More (or less?) On My Plate

In true hyper-drive fashion, I decided to start a diet yesterday in conjunction with the start of the semester (tomorrow). Good old calorie counting for me again! I can no longer lie to myself that I haven't gained almost 8 lbs since being last month. I'd like to lose more than I gained and then build up muscle mass to gain again. So ideally, I want to lose 16lbs and then gain at least 8 lbs of muscle. Previously, I used FitDay and this time I will be using MyFitnessPal because FitDay does not have an android app. MyFitnessPal so far seems to be more organized (you can enter totals for each meal and have them totaled by meal, you can enter cardio vs. strength training, you can enter cups of water consumed); however, it mainly used grams for measurement of foods as well as other really arbitrary measurements like "cups" of water... does this mean 8oz? I much preferred FitDay's exact and variable measurement options.

In other news, I am textbook and notebook/folder shopping today! Oh boy!

Another To Do List:

Well, I'm gearing up for the week before school starting. I am all moved in, just not completely organized yet. The kitchen still needs to be set up because we were waiting on the new stove to arrive, but now it seems that the dishwasher is flooded with water to the brim and contains filthy dishes leftover from the previous tenants. They sure did do an number on the place... So, plans for the week are as follows (hooray for lists :D):

Errands:

• Dollar Store (to buy various household items including tupperware, shelf liners, baskets, coffee filters, pillows, and clotheshangers)
• Grocery Store
• Oil Change
• UMBC to buy Textbooks
• Pep Boys (to buy ANOTHER rear-view mirror repair kit)
• Pick up laundry detergent, mail, and freezer food from Gooma and Pop's

General:

• Clean and organize kitchen
• Get files in order
• Laundry (and make sure washer/dryer are working)
• Fight Speeding Ticket
• Get new car insurance
• Set up internet in the apartment
• Call BGE to get the bill in our names

At least I'm on the ball, so I'm not doing this when I'm doing school/work o.O

Tiger Pride

I would like to take some time to talk about my new job and how much I am enjoying it so far. Being a graduate of UMBC, I am not used to "college pride" in the traditional sense. In high school, I was anti-school pride. I always loved UMBC, but got quite frustrated many-a-time with their disorganization and general neglect of student satisfaction. They seemed to purposefully make everything difficult and a mirror of the "real-world" without much guidance or encouragement. This was something I came to appreciate, but also resent because of the way the campus was run as a whole, the disorganization of student events, and how every obstacle along the way required multiple hoops to jump through and people to talk to.

First walking into Towson's Administration building, I saw tigers.... tigers EVERYWHERE. This campus is so spirited and so something I am so not used to. My co-workers beamed "Good Morning"s and welcomed me with open armed enthusiasm. As I worked here longer, I came to realized just how student-focused Towson tries (and succeeds might I add) to be. Our focus is so refreshingly student centered on every front. Support services are actually advertised! Not to mention, the flyers posted around campus are up to date and rotated on the regular, even! I feel proud to work here. I feel proud to be raising money for this school... to be raising money for education and especially for future teachers (a huge part of Towson's graduates). The good I feel I am doing is so beautifully cyclical! Towson is a state school, but only 23% of our funds come from state funding... the rest is up to us! Plus, we have over 600 designations in which to gift your funds! I am so excited for that kind of challenge, for getting people excited about education and philanthropy.

If, for some reason, my humble excitement got you all riled up about supporting education too, you can support by giving a gift here.

My Muse Part Three

So, for those of you (like myself prior to visiting the Nobel Museum) who do not know the history/intricacies of the Nobel prize, I will be glad to inform you :) and also introduce you to a historical figure whom I found to maybe most relate to as a fellow human being. Alfred Nobel,

started the Nobel Prize with his will. You see, his discovery and patent of dynamite and industriousness left him a very wealthy man and he never bore any children. So, the problem of what to do with his accumulated wealth upon his death weighed heavily upon him. In the end, a few select individuals, as well as a few members of his family received portions of his inheritance. But, with the rest, he set up a fund to that would reward and support people with good ideas. Thus, the Nobel Prize was born. Nobel carefully considered the subjects he thought would bring the most progress and knowledge to the world and prizes in five subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901.

Columns and floor signs for each subject greeted museum patrons as they walked past the information desk, arranged in a semi-circle, which forced a envelopment of philanthropy, humanism, knowledge, and life. Like the rest of Stockholm, a multi-cultural approach was highlighted throughout the museum:

Maybe the coolest part of the museum was Kafe Satir, where all of the bottoms of the charis were signed by Nobel Laureates...

And now for the rest of this blog entry (and mainly because I am lazy and this has already gone on for 3 entries) I will just post pictures of the placards I read that inspired me. Hopefully, you will read them and be able to click through and they will be clear.

My Muse Part Two

The first thing you notice when you walk through the doors of the Nobel Museum is the ceiling. The following picture will show you why:

They have placards for all of the Nobel Laureates rotating on a track around the entire museum. I attempted to find Richard Feynman every chance I got, but never had any luck. I did find a plate from Cornell University, though, similar to one that Feynman used to use to demonstrate his famous plate experiment:

As well as a paddle from Stephen Hawking's alma mater, The University of Cambridge:

Although, he is not a laureate, it is still pretty cool.

