Building a Reputation

One of the things that genuinely sucks about starting in a new place: all the work you did to build up your persona in the old place is gone. Can't depend on it anymore. I have to prove once again that I am smart, persistent, analytical. And I have to get over my fear of speaking up. It's easy to speak up when you have aces in your corner. It didn't take me long at camp--I had graduated summa cum laude from college, en route to grad school in Aerospace. I was humble--I hadn't done their job before, after all--but as far as overcoming myself, I had a lot to draw on, by comparison to 18-19 year old (sorry) kids.

At IIT it took me about 2 years to gauge my classmates to the point where I could say "If I don't get this, no one does" and ask my question. Whereas starting grad school, it was more like "I don't get this, am I a dumbass?" and then not want to ask anything, hoping that when I get home and look at my textbook it'll all make sense. You know how the saying goes "Better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."

It will happen in time, but that time passes with some degree of suffering.

Rebuttal of anti-body-scanner arguments & musings on national security.

I felt the need to become informed, since I would probably be flying back from Cali within a month. It basically made me pissed off at all the arguments about the body scanners that I had read in the past few weeks.

I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's necessary. I don't know if it's going to help. Then again, every security measure is a hassle until you're on the one plane with the guy with the bomb. And then you wonder...could something have been done to prevent this? You know, in between praying for your life and being scared witless. Conversely, 1 to 200 million odds seem pretty good, until you're the 1. And then you wonder, maybe it was that body scanner? Or maybe the hours I spent on the computer/cellphone/airplane/etc?

I don't support the body scanners. That's not what this is about. This is about the arguments people put up against them that I don't respect. Also, about the people that buy a ticket, walk into the airport, and start going through security, only to cause a giant fuss. (http://johnnyedge.blogspot.com/2010/11/these-events-took-place-roughly-between.html) So lets start with that.

Protesting in the airport. At times likened to Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

I haven't actually flown since these have been implemented; all I know is from stories like the one above. And I realize there aren't that many of those out there. Regardless, my opinion follows. I understand having a strong opinion about this. I understand wanting to take a stand and make a point and all that. If you really seriously 100% care as much as African Americans in Montgomery did about their buses--DON'T FLY. Do you care enough to give that up? Rosa Parks' arrest started the bus boycott, but the only reason it WORKED was because that entire community (or enough of it to make a good dent), did not ride buses for 11.5 months. And that was their main source of transportation. They made enough of a dent in the city's pocket that it was a concern. Money drives the world. If airlines lose significant business over this, they'll pressure everyone involved to come up with a better solution. So, if you want to make a fuss, at least be ready to follow through, that's all I'm saying. Pay your fines, do your jail time, and most of all, give up flying.

If you care, but not THAT much, there's always angry letters to TSA and Washington, protest rallies, etc. Just don't make a fuss in the airport and give some poor TSA employees a headache to take home to their kids. It generates more frustration than it resolves. Oh, and it doesn't make you badass.

Safety.

As far as we can tell now, it's safe. The same is true for our electronics. The difference being that you use your cell phone and computer virtually every day, and you only get scanned every time you fly. IT IS NOT AN XRAY like you get at the doctor or dentist. The radiation dosages are significantly lower. You would need to get scanned several hundred times to be exposed to as much x ray radiation as you get when you fly in the airplane itself. Even more to measure up to your medical xrays. You even get irradiated every day, on the ground, no matter what you are doing. So please, don't use radiation dosages as an excuse, unless you're willing to give up at least the voluntary radiation sources.

A better argument I've seen/heard is the concern over what happens when these devices malfunction. With a high probability, someone gets hurt. Then again, all technology from lightbulbs to microwave ovens to airplanes to nuclear power plants has that potential. As well as safeguards against it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think there would ever be a body scanner breakdown incident. Life is risk, and the risk here is not significantly greater than with any other device (including medical devices, by the way!)

In summary, again, if you are arguing against the safety of these devices, what other technologies are you willing to give up to minimize your radiation exposure?

Privacy.

