So much paperwork

Today I went into the CS department's HR office to get all the paperwork for my course dev job in order. The appointment itself was pretty quick - I just had to type a bit of basic information into their computer and show identifying documents to their staff. Later I got an e-mail with a link to their new hire portal, through which I embarked on a long journey. So far, I've signed a handful of understandings, verified a bunch of information, gone through two training presentations, and become a mandatory reporter, and that was all the first of six steps.

Back in lab

Yesterday I went to the biochemistry research lab to check in and learn what I'll be working on at the start of this semester. Today I started on that work by doing a straightforward PCR. Next Wednesday I'll go in again and run a gel to see if it worked.

Paperwork time

In order to technically/legally be appointed for the CS 125 course developer job, there is apparently some paperwork to fill out. Fortunately I have all required documents/cards with me on campus, so it's a matter of going to the HR office on Friday to get all verified. Then I can start working!

Lots of work ahead

Today was the first day of classes for the fall semester and it's shaping up to be a handful. As I knew coming in, CS 225 strongly suggests CS 173 as a prerequisite, but I am taking both simultaneously. The first exam in 225 is meant to get us comfortable with the testing facility, but it covers many aspects of 173 that are foundational to 225. Fortunately I read the 173 book over the summer, but I definitely need to review the relevant chapters. In MCB 250, the professor said that it would probably be the hardest class we've ever taken. The first order of business is to memorize the structures, abbreviations, and properties of all amino acids and nucleotides.

Semester starts tomorrow

The new semester begins tomorrow. First thing in the morning, I'll join the other CS 125 course staff on stage in its first lecture to welcome the freshmen. Then I will attend the lectures of a CS class I'm in and a biology class. After the biology lecture, I have the first four-hour lab, for which I had to go get a few more supplies today.

Everyone else moved in

Today was the general move-in day for freshmen. I got up at 6:30 AM, went down to breakfast a bit before 7:30, and started working around 8:30. My job was to bring moving carts to families while they unloaded their items. I then helped bring the carts up to the student's room and brought each cart back down after the student unloaded it, answering any questions along the way. When assisted move-in ended after 3 PM, I took a shower. Then I went to meet a friend from high school and showed him around campus.

Moved in again

I arrived back on campus this afternoon and got my whole setup back together. After a bit of downtime, I went to the training session for helping with general move-in tomorrow. Check-in is at 7:30 AM, work starts at 9. Since I have to get up so early, I made sure to put everything I'll need in the morning in a convenient place.

Packing up for year 2

Today was my last full day in the Quad Cities before heading back to Champaign-Urbana tomorrow. At the moment I'm getting the last of everything packed up and put into the car. I'll leave sometime in the morning, no rush. Once I get to campus and unpack everything, I'll go around, pick up books and supplies from the bookstore, find my classrooms, and hopefully meet up with some friends.

Moving in early

As a returning student to University Housing, my move-in date would be the Saturday immediately before classes start. But since I'd like a little more time to get settled in and make sure I have all necessary materials, I've signed up to be a move-in guide. That way, I can move in on Wednesday, help arriving new students on Thursday, and have plenty of time to organize.

Got the course dev job

I received an e-mail earlier today informing me that I've been offered the job as a course developer for the CS class I took last semester! I accepted by filling out the Google form and uploading the image that will be listed on the course staff page. Reading over the information document, apparently the 10-hours-per-week figure is a maximum workload, which is good because I may have a lot of other things to do too.

Prospects for the course dev job are good

I previously applied to become a course developer for the introductory CS class I took last semester. I got a response a couple weeks ago. The professor mentioned some of the projects the course devs might work on and asked what I would prefer to do. Interestingly, there was never a mention of an interview despite the indication of one in the generic "application received" message sent out to everyone. That all sounds very promising to me, but the e-mails didn't explicitly say anything one way or the other. The semester starts in a bit over two weeks, so hopefully I'll hear something concrete soon.

Organic chemistry grade in

Yesterday the final exam results came in for the organic chemistry class I took online. While there were 220 possible points on the exam, the 100% mark was 200 points. Apparently I only missed 2 out of 55 questions for a score of 212. Course grades are also finalized - thanks to that boost from the final exam, I ended up with a grade of 101%.

Organic chemistry: it's over

Yesterday I took the final exam for the online summer organic chemistry course. It seemed to go really well, but I won't know the results until sometime this coming week, probably Monday or Tuesday. The Word document I was writing all my notes in turned out with 13,624 words and 33 pages.

Last chemistry discussion

Tonight was the last live online discussion for my summer organic chemistry course. Yesterday and earlier today I did the practice exams. They went very well, and the problems I had were addressed in tonight's review session. The final exam is two days from today.