Okay...

So...

I didn't forget about updating this. Last semester got really busy really fast, and I didn't have the energy or time to update, so I put it off. But that's all done now, so let's go over the last several months!

The semester ended up going well. COGS 300 was a real standout, which I wouldn't have predicted from COGS 200. Lots of interesting ideas, and I even learned more about neural networks there than in my AI course! Speaking of which, CPSC 322 (Intro to AI) was fairly dry, but professor Jordan Johnson did a great job with it. Same with CPSC 404 and professor Ed Knorr. (That man is a master of dead-pan dad joke delivery.) We were able to build a good project for CPSC 319, but the main thing that course taught me is why Agile exists. Finally, CPSC 444 was just a good solid extension of CPSC 344, with the benefit of doing some good project work and getting some familiarity with R.

Graduation was great, but the best part was having my mother out. She was out for a week and a half, and I showed her around Vancouver to give her a feeling of my life there. She did enjoy herself, even though I really overestimated her stamina for city walking. As for graduation, not much to say really: got dressed up nice, had a nice sunny day, got my diploma and some nice photos.

With graduation, of course, comes looking for employment. I'd lined up a job in Halifax, and was all set to move out. I had ended my rental period, cancelled my Internet service, sold most of my belongings, when I got a call. Turns out the Berlinguette Group, my old co-op employers, were starting a new team for some interesting research, and would I like to join them? Perfect timing, right? So I'll be back in Vancouver for August, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's got everything I want out of a software dev job: working with good people, solving interesting problems, and making a positive contribution to the world (and don't forget getting paid for it!)

Right now I'm at home in Newfoundland, getting some good time in with family. We've got a family trip out near Terra Nova National Park coming up in about a week, so I'm really looking forward to that.

And that's basically all from here! With work starting, I think I'll move this to once every two months, just to have more to say. See you in September!