Blog

I was notified today that I was the recipient of the Lane Smith Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship had very demanding qualifications and carries a monetary award of $1,000.00. I am very grateful for the award, but more so for the selection. This scholarship was personally important to me because of the story behind it. In a nutshell, unfortunate things can happen to anyone – at any time. The importance of life – no matter what it may bring – is something many take for granted....

Well, after thousands of dollars from a NASA grant, hundreds of hours from student and mentors, and a few days of competition – Salmen’s (and my own) FIRST experience is finished. The competition was grueling, our robot erred quite a bit, but our team feels good about the whole ordeal. Our voices have been to the cheers for OBSIDIAN (our robot), our minds are thinking of next year’s competition, and our moral as a team is amazing....

Well, the decisions are all final and I’m packing my bags… I’ll be headed to the University of Chicago for the next four years of learning. I’m actually very excited. Chicago is a wonderful school and my family is fairly close. I can’t wait to get to know the city and experience life in a new place. I’ve already picked the classes I want to take. I’ll be double-majoring in Computer Science with an emphasis on Artificial Intelligence and Economics....

There are plenty of people out there who could tell you that the kindness of others is something to bask in. Why catch the tab if your friends is glad to do it for you, why work if the government will give you food and cash, why do anything when there are those that will come to your rescue? I am not one of those people, but they are out there....

I am not a fan of rules. This is of course, not to say that I am against the concept of “right and wrong”. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact; I view the two as distinctly different. The earlier is conformity thrust upon a group; the latter is a moral decision – very individual at that. I thought I was upset today by rules. It turned out I was upset by the mindlessness of the enforcement....

I stayed home today because of a severe sinus annoyance. This makes day number two this week. Luckily, I am still able to work on some of my online courses. Of course that doesn’t help me in the calculus arena. Well, nothing I can do about i; just try to enjoy the relaxation (stuffy head and all). I’m off to work on more computer science stuff. Then I’ll probably take a nap....

Before I go to bed for the night – I’d like to elaborate on an article I read in National Geographic today. It was about love. (Which ironically we were discussing in the same context during Chemistry II today.) I’ve read lots of articles about the subject. What women don’t even know they find attractive, how much eye-contact affects a relationship, how exciting things bring people closer together… I’ve read most of them before, but it was nice to revisit....

I have a feeling this title will pop up again and again as I chronicle my next few years. I’m getting ready to go work on a little Environmental Science online, and then I’ve got to work on the FIRST website for Salmen. After that I need to do some more programming work for Watertight Roofing. My own business website could use some tending to, and I have a mound of books to read....

I was just sitting around sipping on a cup of tea, when it came to me: I don’t like coffee. So then, of course, I had to Google “tea vs coffee”. The first result must be the best 🙂 so I read it. You can read it too here. Its obvious that this article may be a bit bias, but in all honesty – it made me feel better about my cup of tea....

It all started with five blank applications. I labored on them for months. Then I affixed postage to their envelopes and sent them on their way. I applied to Georgetown, The University of Chicago, MIT, Babson, and The University of Texas at Dallas. UTD was my “safety” school, but the McDermott Scholars program my make it worth considering. All the others are and were on a fairly equal footing in my mind....