"Do you have football in America?"

So with my first week of lectures over, I thought I should update the blog with some insights about life and learning in England.

I have 6 modules this semester, a module is the same as a class in America. 4 of the modules consist of two 1 hour lectures plus one 1 hour tutorial session.  One module has two 1 hour lectures and one 2 hour tutorial, and the remaining module is just one 2 hour lecture.  This semester I am taking: Computational Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, Operating Systems, Professional & Legal Issues, Software Analysis & Design, and Theory of Computing.  Even though most people would say that these modules are crazy and I am crazy for taking them, I really enjoy the lectures.  Every professor knows what they are talking about, and they really care about the material that they are teaching us.  You don't feel that going to a lecture is a waste of time.  We've all felt the feeling that the professor doesn't give a crap about you, the class, or the material that they are presenting. It makes you not want to go to class, especially if you have better things to do; such as sleep.  But I don't feel that way here, I feel that everything we learn is important and that it will undoubtedly help me in the future.  


In the UK system of education, a lot of weight is put on "the Exam" which is given at the end of every module.  Most modules break down the marks by 70% exam, and 30 % coursework.  The coursework is usually an assignment given before the 9th week of the semester.  It is a project that usually involves some deep understanding of the material.  It is a good complement to the exam if you aren't good at taking exams.  The passing level for exams at Soton is 40%.  For my program I believe I need to get above 57% on average for the year, 59% next year.  1st class is above 69.5%, which is what I will be shooting for, besides looking good, and being able to brag about it, the school offers scholarships for students in the 1st class.  


In terms of my experiences at Soton, it is a great place to be and I love it here.  I have made a lot of really good friends and only a few enemies (just kidding).  I'm already involved in a number of clubs and societies on campus, which is always a good way to meet people. 


I love my flatmates and my blockmates.  We are all having a blast and getting along great.

I am off to Computational Systems in just a few minutes (it is 3 hours straight) so I will keep this post short.

Peace!

"Do You Like Mint?"

It is 10 pm (thought it will probably be about 2 am when I finish this) and the streets of Southampton are packed with Freshers.  I'm quite tired so I stayed in tonight, so I figured it would be a good time to blog about how everything.  I will start out by saying I LOVE ENGLAND.  Everyone is incredibly friendly here, everyone is respectful and just all around nice.  I may never leave ;-)

So, what have I been up to lately?

Well, I have been participating in Fresher's Week activities.  For those who don't know what Fresher's Week is, it is the week leading up to the week that classes start.  Mostly, it involves parties every night of the week.  I went to both welcome parties at the Boiler House which is the bar/club on the grounds of my residence halls.  It is a really cool place to hang out, chill, and party.  It is really cool to party without having the constant annoyance of the prospect of having the party be broken up by the police.  Anyway, I headed to campus after the party on Sunday night to try to get into the Fresher's party at The Cube, the club on campus in SUSU (Southampton University Student's Union).  Unfortunately, I didn't have a ticket.  But I wound up with a bunch of people from the hall next to mine and we all walked back together.  It was pretty cool since we are told that Connaught hall is "bad" and that Montefiore is "cool" so we bickered a bit in jest.  It was a cool night.

Finally, all of my flat-mates have moved in; Stacey, Tom, Rav, Kym, Vikki, Cerys, Kent, and ME! We already have nick-names; Stacey calls me "Daniel", and I call her "Legs", and I call Cerys "Kit-Kat".  Basically we are all getting along great and we are having a BLAST here.  I am soooo happy that I am living with cool people.

Every so often I stop myself and say "Holy [sugar honey iced tea]!! I'm in England!!"  I don't know, it is just a cool idea.

That is it for now...

By the way, if you can figure out what this picture is supposed to show, I will give you 5 quid!

My First Few Days in Southampton

Let me start where I last left off, leaving for JFK...

We all jumped in the car and drove off to JFK at about 5pm.  We hit almost no traffic heading down which is unheard of!  I got through security in about 2 seconds and, after a few hours of waiting, I left Earth with the promise to return 5 hours later.  I was hoping to get some sleep on the plane, but there was only about 4 inches of leg room and the lady next to me kept talking to me.  So that kinda sucked!  I landed in Shannon, Ireland in an airport that looked like no one was there.  After exchanging some money and getting my boarding pass, I was off to Heathrow.  This time I slept, but it was only for an hour since the flight was only an hour.  When we landed it was 1:35 pm local time.  I was scheduled to get on a 6pm bus to Southampton, but there was a 2pm bus as well.  So I grabbed some money while waiting for my bags and SPRINTED from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3.  Thankfully, I got there in time for the 2pm bus.

I think the next event was one of the best indicators that I am going to like this...

