Orientation

Today was the College of Engineering Open House. I've been pretty excited about it, not really because I have too many questions about grad school, but because I've been wanting to get out and meet some of my fellow grad students. I have to admit that UMich is a pretty big school, since the new engineering grad students alone filled up the entire auditorium that we were in. There were also tons of international students, especially from China and India, but I guess I should have expected that.

I got the impression that all the grad students there were really stressed out, even though classes haven't even started. During various Q&A sessions, everyone kept asking about how to find funding, how to find an advisor, how to get an internship, how much time to spend in lab on research, how many classes to take... The whole thing was starting to worry me until my housemate Jin asked a grad student panel the only nonacademic question of the day: What do you guys do for fun around here? The whole panel answered the question one by one, and at least half of them told us about their favorite bar. I guess I should have expected that as well.

All in all, the day was pretty fun. I met most of the new grad students in my department, and they all seem pretty cool. Now I just have to meet with my advisors, but they're both out until classes start next week...

My Housemate

My housemate Jin came back today. She had originally moved in before me, but then flew out to visit a friend in Sacramento, and didn't return until now. And yes, she's a she.

I met her at the University of Michigan Computer Science and Engineering Open House back in March. It was an event for prospective graduate students to go meet the faculty and see the school. We were some of the few CSE students interested in hardware, and got grouped together in the beginning and kinda stayed together throughout the open house. She was easy going and fun to talk to, and I found out she really liked Kirby, the pink fluff ball from various Nintendo games, and bridge, a card game I thought only old women played. I even happened to meet up with her again when we were both visiting the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since then, we've kept in touch, and when we found out we were both going to Michigan, we both came up with the idea of living together.

I'm happy that she's back since the place is a bit empty with me here by myself, and I haven't really gotten the chance to meet anyone else yet. I'm hoping that will change tomorrow though, when I go to the College of Engineering Open House.

Moving In

Today will be the first night that I'm spending at my new place. It originally came unfurnished, so my parents and I ran around Ann Arbor and the neighboring cities to grab all the things I'll need for my new place. I swear the local Ikea must have made some kind of deal with the University of Michigan to keep its housing unfurnished. I spent over $700 there alone just so I have a place to sleep and work. At least my room is now full of sleek new Swedish furniture.

The place itself isn't too shabby. It's built like a 2-story townhouse, with a kitchen and dining area/living room space on the first floor, and two bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor. The whole place is lined with hardwood floors which are actually kinda nice. It even comes with a basement, which is something I haven't really seen since I lived in Illinois, but it's concrete and as dirty as I remember them to be. The only really annoying thing about my place is its location. It's kinda far from everything, and the entire North Campus of UMich where the engineering buildings are is pretty sparse. Downtown Ann Arbor is really nice though, so I guess what I'll have to do is befriend someone with a car...

The First Step

Hi, my name's Jeff, and I'm a Ph.D. student studying Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. I've just started my degree, and I figured I should do someting to document this 5 year journey. That, and I totally copied my friend Howard =).

I've got all kinds of mixed feelings about pursuing a Ph.D. A part of me is happy to have quit my old job. A part of me is excited to begin a new chapter of my life. A part of me is nervous about how I'll fend for myself, and whether I'll make new friends. And a part of me is worried that I'll never finish the Ph.D.

Well I've just flown into Michigan yesterday, so here's hoping that the first step is the hardest.