People are usually very sharp in graduate school. This is especially true at Stanford. I really felt the heat once I came here, and had to make adjustments in how I approached classwork and projects. Basically, I’m in overdrive.

However, the classes are interesting. Usually the people are interesting too. But some are just annoying and arrogant. Actually, there are quite a few arrogant people here at Stanford. Most notable are the ones that take courses that they already have a good background on. Then, they proceed to ask piercing questions to the professor that go beyond the basic material presented. Sometimes this is interesting, but many other times I feel like it’s purely showmanship.

But there are some people that annoy me even more than the showmanship breed of students. It’s those people that say “mmhmm” and “yes” and nod when the professor is making a crucial point. Sure, we all do the head nod once in a while. I even admit to this, especially if the professor is making a basic point. But there are just some people who audibly confirm the speaker all the time. I’m actually thinking about this particular person in one of my classes that confirms the professor after EVERY single point, as if it were all trivial. This annoys the hell out of me.

If I become a professor one day and hear these people incessantly confirming my points, I’ll give them the chalk and make them derive the crucial points. Then, we’ll let them see how trivial it is. Bah!

Three of my courses this quarter don’t have midterms or finals. This is a good thing. I actually feel like I absorb more of the information if there isn’t pressure to memorize and synthesize for a bureaucratic piece of paper.

However, I do have one course that has midterms, and I feel like I struggle most with that particular course. I think my test taking abilities have declined after coming to Stanford graduate school. I never feel like I have adequate time to think on an exam. This time pressure is like a feedback loop to my performance: I usually end up thinking about how I can milk the most points from a problem in the least amount of time. Usually, this technique doesn’t work too well, at least for me.

Sigh.

Today was one of those mornings where you’re just too comfortable to get out of bed. Not every morning is like that: sometimes I wake up in a weird position or freezing cold. On days like that, I tend to wake up easier, since I wasn’t comfortable in the first place.

But today, my body reached its peak equilibrium comfort temperature. The pillow was at the right angle with my head, and the covers were optimally placed over my body. And yet, my MP3 alarm from my computer was calling.

We’ve been trying to get up earlier, usually around 6:00AM. Yes, I know most of you consider that an ungodly hour, but life can actually be quite productive in the morning (without the usual waffling around late at night).