Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Another TED Talk
This one is one of my favorites! Not only is it very cute, it teaches a really good lesson. Let's just say my spending five years is graduate school is my equivalent of not eating the marshmallow yet.
Musing
I've been watching a lot of TED talks recently and having been thinking about how I can make a difference in the world. Today I watched a talk given by Liz Coleman, president of Bennington Collage. In her talk she discussed the need for a liberal education and I am once again grateful to be expanding my education beyond engineering. One quote struck me as particularly powerful:
"The is no such thing as a viable democracy made up of experts, zealots, politicians and spectators." Perhaps this is what I enjoy most about the area in which I have sought to become and "expert." Materials science is hugely multidisciplinary. It touches every field of engineering and cannot be confined within the borders of it's own discipline.
Coleman also said that we have made even literature arcane, a fact I can attest to in the various English and Literature classes I've taken both here and at University of Michigan. The idea of literary theory while a useful tool for approaching and understanding literature, in my opinion takes away from the awe and the beauty of great works. While it is helpful to understand the author's background in order to comprehend the setting and references within the book I think that it can be just as rewarding to read a book cold and get your own impression of it outside a theoretical framework. This is why I am relishing the time I have to digest great works outside of a formal classroom setting for these weeks between my programs.
I am also thinking about the ways I can expand my own "liberal arts" education. Which direction to I want to go? I want to learn and solidify my knowledge of a second language. My time traveling in Europe has fired my desire to improve my Spanish and learn German. I want to continue to read the classics, and I think I need to develop a better knowledge of ancient mythology. I would like to write more and improve my communication skill. I would also like to learn more about history, in particular the history of the last 300 years or so - the events that shape politics and policy today, throughout the world. I have basic knowledge from high school but that is all. When I return to Delaware I will be taking public policy, environmental and sustainable systems courses as a part of my IGERT award and this will also contribute to my fully well rounded education - I hope I can fit in a foreign language course or two. Recent events have also piqued my curiosity about economics. I also want to explore ways in which we can understand the validity of the information we recieve. Information is everywhere? How do you decide what is true? How do you know who is being neutral and who is biased and who is flat out lying? This is not a simple question and I don't believe anyone has a good answer to it, but I feel that it is incredibly important in this modern society.
"The is no such thing as a viable democracy made up of experts, zealots, politicians and spectators." Perhaps this is what I enjoy most about the area in which I have sought to become and "expert." Materials science is hugely multidisciplinary. It touches every field of engineering and cannot be confined within the borders of it's own discipline.
Coleman also said that we have made even literature arcane, a fact I can attest to in the various English and Literature classes I've taken both here and at University of Michigan. The idea of literary theory while a useful tool for approaching and understanding literature, in my opinion takes away from the awe and the beauty of great works. While it is helpful to understand the author's background in order to comprehend the setting and references within the book I think that it can be just as rewarding to read a book cold and get your own impression of it outside a theoretical framework. This is why I am relishing the time I have to digest great works outside of a formal classroom setting for these weeks between my programs.
I am also thinking about the ways I can expand my own "liberal arts" education. Which direction to I want to go? I want to learn and solidify my knowledge of a second language. My time traveling in Europe has fired my desire to improve my Spanish and learn German. I want to continue to read the classics, and I think I need to develop a better knowledge of ancient mythology. I would like to write more and improve my communication skill. I would also like to learn more about history, in particular the history of the last 300 years or so - the events that shape politics and policy today, throughout the world. I have basic knowledge from high school but that is all. When I return to Delaware I will be taking public policy, environmental and sustainable systems courses as a part of my IGERT award and this will also contribute to my fully well rounded education - I hope I can fit in a foreign language course or two. Recent events have also piqued my curiosity about economics. I also want to explore ways in which we can understand the validity of the information we recieve. Information is everywhere? How do you decide what is true? How do you know who is being neutral and who is biased and who is flat out lying? This is not a simple question and I don't believe anyone has a good answer to it, but I feel that it is incredibly important in this modern society.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Kickin it in London
I'm still just hanging out in London. A couple of days ago Melissa and I took a little day trip to Brighton which was simply lovely. The weather was perfect - sunshine and big puffy clouds. The train ride was cheap and short and we ate deliciously sinful fried food - including those doughnuts that they make in an automatic machine as you wait...so fresh...so greasy...so good. The ocean was perfectly blue and smelled salty and sharp.
My trip to Crete with my mom is planned and set. We'll be staying with George, a family friend and local professor in mechanical engineering. It will be a wonderful way to spend the rest of my time between programs.
I am starting to look forward to Cambridge. I found out one of my sorority sisters from Phi Sigma Rho will be studying through the same program, though I haven't found out if she is taking the same classes as I am.