How is a TSA agent significantly different than a doctor in terms of their relationship to your body? It's their professional obligation to pat you down or look at your body scan. More likely than not (esp considering the state of America's health), they don't want to touch you any more than you want them to touch you. If you do have a hot bod, chances are they just experience less displeasure at the touching, rather than experiencing pleasure; they'll do that when they call their sweetie after work. And if, on the off chance, your TSA security person is a perv...how well do you know your doctor?

As for the images, they are viewed by someone in a separate room who does not see your face or know your name. Someone who sees hundreds of these images every day. Vaguely human-shaped white blobs. How much attention, exactly, do you think your body is getting? Only enough to determine if it has black blobs on it, which might be dangerous to others.

TSA claims (repeatedly) that the images are not saved anywhere. If, for whatever reason, they are or will be saved, we basically have much deeper underlying issues in our society than can even begin to be fixed by getting rid of these machines. Also, sue their butts off.

Note: I realize that different people have different concepts of modesty and privacy and different reasons for them. My definition is largely practical; it is considered inappropriate in society to display or touch certain regions of the body, so I don't. In the absence of these norms; any reticence or embarrassment I would have about undress would be strictly habitual, not moral. I reiterate, I realize others may have other reasoning, in which case, the options (as I see them) are discussed above.

In conclusion...

There are good arguments against these things out there. Most of them have nothing to do with the machines, and a lot more to do with the necessity argument. There are many much more gaping security threats in our country than commercial aircraft. There are other potential terrorist targets that have never been subject to such scrutiny or security measures. Ideally, we would be able to prepare for the unexpected, the unprecedented attacks. However, the methodology involved in that is...unclear. So we stick with what we know; we defend against the thing that has hurt us the most in recent memory. And that is why flying is a pain in the ass.

Beef with PEAR?

I may have to call this recipe "bear buckwheat" (beef + pear? get it?)

Take...

1 small steak (palm size, 1/4 in thick)

1/2 pear

1-2 slices of a medium onion

1/3 c buckwheat groats

and a few pinches of...

ginger

cinnamon

brown sugar

salt

pepper

1) Prepare buckwheat (2/3 cup water + dash salt, microwave 5 min hi, 10 min med, 10 min lo.)

2) Slice up pear and beef into 1/4-1/2 in cubes. Chop onions.

3) Throw beef into skillet on hi. Quickly follow with onions and pear.

4) Stir fry, eventually spicing with a little of everything.

5) Pour stir fry over bowl of buckwheat and enjoy :)

Serves 1.

Work-School-Life Balance

Leave the office at the office, turn off the smartphone, check your email once or twice a day instead of constantly, leave your weekends to yourself (and not your boss). They typical advice for finding a little calm and peace in a hectic working world.

But what about grad school?

My dad is in academia...a strange, national lab brand of academia, but academia nonetheless. He is a bona fide expert in his narrow field, does things no one else can, publishes papers (or at least he once did), and on the rare occasion gets "we'll do anything!" job offers. I respect all this immensely.

At the same time, I'm in a place where I can see his lifestyle...he's a total night owl and refuses the 9-5 paradigm, even in the semi-"real" job he has held for about a year (you know, the kind with bosses and meetings and offices and all that jazz.) He likes to work at home when he can, but he also rarely truly leaves work for that reason...i.e. he brings home coding, reading, email-sending, and god knows what to do after dinner and even on weekends. There's no home/work separation and at times I can see that wears on him. He's passionate about his work; one of the reasons that leaving it at the office isn't an option, and as an academic, his approach is "do everything I can and succeed," rather than "do what I get paid for." This is good or bad...on the one hand, people with that mindset accomplish more. On the other, I think it sets the stage to be under-appreciated.

Why do I bring all this up? Well, essentially, his approach has greatly influenced many of my own feelings about work and school, which I've been fighting to reconcile.

Strangely enough, or maybe not at all, I didn't think about "in college, my parents..." when I was in college. Same in high school. And even if I did, it didn't influence my perception of what I should be doing, because their school experiences had been in a different place as well as a different time. They never took SAT's or AP classes, never wrote college application questions or worried if they'd be able to pay for it. They took insanely difficult entrance exams, passed, and had housing and a stipend provided for them. Not piles of riches, but no undergrad school loan debt, either. They had classes and labs 9-5 that they sometimes didn't go to with homework and studying afterwards, had 6 years of university instead of 4, and essentially got something akin to a master's degree in the bargain. On some things I can relate to them; on others, not so much. The main thing I took away from their experiences: study hard, because you're not studying as hard as we did but don't let that be your whole life: have good fun with good friends while you're young enough to have it.