I also got to see a light leader that came from C.E.R.N., the European laboratory for particle physics on the Franco-Swiss border:

I hope to get to visit C.E.R.N. one day - it is on my life list!

NOTE: I realize it has taken me forever to start on Part Two. After finally getting my harddrive and reviewing my pictures from this day, it is looking like there will be even more parts to follow, which is good because since school is over until August 31st, I will have something to keep writing about (other than leisure :P).

My Muse Part One

I had the opportunity last summer to visit Stockholm and it's many museums. I was travelling with my best friend and we agreed to each buy the Stockholm card, which grants you free public transportation and access to many of the city's museums. We spent a while, after we bought the cards, flipping through the guidebook and planning our next few days and what we wanted to visit and began our adventure. Light music, dancing, and rays of sunshine illuminating a small square in Gamla Stan (The Old City) drew us to a museum we had both looked over multiple times in our guidebooks. We looked up to a marble columned building in awe and sprinted through the doors of the Nobel Museet (museum) with whimsical excitement at the discovery of our hidden treasure. I knew one of my favorite scientists, Richard Feynman, was a Nobel Laureate, and came to find a new inspiration in Alfred Nobel.

$$$

Being a grown up sure is constant work... I have a ton to do this week:

• Emissions
• Oil Change
• Deposits to Bank
• Take Back Cell Phone
• Switch Over Car Insurance
• Set Up BGE
• Set Up Internet at new apartment
• Meet Up with Landlord to Sign Lease
• Attempt to Get a Refund for Medical Expenses
• Pay UMBC Bill

I got my reimbursement check from my previous landlord for the security deposit ($450) and what was SUPPOSED to be $250 as a refund for not living in the apartment due to medical concerns for 1.5 months. By simple math, that would make the check I was supposed to receive $700.... well, it was $675. He also addressed the envelope to "Katie" ...that's it. No last name. Maybe it was a mistake. I hope it was because I can't stand to think that people are this nasty on purpose.

This Just Makes Me So Happy... I Hope to Never Forget It!

A Study Day

I took a personal day from work yesterday to study calculus for the cumulative final. I needed, at a minimum, an 85 to get an A in the class. I got a 95 :D Damn, that feels good. Luke, Shawn, Kevin, and I celebrated with pizza and IPAs (yesterday was national IPA day)!

I've also found out that I cannot take any annual leave days until my 6-month probationary period is over o.O

A Big To Do and A Little Background Part 2

I was still very on the fence about graduate school in my senior year of college. I loved all of the opportunities in my major to study so many subjects, but when it came to the time to actually specialize, I was lost. I couldn't see devoting 3+ more years of my life to something I wasn't wildly passionate about. The more I studied under the theory of environmental science, the more I realized that humans were just this small blip in the time scale of the earth, of the universe and the earth would heal itself eventually from anything we could throw at it. That doesn't mean that I am still a conservationist, but it does mean that my original passion for saving the earth from the nasty plague of humans had kind of deteriorated.

My graduation and acquisition of a Bachelor's degree coincided perfectly with the start of the recession and mass unemployment, especially in my age group. It took me 3 months to find a job and I began working for and being abused by an environmental consulting company, travelling to 9-or-so different states, and eventually getting so fed up on an audit that I drafted my resignation letter the second I got home, with no solid job lined up (and believe me I had been applying for months). I was unemployed a few months before I got a gig as an accountant that I quit to go on a two month trip to Finland. When I got back, I was unemployed for a few more months until I got a job as a receptionist of a museum in Baltimore and now here I am at Towson.

The future?? Here's the Plan:
*Take all necessary undergraduate Physics and Calculus classes
*Take the GRE
*Take the Physics GRE
*Apply to graduate school
*Get PhD
*Acquire position at university

A Big To Do and A Little Background Part One

So, in an attempt to organize the craziness that will be my mind and my life for the next 6 or so years, I have created this blog. I have just started the long process of getting prepared for graduate school (which, by the looks of it, will be a 2+ year process). I have also found a way to fund my supplemental undergraduate education... my place of employment!

Here's the deal: I work full-time for Towson University, which is part of the University System of Maryland. Through state benefits, I am eligible for complete tuition remission from ANY of the following universities:

Bowie State University
Coppin State University
Frostburg State University
Salisbury University
Towson University
University of Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
University of Maryland University College

This means, essentially, I have my pick of colleges and classes to completely prepare myself for a PhD program in Physics. I have a Bachelor of Science In Environmental Science, which is basically a multidisciplinary science education (ie. I studied everything from Biology to Chemistry to Ecology to Calculus to Statistics to Physics to Evolution to Geography to Physical Science to Weather and Climate... you get the picture).

So, with a lot of pre-requisites out of the way, I am ready to begin a multitude of Calculus and Physics classes in preparation not for a Bachelor's, but in preparation for credibility in the eyes of a PhD program o.O