Sunday/Monday/Tuesday – Day 72/73/74
October 11, 2012
Sunday was a mad rush to try to get a little more work done before the chagim started again. In particular, studying for a difficult physics midterm that was later in the week. At eleven AM I woke up to work with Jonothan on our Operating Systems project and pounded away at that for a good few hours. Anil was away for the weekend and thus lunch was lonely by myself in the apartment (Hillel is closed on Sundays) and then back to pounding out equations.
As the sky darkened I found myself worrying more and more about the physics midterm and I’d later be proven to be right in my fears.
After chag came in, as per usual, I couldn’t be privileged enough to just be able to go to shul and relax. This time it was dance rehearsal with Penn Dance interrupting what otherwise could’ve been a quieter night.
Following that I read a bit of my books and went to bed.
Knowing the difficulty of the midterm ahead of me I decided to walk and listen in on my 9AM and 5PM physics tutorials/recitations/sections. Though I felt I understood the gist of the material being presented, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to repeat it under example conditions.
Other than that my day was spent at the Hillel as to be expected, eating and drinking and of course, kvetching.
At five PM was the normal PGC rehearsal, delightful as always, followed by a trip back to Hillel for Simchat Torah. Simchat Torah (another Jewish festival again!) at Penn was one of the best simchat torahs I have had. The energy and passion were fantastic, especially in the OCP (Orthodox Community at Penn). The hakafot (dance circuits) went for over three hours! Unfortunately I could only stay for one of the three as I had a rehearsal for University Choral Society up at 8:10PM in which I was singing a Requiem Mass. Quite the contrast to dancing around the Torah. By the time I made it back to Hillel at ten, things were still going on and people were sitting down for dinner. I joined them and then got a full nights sleep in prep for the upcoming midterm.
Tuesday – Day 67
October 4, 2012
The second day of sukkot I enjoyed far less than the first. Tuesday’s I have electrodynamics, the course that I struggle to catch up in. As a result I decided to attend the lecture and listen in. The lecture was just as difficult as always compounded by the fact that I wasn’t writing any notes! To top it all off, the midterm was announced… one week away. I was suddenly inspired to ‘get my study on’. Other than that lunch in the sukkah was lovely, saw a few people I haven’t in a while, then studied in my room till havdalah.
After sukkot, I worked hard to prepare for my midterm, before PGC rehearsal at 9PM. The rehearsal from 9-11 was pretty much newmen only and as a result worked well for us. I finally feel confident with a good few of the songs and found which ones require more focus from me. The 11-12 rehearsal was not quite so productive. In fact, a number of the oldmen commented that it was their least productive ever. However, a highlight from it was being told who my mentor was. JHo, Jonthan Ho, an awesome tenor, agreed to mentor me for my time at Penn and presented me with a book on the history of the Glee Club and a few of their albums on CD. He, much like I, has a love of barbershop harmony, and is an all round excellent (and musical) guy.