Grad school is different. I remember my dad starting grad school. And finishing, too. We never talked about dad "going to school." He was always "going to work." There are marked differences: he'd had more years of education at a tougher institution, then a few years of work, at least one of which was as an assistant professor at the same institution he was starting to attend (don't ask). Apparently he had some courses transferred and was able to complete the rest of his coursework in a year. He came to do research, on a specific topic with a specific person, not to study. He was working on physics, not engineering. He had a family. Those are just a few.

I don't feel like much has changed with my life since undergrad. I'm still in school, albeit with a few more perks. Less classes, an office, no tuition, a stipend, etc. On the other hand, harder classes, and an expectation of doing research.

It should feel and be treated more like work. And I'm not treating it that way. Research still seems secondary on my plate of things to do. It's not much different from other students I've met that are in the same place, i.e. coming out of undergrad. Some are more focused on research and more independently motivated to work on it...some are still in the beginning stages like I am.

So basically, I'm looking for the right approach...the proper balance between sleeping in and enjoying the perks of being an adult...and becoming self-motivated and getting work done.

I work in lab with guys who are morning people (I think) and are down there like, 8-6 or so. I think (a) the lab is crowded so I stay up in the office and (b) I can get reading of papers done just as well sitting at home on my couch (or bed, which is more comfy). The thing is, when my dad did this, he got things done. I don't.

I guess I'm to continue looking for that balance of spending time at school and working at home. Find the tasks that work best in each environment. Spend more time at school once I start having hands-on labwork. In the meantime, the to-do list awaits: 2 homework assignments due next week, a fellowship application due Tuesday, and a project in my hardest class. A student's work is never done!

Pepperjack Mac and Cheese!

...because easymac just doesn't cut it anymore.

*note* measurements are approximate. I just did what felt right.

1/4 package (4 oz) whole wheat shells pasta

2 pats of butter

1/4 cup of whole milk

1/3-1/2 cup grated pepperjack cheese*

2/3-1 cup other cheese (monterrey jack & italian blend)*

*my "spicy/nonspicy" ratio was about 1-3, maybe even 1-4

1) Make pasta to taste.

2) Lower heat to low. Add butter, then milk, mixing each into pasta.

3) Once pasta is coated with butter/milk mixture, add cheese mix.

4) Mix thoroughly.

Time: 10-15 minutes.

Makes 2 real servings or 1 hungry serving. :)

Why?

Over the past 5 weeks, I have come to some realizations:

i) I don't know how to read papers [effectively].

ii) I'm 'behind' according to my usual standards due (I think) to changing schools. [On a side note, I hate obnoxious overachievers who do routine AE 412 HW in LaTeX and get 100% on it! Taking pride in your work is one thing, but....really?]

iii) I don't know how to ask good questions. This isn't news, but it's more of a problem now than ever. Half of research is figuring out your topic; that comes from asking questions that are important to you.

iv) I still have very few, if any good friends besides the ones that came with me.

v) I seem to have more 'bad' days than good.

vi) I still fall back on frozen pizza, Jimmy John's sandwiches (on white bread), and sushi (with white rice.)

vii) I eat out a lot.

On more positive notes:

i) New school supplies make me excited about school!

ii) I am for the most part, financially independent for the first time in my life.

iii) While I am having to work at my schoolwork, I am far from failing.

iv) While I can't ask questions, I'm here (in grad school) because I enjoy searching for answers.

v) While I have no close friends yet, I have generally gotten friendly responses from people I've talked to.

vi) I have eliminated white flour and rice from my kitchen.

vii) Although I have the income to eat out, I make about half my meals at home.

viii) I've been home to see family and been to Chicago to see friends.

ix) I have kept up a 3x a week or more workout schedule for a month (until last week when I felt crappy) and will take that up again this week.

x) I've been waking up before noon all days of the week (I think)!