Organizing the trips that I have taken, getting my self from place to place and figuring out where to stay, how to use public transport in a dozen countries in languages I generally don't understand has given me an immense sense of both confidence and humility. I have faith that I can get around on my own. I don't need a trip planner, and organizer or a tour guide. (Just need the internet! Thank God for Google!) I am also humbled. The generosity of the people I have met and the complexity of the world have left me in awe. The world is a very complicated place, yet we all somehow get by. People design public transport to be intuitive - just the fact that it was just as easy to take the Metro in Paris as it was in Barcelona as it was in London - despite the language barrier - speaks to the robust, thoughtful, design of the the system.
The same is true of the rail networks between the countries. I am even more awed that my Eurail guide - presumably printed at the start of 2009 - contains 99% accurate information for hundreds of train routes down to the very minute for trains that run 7 days a week all year round for 21 countries speaking a dozen languages. Hail Technology!
My trip to Crete with my mom is planned and set. We'll be staying with George, a family friend and local professor in mechanical engineering. It will be a wonderful way to spend the rest of my time between programs.
I am starting to look forward to Cambridge. I found out one of my sorority sisters from Phi Sigma Rho will be studying through the same program, though I haven't found out if she is taking the same classes as I am.
Organizing the trips that I have taken, getting my self from place to place and figuring out where to stay, how to use public transport in a dozen countries in languages I generally don't understand has given me an immense sense of both confidence and humility. I have faith that I can get around on my own. I don't need a trip planner, and organizer or a tour guide. (Just need the internet! Thank God for Google!) I am also humbled. The generosity of the people I have met and the complexity of the world have left me in awe. The world is a very complicated place, yet we all somehow get by. People design public transport to be intuitive - just the fact that it was just as easy to take the Metro in Paris as it was in Barcelona as it was in London - despite the language barrier - speaks to the robust, thoughtful, design of the the system.
The same is true of the rail networks between the countries. I am even more awed that my Eurail guide - presumably printed at the start of 2009 - contains 99% accurate information for hundreds of train routes down to the very minute for trains that run 7 days a week all year round for 21 countries speaking a dozen languages. Hail Technology!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Long time no post!
I haven't posted in quite a while, mostly because I've been traveling. After my exam, my friend Melissa and I flew to Cairo, Egypt (see picture!), then Istanbul Turkey, Paris, France and then I took the train to Nice and Barcelona. 17days in all. I was quite exhausted after all of it and needed pretty much a full week to decompress and process the experience. I can't say I have fully processed the amazing journey yet. Things went wrong (food poisoning, missed trains and lost luggage) but that is all part of the experience I guess! I read "Antony and Cleopatra" a bit trite to read in Egypt perhaps but a classic. I also read
"The Alchemist," "Dreams from my Father" and started "Hard Times" by Dickens. I wrote in my journals and took loads of pictures. Melissa and I had a good time until Istanbul when she got sick. I saw the Blue Mosque though, the Aya Sophia and the Topkapi Palace, but Melissa stayed in bed. I checked on her between each. I went on to Paris alone and met up with Jennifer Wilcox, a friend of mine from UM who is studying French there. In Nice I met two really cool girls Lauren and Katie who were staying at the same Hostel. We had the best day just hanging out on the beach and ate some great French food with wine that evening. Then I went on to Barcelona and met just loads of fun people - a group of girls from University of Chicago and Steve from London and Trever the Wolverine Fan from Tennessee . Steve and Trever wandered Barcelona with me on my last day, though we were slow and tired from the infamous Spanish night life that we all partook in the night before- tapas and dancing!
The Blue Mosque - Istanbul, Turkey
Paris, France
Nice, France
Chocolate con Churros - Barcelona, SpainAt the same time I have on my book shelf: "Hard Times" by Dickens, "The Man Who Would Be King" Rudyard Kipling, "Daisy Miller and Other Stories" by Henry James. I also try to go to one gallery or museum in London every other day (I tried everyothere day but it was too much). The National Gallery is my favorite and I like the Impressionist wing. Today my "assignment" is to find an Opera for my friend Margaret and I to see, and plan the trip for when my mom comes. Melissa and I have also been talking about taking the train to Brighton for a day - sometime before I leave London. Life in London is this wonderful woven tapestry of new and old, beautiful and ugly, serious and sill and I feel like I am a thread being stitched into it, and it is being stitched into me.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Random London
I took my last Westminster Exam today - The Rise of the Novel. It went alright. I won't say great because I had no idea how to prepare or what is expected. At Michigan I'd say I would expect an A- or a B+ but we'll see how they grade here. On my way to the exam, and on my way home I got a reminder of the wonderful randomness of London. Expect the unexpected.
