Blogging in the New Year

I have a nasty habit of not updating my blog very often.  Usually, I get carried away with other things, mainly with schoolwork, that I forget to update or, more likely, say to myself, "I'll do that later."  As it is a new year, I'm once again resolving to write more often on my blog.
So, there goes another year, and another decade.  This has been a very busy year for me, with me graduating from Iowa State University and the start of Grad School at the University of Michigan.  It's been a year of changes, of goodbyes and of new friends.  But most importantly, it's been a year that's seen a maturing in myself.  I've grown this year in ways that I could not have imagined when it started.
As 2010 commences, I only hope that I can continue to better myself as a person, to continue to pursue my dreams as a graduate student in physics, and to continue to live life to its fullest.  After all, what's a new year if you don't live your life, exploring the new opportunities the year brings you?  2010 will be a good year, and one that I hope will be as memorable, if not more so, than the ones that have preceded it.

Life update

The past few weeks have been full of ups and downs. In fact, I don't think I've ever experienced such a difference in mood in such a short time.
A few weeks ago, I took my midterms for my physics classes. Needless to say, they were extremly hard, and some were downright unfair. Well, I've gotten two of my tests back, and, unsurprizingly, I did horribly on both. The only good news is that the others also did pretty bad on the tests as well.
I plan on picking up my third test tomorrow, and hopefully, I'll have done better on this test, as it did seem the easiest and most fair of the three.
In addition to midterms, it seems like the homework load has doubled from earlier in the semester. Today, for example, I worked on a problem for about 6 hours straight, with only a short break for lunch. Not only that, but I technically started working on the problem yesterday, and worked on it for about 3 hours then.
Nevertheless, I am still striving towards my goal, and I know that no matter ehat, I'll be able to acheive whatever is set in my path.

UPDATE: I received my final Midterm, and I'm quite pleased to say I got an 85%, which was above average, and well within the range of expectations.  Needless to say, I feel much better about myself.
-Eddie

Life in Michigan (and the horrors of buying my car)

Well, I've lived in Michigan for about 2.4 weeks now, and I'm finally feeling settled in. These last two weeks have been the most hectic and boring of this year. Moving in, first off, was extremely chaotic, even with the help of my parents, kristin, and her dad. I was buying a lot of new thing, including (but not limited to) a bed, a desk, lamps, desk chair, book cases, etc...

Of course, the biggest purchase we made in the last two weeks (and the most hectic), was a car. First, my parents and I (Kristin and her dad were gone by this point) went around different dealers, comparing prices and features. Eventually, after about 2 hours, I settled on (and they agreed to pay for) a 2010 Titanium Kia Soul +, also known as the hamster car (because of the commercial with the hamsters...). That's when things got complicated. Apparently, and I have no idea why, I needed to have a Michigan Driver's License or State ID to buy a car in Michigan. Ok, no problem, I'll just go to the Secretary of State office and get a State ID. Not so easy...

To get a State ID or Driver's License in the State of Michigan, I needed to prove I lived in Michigan, by showing not one, but two proofs of recidency. Well, I had just moved in, so I had no mail. The only thing I had was the contract for the apartment I was renting...

By this point, needless to say, my parents and I were very frustrated. We decided to wait and see if I would get a piece of mail (one of the guys at the dealership actually sent me a letter, but we didn't know if I would get it on time...). In the meantime, we went around Ann Arbor, trying to finish other important things, like getting my M-card (Student ID for the University of Michigan) and opening a bank account. At the bank, however, we were able to get a letter from the teller which basically "proved" my recidency.

We then went to the Secretary of State Office, about 1 hour before they closed, with a huge line. However, I just wanted to get this over with, so I stayed. I filled out the form for a State ID, and then the person at the counter tells me I need to get a Driver's Licence, since applying for a State ID will (somehow) cancel my Puerto Rico Driver's License. Of course, this might mean I need to take the written driver's test. Not having driven much for the past 4 years, I wasn't sure how well I'd do, but I quickly leafed through a study book, and most of the things seemed like common sense. After I was more or less ready to take the test, the person comes back and tells me (to my relief and mild irritation) that I didn't have to take the test. They took my picture, and told me my ID would arrive in the mail in about a week (which it did, although I'm not entirely sure why they couldn't just give it to me then and there.)

Anyway, by this point, everyone was tired, but I felt like I had just accomplished a major thing. The next day, we went back to the dealer, and got the car (Finally!).

