Back from Pitt

Well, I went to the Pittsburgh Game with the MV's this weekend. It was a really fun trip... Robbie has a pretty good summation of the weekend on his blog so, I'll direct you there for the details... HokiePundit.

Anyway, on the bus ride home, I took the time to sit down and just write about stuff that's been on my mind... I'm not going to post the whole thing, but I'm gong to post a good bit of it so... here we go...


Sunday Afternoon Reflections

Recently, I've had a several things constantly on my mind, and as I'm on this bus riding back from an upset at Pittsburgh last night while the rest of my beloved horn section either sleeps, cuddles with their 'significant other' or quietly watches the horrible selection in cinematic entertainment, I decided to take the time to put some of these thoughts into words.

1. School - The end of the semester is fast approaching and the workload (for the most part) is definitely serving to prove this fact. This week its looking like I'll have three tests to take in addition to whatever homework I'm assigned. I'm to the point in many of my classes that the homework isn't so easy that I can just sit there and write down the answers (given the appropriate amount of time needed to scribe the solution) without having to really think about it. In fact, much of the time I just have to search the examples in my notes or the book to find something that bears some resemblance to what I'm trying to do... and then I have to play around with the given answers (that is if I'm given the answer to check my work with) to attempt to find the method that I originally needed to find the answers. But despite this, I'm doing quite respectably in all of my classes, though I am slightly disappointed with how my intro to aerospace engineering calss is going. As of the end of my freshman year, I'm actually ranked number 5 within the sophomore class in aerospace engineering. I'm enjoying my statics class a lot more than I ever expected I would, and I'm ever leaning more away from specializing in the 'space' side of aerospace engineering, though I still can't give up thinking that someday I'll get to be an astronaut. However, in the back of my mind, I don't see this very feasable since Mission Specialists and Payload Specialists on the shuttle almost always have some super-important experiment they're running and in order to be a shuttle commander or pilot you have to have 'x' (where x is rather large) number of pilot hours which is easiest to obtain through being a pilot for one of the military branches, and the more time that passes, the less I see myself ever joining the Air Force, like I was once so dead set on.

2. Religion - This week I received a delivery from UPS! It was a box of assorted home-baked cookies from my church back home. Though I don't think my moral values have changed ALL that much since I've been at college, over the past year (about), I've really gone on a downward sloping trip in terms of my relationship with Christ. I don't think I believe that you can actually lose your faith if you actually had it to begin with, but I've come extremely close to that this year. (Though I think things are getting better... see October 19, 2003 at Super Crazy Stefie Thinking Time) I've only been to church about 5 or 6 times over the past 12 months and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. And also, though I don't know of any other 'denomination' that would better suit me, I'm fairly certain that my set of religious convictions conform to that of the Southern Baptist Convention. However, worrying about all these details is being legalistic and the main worry is that the church you attend professes the basic beliefs of Christianity.

3. Relationships - A topic that I've blogged a lot about... As I've said many times before, all my best friends throughout my life have been guys (and all really great ones at that). Sometimes I think I get too close to some of these guys and hope for more to come out of these relationships, but with the exception of this most recent one, nothing ever does. I mean its kinda like they see me as the "cute, fun little sister" figure more than a chick-friend. Until recently though, I really preferred it that way, but I'm beginning to kind of want that sort of companionship - something more than just another of 'the guys'. I want to have guy friends still, don't get me wrong... but I'd still like to date as well! ----- There's nothing I can do about it now, but... I picked the wrong person to let be my first kiss -- I'll be the first to admit that, but I still would've liked for that 'romance' to last more than a day....

Finally, next semester I'm working at GE Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati. And though I know I'm going to have an amazing time there and going to gain invaluable work experience. I still am going to miss it here at VT a lot. I mean the break from classes ig going to certainly be welcomed with open arms, but I'm going to miss all my friends, Southern Virginia, pep band, symphony band, and my other activities...

But, Anyway, I've written enough. Adieu!