Auld Lang Syne: So Long, 2017

January

  • Six below and two feet of snow
  • Calc IV at 8:00 AM . . . when it's six below and two feet of snow
  • Combinatorics is rad
  • Calc IV consumes the majority of my life
  • The flu sucks, but Vitamin C is the best medicine

February

I keep being counseled to count my blessings. Today, the sun shined. Today I had time to do my makeup and hair (which, for me, is time to recharge my overworked brain). Today I finished my Calc IV webwork efficiently. Today I noticed an improvement in my problem reading skills. Yesterday, the sun was shining and the peak temperature was forty four degrees. Yesterday I submitted my fifth REU application. Yesterday I had time to do yoga and relax for an hour before bed. The day before, I got to talk to people about topics that matter, and was pleasantly surprised at the wisdom of some of my coworkers. One of my professors told me she thought I deserved a $10,000 scholarship and then proceeded to offer to write a letter of recommendation for me. What???? Yes, I'm usually exhausted and cranky. And yes, my life is pretty awesome anyway. #mathmajorsunite #mathiseverywhere #womeninmath #womeninstem #womenmathmajorsunite #snapseed
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  • Tons of REU applications
  • I get 100% on my combinatorics midterm!
  • Graph theory is fun
  • The sun might peek out of the clouds for three days total this month?
  • Maid of honor speech prepping
  • A trip to Vancouver, Washington to be the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding!

March

  • Finals!
  • The snow is melting :-)
  • Hallie comes to visit my little apartment in Ellensburg for the first time!
  • On Friday, March 19, I get an offer from Vadim Ponomarenko at San Diego State University to join their research team for the summer -- probably the most exciting moment of 2017

April

  • Late nights in the library doing proofs with my classmates
  • The beginning of a long bout of anxiety -- the most difficult moments of 2017

May

  • Dealing with withdrawing from a class for the first time
  • Haphazard sleep schedules that mean going to bed at 6:30 one night after staying up till who-knows-when and getting up at 1:30 and not going back to sleep
  • Trying to get my life and emotions together after midterms
  • Being thankful for my professors
  • Prepping for San Diego!

June

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  • The quarter (and my first school year at Central!) draws to a close
  • I buy my first Smartphone
  • I fly out to San Diego! -- the single most terrifying moment of 2017
  • Exploring Balboa Park, meeting my new teammates, going to Ocean Beach and trying fish tacos for the first time, and getting excited about doing research
  • Trying out SDSU's gym
Ocean Beach, June 30.

July

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  • Touristy ventures to Fourth of July's Big Bay Boom, Fashion Valley, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Gaslamp Quarter on Comic-Con weekend, and Coronado Island
  • Continuation and worsening of anxiety
  • REU mid-program talks
  • We finally start legitimate research close to the end of July!
  • My baby niece is born on July 23!!! also the most exciting moment of 2017
Hotel del Coronado, July 30.

August

  • More touristy ventures to Little Italy (including Napizza and a farmer's market!), Phoebe's Palace to practice for the REU final presentation, Soda & Swine for Phoebe's birthday, Sunset Cliffs, Del Mar Racecourse, Torrey Pines Nature Reserve, La Salsa Restaurant, and back to Coronado for a day at the beach
  • REU final presentations + final paper
  • End of the REU! Good-bye, Bendixson . . .
  • Hallie comes to visit me!
  • Hallie and I have a massively hilarious and exhausting adventure, which includes, but is not limited to, getting on the wrong buses multiple times, raiding the faculty bathrooms at UCSD's neuroscience building, leaving Del Mar to get off on the wrong stop at Torrey Pines, hauling butt up the hill to find the next bus stop, breaking a sandal, not finding the bus stop for three miles, trying to get away from two men who were slightly odd, getting on the next bus with one shoe on, getting off at the next bus stop, probably having to wait 30 minutes for the next bus and another fifty-four stops before home, calling an Uber, thanking God for Justin (take a moment of silence, please), and practically running to Trader Joe's on adrenaline to get ice cream -- undoubtedly the single most hilarious moments of 2017
  • Home! Goldendale has never been a happier place
Arrogate, 2016's World's Best Racecourse, at Del Mar Racecourse before the Pacific Classic, August 19.

September

  • An awful, anxiety-inducing GRE subject test
  • A weekend at Camp Clear Lake with Goldendale church family
  • The start of a new quarter and some fun new analysis
  • First doctor's appointment and some treatment
  • Readjusting to a very different math department
  • My twenty-first birthday!
Me and my little tubmuffin, September 24.

October

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  • Slowly healing from anxiety and anxiety-related illness
  • Presenting at the Northwest Undergraduate Mathematics Symposium on my first trip into Bellingham!
Math club's trip to the Northwest Undergraduate Mathematics Symposium, where I presented my team's research/gave my first academic talk, October 14.

November

  • The GRE. . . .
  • Presenting at the Mount Stuart Mathematics Seminar at Central
  • Being floored by my professors' kindness
  • Hours and hours in the math library and staying later than my professors do :-)
That moment when you stay in the math library so late your professor is like “Yo come out and look at the clouds they're doing something cool,” November 17.

December

  • The Putnam exam (possibly the most mentally exhausting exam ever)
  • A spontaneous trip to Leavenworth with Jessica
  • Finals and staying in Bouillon Hall till 5 a.m.
  • Another GRE, and answered prayers
  • Grad school prep
  • Home again
  • A very merry Christmas with all my family :)
  • The Last Jedi is awesome
  • Hanging out with the S.S. at Ayutla's
  • The Lord is my Shepherd
My fat girl, December 23. Also starring, Drem's aristocratic face, and Hallie's skillz.

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