Well, first day of class today. It was invigorating. Or something.
I woke up a bit early just so that I had some extra time to get ready and wake my brain up. Just a few minutes seems to be helpful for me. I did have a little bit of a surprise this morning. Around 7:15 I received a text from my friend/classmate Dustin. Asking if I could give him a ride from the airport. Apparently his flight got overbooked last night so he had to wait for another flight and wasn't going to be getting in until 10am today (instead of 10pm yesterday). I told him that I have class til 11 but I could leave right after that. He said that was fine.
So my first class is Mathematics of investments. It's taught by Dr. Jack Foley, the other actuarial science professor besides Mr. Frye and Mr. Dean. Foley took the first class and just introduced himself, went over the syllabus, explained his background (PhD in Economics, FSA, and 17 years experience in pension insurance). Then he went on to explain why it was better than we take this class in the math department instead of a similar class in the finance department. I think it's going to be an interesting semester. A lot of people from my classes in the fall are in this class as well. This isn't a required course, so some people are taking other classes.
In between classes Tim, Jacob, Paul, and I went to the Atrium, per custom. Kathryn joined later. I think we talked about exam FM. Or something. I really don't remember. But it was good. Erica and Jordan stopped by The Table (we have our own designated table) prior to an attempt to acquire books in the book store. I did not hear whether their attempt yielded a success or failure.
My next class is a continuation of the life contingencies course I took in the fall, also taught by Dr. Foley. I guess only two more chapters in the book are covered on exam MLC, so we're going to cover those then just start working through the MLC Actex study manual. He said we don't need to buy the study manual, so I'm not entirely sure how that's all going to work out. But I'm sure he'll let us know what to do when the time comes.
Kathryn was generous enough to keep my company on the trip down to pick up Dustin from the airport, so she and I left after class for Indy. The highway was really full. Like... woah full. There was a police brigade escorting a truck carrying big cement dividers. And the guy in front of me had no concept of slowing down. Only accelerating and slamming on his brakes. So, you know, that was a lot of fun. It took us about an hour and a half to get to the airport. But we eventually made it and Dustin was quite thrilled to not be in an airport. At the time that we picked him up his 8 hour trip (including airport time and layovers) extended into 22 hours. And today is his 30th birthday. Not the best of birthdays. He missed his first day of class and spent the first half of it in airports/airplanes. Not fun.
When we returned I went back to campus so track down my new bosses. The person for whom I will be grading was in his office, so I talked with him for a bit. I'll be grading his two sections of 125 (the class I taught in the fall) and his section of discrete math, which I took at Mount Vernon. Most discrete math courses are really just an introduction to mathematical logic, proofs, and fundamental set theory. Dr. Nelson (the aforementioned man for whom I am grading) said that he's going to be putting a heavy focus on equivalence classes, which is really good if any of his students go on to take group theory, real analysis, or any other pure math courses. After I finished talking with Dr. Nelson, I tried to track down my other boss (for the computer lab) Mr. Albers. He's almost always in his office...but not today. And no one knew where he was. So I waited around for a bit, but he never returned. So the people in the office said that I'd done all I could do and just to come back tomorrow. I explained why I was there and they said it was fine.
When I got home I saw that I had an email from Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance. Another rejection letter. So that was awesome. I thought I actually had a chance with this company... but yet again, my lack of supreme academics or an actuarial exam have proved to get the best of my employment efforts. But instead of inspiring me to focus really hard on my exam prep I just got frustrated. So obviously that brought every tiny little issue that's bothering me to the forefront of my brain. I hate when that happens.
I did end up doing some studying. I finally got through the rest of chapter 3/module 10. Now I've started on Chapter 4. We went out to dinner at Mancino's for Dustin's birthday. It was good. I guess I wasn't super hungry or something. Being at school just stresses me out, I think. I really hard not to compare myself to the other people who are doing great in the classes, have internships, and everything just seems to be going swell. I wouldn't mind that. I've realized that it's not even a matter of having an internship that I want. I just want some menial amount of gratification that the past 16.5 years of school have actually meant something. That would really just be fantastic. Even just a gold star. I would love it if some actuary from one of the insurance companies just came up to me, said "Joel, you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work and you'll get a great job" and gave me a gold star. The star is key. But instead all I've really felt is that I've done decently and have been given a "decent" reward of... staying in the program, I guess. Keeping my GA position.
Anyhow, dinner was good. When I came back I played some video games. I just wasn't in the mood to study. But I think I'm going to finish reading chapter 4 tonight since there isn't much left. So off I go. Good night.
**EDIT**
I almost forgot. Earlier today I got a call from Western and Southern bank in Mount Vernon. The guy said he wanted me to come in some time to discuss employment. I was flattered but ultimately declined. I told him that I live in Indiana and the commute would be pretty rough. He asked what I'm doing in Indiana so I explained that I'm in grad school, studying to be an actuary. I asked if his office had an summer internships, but they do not. For a brief moment I considered really thinking about it. But then I had huge rush of thought (that happens sometimes, when about a whole host of ideas and interconnecting thoughts rush through your brain at light speed) and realized that a) I don't want to live in Mount Vernon, b) banking doesn't have the fun math that I want to do, c) wise advice from my uncle Dave: most of the jobs that just fall into your lap aren't good jobs. The best jobs are the ones you have to fight for. So don't settle for anything unless you really need the money. At the moment I have a decent financial plan, so I don't think I need to resort to banking. But apparently they like my resume! Sidenote- they got my number from my resume, which they apparently got from Mount Vernon. I really want to see what resume of mine they have that keeps getting sent out... because it certainly is not a current one.
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