The bus was pretty full so I sat down in one of the first seats next to a middle-eastern looking student.  We started the obligatory "Hey where are you from?" conversation.  As it turns out, we defied politics as on this coach bus on its way from Heathrow to Southampton, there was an American sitting next to an Iranian.  We chatted the whole ride to Southampton about everything from our respective country's actual views of the other's, our long term academic goals, and even traffic laws.  It was truly amazing that two people who are supposed to hate each other because of our political leaders, just talking.  It was even more ironic since this week Iranian leaded Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York and is going to speak in front of the UN.

Yesterday I went to campus for the first time.  It is a beautiful campus! It is a nice walk there, its about 18 minutes from my dorm.  There are a lot of cute little shops along the way.  An added bonus is the fact that all of the computer science buildings are at the top of campus which means the walk from my room is shorter.  I took a campus tour yesterday because I've never actually seen the campus before.  In the afternoon I decided to head over the the West Quay Shopping Centre.  I got a new mobile phone from O2.

Anyways, I am now sitting in my room waiting for more people to arrive.  I was the only person in my building Tuesday night, which was a little strange.  Now I have one flatmate and I'm waiting for another 5 or so.  My goal for today was to set up my bank account and get my student ID.  Considering I slept in then took a 2 hour nap, I don't know how much I will actually accomplish today.

I really like it here though, the people are so nice, the streets are so cute, and I love the English accent.

More soon, I will try and snap some photos today.

A Perfect Day...

Tis a perfect day friends! I have spent the day putting my affairs in order, calling credit card companies, having minor freak-outs throughout the day, and trying to finish packing everything.  The feeling of finally reaching the end of this crazy runup to Southampton is electric.  I am beyond excited right now, I have been waiting for months for this moment to finally come; the moment where I say goodbye to the only country I've ever known and I say "'ello" to a bright new future in England.

So here is my travel itinerary:

Tonight, at 9:55 pm local time, I will get on an Boeing 757 and fly 3079 miles to Shannon, Ireland.  I should land around 10 am local time.  I then board an Airbus Industrie A320 at 12:15 pm local time for Heathrow.  I will land in London at around 2 pm local time.  A bus will pick me up at 6 pm local time and take me to my new home in Southampton.  At that point I plan to promptly pass out from exhaustion.


I will try to blog again on Wednesday night after my first full day in Southampton.


Until then: 

Background

I am a person that trusts my foresight.  Now, I am not claiming to have ESP or anything, I just get a feeling when something is right or wrong.  Senior year of high school I could see myself at Ithaca College, and only Ithaca College, the next year.  The same thing happened during my freshman year at Ithaca.  But something changed last year; I can't exactly narrow it down to a few things, but the feeling changed.  It was then that I knew I needed to change too...

As any other high school junior, I made lists of colleges I wanted to attend.  As any other parents of a high school junior, my parents weren't so keen on me going far away for college, so most of the list was comprised of schools that were within a 5 hour driving radius. My true dreams could not be contained by a 5 hour radius, so I made a list of schools that were farther away and would require more work.  Here is the list:

• UCLA
• UC-Berkley 
• Imperial College London
• CalTech
• University of Southampton
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Oxford 

I had always planned on transferring out of Ithaca in my senior year to Cornell University, but I felt that with everything changing around me it was important to make a change now.  So, I started emailing universities in the USA and checking the transfer profiles.  Most schools said "no" or just never responded.  Frustrated, I went back to my old list; I would send two more emails, one to Imperial College London and the other to Southampton, and if I didn't get the desired response I would give up.  Imperial College London said that they would be happy to have me but I could only start as a first year student, this was problematic because I had already completed the classes in the first year.  Southampton responded a day or so later with fantastic news, I could start as a second year student.  This started a long exchange of materials back and fourth.  I sent them transcripts, profiles, works, research papers, the kitchen sink, and so much more.  Finally, after applying, praying, and waiting, I was eating lunch with my fellow interns in Intelsat's cafe on June 25th when I feel a buzzing in my pocket.  I look at my scratched up blackberry and I scroll over to the mailbox where an email from Eric Cooke is waiting for me to read.  We had been emailing back and fourth about various things, including my qualifications for starting in part II (second year).  This email was different; I fell off my chair when I read it.  I was in!

After finally convincing my parents that this was the right thing to do, we worked everything out and here I sit, just 7 days away from a new life, a new experience, and a new continent! Now I am just waiting for my UK Visa to finish processing and I'm off to the land of Queens, black cabs, and the English accent.  I have a whole array of emotions that run through my mind every day; excitement, nervousness, happiness, and a sense of diving headfirst into the unknown.

Some details about what is going on:

• I will receive my Master of Engineering in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence in June 2013
• I've never been to England
• I will be living in the Wessex Lane flats in Montefiore 2
• I fly out of JFK on Monday, September 20th to Shannon, Ireland, then from Shannon to Heathrow on Tuesday, September 21st.  
• "Soton" is short for Southampton

I hope you enjoy this blog, I will try to update it as much as possible during my 3 years at Southampton!