13 Oct 2008
I had an excellent day at Brandeis. I ran into a few people I knew, one who used to go to my school and one who I went to a summer program with a few years ago. I learned a lot about the school, and had a very interesting conversation with some of the computer science faculty. One of the people I talked to also dealt with intellectual property law, something that interests me very much. We talked about this, as well as the Lego Car of Awesomeness, and other topics in computer science and the like.
I liked the school a lot, and am definitely planning to apply there.
As to the bed portion of this post, that is where I am imminently headed.
12 Oct 2008
I am visiting Brandeis University tomorrow for their open house. Registration is at 10:00, so we’ll leave around 7 or 7:30 to allow for traffic and the like. I am excited, but tired, and wishing I could have a day off from constantly thinking about college. The pressure never seems to let up.
10 Oct 2008
My school always makes the Friday before Columbus Day a curriculum planning day so that we have a four-day weekend. In my case it is actually a five-day weekend since I took yesterday off as well, and I am taking this opportunity to go with a few other friends to our old middle school in Haydenville. We’ll be there for the all-school assembly that happens on Friday mornings, and today my youngest sister will be getting up because her birthday is on Sunday, so we will be there for that. I am also going to meet my sister’s teacher who is new this year.
09 Oct 2008
We had a ton of people over at my house for the break fast this evening. There was much wine, food, and revelry. The fast today was relatively easy. Last year and the year before I recall being rather crabby, but I wasn’t today. I had a bit of a headache in the early afternoon when we returned from synagogue, but it didn’t last. I lay around, cleaned my room, did a lot of laundry and dishes, and wrote the sonnet of the week. All in all, a most fulfilling and relaxing day.
08 Oct 2008
Tonight begins Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. We will again be shutting off all electronics at dinner before we leave for synagogue. Tomorrow is a fast day, and we will break the fast at home in the evening. I am heading out to do a few errands before dinner, and I think I will spend the day tomorrow reading, writing, and thinking.
07 Oct 2008
After getting home at about 12:45 today, I decided to bike to school in time for my social dance class. I have just returned now; it was extremely tiring. I took Route 5, so it’s about 30 miles round trip. I noticed lots of things along the road that I never see when I’m driving, like small streams and such. There was also more roadkill than I remembered, but I guess you can see that better when you’re on a bike. I stopped to get a slice of pizza in Northampton before returning home. I am planning to watch or listen to the debate tonight, to which I am looking forward.
07 Oct 2008
I am proud of both candidates for staying away from personal attacks in tonight’s presidential debate. It was remarkably centered on the issues. Both, of course, did their fair share of misrepresenting the other’s arguments and record, but this is to be expected even in such a situation. I credit them both with putting a great deal of effort into launching substantive attacks on the other’s position whenever applicable. I have a lot of hope for the future of American politics no matter who wins.
07 Oct 2008
The information session was a success, inasmuch as any of these things can be. I learned a lot, and I am glad I went. I am going to head home now, and get to school in time for my last class, Social Dance.
Overall, this visit was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about the school and myself in that I was really living the experience of being in college. I am going to be glad to be home, though.
06 Oct 2008
I am at WPI, and have spent the day visiting classes and seeing the campus. I left at 7:45 this morning, dropped my mother off at work in Springfield, and, after some brief confusion in the area of I-290, got on the Mass Pike (I-90 E). I got to the apartment at about 9:45, and after dropping my sleeping bag there, had to run to avoid being late to the first class, which was Chemistry Thermodynamics. Although it was a large lecture-style class, rather impersonal, I enjoyed it very much. The professor was very interesting, and he was lecturing on entropy, enthalpy, and something called the Gibbs energy of a reaction, which I learned is essentially the “free” energy left over in a reaction that is available to do non-PV work (work that is not changing the pressure or volume of the gas, such as electric, thermal, etc.).
We then proceeded to GOV2311-Environmental Policy and Law. This was a two-hour long class. It was much smaller, probably about 15 students. The professor seemed incredibly smart and interesting. The class went over the midterm exam, which they had just been handed back, and talked about its content, as well as some other stuff related to product and process innovation, and regulations that typically affect these things. The class was supposed to end with four or five students presenting the work they had done so far on their final research papers to the class, but there was only time for two. The first student talked about pesticides used in farms in several states damaging ecosystems in the Chesapeake bay, including Obama and McCain’s plans for cleaning up the Chesapeake bay and other jeopardized aquatic ecosystems such as the Great Lakes. The second student talked about e-waste; discarded computer and electronic components such as CRTs and other lead- and mercury-bearing parts, and the sort of regulations that applied or didn’t apply to their disposal.
