the Sam Jackson College Experience

First, let me say it's a pleasure to be back at Yale. I had a good time at PKU but it's still nice to be back on home turf. That and many many many other observations and mentions aside:

I'm shopping a lot of classes this semester, mainly because of the terrible consequences of trying to fit a QR (Quantitative Reasoning) class into my schedule. This wouldn't be a big problem if I'd just consent to take something easy and/or mundane, but instead I want something which will be truly interesting, so I keep trying hard and shopping classes that are on the edge of my abilities -- and, so far, well over them. I have enough of a technical background and understanding to appreciate the value of the subjects and problems covered in "Intelligent Robotics" or "Computational Vision" but not the Group Theory / miscellaneous post-multivariable calculus mathematics and/or programming required to pursue my interests, which is frustrating.

More on all this soon, but for now, sleep. Have to get up early to finish Chinese homework and get to my first class at 9:25am. Today I was shopping from 9:25 -> 9PM, and tomorrow looks like it might be similar. A schedule constructed entirely from pain...! Things are not made easier when the troubles (and real pain) from last week's 4x wisdom teeth extraction rears its head. Oh well - no excuses, for now we forge onwards!