~
- ~~find my ID card~~ and pick up a package
- ~~finish helping ME pack~~
- ~~get my stuff / Rich's stuff to storage~~
- ~~get the rest of my stuff to Ticky~~
- ~~go out to dinner tonight with 8's family~~
- ~~go out to dinner tomorrow with 8's family~~
- ~~go to graduation~~
- ~~get stuff that I'm taking home packed~~

Monday:
- go home with Joshua

The next few weeks:
- see everyone at home!
- go to Cape Cod
- come back to Pittsburgh

This summer:
- do some work type things (for those of you who don't know what I'm doing for the summer, it's iPhone App development)
- have a good time and learn interesting things
- eat / cook lots of good food

wat?

2009-05-15T15:33:04Z

B in 312
B in Econ
C in Set Theory? (E-mailed Cummings about what the hell I got on the exams... Maybe he forgot to grade my midterm? Because I did pretty well on the homeworks and thought I did really well on the final and alright on the midterm...)
Nothing yet in 213... (they still haven't graded our proxy labs!!!)

Aspirations

2009-05-12T19:05:35Z

Given final exam grades, here's what I'm hoping for in my class... I wish these were so much better:
Set Theory - A? (Maybe? No fucking clue, 'cause I never got my grade for my midterm and there's no pre-determined curve... Really don't think it should be less than a B)
213 - C (I think I needed to get a 60 on the exam to get a C... I think I might have gotten about that, hopefully with a mild curve, I will get a C, I think I needed something like a 92 to get a B.... Yeah, that's not happening...)
312 - C (Holy shit that exam was terrible, let's hope I get a C)
Econ - B (I think it's pretty hard for me to not get a B)

I really need to figure out some way to improve my exam performance or get extra time or something. I never finish exams and I find I am rushed for time even on the questions I do finish. I had less than half of the 213 exam finished 2 hours into it. And consequently ended up with a few questions unanswered. I just don't know why I can't do exams faster... In high school algebra, I did tests twice (literally, I got two copies of the test) and was done both of them before anyone else had finished their one copy. I wish I could do that with college exams...

I also wish I knew what to study. Some classes it's straightforward like 213 and most math classes. But 312? Yes I know how to prove safety and write an evaluator and type-checker. Will that help me at all on the exam? No. Another thing about 312 is that the syntax is just horrifying. I know what the rules should be, but do I know how to write them? Not in some cases with memory, apartness, "it doesn't matter what order these come in," etc. And I think that a non trivial amount of the time that I wasted on that exam was that I didn't know how to write down what I wanted to.

Economics is dumb and not allowing students to ask questions on the exam is even dumber. I really wish Cummings would have e-mailed me my midterm grade for Set Theory so that I would have had some idea of how I was doing...

Arg blarg I am Kempy and I am worried about my grades. (Surprise? No.)

Things To Do.

2009-05-08T23:08:27Z

Things to do:

~~study for set theory take-home final~~
~~apartment finances~~ / collect money from everyone in the world
~~make sure greta gets her checks from krieger and sam~~
~~do take-home set theory final~~
~~watch dollhouse~~
study for 213
~~study for 312~~ (didn't really happen?)
not fail 213 final
~~not fail 312 final~~ (didn't do this.)
~~grade for 111~~
~~grade exam for 111~~ (not doing this?)
get paid / turn in remaining time sheets
pass all of my classes
pack up and move shit to storage / ticky / 7
move stuff to ticky while trying not to drive ghanners / other residents crazy
go home
come back to pittsburgh and do some stuff

Easy, right?

EDIT:
Making progress... sort of...

I'm sick of dealing with your shit.

2009-04-27T06:33:48Z

I don't like it when people are mad at me for things that are their own damn fault.

Scheduling

2009-04-14T00:02:43Z

Definitely Taking
Constructive Logic [15-317] (9 units)
History of Mathematics [21-350] (9 units)
Number Theory [21-441] (9 units)
Elementary Italian [82-161] or Elementary Spanish [82-141] (12 units)
<insert another class or research or some combination thereof here> (up to 18 units)

Classes I Could Insert There
PNC [15-359] (12 units, Mark says it's a bad idea)
Real Analysis [21-355] (9 units, I need to take it at some point...)
An apps course (suggestions welcome)
Putnam Seminar [21-295] (3 units, It's a math competition thing)
Competition Programming [15-295] (3 units, It's a programming competition thing)
Research with Carol Frieze (No idea how many units, finding out about that tomorrow)
Other suggestions? (No, I am not taking Compilers or OS next semester don't even think about suggesting it.)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I really want to take a Robotics course (which counts for the apps requirement!), but the ones that seem interesting are at 9 AM on T/R or conflict with my 15-317 recitation. I think that I'd like to have another CS course so that I can learn to do something useful... All of my CS classes are 312, 317, and then all the 100 and 200 level ones we're required to take. It would be good to learn something relating to the real world... Anyway, this is what my schedule looks like now. Suggestions? Plz?

Grad Student Appreciation Week

2009-04-02T16:33:40Z

To all the grad students I know (Ghanners, Chris, William, others who I am forgetting?),

I appreciate you! Keep doing grad-student-y things and being awesome.

~ Kempy :D

I have a job!

2009-03-25T23:09:49Z

I have a job! For the rest of the semester... Now I need to find one for the summer and one for next year!

Also, blaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.

xsavvyx @ 2009-03-20T14:20:00

2009-03-20T20:36:46Z

Today is the first day of Spring and there were flurries coming down. What is wrong with Pittsburgh? It was 70 degrees two days ago...

In other news, there exist some old people and potentially at some point, Sam's friend Joe? Though last I heard, he was lost downtown.

This post is turning out to be a list of short unrelated points, so I'll continue with that...

We made peppermint ice cream! It was delicious and will be done again soon. Suggestions for weird ice cream flavors? So far we have pomegranate and grapefruit and red wine with chocolate chips as suggestions. Anyone willing to bring over half and half or weird flavorings is welcome to make ice cream.

In other news, I read Ender's Game. It was fabulous. And then I read Speaker for the Dead which was also excellent. I just started Xenocide. I also read Watchmen and would very much like to see the movie.

There is CtFwS!

I think that's all I have to say...

One Year.

2009-03-01T21:15:33Z

To do:
Econ due Monday
312 due Tuesday
213 due Thursday
Set Theory Midterm due Thursday

Econ Midterm on Wednesday
312 Midterm on Thursday

Doing:
Econ?
213?
312?
Updating LJ.
No,but actually Econ now...

Done:
Went to a Brahms and Dvorak concert with Car (who was the only properly dressed one of the bunch), Joshua, and 8.
Went to The London Cuckolds with 8.
Went out for crepes this morning with 8 for our anniversary.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Also to do:
Find a job...

Also doing:
Having a phone interview with Palantir on Monday!
Going to PL group meetings.

Also done:
Signed a lease!

ZOMG

2009-02-22T20:04:10Z

KRIEGER TOTALLY DID SOMETHING!!!
ZOMG!

Lolgoogle

2009-02-19T20:09:03Z

Some Things.

2009-01-30T06:46:51Z

Yesterday was a pretty good day.

We have a new President!

2009-01-20T18:00:42Z

Missed the live feed cause of my computer being retarded. But, it'll be replayed on CNN tonight. CNN party in 204 anyone? 9pm.

xsavvyx @ 2009-01-19T03:38:00

2009-01-19T08:38:44Z

Jake and Philip dick around at odd hours of the night.