schedules, classes, and the future
13 January 2006 @ 18:23
The good news is that I am registered for my classes -- thanks to wonderful secretaries and kind professors. French Lit, Geology, Astronomy, Advanced C++. Most of the reading in French lit will be in intermediate French, and the class has only two other students, so I should really start absorbing French. Geology and Astronomy meet both my science requirement and the general knowledge I should have for working in a planetarium. I did well in Basic C++, so I decided that Advanced C++ was a step in the right direction if I want to get into coding or programing. Or even computational linguistics. Plus the C++ logic/stuff carries into Java, Javascript, and OpenGL. Good stuff to know.
The bad news is that I think I lost my scholarship -- I don't know for sure -- so paying for this semester is going to cut into my savings for France. I might end up pulling extra duty for as long as I can get it this summer. Or getting another job.
I met up with my French prof today. No, not the one from Africa -- I won't have him this semester -- but rather the one from France. He has this unique interest in how I'm learning both Portuguese and French. (Or maybe it's his interest in Brazil. Hard to say.) I'm not the only student in the French department that's learning more than one language at once but I'm the only one who gets regular immersion in the language that I'm not learning in the classroom. It gets, well, interesting to say the least. And it keeps my French profs amused.
I also met up with the Dean of the computer departments. I didn't recognize her at first -- she was using a walker and was moving like a very old woman. But, it was her. She put in all of my classes into the database and afterwards we talked about possibly creating a brand new individual curriculum program just for me, since I'm all over the board on so many different subjects and I still manage to make it work. She really likes how I want to take a second major in a foreign language as well as get my hands dirty in some pretty tough programming classes.
The most interesting part of our brief conversation was our discussion on what I want to pursue after I graduate. The truth is, I have no idea. I have many, many options available to me. Spitz, Inc already wants to hire me to train people to use their equipment. I could easily become a military linguist. I do like to program, even if I'm at the bare bones stage of it now. Not to mention computational linguistics or accessible/assistive technology. I've thought about working in France or African francophone countries doing computer stuff. And I love languages, and I think it's extremely important to know more than one. Some of the Dean's parting words were "The job you'll have after you graduate doesn't even exist yet." Not just speaking about my skill set, but about the world of technology as a whole.
And I'm just about ready for anything.
Or so they say. I'm still not quite sure.
--Annie