I was heading up the stairs at Oxford Circus on my way to the exam and over my rock music that I'm jammin to I heard some other music coming from outside. I look up and take my headphones out and am confronted with the most random sight - African tribal dancers in red cloth and face paint singing about Jesus right outside the tube station. My face split into a smile and the mood hasn't broken all day. There were photographers, gawkers and a film crew. I still have no idea why they were there but it made my day!
On my way home from Uni after a good workout at the gym I am walking home to Shoreditch and a big white van drives by on Old Street. Suddenly the driver sticks his head out the window and howls...yes...howls. But the driver was wearing this wolf/wolverine/monster mask. This silliness just made me laugh out loud and shake my head. Oh randomness.
It occurs to me that my recent bad mood (evidence by my lack of blogging) has to do with not having a purpose. Going to class has been my purpose since I was 5 and during summers there was work. I don't have an organized schedule purpose since classes ended and I got back from traveling over Easter holiday. Once my paper was done my only task was theoretically to study for this exam and I didn't really know what to do. I've kept up with the reading so I didn't have to read anything. I reviewed the plots, themes, characters of the novels I was intending to write on and skimmed some critical reviews but other than that I didn't really know what else to do. I'll go into the relative merits of the UK education system (as I've experineced) later.
My point is that I never realized how cranky I get when I don't have anything to do! With most of my friends preparing for their finals or preparing to go home I've been at loose ends. With an unexpected amount of "free time" I am going to have to give myself something to do and be productive towards my own personal goals, instead of organized academic goals that have always provided me with a value system with goals to reach for me. That is my task for this afternoon while I do laundry. I will post my reading list and sylabus shortly.
I was heading up the stairs at Oxford Circus on my way to the exam and over my rock music that I'm jammin to I heard some other music coming from outside. I look up and take my headphones out and am confronted with the most random sight - African tribal dancers in red cloth and face paint singing about Jesus right outside the tube station. My face split into a smile and the mood hasn't broken all day. There were photographers, gawkers and a film crew. I still have no idea why they were there but it made my day!
On my way home from Uni after a good workout at the gym I am walking home to Shoreditch and a big white van drives by on Old Street. Suddenly the driver sticks his head out the window and howls...yes...howls. But the driver was wearing this wolf/wolverine/monster mask. This silliness just made me laugh out loud and shake my head. Oh randomness.
It occurs to me that my recent bad mood (evidence by my lack of blogging) has to do with not having a purpose. Going to class has been my purpose since I was 5 and during summers there was work. I don't have an organized schedule purpose since classes ended and I got back from traveling over Easter holiday. Once my paper was done my only task was theoretically to study for this exam and I didn't really know what to do. I've kept up with the reading so I didn't have to read anything. I reviewed the plots, themes, characters of the novels I was intending to write on and skimmed some critical reviews but other than that I didn't really know what else to do. I'll go into the relative merits of the UK education system (as I've experineced) later.
My point is that I never realized how cranky I get when I don't have anything to do! With most of my friends preparing for their finals or preparing to go home I've been at loose ends. With an unexpected amount of "free time" I am going to have to give myself something to do and be productive towards my own personal goals, instead of organized academic goals that have always provided me with a value system with goals to reach for me. That is my task for this afternoon while I do laundry. I will post my reading list and sylabus shortly.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Berlin
It's Eater Holiday and I'm in Berlin with JoAnne, Hope and Beth! It's been a great two days and we're heading to Warsaw Poland tomorrow. We went on a few tours which were really good and we saw quite a few memorials and places related to Nazi Germany as well as the Soviet occupation of Berlin. I saw the Berlin Wall which was a really cool experience having learned about it in school and understanding how much the history here has completely changed the world.
It stuck me that this city is like the buds on all the tree right now. The twentieth century has been a long cold winter for Germany and Berlin and now the weather is warmer, the flowers are starting to bloom and the first buds are springing from the ruin of extreme political domination. The brand new modern buildings were striking. Berlin as a city is much older than anything in the United States, yet a majority of the city was leveled during WW2 and the new buildings were built in the modern style.
I'm quite tired and don't have the energy to keep writing - we've seen most of Berlin in just two days! Tomorrow we catch a lunch time train to Warsaw Poland!
Monday, March 23, 2009
University of Delaware
I have formally accepted the offer from University of Delaware. I was accepted into the IGERT program which will provide extra funding and some really interesting opportunities. I also want to work with the IEC and study solar cells there. I'm not crazy about Newark, DE but I'll only be there for five years and I feel like they have some excellent opportunities. As long as I work smart, I will graduate around May 2014 at age 28. That is not too old, my goal is to graduate before I turn 30 so as long as research and coursework goes well I'll reach my goal. In addition I will get some great experience and connections and have some world class facilities at my disposal. I'm so relieved to have made this desicion!
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