This class was also interesting because I recognized someone in it. One of the students had attended Holy Name High School, and I had faced them several times in court during Mock Trial. They remembered me once I introduced myself to them after the class.
The third and final class I saw was Linear Algebra, another large lecture. Again, a very interesting professor, and very interesting material; the topic was matrices and linear transformations of vectors from n- to m-space, and under what circumstances we could demonstrate that such a transformation was reversible.
After Linear Algebra, I headed over to the Admissions office, in hopes of getting some kind of impromptu interview. I was unable to get one on such short notice, but I did get a short tour with a Biology major, which was very interesting. There is a group information session tomorrow morning at 10:00 which I may go to, and I left my cel number at the front desk in case any spaces for interviews open up between now and then.
I am hanging around until 7:30, when I am leading the Kung-fu class. I still haven’t decided exactly what I’ll do for that, but it should be very interesting.
06 Oct 2008
The Kung-fu class went very well. I led the first one, a one-on-one with a more advanced third-degree white belt student who also runs WPI’s unoffical parkour mailing list. My friend led the second class and I participated, working with two of the beginners as he worked with the other one. This class was severly disrupted by cheerleading practice taking place in the adjacent gym, which is aurally inseparable from the martial arts room due to a low dividing wall and high ceiling. It is very difficult to meditate through cries of “T-O-U-C-H-D-O-W-N”.
After class we returned to the apartment. My friend appears to subsist entirely on a diet of noodles with Parmesan cheese, so I prepared myself a sauce of tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, and various spices to accompany my spaghetti.
I am planning to shower and head to bed. I will wake up around 9:00 tomorrow mornig to attend the 10:00 information session. I will then return to the apartment and leave in the late morning or early afternoon.
05 Oct 2008
Last night I went to the potluck at the Food Bank Farm in Hadley, which was a lot of fun. One of the highlights of the night was when all of the teenagers danced to “The Bear Missed the Train”, as played by the most excellent children’s entertainer Roger Tincknell. We also had a rousing game of Capture the Flag. Simon and Will both stayed over at my house last night, and Will and I did various types of work (calculus, physics, Lego) today after Simon left early in the morning (before we arose).
I am leaving tomorrow morning at about 8:00 to visit a friend at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I’ll be staying over and coming back Tuesday afternoon in time for my social dance class at school at 2:30. This looks to be a very interesting visit. The friend I’m staying with trains at my kung-fu school when he’s not in Worcester, and he’s started a little mini-school at WPI, training students and testing them. He’s asked me to lead a class tomorrow night, which I think will be a lot of fun. I am somewhat out of shape because I haven’t been at kung-fu in a while due to my ongoing pertussis, but I am looking forward to the class.
04 Oct 2008
I have just taken the SAT Reasoning Test. It was not as difficult as it was the first time, and I think I did better, although I clearly can’t know until I get my scores back in a few weeks. I’m not allowed to talk about the content of the test, but I will say that one of the reading passages reminded of a Simon and Garfunkel song.
02 Oct 2008
The Vice-Presidential debate is tonight, Biden v. Palin. I’m planning to watch it or listen to it on the radio. Although these debates are sort of an exercise in pseudo-politics, designed to appeal to those out-of-touch with the issues and tailored to fit television’s characteristic short attention spans, I do think it will be interesting to see how the two candidates approach it. In general, I think valid results can be obtained from invalid systems, so these debates can yield useful information, even if it’s not of the type that’s intended. For example, one could get an understanding of what the candidates think about the debate format by how seriously they take it, how well they work within it, etc., even if we’re meant to be thinking about the issues (which is effectively impossible given the format of the debates: how do you summarize something like the Iraq war in two minutes?).
The main issue tonight is the gigantic difference between the two candidates in almost every respect. Experience is the most notable, but it is also worth noting that she is a woman and he a man. A lot of people have been comparing this to the debate between George H.W. Bush and Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, in which Ferraro accused Bush of being patronizing and condescending in attempting to “teach her”. Biden will have to step carefully to avoid falling into this same situation. If he can accurately criticize her lack of experience and highlight his own, it will be advantageous. A lot of this depends on the type of questions they are asked; yet is another reason these debates are not terribly important. Apparently there will be even less time tonight than there was for the last presidential debate for the candidates to actually “debate”, that is, respond to each other rather than stating their position on the moderator’s question.
We will see how it turns out. I am hopeful that it won’t descend into name-calling and groundless accusations. That may be an empty hope, but I can still have dreams.
