One day down..a few hundred or so to go

My first official day as a doctoral student began at 5:30 this morning when the alarm went off. I left the house at 7:10, and arrived on campus to pick up my parking permit around 8:45. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful today so I didn't even mind the 15 minute walk to my first class, on the complete opposite end of campus from the one parking lot I'm allowed to park in, which is not really close to anything at all. Here is a run-down of the rest of the day. I have included some random pictures from around campus (and one scenic view from just off the highway) that I took with my phone.

9:30-10:45- Data Management and Statistical Computing. The instructor seems nice enough, but it's going to be a dry class. During introductions, I learned that my fellow classmates are quite diverse. They came from many different countries, including China, India, Turkey, and a number of African nations. Very cool!




11:15-12:30- Cancer epidemiology. Small class in a conference room. I think it will be fascinating! We got a 45-minute lecture today and I was hardly bored at all.

Break until 2:30- Went to the campus center to grab lunch. The place was swarming with people! I could hardly move, and the lines for food were ridiculous. I ultimately decided to get some tofu, broccoli, and brown rice from an asian restaurant. It was okay, but not really what I wanted. I'm going to have to figure out something better to do for lunches because I can't be spending $6 a day on food.

2:30-3:45- Psychology of Persuasion. Another really interesting course. Unfortunately, I'm on the waiting list, so I might not actually be able to take it if not enough people drop it.

4:00-5:15- Research Methods in Nutrition. I really like this professor for some reason. He's an older man with white hair, small oval glasses, and a bit of a Santa belly. But he's cute in this weird, grandfatherly way. This class is very small, too. 7 students, I think.

I left campus at 5:30 and made it home by 7:10. I hit no traffic at all, which was a big relief! Now I have just a little bit of time to relax and watch some TV. Then I'm headed to bed so I can get up and back on the road early tomorrow! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't wondering how long I can keep this up.