The Mission....

It was unsettling, descending for the first time into the dark world of the Grainger Basement. I didn't know what to expect. Sure, the staircase was still its jolly yellow color and the sconces mounted on the bright blue walls or inset into the ceiling did just as fine a job lighting my way as the daylight from 20-ft windows...and yet...it seemed darker, and my footsteps echoed on the narrowing, empty stairs. Tall, stern bookshelves arose in front of me, as did hallways bathed in twilight extending to either side.

On a whim, I chose the left fork, exploring tentative step by tentative step, until a bright light at the end of the hallway drew my eyes. "Engineering Workstations" proclaimed the sign bolted to the wall by a set of glass double-doors. Inside...

Inside, I found easily fifty dual-screen machines, over half of them in use by students. Upon logging in with my usual ID and password, I found them running GNOME and chock full of software--Firefox, Pidgin, Matlab, ProE, Mathematica...anything an engineering student could want!

Quickly and easily*, I accessed Gmail and printed my homework set. Mission accomplished!

(*actually, it initially got lost in a stack of someone else's printed papers, so I had to print it twice...and of course as soon as I printed the second, I found the first *roll eyes* but that wasn't really the lab's fault.)

Green Living!

After being in Champaign a week, I feel like I'm in one of those mythical "green towns." No, it's not perfect by any means, but in what I consider a "small" city (Champaign and Urbana have a joint population just over 100,000) it is amazing how many "green" developments there are.

The moment it hit me, I was biking into school when I passed under the train tracks with an Amtrak whooshing by overhead; how much stereotypical does it get?

Other signs include an efficient and widely used fleet of buses (some of them hybrids!), prolific farmer's markets, solar trash compactors at the university, and bike racks everywhere, for example by the supermarkets and apartment buildings.

Like I said, it's not perfect. There aren't many bike lanes, although on the smaller and less-used streets this isn't much of a problem. Many of the buildings--both campus and residential--are old and therefore did not consider resource efficiency in their design. There are no solar-panel or wind-turbine roof-mountings that I've seen; but there is a recycling program.

I also realize that "green-ness" isn't the reason most use public transportation. On the small streets near the university during rush hour...it's hell to navigate with a car, and if the time difference in your commute is around 5-10 minutes between driving and taking a bus...better save those $400 and not buy a parking pass. For many, a $100...even a $300 bike is cheaper than a $10,000 car. It's simple economics...

And yet...maybe the fact that it's easier to get around with bikes and buses than with a car in this town is a good sign? Maybe that's what we should aim for--not getting people to be green in spite of the competition, but because it's the easy or economical thing to do? That's a kind of "green" movement I can believe in.

In-Between

Training ended on Friday (later for me than others, more on this later).

The week was pretty fantastic--tiring and long but also (I guess) productive. We started by meeting everyone (of course), and going rules and policies and that stuff. Then First Aid/CPR. Somewhere in there we also started looking at the plan for the two-week sessions. Campout under the trees (COLD). Swim tests and being re-taught how to belay in a different style. "Rules" of hiking and a practice hike at Castle Rock. Campout at the beach, with travel staff cooking for the other 30 people (as well as themselves). The best part of the whole week was really the people and I'm glad we did a thing on the beach where we got to hug and have a short conversation with almost every fellow staffer. Random picture:

(Myself and resident staff counselor A_, the day we wore "matching" shirts. Neither is Apple-related, haha.)

Friday after the campout, I used my somewhat new "approved driver" status to drive 3 of the guys to the doctor for physicals (paperwork... :( ) I basically got to read for 4 hours (got through 10 pages of The Two Towers!) while they got that done. Then we went to get food before heading back to camp, since we had already missed lunch by a lot. By the time we got back, everyone had gotten their staff shirts, my roommates had moved into our actual summer housing and gotten their keys, and I was pretty hopelessly behind. So I rushed around catching people before they left for the day and managed to get stuff done. Yay! That was the end of training.

