Oh I Just Can't Wait to be Well

Everyone knows what I'm talking about when I say that being sick sucks. I started feeling sick the night Virginia Tech played and lost to Boston college--go figure. It started with a slight cough, which led to a sore throat, which led to a raging headache, which ultimately led to a feverish fever. It wasn't fun in the least. While the fever and the headache disappeared after some good sleep, the soar throat continues to persist, even as a write this blog entry. I plan on going to Schiffert Health Center within the next day or two, and hopefully they'll be able to fix me up and make me brand new again.

Not Another Loss

How is it you can lose a football game after getting up 10 to 0 in the first five minutes of play? It seems like an impossible feat. Well, our Virginia Tech Hokies sure enough managed to do just that against Boston College last night. After the kickoff to Boston College, Virginia Tech intercepted the 2nd down and returned it for a touchdown to go up 7 to 0. Then, the next kickoff, they caused a fumble, recovered, and wound up scoring a field goal to put them up 10 to 0. Needless, to say they had all the momentum on their side and looked sure to not only win, but crush Boston College. However, Boston's next possession would put a damper on those hopes. The referees called 5 penalties on Virginia Tech, many which didn't seem legitimate, that ultimately gave them over 50 yards. Boston wound up scoring a touchdown and from that point on things began a turn for the worse. Virginia Tech's offense crumbled, and the defense which had seemed impenetrable began missing tackles and gave too much room to receivers. Me and my hallmates watched in horror as our 10 point lead switched into a 10 point deficit. Even when we seemed to be on the verge of regaining the lead, we would always screw the pooch. It made me sick, both figuratively and literally. We wound up losing 28 to 23, putting us at five wins and two losses this season. Even with the loss we will still be ranked number one in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but we will surely fall out of national rankings. While there was questionable refereeing, in the end Tech had numerous opportunities and just didn't manage to convert. Lets hope for a better outcome next week when we take on Florida St.

