So far I haven't been interacting much with my fellow students. There haven't been any group projects or study groups, and in these large intro lecture classes, I suspect there won't be.
I usually sit in the front, so I don't get much of a chance to interact there either. In my 10AM class we enter from the back of the room, so there's not even really a chance to give a nod hello, or perhaps recognize someone for future reference around campus. Coupled with the fact that I'm getting to class at the last possible minute (especially the 8AMer, after feeding the kids breakfast and getting them as ready as I can for school/daycare), and I'm beginning to feel even a little bit more of a disconnect than I had expected. Not that I need to be hitting the social scene, but a little camaraderie would go a long way, at least towards making me seem less like weird-dude-that-sits-in-the-front-why-is-he-here. To myself at least.
Anyway, I still haven't gotten up my nerve to just plop down in the middle of class (displacing some other student like, say, an iceberg displaces seawater after breaking off a glacier), but I did change things up and sit in the back on Friday. Oooh, wild and crazy, I know. I didn't like it. Too far from the board, too many heads in the way. I may give it another chance next week in a different spot. Or I may resign myself to being creepy guy up front.
Are most of the other students underage? Maybe you could offer to buy them beer -- instant comraderie. I'm guessing you'll acquire a cohort of like-minded folks as you progress through the program, the sort of people who look at floor pillows and see plate tectonics.
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