Wagons Weekly: Whoever Said Senior Year Was Easy Lied (life rant) Edition

"UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy" (smithtaylorm)
09/21/2016 at 00:03 • Filed to: None

Ever since I left my last co-op and started senior year, life has been crazy. Probably my fault as I picked up a 20-25 hour part time job to help pay the bills. Between working, looking for full time jobs, 16 credit hours of which a lot of outside work is needed (Unit Ops Lab and Chemical Engineering Process Design are very time intensive), I wake up at 5:30 AM, hit the gym by 6, and usually don’t get home until 9-930 PM. I write this now at midnight as my group has just turned in our first design project.

The worst part is my Ninja didn’t sell (I’m fine with that), but needs a valve adjustment badly and I’m afraid to really ride it before I get it done but have absolutely no time to drop it off. Hopefully the fact that it’s still 90 in late September means if I get it in the next two weeks, I may still be able to enjoy it (probably not).

The other worst part is I’m starting to feel like the alcohol hits me worse now (I’m about to turn 23). I used to be able to finish class/exams at 11, drink at 1 until 1 am, wake up the next morning and feel great. Now I can have a few beers, drink a bunch of water, and still feel kind of shitty the next day. I get stuck between wanting to drink with friends, but not wanting to do it because I have too much stuff to do and know I’ll be useless the day after I drink. Oh well.

Luckily, there’s only 10 weeks left in this semester after this week, and spring semester should be much better. If my grades falter this semester, I have a very high cumulative GPA so it won’t affect me much (which is nice). I just need to get on my ass about getting the bike fixed. I also moved in with my girlfriend, and that’s always nice to come home to.

I hope I haven’t missed much on Oppo since mid August. I feel like I haven’t even looked at the site once since then. I miss you guys.

Obligatory avant for your time.

DISCUSSION (20)

dogisbadob > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 00:08

Welcome back and good luck

facw > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 00:15

Seriously. My senior year was a bit of a disaster. Pity, my junior year was great. Fall semester was the worst, the only class I didn’t seriously consider dropping was an intro art history course I was taking just because, and even there I got a D on the midterm.

wafflesnfalafel > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 00:16

fast wagons are always appreciated - my senior year was a gear up, on fire, belly landing. Get it done, move on to better things.

NinetyQ > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 00:20

Senior year is a breeze.

...in high school.

Garrett Davis > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 00:24

Gorgeous Saab. I’ve been looking for one for a while, but satisfied my wagon needs elsewhere, but I still list after these...

MrDakka > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 00:52

Hopefully, every person is pulling his or her weight in your group. I was fortunate to not have any slackers in my senior design group. However I’ve heard horror stories about that one person in their groups who either doesn’t contribute or actively worked against the rest of the group because his design was the better than the rest.

for Michigan > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 01:01

Senior year of college is tough when you’re taking classes full time and working a job. My first two years (got my BA in three years) were great. Everything went to shit Senior year, but I survived and I have my degree!

Hang in there! You’ve almost made it.

Montalvo > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 07:24

At least for me senior year was supposed to be a little bit easier but then I decided to fill some of my requirements for my major and get a minor in energy engineering as well. My last semester was filled with mostly nuclear engineering, where graduate students comprised about 90% of the class. Definitely feel like it wasn’t worth the extra headache but hey I now know quite a bit about fusion and fission. Working a part time job while also taking chemical engineering though? You have my respect. It might be a real pain to balance everything now but I have a feeling it will reward you many times over.

TheRealBicycleBuck > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 08:14

Senior year. Eighteen hours, including the two hardest courses in my degree program (one was the second attempt after dropping it my Junior year). Two jobs, 40+ hours a week. Sure, one was as a hall director, but that one kept me up at all hours since the resident advisors would wake me up for the least little thing. My real job was an hour away, so the 8-hour day was really a 10-hour day, twice a week.

But I survived and I’m better for it.

You will too once you prioritize the important things. No matter what “they” tell you, grades matter in this market. Two equal candidates? Which one had the higher GPA? Yep, hire that one.

Stay focused. The end is in sight.

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > Montalvo
09/21/2016 at 17:48

I think it will too. Just hope that my GPA doesn’t drop too bad. I think it will be okay in the end, hopefully I can get a job with my current GPA before it drops haha. I appreciate the good words. What was your major? Chemical as well?

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > TheRealBicycleBuck
09/21/2016 at 17:51

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, exactly. The fact that I have part time jobs, plenty of outside commitment, as well as a good GPA makes me competitive and that’s a big driving force. I figured I wasn’t the only one on here who went through something similar. Only 15 weeks in the grand scheme of things is nothing either, so that helps

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > for Michigan
09/21/2016 at 17:52

Thanks, yep I’m close. 1.5 more semesters and then I can do the things I love full time, which isn’t bad.

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > MrDakka
09/21/2016 at 17:53

Actually, one guy decided that after 4 years of co-op/class he didn’t feel like showing up to 95% of class or responding to our reach for help. So we did 3 man work on a 4 person project. Luckily it was the first one.

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > Garrett Davis
09/21/2016 at 17:54

TurboX wagon can have all of my wants!

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > dogisbadob
09/21/2016 at 17:54

Thanks!

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > facw
09/21/2016 at 17:54

Spring semester should get a lot better (at least that’s what I tell myself)

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > wafflesnfalafel
09/21/2016 at 17:54

Very good way to put it!

Montalvo > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 18:03

GPA is important but it isn’t the end all be all. How you interact with your interviewer and the other employees can be just as impactful. Also there always more jobs than people to fill them in engineering so you should be safe. I majored as a Mechanical Engineer.

MrDakka > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 19:18

Oh man, that completely blows. Hope you got some slack from the prof because of that.

09GT - now boosted > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/21/2016 at 19:20

I was taking Unit Ops in ChemE 20 years ago at Ohio State. It sucks, but the degree is worth it - there really isn’t anything you can’t do with it. I’m a physician now, but I had all kinds of interviews my 4th year (I took 5 to graduate) - everything from petro/gas industry to CIA to the Marines. Guys I graduated with went to law schools and got their MBAs too. You’re almost there!

Had a CTS Sportwagon (non-V, though) as my wagon-cred.