I am into the middle of the Fall semester now and I realize with astonishment that I have spent close to 2 1/2 very eventful months in the US. Another introspection that comes to me is about the fact that how well settled and comfortable I feel with the system as compared to the time when I just arrived here. Things do fit into place as time passes.

The last week was one of relaxing since the first series of mid-terms was over and there were no tests scheduled for some time. The results and grades started pouring in and it made me feel reasonably good about my performance. I did score above average in most of the exams. I could never imagine this and was really surprised by the amount of seriousness the test results are compiled with here. Apart from our scores in the test, the teacher actually disclosed everything from the average and the median of scores to the Standard Deviation of the results. I guess it took more time for them to statistically analyze the results that it took to grade them. These statistics actually come in handy to adjudge one's performance in class. The same is done with the assignments and projects and as a matter of fact every one counts towards the final grade.

Since I was less occupied with studies last week, I went out to search for a better job on campus because my job at the Library was actually getting on my nerves. The reason of dissatisfaction was primarily that myself as well as many of my fellow graduate students who hadn't been lucky with assistantships actually felt over qualified to pursue such jobs and were always discontended. It seemed to me a better decision to actually settle down with work which matches my background and carry along with it seriously through the semester. I was lucky enough to finally end up with a job as the Webmaster of the University of Florida Brain Institute which paid decently and gave me a big opportunity to exercise my web designing skills, a lot of which I learnt in India. It sometimes takes a lot of time to be satisfied with an on-campus job and one has to make certain compromises, but with persistence of effort and keeping one's eyes and ears open, getting the right job is not a problem.

The weekend was another of my very eventful weekends when we guys got down to celebrate my roommate's birthday. The plan actually got finalized at the last moment because of everybody being so busy and of course each of us unwilling to contribute to my kanjoos friend's party. We finally cajoled him into giving a party and had a couple of good people come over including our neighbors who otherwise would have either not slept all night or else would have called the cops to get the party busted. It was fun but really wild for the poor Birthday Boy who very soon realized how much of him was Ice Cream and Cake and how long a bath would he need to go to sleep and not feel sticky about it. We had a very cozy and nice conversation with all our guests with good food and drinks and of course wild dance and a couple of naughty games. One thing I realized is that here people eat much more than they usually do when at home when invited to a party; I guess it's a good means of saving money. (I hope my guests don't get upset about it.) Lesson to be learnt: "Attend every party that you can get to, and you will stay healthy!" Just Kidding!

In the midst of all this, the weather seems to be playing games with us and we actually are never sure of when it's going to be hot and when cold. One big question that perplexes me every morning is "Should I wear a Sweater to School?" I guess it's still more difficult to answer than any of my Algorithms class questions!

Letter 8

Nitin Ahuja

Letter 10