a year in retrospect

Over break I went back to Lenape, and in some ways, it hardly seemed like things had changed from last year. Okay, so I didn't generally receive as many hugs in high school as I did that day visiting, but sitting next to one of my best friends it seemed possible that it was only last Friday that we were sitting together for lunch, drawing random pictures, and searching for the turtle animal crackers. (Because they're the best.) But it has been a whole year.

There are just a few of the cookies that I made for my sister's
wedding. And yes, I know that I am a fantastic photographer.
The angle was purposeful. (Maybe.)

Despite all the changes in my life, the winter break was for the most part the same. Dad losing at Monopoly (okay, he won... once), pigs in the blanket on Christmas eve, Christmas cards hung up on string in the living room... All of my family traditions brought the year full circle.

Although I try not to limit goal setting and reflection about how far I've come to this time of year, I think that it is suiting to think about the changes this past year brought to me--and about the changes this new year will bring.

This past year...

• I learned that, despite what I was taught in high school (sorry Newton), physics is amazing. The universe is incredibly complex and the mystery of how everything ties together continues to intrigue me. Speaking of which, I just bought a new book about physics! (Okay, so it was this year not last, but minor details...).

It has all these recreational experiments that I'm excited to try out.
One of them's boiling water in snow! (Although obviously
that's chemistry, not physics.... duh.)

• I graduated from high school! Woot! Also started going to college (gasp!) and started my own blog.
• Traveled to Europe for the second time ever, the first time that I can ever remember. Let's just say that the Mona Lisa is a bit of a disappointment, but the Eiffel tower...? Oh man.

Almost fit it into my backpack.
Almost, but not quite.

• I went through three jobs: Dunkin' Donuts, rame-hart instrument co., and now the research lab.
• I watched my sister get married to her best friend. (There was a point where I thought that person was me, but alas. There's no time to be sore about that now.)

See, I'm super strong!

• I applied for internships! Oh wait, I was going to, but then I didn't get to that until... oh, about four hours ago. 
• I learned to appreciate a crunchy leaf to a new extent. (Also recently discovered that snow is just as satisfyingly crunchy, and the chances of getting a good crunch out of snow are much higher than finding a non-soggy leaf to crunch. Just so you know.)
• I learned how to play the organ! Formally, anyway.
• Somehow managed to attend college and not become poor. 

I can't say that a whole lot has changed now that it's 2013, but hopefully some new (good) changes will come this year. I'm really excited for this new semester; I'm taking 10 classes which I know sounds like a lot, but most of them are easier classes. Like scuba diving! Words cannot express to you how excited I am for that class. 

So I'm guessing that this semester will be a little bit more challenging than last (obviously because of that really tough scuba diving class...), but hopefully I'll still have time to post here, bake cookies, sleep sufficiently... and get an internship this summer! I almost didn't apply to any because the lazy part of me told me it would be fine to work another summer at Dunkin' Donuts, but then I did anyway and I'm really glad I did. Although I still have five or so more places I want to apply to. 

As for some resolutions...

• Be more open to people and new ideas.
• Read more frequently.
• Spend less time distracted.

A perfect example of me being distracted.
My apologies for making you see that.
Also sorry for the weird effects. I couldn't figure out how to
change them.

• Go to bed earlier (great, already breaking that one... it's 1am right now), and don't fight waking up in the morning.
• Learn how to make some real food. (Enough noodles, seriously.)

my double rainbow

Since my older sister is getting married in a little less than a month, I figured I should get my (gasp!) bridesmaid dress. The only requirement? Grey and knee length. Not too bad, right? That's what I thought too, but it turns out grey dresses (that aren't extremely expensive, fit me, and are a decent length) are terribly hard to find.

Today I went to the University Mall, and went to every single store (with women's clothing, at least 15, I swear) looking for that dress. I looked through every dress rack, tried on every grey dress I could find (even some that looked like they were grey but I think they were really navy...) and was about to give up after about three hours of searching. With maybe two or three clothing stores left, I gave American Eagle a try, and, low and behold, there was my dress! I almost didn't try it on; the tag had a size larger than what I generally wore, and the price was more than what I wanted to pay. But, looking up, I saw a clearance sign, 40% off! Luckily, I did try it on, and not only did it fit, but it also only cost about half the price I thought it was going to be, even with clearance.

That's more or less how I will look wearing it...

