What am I doing?

It turns out I don't actually have class today. The classes are Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday — but the Monday and Wednesday classes are every week, while the Thursday class is only the last week of the semester, to make up for the fact that the semester begins on a Thursday.

I did pick up my textbooks today. They are just as heavy and expensive as they always have been.

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What am I doing? I am considering where to apply for a master's program in computer science. In the mean time, I am taking the undergraduate classes at the local university that I would need anyway once I go to grad school. I'm still working full time at the bookstore.

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I'm taking two classes: Algorithms and Digital Systems.

Digital Systems — Covers data paths, controllers, memory systems, and register transfer level design, as well as finite state machine design, classical logic design, and storage element design. Hardware and software tools for digital system analysis and synthesis are explored. Textbook: Roth & Kinney, Fundamentals of Logic Design (0495471690).

Algorithms — The design, implementation, analysis, and application of a range of computer algorithms are explored. Function order of growth and amortized analysis are used in analyzing algorithms. A review and extension of data structure topics including stacks, queues, trees, graphs, lists, sets, hash tables, and heaps are covered. Algorithm design strategies such as divide-and- conquer, the greedy method, and dynamic programming are studied. Textbook: Kleinberg & Tardos, Algorithm Design (0321295358).

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Not a bad plan, considering that I made the decision to do this three weeks ago.