Not so bad after all
Laptop. Check.
Notebook. Check.
Sack lunch. Check.
Stack of CDs. Check.
Full tank of gas. Check.
Standing next to my car, I ran through the list one last time to make sure I had everything. It was late morning, and I was driving up to UO's main campus in Eugene to meet with a professor. She's a member of my advisory committee, and even though she's not a biologist, she's a statistical wizard and a great teacher. I needed her help with analyzing some data, so we had agreed to meet today.
Every time I'm on main campus, I have mixed feelings about it. I mean, I love college campuses, and UO has a particularly beautiful one. The brick buildings, the public bulletin boards, the throngs of students in rain boots and North Face - there's a certain energy that pervades the campus. What bugs me about main campus is largely circumstantial. I always have to drive there, so I end up navigating the narrow, one-way roads of the university district with a quickened pulse as I try to avoid the ubiquitous pedestrians. Compared to sleepy Coos Bay, Eugene always makes me feel claustrophobic. Besides the hassle, I think my least favorite aspect of main campus is that it's never felt like it's mine. Sure, I've been a UO student for over three years, but every time I set foot on the main campus, I end up consulting the posted maps like a freshman undergrad.
After parking my car several blocks from the university, I set out with my backpack, trying my best to blend in. I had some time left before my appointment, so I decided to stop in and say "hi" to another committee member. I headed to the science complex with her office number in hand, then realized I had no idea how to get into her building. All the buildings in the science complex are connected, but the variable architectures make finding the passageways between them non-trivial. When I finally reached her hallway, I found her office door closed, the room empty. Oh well.
Back at my stats professor's office, I parked my laptop on her desk. I showed her the data analysis I had managed by myself, then asked her how to test my remaining hypotheses. I can't tell you how many times I had to ask "How do you do that?" because even though I could conceptualize a particular test in my head, I had no idea how to run it properly. I consider myself relatively mathematically inclined, but I have a long way to go before I can match this professor's level of statistical fluency.
I wasn't actually in there that long, but it felt like an eternity. By the end, we had made some significant progress. I'm definitely closer to understanding my data now than I was before, and the more I look at it, the more interesting it gets.
Head held high, I made my way back to my car and put in one of my favorite albums - Lonesome Dreams by Lord Huron. That album is in my mind exactly what Oregon sounds like, and I love listening to it whenever I have to drive between Coos Bay and Eugene.
Overall, it was a pretty productive day. Maybe main campus isn't so bad after all.
Notebook. Check.
Sack lunch. Check.
Stack of CDs. Check.
Full tank of gas. Check.
Standing next to my car, I ran through the list one last time to make sure I had everything. It was late morning, and I was driving up to UO's main campus in Eugene to meet with a professor. She's a member of my advisory committee, and even though she's not a biologist, she's a statistical wizard and a great teacher. I needed her help with analyzing some data, so we had agreed to meet today.
Every time I'm on main campus, I have mixed feelings about it. I mean, I love college campuses, and UO has a particularly beautiful one. The brick buildings, the public bulletin boards, the throngs of students in rain boots and North Face - there's a certain energy that pervades the campus. What bugs me about main campus is largely circumstantial. I always have to drive there, so I end up navigating the narrow, one-way roads of the university district with a quickened pulse as I try to avoid the ubiquitous pedestrians. Compared to sleepy Coos Bay, Eugene always makes me feel claustrophobic. Besides the hassle, I think my least favorite aspect of main campus is that it's never felt like it's mine. Sure, I've been a UO student for over three years, but every time I set foot on the main campus, I end up consulting the posted maps like a freshman undergrad.
After parking my car several blocks from the university, I set out with my backpack, trying my best to blend in. I had some time left before my appointment, so I decided to stop in and say "hi" to another committee member. I headed to the science complex with her office number in hand, then realized I had no idea how to get into her building. All the buildings in the science complex are connected, but the variable architectures make finding the passageways between them non-trivial. When I finally reached her hallway, I found her office door closed, the room empty. Oh well.
Back at my stats professor's office, I parked my laptop on her desk. I showed her the data analysis I had managed by myself, then asked her how to test my remaining hypotheses. I can't tell you how many times I had to ask "How do you do that?" because even though I could conceptualize a particular test in my head, I had no idea how to run it properly. I consider myself relatively mathematically inclined, but I have a long way to go before I can match this professor's level of statistical fluency.
I wasn't actually in there that long, but it felt like an eternity. By the end, we had made some significant progress. I'm definitely closer to understanding my data now than I was before, and the more I look at it, the more interesting it gets.
Head held high, I made my way back to my car and put in one of my favorite albums - Lonesome Dreams by Lord Huron. That album is in my mind exactly what Oregon sounds like, and I love listening to it whenever I have to drive between Coos Bay and Eugene.
Overall, it was a pretty productive day. Maybe main campus isn't so bad after all.
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