You would not believe how many hits this blog has gotten this week from people using the search criteria "how I spent my holiday," which leads to this post.
Write your own school essays, kids. Writing is a good and useful skill to have and practice. Besides, I think your teacher wants to know how you spent your holiday, not how internet writers spend theirs.
In other news, engineering classes are enjoyable thus far. I find that I can grasp even theoretical engineering better than I can wrap my mind around even applied physics. Of course, my motivation level is higher in engineering than in physics, so that helps. Applications of engineering can make immediate contributions to human welfare, however small. Applications of physics, on the other hand, tend to be grander, loftier, and may move the entire human race forward in the quest for Understanding the Universe. That sounds romantic enough, but such goals have always seemed just a bit too quixotic for me.
8 comments:
But you knew that about physics all along, didn't you? So why didn't you go for a PhD in engineering (over physics) to begin with?
Hah. That's great. Well, no, it's horrible. But the idea that kids are even plagerizing how people spent their summer? Wow.
I can see it now:
Student: `I spent my summer as an Alaskan PhD canidate in Fairbanks, studying ice. I had two dogs, named Autumn and Liden...`
Teacher: o.O Uhhhhh.
kc, I did wonder about that... about whether they actually intended to plagiarize, and what credibility they would have with other people's stories. Perhaps they were just looking for inspiration on writing style, or on what parts of different people's vacations they chose to emphasize in their own stories. *shrug*
Anonymous, no, I didn't actually know that about physics all along. I did know that jobs in industry were scarcer than they were in engineering, and I did know that physics was more theoretical than engineering, but I figured that as long as I took a dish of humble pie, there was plenty of room at the bottom for folks like me, who love physics and are willing to work hard, but are not necessarily top-notch.
Well, as it turns out, the physics world really does require people who are top-notch. My physics classmates are far smarter than I am (academically; I know BT and Dan would jump in here and say, oh, but I'm a better writer, a better mechanical designer, a better cook, a stronger hiker, blahblah, but in terms of pure academics, yes, they are far smarter than I am), and I really have nothing to contribute to their world.
And besides this realization, I have made some internal changes in my outlook on life over the past two years since I first applied for the PhD program. There was a time when I still harbored a tiny bit of hope that maybe, yes, I *would* achieve something great and spectacular that would shake up the scientific community and have my name go down in history. It was unrealistic, but it was there. Now, well, I am just not interested in fame and more interested in hiking, gardening, cooking, skiing, etc, and I don't want to give up the whole rest of my life to being a top-notch academic. It's just part of my long downfall, I guess. :)
Oh yeah, anonymous, since you often post these scrutinizing comments here, I know you're going to read my prior comment and then call me on my last line "That sounds romantic enough, but such goals have always seemed just a bit too quixotic for me." And you're going to say, "such goals have ALWAYS seemed too quixotic for you, eh? You wrote ALWAYS! That doesn't sound like you changed your mind on anything!!"
Well... Heh heh... them grapes, although I've given them up, they still are a bit sour... :)
Two things:
1. (academically; I know BT and Dan would jump in here and say, oh, but I'm a better writer, a better mechanical designer, a better cook, a stronger hiker, blahblah, but in terms of pure academics, yes, they are far smarter than I am), and I really have nothing to contribute to their world.
It's true. I will jump in and point out that you have much to contribute and any field you choose is damn lucky to have you. You are different than anyone I have ever known. I talk about you in casual conversation to make points about humanity, dreams, following your instincts, and becoming your true potential all the time. I have friends you've never met who read your blog and agree with me and wish they had met you before you moved. I suspect you will never know just how inspirational and great you are, which is one of the reasons why you kick so much ass.
2. I used to think "quixotic" was pronounced Qui-ho-tique. Then, one fateful scrabble day, I laid it down (how awesome is it to have Quixotic in SCRABBLE!) and pronounced it as I thought it should be said. My opponent, clearly embarrassed by my luck with letters called out my pronunciation, and I was challenged to a dictionary duel. In case you, like me, suffer from that annoying problem where you place accents in words that don't request or invite them -- It is Quix-ot-ic.
That is all.
-bt
Awwww. :*)
And... you got to play quixotic? That's a lot of points!
Okay, wait, the full import of your post has just sunk in. quick-sot-tic? Really? But isn't it from Don Quixote? Which most people pronounce, like donkey hotay? My stars!
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