CS 1801 Journal 1—First Weeks

I wrote this for class, and realized this would make a great post summarizing my first weeks at Tech.

Academically, these first weeks at Georgia Tech have been a bit of a disappointment; financially, a bit of a shock; and, with respect to extra-curricular activities, quite impressed.

Academically, I haven't been challenged at all (check back with me after the first round of tests), but I realize, being a new transfer, I don't have access to the more advanced CS classes. Still, it is frustrating to have to test out of something so elementary as Intro to Object Oriented Programming (CS 1331)—I have been programming for nearly ten years, after all!

I knew Tech was going to be more expensive than the other colleges I have attended, but I did not envision a scenario where HOPE would cover less than half of the bill. After orientation, on the 13^th, I went to get my parking permit. Once at the counter, the lady asked which section I wanted, I looked over the chart and told her. She then proceeded—in the most nonchalant way possible, I think—to tell me it would be 704$. Thinking it was a prank pulled on the new transfers or something of the sort, I replied, with as much composure as I could muster, “I'm sorry, I thought you said '704 dollars.'”

“Yeah, 704 dollars, that's right,” the clerk replied.

“Oh dear. I will have to talk to my Dad about that... Thank you for your time,” I said as I left.

I eventually bought the permit—mainly because I couldn't find any other compelling alternatives—although I'm still annoyed a 704$ gets a spot one-half mile away from my classes. One bright spot is that I don't have to deal with traffic since my classes don't start until 11am, and I'm throughly grateful there were available slots so late in registration.

There always seems to be something to do on campus. My only regret with all these activities is that I cannot go to many of them since I live in Canton and commute to Tech (which was on purpose for the first semester to get my bearings; I may live on/near campus later).

Well, I'm well over the stated word count, as usual, so I'll finish out by giving my outlook for this semester. Probably like everybody else here, I'm a straight-A student, and expect nothing less for this semester.