01 Oct 2008
I had an excellent day yesterday. It was very good to have a rest and not have to do anything or go anywhere. I even took a nap, which is something I haven’t done in a long time.
We ended up not going to synagogue on Monday night, but we did go Tuesday morning. The rabbi’s sermon was excellent; it focused on the idea of anger as a tool of empathy. The main thing he talked about was veterans of the war in Iraq and how he had heard the stories of many of their families. He said that this had inspired anger for the fact that they were going through what they were, and empathy for the many others who were as well. I liked his point that anger and empathy were the two components of social change, or religious action. Although I sometimes don’t feel that connected to my synagogue, I do like the rabbi very much, and he always has something interesting to say.
We went to our friends’ house for dinner, which was also most enjoyable. I didn’t end up getting to bed until around eleven, but I feel rested after such a slow day, and I’m ready to be back in the thick of things at school.
When we returned home from dinner last night I briefly checked my email and read the news efore going to bed. It was an interesting experience. Normally I am on the computer rather constantly, and although I don’t think I’m “addicted” to it, like people who have to compulsively check Facebook or something all the time, it had been great to have a day off. When I then returned to the computer, I had things a little more in perspective; it was easier to feel like the computer was a tool to use, rather than a force to contend with. I enjoy having it or my iPwn there to use, as it lets me keep in touch with people, feel up to date with the news, blog, etc., but it’s nice to know that I don’t need it, or at least to have a material manifestation of this concept.
29 Sep 2008
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins tonight, and continues through tomorrow. We will be at synagogue for most of the day tomorrow, although we’re not going this evening. My iPwn (on which I am writing this post), is the last remaining powered-on electronic device in our household, so I am now going to shut it off. Happy new year!
29 Sep 2008
I turned in my various recommendation forms this morning. It is great to have those off of my chest; it severely lightens my load.
I observed a large curved mirror in the first-floor hallway of my school, which had not been there previously. Upon questioning the principal, who was standing nearby, I learned that it was mounted outside of the maintenance supervisor’s door so that when he is exiting his room with large boxes he does not hit people.
28 Sep 2008
I have finished the first major edit of my main essay, and the first drafts of the various smaller essays for the various supplements. Now begins the arduous process of editing and reviewing my application. This will probably take the rest of the day and beyond, as I still need to meet with my counselor at school.
More and more, I am thinking about the philosophy of the Common App. And more and more I am disliking the supplement process. Some people criticize the Common App by saying that it allows people to apply “too easily”, by simply adding a school to the list. While it’s true that it makes it easy to apply somewhere, these people are missing the point; by freeing students from having to worry about the particulars of an application and whether or not they can complete it, they are left to think about whether or not it is a place they actually want to apply, rather than a place that they can apply.
Ideally, students could apply only to the places they were interested in, rather than having this elaborate system of various admission deadlines and early action policies and safety schools and the like. People would end up only applying to a few schools, which they would be much more likely to get into, because everyone else would have applied to less schools as well, and they would then be free to go where they really wanted to. Invariably, there would still be competition around institutions with better reputations, but it would be legitimate competition, not the kind of artificially constructed competition that surrounds the process now.
28 Sep 2008
I have finished work for the weekend. I wrote the final draft of my main essay, completed the main section of the Common App, completed the supplements, wrote first drafts of the shorter essays for the supplements, and started the Columbia application, as they’re not on the Common App. I still need to do the Olin application. I am going to take a shower, eat, and head downtown for a few hours. I will be doing more work this week, and possibly some next weekend as well.
28 Sep 2008
Well, I’m up, and I’ve been working for a while. I have put together a list of admission deadlines for regular and non-binding early admission. I am in the middle of planning where to apply under which programs. It looks as though I will probably apply to Yale’s early action program, which is single-choice, meaning that although it is non-binding, I cannot apply early action to anywhere else. That is OK, because only two of my other schools (WPI and UMass Amherst) have non-binding early action anyway.
27 Sep 2008
I am heading to bed after returning from the concert. We did not, as we had planned, go to Mass MoCA; instead we went to see the Northern Harmony concert in Ashfield, which was excellent. I ran into some friends there as well.
Tomorrow I am waking up at 9:30 to continue working. I think I will be able to finish the supplements and the Olin application. My plan is to meet with my school’s college counselor next week to go over my application and check in about my plans for testing and such. I registered for the ACTs today, so I am on track to have all my preparations done within a week or two. Then all that remains is taking the tests. Compared to all of this organizational work, the tests will be easy.