Onwards and Upwards

As usual I have spent more time doing than reflecting. I suspect that eventually my “doing” to “reflecting” ratio will become more balanced, but in the meantime I guess I will have to suffer through these long winded attempts to recall my seemingly endless list of pursuits that accumulated over the past few months. I think that freshman year of college can easily be deemed “a success.” I met wonderful people, learned new tidbits of information, and completely transformed the way I see the world and the way that I hope to live. I could easily write a five volume set on how the 2012-2013 school year transformed me as an intellectual and individual, but that option would require exponentially more reflecting than “doing,” so, for now, I am going to take the easy way out. And, what is more easy and fun than list making? 

Nothing!
Aye, Aye, Captain, Here We Go....


List One: Things I Learned This Year

1. What it means to be “asexual”
2. How to find circulation around an object by integrating over its volume
   
3. To take chances on the uncertain 
   
4. The bimolecular process involved in muscle flexing
   
5. If you see failure coming your way continue marching forward...failure fears determination
   
6. The importance of sleep 
   
7. According to Freud, surgeons use the positive defense mechanisms sublimation and intellectualization to release their subconscious urges to cut living things
   
8. How to tango (only very basic steps)
   
9. A foundational understanding of how cancer begins and develops on the cellular level
   
10. How to write a four and a half page paper in professional-sounding Mandarin

List Two: Things I Did This Year

1. Went to college a year early
   
2. Choreographed seven dance pieces
   
3. Conducted a school-wide survey of fifty students
   
4. Acted in three student films
   
5. Became a Chinese and Calculus II tutor
   
6. Applied to transfer to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and UChicago
   
7. Was accepted to 4.5 out of 5 transfer schools (wait-list) 
   
8. Took Calculus II, an Advanced Chinese Independent Study, Vector Calculus, Introduction to Ceramics, Introduction to Statistics, Introduction to Psychology, Introduction to Biology, Cellular Biology, and Freshman Seminar I and II 
   

List Three: Things I Am Thankful For

1. I am very thankful that I have been fortunate enough to have received the opportunities I have been given. I know hard work goes a long way, but there are many people who spend their lives laboring without ever receiving some of the same benefits I take for granted.
   
2. The friends I made this year an will hopefully stay in touch with: Pearl, Alex, Adnaan, Rupal, Avery, Ishan, Mia, Bryan, and Susie
   
3. The amazing professors I had this year: Clark, Joan, Yinxue, Bob, Ben, Anne, Wesley, Courtney, and Erin (at Simon’s Rock students refer to their professors by their first names)
   
4. The amazing professors I never actually “had” in the traditional sense: Larry and Wendy
   
5. The people responsible for me coming to Simon’s Rock: Leslie and Sue
   
6. The Blodgett-Hall Family for my Elizabeth Blodgett-Hall Scholarship
   
7. My mom, daddy greg, and my dad for their somewhat obligatory, but not at all unappreciated, unconditional love
   
8. My longtime family and friends... shout outs to Lizzy, Katherine, Sarah, Mau Mau, the Ehrigs, the Blessmans, Uncle Fritz and Aunt Liz, and Sibyl
   
   

I am sure there are more lists that I should be adding, but I think that is enough for now. I will never forget many of the people and experiences I had this year. Summer here I come!