It’s snowing! It started last night, and continued all day today. (For those of you from the Midwest or the East Coast… snow is a pretty big deal in western Washington.) Campus looks beautiful covered in powder, and I even got to have a snowball fight and build a snowman with my professor and some friends.
Here’s hoping for safe travels tomorrow as I drive home to Portland, and other Loggers fly to every corner of the country! But first, my lab report…
Just taking a quick break from my Saturday-afternoon homework (currently grading labs, but soon to move only my Biochemistry lab report and Education paper) to update you all on the life of this Puget Sound student.
The past week has been full of fun activities. From the Murdock Undergraduate Science Research Conference down at Linfield (science road trip!), to Gamma Phi’s formal dance last Saturday, to Reperatory Dance Group’s biannual performance last night, to quizzes, labs, and presentations, oh my! This is the time of year where everything just seems to blur by until – boom – it’s December 17th, and I’m going home for Winter Break. Yes, Thanksgiving next week will bring a bit of a respite, but after that, I have 2 presentations, 1 paper, 1 lab report, 1 quiz, and 2 lab reports in 9 days starting the Monday after Thanksgiving. Phew! I’m already exhausted just thinking about it.
On another note, SNOW is in the forecast for tomorrow! If any powder does stick, I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures. đ
I hope that, for all of you high school seniors, your college application process continues to go well. I can certain empathize since I’m now working on all sorts of application for post-graduation employment. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
I’m a big quotations junkie. So much so that one of my favorite Christmas presents each year is a Quotable Calendar full of wonderful quotations and brilliance that I get to display on my wall. One of my favorites was from March:
1. the path is not straight.
2. mistakes need not be fatal.
3. people are more important than achievements or possessions.
4. be gentle with your parents.
5. never stop doing what you care most about.
6. learn to use a semicolon.
7. you will find love.
— Marion Winik
Today, I experienced nearly all of these (although I’m unsure if I used a semicolon at all). I got THE e-mail from Teach For America regarding their decision. Their decision about the next two years of my life. Oh, yeah, minor details. Anyway, I got it at about 11:00am this morning, and do you know what it said? “We are not able to extend you an offer to join the 2011 corps.”
Well, that sucked. But as I sat upstairs in the SUB calling/texting/Facebooking/seeing friends, I literally felt the Puget Sound community rally up underneath me. My path won’t be as straight as I thought it might be, but this one slip-up is certainly not fatal. After all, it’s the PEOPLE and my own passions (learning, growing, traveling, meeting new people) that dictate success. Not the job position.
A couple of my friends here and on other campuses were offered positions with the corps, and I have no doubt that they will be incredible teachers and change the lives of their students in incredible ways. But me? I’ll find another way to change the world. To leave my mark. And to be happy. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even learn how to use a semicolon while I’m at it!
Back to the Post-Graduation-Oh-Crap-I’m-A-Senior Drawing Board!
Every senior complains about their thesis. Or at least this seems to be the trend among the majors who are actually required to write one for graduation. It is a common misconception that all majors require theses. In fact, most majors do not! I was quite angry to discover that my best friend, an English major, is not required to. That just seems backwards. I mean, English is all about the writing. Right?
This is not to say that majors do not have senior seminars. For instance, the Art History department has a class for only Art History majors; however, they do not have to write a thesis. The senior seminar functions more as a venue for majors to take all the information (and history, no doubt) they have learned in the past four years and apply it in a broader scope.
When I think about comparing the two: writing a 20+ page thesis or culminating all the knowledge I have learned from my major over the past years, I’m not quite sure which one I would choose, if I had an option. I am a Politics and Government major with a U.S. emphasis, and my thesis class allows us to basically write about anything under the scope of “U.S. Politics.” It is quite a broad topic (and was a little overwhelming when I was trying to decide what my topic would be). While I enjoy being able to research and then write about any topic of my choosing, I can see the benefits of a senior seminar as well. In fact, it would be rather useful to gather all the information I have learned over the course of my college career. It would be like one big study guide for Politics and Government! However, there is nothing more satisfying than writing a paper which you completely designed and carried out on your own.