Shitty First Draft

There is all this talk about being a Hokie, Hokies are so community oriented, there is something different about a Hokie student than other college students. But what is it? What is it that makes every other student incomparable to Hokies. It doesn’t seem to make sense. The school, while good, and still improving is a far way away from the ivies and the PAC 10. It is in the middle of Southwest Virginia, a.k.a the middle of nowhere, and hicksville. The football team can’t seem to win the easy games against East Carolina University and Boston College, but they can somehow beat Georgia Tech and Nebraska. Furthermore, while the school and the students pride themselves on the football team, they’ve only once been to a national championship, and they lost it. People make it seem like we’re all so homey and helpful, when in reality it can seem just the opposite. There are over 20,000 undergraduates. How can there be such a family atmosphere with so many people. Whenever you’re walking to class, there are always mobs of people crossing the drillfield, the vast majority of them are listenimg to their ipods and paying no attention to anyone around them. Some Virginia Tech family! In the first half of the semester here at Tech I have become good friends with my roommate, my hallmates, and a couple others. However, with so many people at the school I don’t know how I haven’t made more friends. I was very well liked in high school, and I’m the same person I was coming out of high school. It’s not like I haven’t been making the effort either. I go out and party, and I’ve been trying to get involved in the many clubs and organizations the school has to offer. The people just seem like they are from another world. Is it something wrong with me or them? I feel like the only way to fit in is to change myself, and I am in no way up for doing that. What’s even more frustrating is that, while I have been doing well in my studies, I seem to be getting less and less enjoyment from them. I have always wanted to know how things world, and I have always had an instinctive curiosity. Since early in high school I decided that I wanted to be an engineer. I concentrated all throughout high school on the math and sciences just because I was so set on the engineering career path. Now that I’m actually in an engineering program, I can’t say that I have been as enthused. I’m still doing so much math and science work and my introduction to engineering class bores the hell out me, although that might be because it is at 8 a.m. on Mondays. While I am learning, I want to be doing more, I want to be exploring. One of the main reasons I came to Virginia Tech was because they are a leader in undergraduate research. My whole thought was what’s the point of learning if you can’t apply it? I also can’t seem to figure out exactly what I want to do. When filling out college applications I told them that I was interested in aerospace and mechanical engineering. However, now that I’m actually in the process of selecting what major I will continue with for the next four years I couldn’t be more indecisive. While I still like aerospace and mechanical, the required classes I would have to take sound so monotonous and boring, and I don’t know if they’ll be worth it in the end. I have now begun considering mining and mineral, industrial and systems, and even green engineering, but none of them seem to have exactly quite what I’m looking for. The more about the programs I learn, the less sure I am of the decision at hand. I am also frustrated because I still feel like a big fish in a small pond. While there definitely is much more engineering talent at Tech than there was at my high school, I still feel like I am one of the top students, and one of the most creative with that. For a sustainable energy project we had I came up with a really good idea to use the heat generated through composting to power and transform it into electricity that can be utilized for whatever. Compare this to the ideas of some of my groupmates: a wheel located under a sink faucet, which would turn as a result of the water flow over it, producing electricity; the friction made from pressing the keys on a laptop would be converted into energy, which would recharge the laptop battery. In my opinion these ideas in particular, along with others, were just absurd. I don’t think that I’m necessarily smarter than anybody else, but I seem to be one of the few who really cares about engineering, and really puts in the time and effort it requires. Although I didn’t know about club tennis tryouts and I will definitely consider it for future years, I did join intramural tennis. I expected to have a ladder of games to play, but instead they gave us a group of 15 or 20 players or so and left it up to us to play. We only had to play three matches, but even so it was too loosy goosy for me and I could never seem to get emails back from players, nor did any of them ever seem to have time to play. I became disinterested and ultimately only played one match, and because of that haven’t been keeping up on my tennis game. The resident advisors rarely ever plan any events to bring the halls together, and one of the few ones they did was a lecture on how to not get caught when drinking alcohol. Exciting! I guess I just haven’t felt the full welcoming power of the so called Hokie Community. While I want to believe that the school is right for me, and in the end I think it will be, I just always have that unsettling feeling in my stomach that perhaps I did pick wrong. Mainly, I think I just need to give myself more time to get settled. That’s my hope.

Spring Course Request Already!?!

I'm getting quite nervous in the service because starting next Tuesday there will be a mad dash to apply for spring courses. Being an engineer, I have my schedule mostly planned out for my next semester, yet, I am eligible to drop out of both Physics 2305 and 2306 and I will also need to start my sophomore level mathematics. I am meeting with my advisor for the first time next Monday to hopefully clear all my questions and my worries up. I also plan to pay more attention to course time slots so as not to give myself five classes on Monday in the future.

Fall Break a.k.a Time Travelling

It's very surreal to come home after two months of being away at college. In some ways it is like you never left. You hang out with your high school friends and do the same things you used to do day in and day out before college life. It lets you toss nostalgia to the wind. It's hard being away from friends, family, and other loved ones, and going home allows you to see them personally and catch up with all of them. The only downside is that it is at the same time too long and too short a stay. In the words of someone very close to my heart, fall break is like a 100 calorie pack; it gives you just enough to make you want more. While I miss my friends, family, and especially my girlfriend dearly, I remind myself everyday that I will see them all very soon.

What's in an Essay?

