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One day of classes down, many more to go.

Tuesday was my first day of class as a graduate student, and at two in the afternoon I nervously edged in to Theory of Computation. I have to say, I've been incredibly anxious about the start of classes, and while I've made it safely through one day of classes, I'm not fully satisfied in my ability. It's not that I'm afraid my abilities are too low; it's more that I'm anxious that I've forgotten—or never learned—things that will be taken for granted by faculty and other students.

I know, of course, that this anxiousness is worthless. If I don't know it, I have to learn it. Anything that can be expressed in such a simple sentence must be simple, yes?

Besides Theory of Computation, I also have Programming Languages and Data Mining. The first two are required for the degree, so I'm happy to take care of them first. Data Mining looks like a much more interesting course, subject matter-wise. Hopefully I won't fall too far behind; the bookstore had no copies of the text, so I have to wait for Amazon to deliver it.

I'm also still getting accustomed to balancing work and school. I'm lucky enough that my work is limited to sixteen hours, but concentrating that time enough to fully accomplish complex tasks while still leaving room for schoolwork that can't wait will be difficult. I know some of you are thinking to yourself, "He's got it damn easy." And I do. Intellectually, I recognize that. But the leap from intellectual understanding to getting it will take some time.