I have heard “talk” among other departments about alternative thesis classes where there are multiple options for thesis-writing. Options include a field paper, which is much like the senior seminars because you write an essay describing all the information you have learned over the past four years on any given topic. Another option is to read a collection of books relating to your major and write a big essay comparing them. These alternatives are only suggestions at this point but it is interesting to notice the adaptation of the fundamental thesis project that most college students equate with graduation. It is possible that the type of thesis I am doing will be history by the time my children (!!!) are in college or maybe even when my 18 year-old sister becomes a senior?! Who knows at this point. But it is nice to know that the dreaded thesis may be revamped for the 21st century.
Five Reasons That I LOVE University of Puget Sound (In No Particular Order)…
1. The leaves during fall! Check out how beautiful they get!
2. The professors. I could go on and on, but here’s one specific example of how amazing they ALL are. Today, I saw my Religion professor, Greta Austin, who I had for one class in Spring 2008. She wrote a letter of recommendation for me to go abroad, and when she saw me for a split second in the on-campus coffee shop, she said “Welcome Back!”. The fact that a professor I had 1.5 years ago remembered that I had been abroad, and took the time to say “hi” to me in passing speaks to how much the professors care about their students. (Another example, since I can’t limit myself to just one… My Biochemistry professor, Amy Odegard, wants to write a “guest blog” sometime this year… So get excited for that!)
3. We get to host national conferences! The National Race & Pedagogy Conference was this past weekend, and I got the chance to hear Harvard Law Professor, Lani Guinier, speak about education reform. Wow! (I will also have the chance to hear Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak next May when he comes to Tacoma.) It’s incredible all of the opportunities that are offered to me as a Puget Sound student.
4. We are just 40 minutes from Seattle. I have been up to Seattle twice in the past couple of weeks. The first was for my Teach For America interview, and, last Thursday, I went up with some friends to the Ingrid Michaelson concert. IT WAS AMAZING. She is such a fantastic live performer, and, seeing as how I’m already a fan of her music, it was such a treat to see her performing some of my favorite songs. I know the quality is bad… but here she is with her whole band performing “You & I”.
5. The D3 sports teams rock. Our volleyball team is ranked 25th in the country, and 4th in our region (West Coast), and 1st in our conference. Women’s soccer is 24th in the country, also 4th in our region, and 1st in our conference. What’s more, five of our soccer players (3 women and 2 men) were recently recognized by ESPN as being stars on the field AND in the classroom. Yes, in case you were wondering, our athletes are fantastic!
I bought a grey crew-neck sweatshirt at Goodwill this week featuring Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. He stares into a pool of water while a caption floats above his head informing observers that “rainy days are a time for reflection.”
Good thesis, Eeyore; straight to the heart of the argument. However, I would hope that people would not think that rainy days are only a time for reflection, you might miss out on something amazing! Like puddle-jumping! I guess puddle-jumping can be reflective…or at least cathartic.
I appreciate the different ways in which people respond differently to the rain falling in Tacoma. People may experience dread for the winter ahead, a desire to dance outside, a bout of personal reading, or maybe just the urge to cuddle. I especially like it when some people don neon clothing in an attempt to brighten the day for those around them.
I plan on sporting my new sweatshirt as I *reflect* on Eeyore’s sentiment. Perhaps as I flush out the ideas in my head I will share them with the rest of you.
Love, always love.
~Kyle
I write this as I lay in bed savoring the last couple of hours of Fall Break. Have I done as much work as I thought I would (to get ahead in my classes)? No. Am I totally ready for my TFA interview on Thursday? No. But did I love every moment of break, and am I happy to be hitting the ground running as the second half of the semester starts? Oh, yes. (Plus, Thanksgiving break is just 34 days away, right?)
Providence was great, and a good taste of some of the things I miss most about Edinburgh: narrow brick buildings, cobblestones, crisp weather, and my friends. It was also just good to get on a plane and GO somewhere. It’s easy to get cabin fever after staying in one city for 5 months (compared to traveling every weekend for a semester), so traveling to a new city, a new campus, and new people (not to mention lots of new yummy restaurants… and no cafeteria food in sight) was just the momentary shake-up I needed.