First off, I do acknowledge that I am a bit late in posting my thoughts about the three essays we were asked to read. I went home over fall break, and because I was visiting with family, friends, and especially my girlfriend Louisa, I didn't get any work done. Although I planned to catch up the Sunday night I arrived back at Tech, I got in near midnight due to roadwork and backup on route 81 South. I also don't know if we were supposed to skim or fully read each of the articles, but as far as reading the whole articles went, it took quite some time.
I'm a getting very off topic though. According to the definition of an essay it is usually a short literary composition on a single subject that presents the personal view of the author. As we can see this definition is very vague. However, it is this ambiguity that allows us to write just about anything and everything on anything.
After reading “Silent Dancing,” “The Stunt Pilot,” and “Ali in Havana,” the main commonality between the three is that they all have observations, recollections, and reflections of the author.
"Silent Dancing" is a story about the author Judith Ortiz Cofer, and the hardships she and her family encountered after emigrating to America. The story takes place in the 1950s, a time of extreme racism and discrimination, especially towards Latinos. We see this animosity through Judith's eyes. Her father forbade her and her family from associating with their Latino neighbors, or any other people associated with the Latino community, and they could only go to certain stores and other places for fear of being victimized.
"The Stunt Pilot" is written by Annie Dillard and is about the stunt pilot Dave Rahm. Dillard talks about a Sunday trip she took to the Bellingham Air Show out of curiosity's sake. While being open to the experience, she became mesmerized by the beauty in the lines and spirals that were carved into the air by one of the pilots in particular, a geologist by the name of Dave Rahm. The piece goes on to talk about how Dave Rahm, while very taciturn in nature, was able to express himself as he flew upside down, did barrel rolls, and pounded out numerous dives and spins all while trailing a stream of beauty in his wake. Dillard also talks about a personal flight she got from Rahm as well as her sentiments after learning about his unfortunate death.
Finally, "Ali in Havana" talks about the meeting between the retired American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali and the former President of Cuba Fidel Castro. The author, Gay Talese, traveled with Ali on his humanitarian-aid visit to the small communist nation back in 1998 and acted somewhat more like a copyist than a journalist, depicting everything that occurred. The focus is not just on the two famed men, but also on Muhammad's wife Yolanda, and the rest of his entourage, including long time friend Howard Bingham, Cuban heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson and his wife, and even film make Greg Howard. The focus is on the event and all the emotions, both good and bad, solemn and lighthearted, graceful and awkward.
So what ultimately "makes" these essays? Each author presents an argument and adds something to that argument through a perspective, whether it be first person, third person, or something different entirely. For instance, in "Silent Dancing," Judith Ortiz Cofer focuses on the clash of cultures and in doing so makes the point that no one should renounce his or her culture in order to fit in. She doesn't just want to become another Gringa, another American girl who shuns her parents and her heritage for an American boyfriend, American clothes, and an American rebellious spirit. She doesn't want her life to be different for the sake of being different. She wants to be a part of her family, she wants to go to their parties, wear their dresses, and speak Spanish. She wants to maintain tradition while at the same time fitting in so as not to be discriminated against.

A Concert with The Guy Whose Third Eye is Blind

It was amazing when I found out from my friend Ana Snelling that her brother Trevor, and his two friends Patrick Jaffke and Nathan Scott had given up their tickets to the Third Eye Blind Concert because things had come up at the last minute. I'm sure it was disappointing for them, but as far as I was concerned it was a Godsend. For, you see, Ana and I had not been proactive in getting tickets, and by the time we finally felt inclined to ask, the concert was already sold out.
This past Wednesday Ana, myself, and another friend of ours, Christin Roberts, were among around 3,000 others packed into the Burruss auditorium to witness what really was a revival of a band that had faded some time ago. From the moment they made their entrance to the moment they made their exit, everyone was on their feet, jumping, cheering, clapping, chanting; all of it in good fun. It was quite a treat listening to some old classics, including "How's It Going to Be", "Jumper", "Never Let You Go", and "Semi-Charmed Life". I couldn't even begin to contemplate how long it had been since I'd last heard the songs, nor could I any more remember the lyrics to said songs. Still, I had a great time, and it was a great new experience.
I am now contemplating attending a Weezer concert on the 26th of this month. The only potential problem is that it is in Atlanta, Georgia, so we'll have to wait and see, but I'm keeping the fingers crossed.