Happy Monday! When I was a graduate student, I met a friend for lunch a couple of times a month and we would commiserate about the weirdness of writing a dissertation. Mine was in computer science and engineering, and reported on research conducted with a bunch of eighth graders using…

Happy Monday! These first couple of weeks of fall semester are filled with welcome events: picnics and open houses and showcases to introduce new and returning Spartans to all that campus has to offer. When I was a grad student, the first few weeks of fall were a great time…

Happy Tuesday! Last week was a lot of fun! Campus was almost as lively as a pre-pandemic fall, with perhaps slightly less traffic judging by the fact that the parking lot still had several spots available as I made my way to Wells for a 10:20 class on Friday. …

Happy Monday! If my math is right, this should be my 37th “first day of school!” It took 22 years to go from kindergarten to a PhD, and then I’ve been working and teaching at MSU for 15 years. Somehow, having the first day be an actual Monday (instead of…

Happy Monday! Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year: new graduate student orientation, and the fall welcome picnic! Unfortunately, I won’t be there to celebrate with everyone. I’m fine, but home in isolation thanks to COVID. I must have picked it up last week on a whirlwind…

Happy Monday! When I was a graduate student, there were always a few undergrads working in our research group. Usually they were hired to help with developing software and websites that would work reasonably well on handheld computers (what we called tiny touchscreen devices in the age before smartphones and…

Happy Monday! We have a bunch of planter boxes on our deck, with an irrigation system hooked up so the plants have a reasonable chance of surviving despite my indifferent watering schedule. The boxes came with complex instructions for what to plant where and a thick ground cloth to guard…

Happy Monday! My mom celebrated her 75th birthday earlier this month. She lives “up north” so we planned our family vacation to be there with her for the big day, and my aunt hosted a lunch for family and friends. My kids made gifts and we brought a card, and…

Happy Monday! On Friday I leave for a week in Baltimore, attending the American Society for Engineering Education’s annual conference. When I first came to the College of Engineering and started working with graduate students, I dove into the ASEE literature to try to figure out better ways to do…