GOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL(s)

Today was a day for summer goal setting. At work, Nabil had us outline our end-goal for the 8-week program. At home, I received an email that my honors advisor sent out to all of us who are applying for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (and are supposed to be starting to write our essays) containing a link to this helpful article.

So here they are, my personal goals for Summer 2010 (along with the necessary steps to be taken to accomplish them):

1. Complete my first draft of my NSF GRF application by the time the semester starts

• Complete first draft of Personal Statement by 7/7 to be revised by writing group
• Complete first draft of Past Research essay by TBD
• Complete first draft of Future Research essay by TBD

2. Complete my N+i application by the time the semester starts

• Ask for letters of recommendation ASAP
• Start writing Projet ASAP
• Application goes live online in August - do it!

3. Take the GRE in mid-late August (and do well!)

• Attend Princeton Review course (for free! a la my REU)
• Do review course homework
• Schedule my exam ASAP

4. Lose at least 5lbs by the time the semester starts

• Run 5x per week (I'm at 3 miles with uphill sections in 34 minutes as of tonight, and ready to bump it up)
• Eat well. When they offer me free food, I will control myself.
• NO SNACKING! Every time I want a snack, I will drink water, or perhaps skim milk to fill me up

5. Learn more French

• Attend classes at l'Alliance Francaise if possible
• Read one poem from Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal per day (I found an English translation + original French version of the book at a UCLA Store sale)
• Read Harry Potter et Les Reliques de La Mort when time allows
• Watch the French Channel TV Monde 5 when time allows

6. Decide which grad schools I want to apply to

• Do research online