Today, I met one of my oldest friends, SS, for the day. We had giant crepes at Q-cup, then hung out at her house for a while. I did laundry and we played Monopoly with her boyfriend and talked. Later her sisters came home--aged five and eight. They're absolutely adorable and I forgot how easy it was to earn the adoration of such babies (especially the little one). They came to watch us play and I let the youngest roll the dice and move for me, while the older one took over the bank. Once we got RS (boyfriend) out, we quit and went swimming while the laundry finished. By then we had worked up appetites again and went for sushi! (California sushi rocks!)

We chose Chocolate Sushi in Sunnyvale--I had been there before and had an awesome time even though I was pretty full to begin with. The food was delicious once again, but this time I had more space to enjoy it. The coolest part was when we ordered chocolate sushi and it turned out it was actually chocolate-drizzled eel and avocado nigiri. It was weird but definitely a worthwhile experience!

After that we just chilled at her house and talked, again, until I had to go back. And had tea, as is the Russian way ;) . Back in my room, I packed for the camp session and ended up with surprisingly little stuff...I also discovered over the course of the day that I had lost track of my red IIT hoodie for the second time this week. I hope to find it tomorrow.

Finally, I forgot to mention--I got a mini Leatherman to replace the knife I had confiscated on my way here! It's tiny and cute and fits on my keychain. I hope it's sufficient for camp use!

Camp Begins!

I'd forgotten quite how tall redwoods were. How you can drive along a road and see a really tall tree off to your left... and then realize that it goes down quite as much as it goes up...

I love being at camp...being in the valley felt out of place for a good while, but camp felt good right away! Surprisingly I still remember the layout, though construction means that some of the paths lead to nowhere, and a circuitous path is required to reach your destination. It's also interesting to walk up and down hills all the time when I go anywhere. I'm surprised by how well my body's holding up to this punishment.

Last night, I met the company...the people here are fun, wild, crazy...everything a girl could ask of her camp coworkers. I sometimes feel more reserved, but I'll attribute that to...other problems...which made me feel kind of shitty most of the day.

Fun story: I went for my drug test today and it went pretty well, in the sense of actually providing the sample, with the small catch of my container being cracked...(cue collective "ewww!") So, yea...he managed to get enough for the test, but it was super awkward.

Besides that, today was filled with paperwork. Tomorrow, the real training begins (after all the resident counselors do their paperwork, hehe).

Departures & Arrivals

My dad didn't understand why I heaved deep sighs in the car today on the way to the airport. It took me a while to, also. I'm not just leaving home for a summer job....I don't believe I will ever be home for more than a week in a row again, and it probably won't be as leisurely as these three weeks were. For some intents and purposes, I left behind "home" and I left behind some more vestiges of childhood. Some of the last.

I was really suprised when I started tearing up/choking up on the first few pages of Catching Fire. I'm never, ever that affected by books (and rarely by movies). Don't take me wrong...the book is heart-wrenching! I just didn't expect that to make me tear up, and it pretty much did. I blame my already precarious emotional state for my overreaction, but don't let that affect my recommendation--it's a good book!

Another part of my being emotional is that, however much I mask it, every time I am really excited about something not because it's something I love that I've done before, but because it's new, adventurous, and unprecedented, the happy part of the excitement is tinged with a healthy dose of fear...it probably has to be, to be truly, honestly exciting. What I'm doing now--summer job with a lot of responsibility in California; then graduate school, (mostly*) financial independence, a housing arrangement outside of school...my life seems like it's going to have some rapid hairpin-turn changes, and that looks intimidating. Possibly kind of like hills, which look steeper when you look forward at them. ;) [*mostly = excepting undergrad debt, which is still not in my name]

So, on to good things! I got to walk on the tarmac today at San Diego International! It was super-unusual, but really cool. I'll even accept having the aisle seat twice today for that privelege. I had a flight with a 30-minute connection, and the way my first plane arrived (4 minutes late, though it was like 20 minutes late leaving Chicago, so they did pretty well!), it was in another branch of the terminal than the outgoing flight. Going the "proper" way would require going through security again (!!!), so they gathered us up in a group and took us the "other" way, across the (short stretch of) field. There was baggage processing and toward the end a plane came taxi-ing to a gate nearby. I found myself laughing, almost hysterically. Fortunately it was loud, so no one heard, but I was still pretty giddy when I got on the plane.

