Roof

On my way out of the grad lab just now, I almost stopped to tell my friend Kaylene where I was headed. My advisor had stopped by to help me with some analyses earlier, and I thought he might come by again. I opened my mouth to tell her, “If anyone needs me, I’ll be on the roof.” Then I thought about what he might say when he found out his stressed out grad student had gone up on the roof somewhere. :) Maybe he wouldn’t have given me a hard time about it, but I could think of some good jokes from the whole thing, and I decided not to worry about leaving my forwarding address. It’s doubtful he’ll come looking for me anyway.
I am in love with the JFSB (the building that houses my grad lab). It’s a beautiful building. It reminds me a lot of a castle, complete with a courtyard (with a fountain!), three balconies, and a lovely study area up on the roof. Here’s a few pictures of the JFSB from when I graduated last year:

the famous courtyard fountain


spiral staircase inside

Roof shot
When I was a freshman, I made a goal to come study on the roof all the time. I didn’t achieve that goal. I have hardly ever come up here. This year though, I’ve made more roof trips. There’s something very calming about sitting up here and looking over campus.
When that doesn’t work, I am a big fan of taking a nap on the edge of the fountain in the courtyard. :)
Today has been kind of a rough day. I have a lot on my mind. I am really really close to sending off my first research article for publication, which I am very excited about, but I just figured out there is a small error in my analyses. It shouldn’t be too hard to fix, but I have to admit, I am tired of thinking I am done analyzing, only to realize some little problem that might be throwing things off. Research seems to be a very one step forward two steps back kind of thing. Sometimes I wish it could be more straightforward! Oh well. By rerunning these analyses, I’m learning how to do them really well. :)
Sitting up here helps the stress melt away. Things really are going to be okay. I WILL get my prospectus done in time, somehow. I will figure out these analyses and get some papers sent off for publication. I will go home and hang out with my roommate or go round up some friends and drive this loneliness away. Spring term is too short for me to waste time stressing out!