Waiting in Line (aka the Engineering Career Fair)

So, today was the Spring Engineering Career Fair.

Yesterday were the Diversity Career Reception and the Engineering Network Reception.

None of those are as fun as they sound. And they don't even sound fun, do they?

A tad about each event:

The Diversity Career Reception used to be called the Diversity Showcase. It's specifically for employers to meet "under-represented demographics" and talk to them and stuff. Pretty much, if you're not a middle-class, white male, you get invited. And you have to be invited to get in. It's all very fancy-shmancy. I was obviously invited because as I may be middle-class and white, I am, alas, not male. Pun intended. There were only two companies that attended the Diversity Reception that I wanted to talk to. The first told me that I should really try to get some research experience under my belt. The second told me that no one from the Aerospace department could make it, but they would make sure my resume got into the right hands. As you can tell, neither of these conversations were very reassuring.

The Engineering Network Reception was pretty much the same thing as the Diversity Reception except for the fact that white guys could attend and that it was in a different building. I had intended to talk to the same two companies (Ball Aerospace and GKN, if anyone was wondering), but GKN decided to not show and I just talked to my friend, Brandi, who was there for Ball about her day. I had to wait in line for about 15 or 20 minutes to talk to Brandi. It was okay, though.

Then today was the Engineering Career Fair. It was in the same building as the Network Reception, but spread out through 3 rooms. There were more companies, but I still only wanted to talk to Ball and GKN. I waited in line for 40 minutes to talk to Ball. Forty. It was so hot in the room, too. Luckily, I ended up standing with a guy that lives in my dorm that I'm kind of friends with. Then I talked to the only lady who I hadn't talked with yet for Ball. She gave me papers and told me to apply online. Before today, I had applied for 3 internships at Ball, two of which I am actually qualified for. Now I've applied for 4 internships. Merf. After I talked to Ball, I went upstairs and stood in line for GKN for about 15 or 20 minutes. It might have been longer, but I got in line right behind one of the guys in my lab group. And he was right behind my really good friend, Dan, so the three of us just had a jolly good time waiting in the queue. The girl I talked to for GKN recognized me because she lived in my dorm last year. That was pretty cool. But, again, they didn't have anybody from Aerospace, so she circled my major on my resume and told me she would get it to the right people. One can only hope.

Facebooked

I don't know why this keeps happening to me.

I'll post something on teh Facebooks that is something normal; a status, a picture, ya know, the typical things. Then the next day I'll check the interwebs again and a bajillion people have "Liked" or commented on whatever it was that I posted. This holds true for my most current status.

"Dear asshat who took my stuff out of the dryer,
I'm sure your stuff will be totally dry by the time you go back down to the laundry room in an hour. Oh wait. No, it won't.
Sincerely,
I turned off your dryer."

As of when this post is going up, that status has 46 "likes" and 7 comments.

I really don't know why this keeps happening. I know. I said that just a few sentences ago and it's considered bad form to keep repeating the same thing over and over, but it's just really true. I don't. Know. Why.

I've never considered myself a particularly funny person. I just say what's on my mind and some people find that amusing, I guess. I think it also has something to do with the fact that I've rarely posted on Facebook as of late. It's like how people say that distance makes the heart grow fonder or whatever that crap is: the less I post on Facebook, the more love I get when I do post something. It's coincidental (not ironic) that this is happening because I used to post to Facebook all the freaking time. Yes. Freaking time. I think I was addicted to Facebook when I was in high school. Now that I'm partially more "out in the real world" of college, I'm realizing that I don't really want to share my little tid-bits with my Facebook "friends." I'd rather do something like this, where I can write out everything instead of trying to keep it in the confines of what is acceptable for a Facebook status. And if I do have something that is 140 characters or less to share, it will most likely go to my Twitter because hardly anyone follows me on that site. 

I mean, I'm flattered that people find my statuses and things to be worthy of their attention, but I'm somewhat of an introvert, so it also kind of freaks me out and I don't know how to respond. I always feel like I should post a comment that thanks everyone for their time or something similar. I just don't do well with these situations. But they keep happening. And I don't know why.

Auditions

So, I have now been to all of my classes. It seems like it's going to be a tough, but fun semester.

About the title...
I had registered for a class called Music 88: Campus Choir, which is basically choir for people who want to sing but can't really. I was taking it for an easy A. The professor was talking about how if we thought the class was too easy, we should audition for a different choir. I thought, "Yeah, sure. Why not?" I was pretty confident going into the audition that I was just going to stick with Music 88 because I was guaranteed to get an A even if I did make it into another choir.

Well, let me tell you.

I auditioned for the Campus choir professor and the professor who directs the choir I sang with my first semester. I really didn't want to be in the choir I was before, so I kind of implied that I had conflict with that class even though I don't. My audition went okay, considering I haven't sung classically in over a year; really airy, I sang a note wrong in the tone memory section, whatever. (I was being pretty hard on myself, though. I kept thinking, "What are you doing?! You sang in freaking Carnegie Hall! You can do so much better!") I was hoping to get into Women's Chorale, which is the all women's choir that practices at the same time as University Choir.

But no. I get put right back where I was before: in University Choir. The lowest of the real choirs. I just keep beating myself up about it.

I've been texting my friend, Katelyn, who is a voice major here at Penn State. She says that University Choir is totally fine. I don't know.

I'm not even sure why I'm so upset about this. It's not like any of my future depends on my being in choir. It's not the end-all-be-all for any aspect of my life.

I was just spoiled in high school: being in all of the singing groups in school and being a part of the county honors choir.

But then again, I never even made District Choir. Sure, I was close; I placed 32nd, 27th, and 29th, sophomore, junior, and senior year, respectively (they take the top 25). But I never actually got in. It's frustrating. Being told you're really good at something by the people you work with, but then having proof otherwise. But this is how my life always is. "Oh! You're so good at that!" but not really. It's like being friendzoned by everything you ever do ever.

And now I have a class from 3:55 to 5:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Great.

My New Year Resolutions

It's that time of year again: The Beginning.

Everyone's going around saying "I'm going to eat right this year!" or "I'm going to work out everyday!" Both of these goals are a bit unrealistic to me. I've actually been thinking about my New Year Resolutions for some time now. I normally don't make any because they're next to impossible to keep. But, this year, I've made an exception.

So here they are. My New Year Resolutions:

1. Memorize one song a month. And by that I mean playing my ukulele and singing. I've got my first one started. When I'm done, I'll make videos and post them to YouTube, either my collaborative channel, or my personal one.

2. Get at least B-'s in all of my classes this semester. I'm tired of seeing that stupid C on my grades page on eLion. I know this never happens, but I'm going to say it anyway: I will study more and procrastinate less to meet this goal.

3. I will go to the gym twice a week and to the pool once a week. Out of all my resolutions, this is the least likely to happen. Sure, the gym is literally across the street from my dorm building, but that doesn't mean it isn't hard to wake up at 7:30 in the morning and force myself to go over. And the pool is even further away. I live in West campus and the closest pool is in Central campus. I have such a hard life. (sarcasm)

Those are all of the resolutions I can remember right now. If there are more, I'll update this post later.