Here are Bri and I pretending to be Brown students… Bri goes to Wellesley, and I, of course, go to Puget Sound, so we borrowed our friends’ IDs to get into the Brown vs. Harvard soccer game. Although Harvard was wearing Logger colors, and the game ended in a 0-0 draw, Brown was clearly the better team. Go Bears!
And here we are (I promise I didn’t spend my whole weekend with just Bri… some of the group shots wouldn’t upload) in front of Brown’s Chemistry building, since she’s a Chemistry major, too. Looks a little bit like Harned, huh?
We had a potluck to celebrate our mini reunion (not everyone could make it to this because Brown is right in the middle of midterms right now, too, so some friends were busy studying). The crisp fall weather was gorgeous, and my friend – who works at Ben & Jerry’s in Providence – even brought an ice cream cake with “Scotlove” written on it!
Overall, it was a great weekend. Now, my main focus – since my midterms are basically over – is my Teach For America final interview on Thursday. I’m practicing my 5-minute lesson plan on cross-multiplcation, and preparing answers to all the generic interview questions I can get my hands on! It’s amazing to think that the interview on Thursday could determine my trajectory for the next 2 years… We’ll see how it goes, but, as always, I’m hoping for the best!
I hope you are all loving the changing colors of the trees (Puget Sound will reach it’s peak beauty here in about a week), and to prospective high school senior out there… I hope your college search/narrowing down continues to go well. It’s crazy that my search was 4 years ago, since I still remember it so well. If you have any questions about Puget Sound, campus life, or college applications in general, never hesitate to contact me at aschoblaske@pugetsound.edu.
It’s Wednesday of midterms, and I’m still alive. I had a Physiology exam today, I just finished writing my Biochemistry lab report (at 12:45am, no less), and I have one more Education essay due on Friday. I also (finally… it took me long enough) wrapped up my summer research earlier this week by finishing data analysis and getting all of my results to my advisor. All three of my midterm assignments have been really interesting, but it does not make them any less difficult or time-consuming. My Physio exam was on neurology, and I’m asatounded by how complex our brains and neural systems are! My Biochemistry report – for you nerds out there – was all about the enzyme, fumarase. It’s used in the Citric Acid/Kreb’s Cycle for metabolism, and we looked at its pH profile, stereospecificity, reaction mechanism, and thermodynamics. It’s amazing how much a few UV-Vis spectra, a few H-NMR spectra, and some brain power will tell you! Â Finally, my Education paper is comparing two high schools from my hometown. In what I’ve done so far, there are some interesting and unexpected similarities/differences, so I’m excited to delve further into that paper tomorrow!
This weekend is FALL BREAK! After Midterms, everyone gets a 4-day weekend, and I’m using mine to fly out to Rhode Island to visit some friends I made in Edinburgh that all go to Brown. I’m so, so, so, so, so excited!! It will be nice to get out of Tacoma (although it’s an awesome city, nothing really compares to traveling around the UK and Europe every weekend for a semester…), see them, catch up, and take a brief break from school. Unlike high school, we don’t get random inservice/conference/holiday days off. We get 5 days off the entire semester (3 days for Thanksgiving and 2 for Fall Break). It can get tiring, but it’s worth it in May when we are done before anyone else. đ
I have to get back to revising my report, but hopefully I’ll update next with lots of fun stories (and pictures) from Providence and with enough renewed energy to tackle the second half of the semester.
Signing Off,
A Senior Who Can’t Believe She’s Already 1/4 Through Her Last Year!!
PS: For those of you following… I got the Teach For America final interview, and will be doing that next Thursday the 21st! Be sure to send all your positive/future teacher vibes up to Seattle then!!