So, things were shaping up, and I was optimistic even though it was late afternoon, and I was hungry and in need of a bathroom stop. Then I step outside, ready for the long journey home. And it's pouring. Undeterred, I pull out my umbrella. But still, I have two miles to trek home, and the wind is blowing  right towards my so me umbrella is not really all that effective. I walk along, desperately hoping some kind (and not at all creepy) soul will offer me a ride. No such luck.

I'm slogging along in my now wet shoes and I happen to glance up and see the sun shining through the rain. Oh hey, say I (not out loud of course), a monkey's uncle! and then I continue on (I don't care what other people say, but a monkey's uncle is when it's raining and the sun is shining). But then, a couple of minutes later, I happen to glance up again, and see a double rainbow. Full over the sky too! I may or may not have burst out into song about then...

So. Much. Physics. I love it.
(Just want to clarify and say that that's not the rainbow I saw.
Random picture off the web. You know.)

I don't know if you've ever seen a double rainbow, but they are about the best thing ever. If you have, you may have noticed that it's darker in between the two bows, and lighter underneath, and that the second bow is opposite, as in red on the inside band, and blue/violet is on the outside. Walter Lewin gives a whole lecture on it! He's my hero. You might enjoy rainbows right now, but I guarantee that you'll appreciate them that much more if you watch this lecture. 

all I want for Christmas

I need to visit Australia. ASAP.

I found this picture on Astronomy Picture of the Day. I honestly can't understand how this picture cannot inspire awe. Science is beautiful, even when it's not understood. Just looking at the picture you can see a moon bow, a plane (lame, I know. It's the horizontal streak in the middle), a meteor (the vertical streak), and a band of the milky way. And that's just such a small part of the wonders this universe holds. 

Thierry Legault: Meteor and Moonbow over Wallaman Falls

I would gladly give up the conveniences of the suburbs to live in the country if there were night skies like this. Right now I live in a city, and while the mountains certainly are beautiful and I love having extended family and grocery stores nearby, I wish it was easier to see the night sky. I absolutely love the stars, for the physics I do know about them, and for the mystery that they will appear, all extended in front of my wondering eyes on a clear night.

National Geographic: Our Vanishing Night

Call me whatever you will for putting yet another picture of the night sky up, but I just can't help it. Sometimes the harsh, bright lights that are lit at night make me feel stifled, and I need the stars to reassure me that the universe is going to continue on in its course without me, and to encourage me to take charge of the things that I do have control over in my life. I need the stars to force me to take a break from my normal routines and just lie down in humble awe.

Although the sky is available to all, how many of us can truthfully say that we have experienced the full extent of the grandeur of the night sky?

I'll put that on my bucket list.

...and then I passed out

     Despite the title of this post, let me assure you that life has been going well. I met with my research mentor and learned what project I'm on. It's studying wildlands fire by burning small samples (i.e. leaves) and then extending that information to create more accurate models for firefighters to use. Right now I'm really only completing safety training (online, boo) and reading papers (many of them, and up to 96 pages). But I am super excited to start, especially since I learned I get paid! Happy day. I also got to go to the WE@BYU retreat for women engineers, and that was really fun. Generally speaking, my life has been pretty busy lately, and today has been no exception.

     Now, to the title of today's (or rather, tonight's) post. In my writing class, we had to write a "letter to the editor," and it took me forever to come up with a decent topic that would appeal to the audience and that I would be able to talk about. Finally, I decided to write about how BYU should have more blood drives. I hadn't seen one on campus, and I tried really hard to find out information about blood drives on campus, but with no luck. So I concluded that I was right: BYU didn't hold enough blood drives, and thus my letter to the editor came into being. And I submitted it, and that was good.

Just three days later (that would be today), I'm in the Wilk (student center), and I see signs for a blood drive. Following my initial thought of oh no, my paper is all wrong! I conclude that I must donate, especially since they turned my blood away this summer (because NY is super picky about what blood they will take, I suppose). So I go, and everything is fantastic. And I really mean that. After all, they gave me a free t-shirt!

My blood actually is blue, in case you were wondering

It takes maybe ten minutes for my blood to be drawn, and I don't feel dizzy at all afterwards. But because I'm pretty cautious, I sit down for a couple of minutes and partake of the free food and drink they have. And then I'm back to my regular stuff. I practice organ, go to the library to print something, adventure to my locker (such a good idea to get one), and then wander over to the Eyring science center for my physics lab. Everything is going fine, and then I feel somewhat lightheaded, and then my mind goes off to some crazy land, far, far away from the physics lab, and next thing I know I'm picking myself off the physics floor.