Then I got my luggage, met my ride, and stepped out into...California. Not quite the way I remembered it, because I haven't been here in summer in 6 years. The flowers that were blooming seemed weird and out of place, and the smells weren't quite right, but still very much Californian (or maybe I say that because they starkly contrasted with the smells of Illinois). I think it was redwood...it was between pine and juniper...sweet, tree-y, and reminded me of home in a long-forgotten kind of way. I also had the strange feeling of being out of place for a while, but that went away as soon as I got here (AT's house). It's good to have a home away from home...especially when you're not quite sure where home is anymore... ;)

Tomorrow: Lunch with an old friend (LD) that I've miserably failed to keep up with, then shopping with AT's sister, possibly a quick drugstore run, and then...camp!

Friday: Training!

This is it...

It's strange to think that pretty much everything I need is in those three bags (and laptop, hehe). About a third of it is gear-my giant backpack, harness, climbing shoes, hiking boots, water shoes, sleeping bag, pillow, (giant) towels. Somewhere around another third--clothes. I could probably have fit into just the one backpack if (1) I didn't have to plan for two weeks between laundry and (2) I had a few less contingencies to plan for. i.e. I'd like to go to the aquarium or SanFran in very different clothes and shoes than I would wear hiking, thank you very much. So there you have it. What is the other third of Galina's luggage, you ask?

• BOOKS! (Or more generally, reading material, as it also includes the last two issues of LiiT, the UIUC-AE Newsletter, and some other nonsense.) The books were: Lost and Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire (author of Wicked for the uninitiated ;) ); The Two Towers and The Return of the King by Tolkien, of course; Devil in the White City; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (I'm pretty sure I can re-read that indefinitely, haha); The Next Fifty Years (A collection of essays on...you guessed it...by scientists, psychologists, etc. Thanks, AP!), and the third volume of Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series (books 5 and 6 in one book). With me for the plane, I have Dune, by Frank Herbert, and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, both bought specifically for this trip. I might give you updates on how I do with those.
• A small stash of tea and a thermos mug. Galina without tea? This does not compute ;) or it wouldn't if it were true.
• Three notebooks of varying sizes and styles and some pens/pencils. Yayyy creativity!
• Minimal toiletries (no one wants details. I did bring 2 lotions and sunblock...skin is important!)
• Paperwork :( (an evil necessity)
• Electronics (computer, phone, mp3 player, and the corresponding chargers, etc).

I'm pretty sure that's it....all that a girl (an adventurous one, I hope I can say without boasting) needs for two months in a state that's at once home and far, far from it...

Day Before Leaving

It smells like gasoline.

11 in the morning, but it still feels the same as when I got up at 7:45 to take VG and MC to the train station.* Including the sound of lawnmowers.

I need to pack. Unfortunately, for the moment my mental list doesn't fit into any reasonable amount of luggage. I need to remind myself how little I ACTUALLY need. The problem is, skimping usually leads to needing something else, later. Though, there's no way to get around at least 3 pairs of shoes: sneakers, hiking boots, and water-shoes. That's half my bag right there.

I hate "the day before" with a passion. The day of is exciting and more than 2 days before you can successfully ignore whatever is going to happen. But not the day before. That's when you have to think about it. And you can't procrastinate on paperwork anymore >.>



*They came over to rock climb yesterday and stayed for dinner. Since we weren't done until 11 or so, and by that point the train would have gotten them home really late, they stayed the night, instead.

New Blog

In a way, it's a continuation of the old; in other ways, it's new.

This summer, I'm going on 4 12-day adventure trips with what I am sure will be a fantastic group of teens and counselors. I'll post what happens.

After that, it's graduate school at University of Illinois. Can I keep up as ambitious a posting schedule as JM? I'll try to keep going every 2 weeks, just like over summer; but we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying lounging at home...2 diplomas sitting under a pile of camp paperwork that needs to be finished and most of my stuff in boxes. A typical post-graduation week, no?

Today is one of those days that I think I might need glasses...

The fog settles over campus, putting everything in a haze, and the click-clack of the El train is slightly muted. A perfect day to curl up with a (freshly repaired!) laptop, and work on senior projects.

