Last week before finals

My hellish weekend is over! Last week I had a 5.12 test and two psets. The only things due next week are my two short stories, which I’ve already written and just have to edit. So it’s just studying for finals now.

I finally sent in the final version of my research paper to the Journal of Chemical Education! Hopefully they will not have many comments and it will be published soon (within the year). I was also able to compile my Matlab program, there are still some things that I need to tweak, but it does work.

I did well on my 5.12 test (103/100)!! The average was about 83. I also did well on my 18.03 test, getting about ten points above the average, which was 73 if I recall. My physics test did not go as well, so I’ll have to study a lot for the final. In other good news, my HASS teacher really liked my new short stories, so hopefully I will get a good grade in that class.

Two weekends ago Gus and I went to half of a sorority lip sync fundraiser. A bunch of annoying guys kept yelling and screaming stuff for most of it, so we left. After an hour or so of exploring the basements of MIT’s main buildings and going into mechanical rooms, we decided to go a bit higher….on top of buildings :-). We went to the top of the small dome and on top of Walker Memorial. The sky was clear, and we had a spectacular view of Boston (it was very romantic).

Last weekend the Massachusetts State Science Fair was held in the athletic center at MIT. Gus and I went to see some of the projects. Only the high schoolers were presenting at this time, the middle schoolers present in June. It was fun talking to the students about their projects--so nostalgic for me. I love science fairs! (my inner nerd is coming out :-).

This week there was the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. I’ve been keeping up with everything online. It’s exciting because the PS3 and the new Nintendo “Wii” system are coming out. If I have enough spending money I will probably get both of them. The PS3 graphics are amazing! The Nintendo Wii has weaker graphics than both the Xbox 360 and the PS3, but it has a really cool controller that allows you to point at the screen, making control easier for games. Plus I love Nintendo franchises like the Legend of Zelda, Mario, and Metroid.

Last night Kaitlyn had a wind ensemble concert, which Amanda, Gus, and I attended. She played very well! I also went to a party up on the 9^th floor for about 30 minutes last night, and then promptly went to bed.

This weekend I’m starting to study for finals. It’s been rainy and gloomy all week long, so I guess that is a good thing because I can’t go outside and distract myself from studying. Simmons is having a campus wide barbeque (indoors) tonight, so I will be helping out with that. Amanda M. is organizing it.

We are getting special 5.12 t-shirts! There is a little acetal “person” running up a beta-carotene molecule. Very amusing.