I'm not really sure why it happened, because I really did take care of myself after donating, but it was a super weird experience. And pretty embarrassing, because here I am, the shortest girl in a physics lab filled with mostly guys, trying to prove to myself and everyone else that I can handle everything I'm trying to juggle and that I'm just as capable as an engineer as all the other people in my major despite the fact that I might not look it, and then I go and pass out on the floor. I really am strong, I swear.

Really, I'm fine though. Although I will always accept food offered to me.

okay, so I'm a leeetle bit obsessed

I may have mentioned this before, but I kinda have this thing for physics going for me right now (despite the fact that my physics class is super boring right now because it's all, direction vectors! and oh hey, acceleration! blegh). But I started to read this book by Walter Lewin, who is physics professor at MIT, and can I say that I really wish I was taking his class right now? You can tell that he absolutely loves what he's studying, and it's all so very interesting! I don't know about you, but I know how rainbows work, and why you're slightly shorter when you're standing up, or why the scale goes berserk when you stand on your tiptoes when you're weighing yourself. Also, light travels slower in water, but speed travels faster. Interesting. He has all of his lectures online here for his physics II class (electricity and magnetism) if you're interested; hopefully I'll have the time to eventually watch those because I probably won't get to take an actual class on it in college (and besides, how can I resist?).

I really, really, really want to have the same kind of passion for learning that he has

   
Somewhat more related to my life, but I finally learned about my research! I got paired with a professor in the chemical engineering department who does a lot of research on combustion. I'm not sure which project I'll get to work on yet, but I am super excited, although I can sense that I'm going to have to do some proving of myself as to be a help, not a burden, to the group. So excited!

Just so you know that I actually do have life outside of nerdy science/math/engineering stuff, here's proof:

See?

I made this instead of doing homework (if you want to make one, you can learn how here), and I also watched Little Rascals which is really funny/cute and ate brownies with my FHE (family home evening) group. AND, my procrastination skills are top-notch (case-in-point), as demonstrated by the fact that I'm writing this blog post...

school at long last

I've been putting off posting on here, because although so much has happened, I'm not really sure how I feel about everything yet, but I suppose close to 1am would be a good time for a blog post (college does crazy things to your sleep schedule).

Orientation last week was tons of fun, and I met lots of people (the majority of whom I don't remember names of now), but to be quite honest it was a little bit overwhelming, and it made me anxious because all of the things that will probably be routine for me in a month or so were foreign and unknown, and without classes starting I couldn't exactly determine where my favorite places to think/people watch/study and so forth were to be.

Classes started this past Monday, and I was really grateful for that. Nothing like classes starting to help you get in the swing of things. Other than the class change in between statistics and freshman writing (it's a mad house getting out of the JKB... Wednesday I was stuck trying to get out of the building for at least seven minutes, and then I had to move myself allllll the way across campus to the Maeser building. In three minutes. It didn't really work out. Perhaps I should have tested out Rachel's philosophy from The Poisonwood Bible; just stick out your elbows and float along with the crowd. Maybe I'm too short for that, I don't know.), I really like my schedule (although maybe not the fact that my organ class is at 8am. That is somewhat unfortunate). None of my classes seem like they are going to be terribly difficult, and I'm particularly excited for organic chemistry (which I'm sure you'd be able to tell from the way that my knee always bounces when I sit down for class, and how I haven't introduced myself to anyone, and how I take the most scrupulous notes in the history of man...) because my teacher is somewhat obsessed with fire, and we always have at least two demos (involving fire) every class period. Chemistry is so cool!

I've learned a lot this past week, at least from the college life perspective. I learned how to use the washers and dryers (they take foreverrrr), how to use my ID card, and what it can be used for, how to print stuff out, how to make friends (okay fine, still working on that), how to find my way around, how to use practice rooms for piano, how to check stuff out of the library... I of course had to find the science section and get the nerdiest books. I also bought some pretty nerdy books that were on sale at the bookstore, so I guess now is just the challenge to be able to find time to read all of them.

I don't know when I discovered that physics was super cool and became enamorated with it, but I really do enjoy reading books about the universe and so forth, although I wouldn't ever switch to become a physics major. Maybe I'll minor in astronomy...