:)

Graduate School

I have accepted an offer, and rejected another!

I am going to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on a 12-month fellowship, by the end of which I will hopefully have a professor I can work for :)

Design projects are kicking into high gear (as if they weren't already).

Had an interview for a summer camp counselor position. Stressed my interest in being an "adventure camp trip leader" over a traditional counselor. Yaaaay backpacking through California for the whole summer. I hope I get it. Or at least the traditional counselor thing. I need to get away from the computer/calculations/homework/email/stress/engineering thing and try some outdoor life out :)

Basically, life is good and getting better.

Decisions, decisions

So, the admission decisions have rolled out...at least, IIT's decisions have. As has every other school with a conscience. Georgia Tech is still holding out on me *shakes fist*. I don't mean to burn GATech, actually; they have some good programs in what I want to do next year--but their administration seems to leave something to be desired, and that's not a happy situation. Decision deadlines for graduate school offers with financial aid are April 15...so there's about 3 weeks left, if that. Come on, Georgia, we all want to know.

Anyway, besides that gripe, I got into University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and University of Washington; rejected from Princeton and CalTech. Not too surprising, in a time of such finances and me not having any grants, fellowships, or other funding to bring to the table.

Visiting a school before choosing is kind of important; one of the reasons I wish UW and GATech had their decisions out earlier; I don't want to visit a school that will reject me--also the whole approach to the visit is different when you're admitted vs. when you are just looking around. I visited UofI and had a great experience; talked to 4 professors, 3 of which were really excited to talk to me (almost as much as I was to talk to them!) It's a great campus, closer to home than the others, good department, good professors, and a good financial deal :) That's always important.

So, thus far it's looking like U of I.

In other news, projects are taking over my life about every other week. Then I turn them in (i.e. have a deadline) and relax for the rest of the week (this is the stage I am in now). Aaaand then lather, rinse, repeat.

5 weeks of class left...I never imagined myself here.

Unexpectedly good day :)

Today, I had a moment of fierce pride. My computer was used for two PowerPoint presentations in my design class--we were going over mission specifications, if anyone is interested, more on that later--and two people, after seeing my background, asked me what it was. It was the image you see, which, to the best of my knowledge, is property of the Ad Astra Rocket company, http://www.adastrarocket.com . I encourage you to go look at the rest of the site because the company is A-MAZING. But in a nutshell, it's a concept spacecraft using the company's VASIMR engine that can (theoretically) get a manned mission to Mars in about 39 days (using chemical rockets: 6 months). Anyhow, since this is what I want to work on getting done in my lifetime, and I really like having it as my desktop, I was very pleased to have someone take an interest :) Actually, two someones, both of them classmates I intensely respect.

On design presentations: My group decided to take Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang, the Jetsons, and the DeLorean of Back to the Future as our inspiration and work on a flying car design. We're never actually going to MAKE this vehicle, but we're looking at having something that can drive 100 miles and fly 500 on a full tank of gas. You can't quite take off from your garage, but you can drive to a local airfield, take off, fly to the next one over, and then drive to grandma's house. Or your business meeting. You do need a pilot's license to operate it, though.

A little update on me (I put this at the end for a reason, hehe): The end of last semester was a somewhat stressful and hectic time--I ended up with 3 projects toward the end of the semester, plus two classes (and a few CAD homework assignments) thrown into the mix. A couple other things happened, the result of which was I made a difficult decision and chose to leave research for two jobs: TA for the CS department and tutor at the Academic Resource Center (the latter I had held before, and remembered it being fun and, dare I say, relaxing :))

Now, after a mostly relaxing break and a lot of graduate school applications (sorry, you missed them all: Princeton, University of Washington, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, CalTech, Georgia Tech), after all that, I started my 3 design classes+IPRO semester. It's been okay so far, the hardest day (night) being last night when I had to come up with 20 product ideas! And I didn't quite procrastinate, because we only really heard about the assignment on Monday (he had mentioned it before, but not in detail).

Still, I came up with some cool ideas, went to class, and am basically having a blast with all these cool projects. I'm also looking forward to Interview Weekend in a little over a week, having a high school student stay in my room one last time before I graduate!

Cheers. Early bedtime for me!