Back at School

This past Thursday was my first day in class for my Master's degree.  I am now officially a graduate student at the famed Wichita State University.  I'm taking three courses this semester: Linear Systems, Control Systems Concepts, and Power Systems Analysis.  One of them is kind of a review course to get me back into the swing of things.  I've attended two of these classes so far and right now I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.  It has been seven years since I did any of the math and engineering that is being expected of me now and I'm feeling it. The first homework set I got had three problems on it and though I've worked through some of it, I don't feel confident in any of the answers.

Put simply, I think this first semester of grad school is going to be rough.  I'm working half-time right now but fear that I may have underestimated my ability to get back into academic rhythm.  It doesn't help that I will be attending weddings nearly every weekend in semester leaving less time for studying.  Like I said, right now I feel a bit overwhelmed.

On a lighter note, I spend part of Thursday wandering around campus and discovered a few things.

• Most of the buildings are clearly marked ON ONE SIDE.  Why?  I spent a lot of time walking around buildings trying to determine if this was the one I needed to be in.
• Of the ~ 100 students in my Linear Systems class the ethnic breakdown is:
  

Central Asian (Indian, Nepali, etc): 90

East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, etc): 7

White (for lack of a better term): 3

This is the first time in my life I've been that much of a minority

• As I was trying to find my second class of the day I stumbled across a building with a particularly aggressive hazard diamond on it.  All three hazard types were at their maximum level (4) and the special instruction in the white section indicated to not use water to put out any fire. After thinking about it for a few minutes I decided that this must be the chemistry building.  I was right.