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
List Two: Things I Did This Year
List Three: Things I Am Thankful For
Nothing!
Aye, Aye, Captain, Here We Go....
List One: Things I Learned This Year
- What it means to be “asexual”
- How to find circulation around an object by integrating over its volume
- To take chances on the uncertain
- The bimolecular process involved in muscle flexing
- If you see failure coming your way continue marching forward...failure fears determination
- The importance of sleep
- According to Freud, surgeons use the positive defense mechanisms sublimation and intellectualization to release their subconscious urges to cut living things
- How to tango (only very basic steps)
- A foundational understanding of how cancer begins and develops on the cellular level
- How to write a four and a half page paper in professional-sounding Mandarin
List Two: Things I Did This Year
- Went to college a year early
- Choreographed seven dance pieces
- Conducted a school-wide survey of fifty students
- Acted in three student films
- Became a Chinese and Calculus II tutor
- Applied to transfer to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and UChicago
- Was accepted to 4.5 out of 5 transfer schools (wait-list)
- 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
- 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.
- The friends I made this year an will hopefully stay in touch with: Pearl, Alex, Adnaan, Rupal, Avery, Ishan, Mia, Bryan, and Susie
- 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)
- The amazing professors I never actually “had” in the traditional sense: Larry and Wendy
- The people responsible for me coming to Simon’s Rock: Leslie and Sue
- The Blodgett-Hall Family for my Elizabeth Blodgett-Hall Scholarship
- My mom, daddy greg, and my dad for their somewhat obligatory, but not at all unappreciated, unconditional love
- My longtime family and friends... shout outs to Lizzy, Katherine, Sarah, Mau Mau, the Ehrigs, the Blessmans, Uncle Fritz and Aunt Liz, and Sibyl