So last weekend my housemates and I decided to build a fort in our living and have a sleepover party. Yes. A group of 21 years old chose not to go to out for Satruday night drinking (or even more realistically, decided not to go spend the entire evening studying in library) in favor of throwing a slumber party. Complete with movie, popcorn and blanket and sheet roofs, sleeping bags, pillow wars, gummy candies and, yes. sleeping. Ha ha, it was a great time. I am reminded of this webcomic:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/grownups.png
which really. Itâs only true. Ok. perhaps we arenât all âgrown-upsâ yet, but seriously? Itâs only four more years until we can all legally rent a car.
It is a weird transistion stage for us seniors though. Because now we are all more than a little panicky at the thought of stepping into the world in just a years time and doing whatever it is that we manage to do with ourselves. While I might have been guilty of future-scaping even in my Sophomore year, at this point, it almost feels as though thatâs all that ends up happening when my brain is given some respite from papers/reading/research projects. Just, what are we going to do for ourselves? All of us students here?
But I am excited for it. It is sort of like a chapter book that goes a little slow, but I can feel the plot deepening and thickening, taking all of my will power not to flash ahead and read the chapter titles to get some idea and relief for what events will plague the heroes next! Of course, I canât do that. Just feel the tension is all. And weave a more complex plot for myself, trying to tease out more concrete possibilities. Fun times, fun times.
In the meantime. Living-room forts never go out of fashion. Neither do slumber parties. Even if instead of reading Judy Blume by flashlight, we are reading âThe Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigationâ
But you know, it all comes to the same thing! Having fun and cutting lose in whatever ways seem most stress-relieving .
A shot from inside our Fort!
Tomorrow evening, I will hear back from Teach For America as to whether or not I get to advance to the Final Interview stage… needless to say, I’m pretty nervous for that e-mail, and also excited for the further opportunities that it might bring. I had a friend tell me when I first applied that, although she had gone through the interview process but was not hired, she still valued the interview process and all the things it taught her. More and more, I’m realizing this, too. It’s been an amazing learning experience about my own educational background, the inequality in our country, and basic interviewing skills!
Before I hear the verdict tomorrow, though, I want to take a little bit of time to reflect on the amazing academic experience that I have had here at Puget Sound. It has been one of the driving forces behind my wanting to apply to TFA… I want to encourage all students to get the same caliber college education that I have been lucky enough to have. Of course the liberal arts aspect of my time here has been so great (each semester, I make surprising connections between subject areas that I never would have expected otherwise), and I have enjoyed dappling in classes outside my major… but what I think I will remember most after graduating are my science classes and the multitude I have learned from – arguably – some of the best professors out there.
I could go on and on about my science education at Puget Sound: from the Organic Chemistry struggles made worthwhile by “Aha!” moments, or the all the goofy jokes that came out of Physical Chemistry (“What the fugasity?!”), up through Biochemistry which I’m taking right now. I think that Biochemistry has been a great representation for all that is great about this University. My professor, Amy (To all the high school seniors… yes, we really do call most of our professors by their first name), presents so much challenging material in class, but it’s all so COOL that I can’t help but want to study. From the fact that cold-blooded animals can change their lipid bilayer composition depending on their surroundings (which I’m still amazed by), or understanding how a perm works (by breaking and then reforming the disulfide bonds in our hair), I am able to better explain and understand something about the world around me each day. This is why I love science, and it’s just one of the reasons Biochemistry is so great. Some other reasons? Well, it’s my major, so it’s kind of like the capstone of my college education. The class is filled with just over 20 friends that I have made over the past 2 years (after transferring), and we get just as much of a kick out of our own antics as Amy’s great acronyms and mnemonic devices. The class – and lab – are held in Harned, which is the newest (and, in my opinion, prettiest) building on campus. Oh, gosh! I could go on and on and on.
In short, Chemistry rocks. And I just hope that I can inspire some future students to love science as much as I do. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!
With that, I’m off to a Chemistry Club meeting, a Pre-Dental meeting, and then to TA an Organic Chemistry lab (after working on a Biochemistry lab report all afternoon). See? I really do love this stuff!
Another reason Chemistry rocks? One of the Chemistry professors invites everyone over to his house each fall to press fresh apple cider. YUM!
