This is Hannah.

Nov 24th, 2010 @ 9:55 am

Its the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and, as expected and hoped for, my entire discussion section is empty.  What better time to do a tumblr post?   Its been a while since I’ve updated my tumblr.  Heck, its been a while since I’ve written anything outside of note-taking and equations.   Approximately three months have passed since the last time I’ve stepped into beautiful Southern California.  Thinking about going home home, not my apartment “home”, has me jumping like a kid high on sugar.  I imagine it’ll be like I had stepped into a time capsule for three months and emerge to see that everyone has changed, at least somewhat.  Maybe my expectations are high but, I know for certain that I’ve changed, at least somewhat.  Outside of the extra inches of hair on my head, and extra insulating layers of warm lipids around my belly, I feel different.  Adapting to a new environment and overcoming various challenges demands that I do.   I never thought that I would live in Berkeley.  Visiting the location for my undergrad decision pushed me to choose UCLA.  I live in a glorified attic, which I am accustomed to now and even find endearing.  Its funny that I felt I was back on short term missions in Bushwick, Brooklyn when I was moving in.  I would walk home at 4:00pm when the shadows started to elongate.  Coming back from an optometry game night, Patty  (one of my apartment mates) and I would semi-jog back with a knife in my hand and a rape whistle in hers.  So silly. Sigh. But now, now I’ve learned to dodge the mounds of feces on the sidewalk on my way to class, walk in the middle of the street at nightly hours to avoid pouncers in the shadows, and make do with my closet-less room.   I never thought I would be a GSI.  I remember thinking that my TAs during my  undergrad were demi-gods on the subject matter.  Now I know that they just study the material to death so they look like they  know what they’re talking about <—that’s what I do.  I’m still not the best GSI, but I think my students know I try.  During the week I was really sick, one of my students brought my a  cup of hot chocolate.  Another week, one told me that he appreciated my hard work and to keep doing what I was doing after discussion section.  I’d say I’m really blessed to have a great class.  Fourteen weeks of GSI-ing has flown by so quickly. When I first moved to Berkeley, I had the mentality that I was going to go back home home soon; Berkeley was just temporary—so temporary that I didn’t feel like investing anything here.  Three months later,  I’m going back home home, knowing that its just temporary because I’m ready to start putting some roots down at Berkeley. My my, how times have changed. 

Its the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and, as expected and hoped for, my entire discussion section is empty.  What better time to do a tumblr post?  

Its been a while since I’ve updated my tumblr.  Heck, its been a while since I’ve written anything outside of note-taking and equations.  

Approximately three months have passed since the last time I’ve stepped into beautiful Southern California.  Thinking about going home home, not my apartment “home”, has me jumping like a kid high on sugar.  I imagine it’ll be like I had stepped into a time capsule for three months and emerge to see that everyone has changed, at least somewhat.  Maybe my expectations are high but, I know for certain that I’ve changed, at least somewhat. 

Outside of the extra inches of hair on my head, and extra insulating layers of warm lipids around my belly, I feel different.  Adapting to a new environment and overcoming various challenges demands that I do.  

I never thought that I would live in Berkeley.  Visiting the location for my undergrad decision pushed me to choose UCLA.  I live in a glorified attic, which I am accustomed to now and even find endearing.  Its funny that I felt I was back on short term missions in Bushwick, Brooklyn when I was moving in.  I would walk home at 4:00pm when the shadows started to elongate.  Coming back from an optometry game night, Patty  (one of my apartment mates) and I would semi-jog back with a knife in my hand and a rape whistle in hers.  So silly. Sigh. But now, now I’ve learned to dodge the mounds of feces on the sidewalk on my way to class, walk in the middle of the street at nightly hours to avoid pouncers in the shadows, and make do with my closet-less room.  

I never thought I would be a GSI.  I remember thinking that my TAs during my  undergrad were demi-gods on the subject matter.  Now I know that they just study the material to death so they look like they  know what they’re talking about <—that’s what I do.  I’m still not the best GSI, but I think my students know I try.  During the week I was really sick, one of my students brought my a  cup of hot chocolate.  Another week, one told me that he appreciated my hard work and to keep doing what I was doing after discussion section.  I’d say I’m really blessed to have a great class.  Fourteen weeks of GSI-ing has flown by so quickly.

When I first moved to Berkeley, I had the mentality that I was going to go back home home soon; Berkeley was just temporary—so temporary that I didn’t feel like investing anything here.  Three months later,  I’m going back home home, knowing that its just temporary because I’m ready to start putting some roots down at Berkeley. My my, how times have changed. 

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