Back in Action

Well it was a great summer of research! But now school is back in full swing. The homework has started piling up, and the grad school apps are getting filled out. I have some exciting things to look forward to in my last year at IIT though:

Planning Kappa formal

being a SGA Senator

Epilepsy research

hosting BME study nights

I'm pretty excited.

-Waha

Student Government Association

Last night, I was elected to be a senator representing Armor College of Engineering! SGA does lots of things from approving and organizing student organizations, to planning student life activities. I think I'm interested in also being on the Academic Affairs sub-committee (all senators serve on sub-committees too). My good friend is the Academic Affairs executive board member, and we've been brain storming some exciting ideas about improving academic life on campus. I love to see things moving forward on campus, so I'm really enthusiastic about being apart of it!

Unfortunatly, finals are in sight, and these final projects won't finish themselves on their own. It's looking like it's going to be a couple long nights coming up here. Hopefully, I can knock my two lab reports today, leaving only my paper to be finished up tomorrow. My goal is to be able to sleep both tonight and tomorrow at least for a few hours.

Thankfully, Friday afternoon is the Student Ambassador party! And, Friday night is the SigEp's Date Dinner. At student ambassador party were grilling out and date dinner is clearly, a dinner. So, once all these final projects are done, I have a fun Friday planned which includes lots of food! When Saturday rolls around, it's back to studying though, cause finals are next week!

Final Sprint!

Waha

The X-Chormosomes, The Crown Jewels, and The Techtonics

Friday night the Bog was PACKED for the a cappella concert. The a cappella group here on campus has three different sub-groups:

The X-Chromosomes--an all girls group
The Crown Jewels--an all boys group
The Techtonics--8 girls, 8 boys

All three groups gave an excellent show! As a recently formed student organization, the group as seen a continuous rise in attendees at their concerts, and the attendees have seen a continuous rise in creativity and talent from the group. It was great to see the bog so packed. Normally, it's tough to get students out for events when finals are so close, but IIT students tend to love good music almost as much as they love math.

-Waha

The Music of the City

On Friday morning, Nicolle and I ventured downtown to buy a gift for our good friend's wedding shower. It's a short train ride up to the loop, where there is tons of shopping on State Street and Michigan Ave. We were headed back to school and were waiting for the red line (subway train). As we walked below ground we heard someone singing the classic song, "Lean on me." He was pretty good, so we joined him in singing (just not quite as loud). Nicolle sang the lyrics a few octaves higher than the man on the platform and I proceed to make the percussion sounds, the cymbal is my favorite. I got a little sad though, Nicolle is graduating, and I'm going to miss her immensely, because she is someone I lean on. It's a sad part about college, every year there is going to be friends who graduate and leave. When we got on the train we started talking about how much we love this part of living in the city of Chicago; There is Music Everywhere! It only got better when we transferred to the green line at Roosevelt, we had another artist rapping in the train car. He's a regular and a favorite of the green line. We tapped our feet again enjoying the music and rhythm that make Chicago a special place.

-Waha

Power 10

I used to be a rower. When we were approaching the finish line, the coxswain would give us something to pull for in each of the last 10 strokes, it was called a power 10. It's like a runner ending sprint. So here's my power 10 to the end of the semester:

1. Don't give in now you've already come so far
2. Finish strong
3. Pain is only chemical
4. There's oatmeal on the other side of the finish line
5. Your legs were built for this
6. Show them what your made of
7. For the team
8. For yourself
9. Empty the tank
10. Last one, right here

We'd glide across the finish line and take a deep breath absorbing the beauty around us. Sometimes, when classes get tough, I imagine that coxswain yelling out my power 10. Although not a perfect match, it can get me though some long nights.

10 strokes/3 weeks to the finish line,

Waha

What Courses Do I Take Next Year?

It always a challenge to pick out courses. Your adviser helps you with the required ones and the graduating on time thing. However, then there's those electives. There are so many! If you have lots of interest, it can be quite a challenge to decide which of the 8 courses your interested in to take in the one time slot you have available. So here's how it works: First, you meet with your adviser, and they tell you which courses you NEED to take to graduate. They also will provide you with information about future careers, internships, and all those good things. They'll let you know which courses you get to choose, and some good choices for those electives. Finally, your adviser gives you your pin number. On registration day, you log on to myIIT and go to the academics tab where you can enter your pin and register. You need to have your bill paid and no holds on your account to register though, so make sure to check that a few weeks before registration begins. Your first semester you'll do this whole process with your academic adviser during orientation, so everyone knows how it goes when they get here!

As I was completing my registration this year, I realized I only have one more undergraduate registration left! Graduation is starting to sneak up on me...

I began researching graduate schools shortly after this realization. I guess I'm taking the GRE this summer.

-Waha

GW09

Well, Greek Week has begun! Last night we opened up with each chapter presenting a skit and their banner. Here are this years themes: (or at least what I think they are, I couldn't completely see everyone's skit)

Pi Kaps--Hide and Seek
SigEps--The Revolutionary War
Delts--The Finer Things in Life
Alpha Sigs--Vikings
Skulls--Skull Models (Zoolander twist)
Triangle--U-Tube
ASA--The Presentation of Man
Kappa--The Flintstones
Zippos--Superheros

The theme of each house is an exciting part of Greek Week. Often the characters and the theme carry through to each of the events. Points are gained through the winning of each event, and a winner is declared at the end of the week. This years events include:

Skit/Banner
Egg Toss (short speed toss and a long toss competition)
8-man
leg tunnel
Greek Council Meeting (higher % of chapter there = more points)
obstacle course--hurdles, high heel race, army crawl
dance off
cook off

I think that's all. Greek Week is lots of fun, and a great chance to have friendly competition. My favorite event is the dance off! The one challenge of the week is to continue to stay on top of classes even though there are lots of fun things going on. I find that going to the library is a good way to escape all the craziness on the quad and get some work done.

Also exciting today, its student government elections! Our student government is VERY active, and there are great students running for positions this year. I am enthusiastic about the next year at IIT!

Yabadabadoo!

Waha