Well, my parents went back home, and I got ready for the Rackham Summer Institute (SI). The orientation was fun and informative (although the taxes protion confused the crap out of me), and I met a lot of new people, including everyone who will be in my class over the summer (Mathematical and Research Skills for Engineering and the Physical Sciences). Now I'm getting ready for the class (which starts tomorrow), and things have since calmed down a bit (sometimes a bit too much, it can get really boring sometimes...) Hopefully, this will be the beginning to a great time in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan.

Final weeks at ISU

For those who don't know, I'm going to be graduating in a few weeks.  I'm really excited, but at the same time, sad.  These have been some of the best years of my life.  I'm going to miss everything when I leave.  All my friends are going to still be here, with a few graduating, and I'm going to go to Michigan.

When I started college, one of my biggest fears what that I wasn't going to meet anyone, and that I'd be along for the entire time.  Looking back, I see that those fears were unfounded.  I've made many friends these past four year, some who I can honestly say have been the best friends I've ever had.  I meant the girl of my dreams, who one day I'll probably marry.  I grew in ways I did not event think were possible.

I think if I were to meet myself 4 years ago, that me would be surprised at how I'd changed.  I would not change anything that happened, even the bad, because from that, I learned and become a better person.

So, in these last 2-3 weeks at ISU, I reflect on my time hear, content with what I accomplished, and looking forward to the next phase in my life.  Thank you, everyone who influenced me into becoming the person I am now.  Thanks for all the memories, the laughs, cries, anger, and random happenings.

I will miss you all.

Life, the Universe, and Everything

Well, recently, I started using this program thing called Twitter, which is some sort of microblog thing that allows you to post updates of your life in 140 character posts.  It's kinda like a miniblog, except that one basically answers the question: What are you doing now?  I kinda like it, although I'm not following very many people yet.  However, it's a pretty good way for people to know what's going on in my (usually boring) life.

Last week (or the week before, I can't remember very well), there was a crash.  IN SPACE!  Now, I don't know what the odds are, but for two satelites to crash seems very unlikely, so that fact that it did happen was pretty big.  Anyway, this has caused a NASA and other space groups to really start considering the problem of space junk a lot more.  This has made NASA's space shuttle be delayed yet again, so this is a pretty big issue.  Come on, people, we have to keep the universe clean.

Everything else seems kinda pale in comparison, although the Pirate Bay has made pretty interesting headlines in the past week.  Oh, and I got a shirt from shirt.woot again.  This one was the one that had a picture of an atom made of dice.  Yeah, I'm definately a nerd...

Life Directions

I'm not entirely sure why, but reviewing one's life goals seems to be quite popula these days.  Many of my friends recently changed their major, or, in some cases, decided that they wanted to pursue a religious life.

Well, with graduation coming up, I've been thinking more and more about my future, and I've been asking myself some pretty tough questions.  For example: what do I see myself doing in 10 years? Do I really want to be doing Theoretical Physics for the rest of my life?  Is there something else I'd really like to do in my life?

Well, I've been giving thought to some different paths I could take once I have my PhD in Physics, and was thinking about industry (also known as the private sector).  Talking this over with my mom, she mentioned that one of her college friends' husband was a physics graduate who now works in Research and Devolpement at Intel.

I'm not sure what, but something about working for Intel (or a similar company) just seems pretty awesome.  I plan to still get my PhD, but I'm not going to limit my career choices to academia.  We'll see what I'm doing in 10 years.

Blog Update: 10 things that happened since last time.

Yay, new blog post.
It's 1:20am, October 17 2008, and a lot of thing have changed since I last posted.

#1) I have a new computer!!!! It runs Vista and Ubuntu. I'm currently typing from Ubuntu.
#2) New classes: Thermal Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, General Relativity, Philosophy of Science, and Philosophy of Religion
#3) New Minor: Philosophy. This is in addition if my Math Minor
#4) I was a Summer Peer Minister at STA. It was lots of fun, and I miss it sometimes.
#5) HOMEWORK!!!! To much of it. One would think I'm graduating... (P.S. I am)
#6) STA Bookclub leader. I started a bookclub. We're currently reading "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis.
#7) DnD: I'm playing a Campaign with the Pawlovich's and Jeremiah and Erin. I'm also DMing a Campaign. It's fun to mess with the players. Kristin's also playing.
#8) GRE stuff is icky. Stupid Physics GRE.
#9) I'm applying to Grad Schools. Currently I have University Of Illinois, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, and Iowa State. I want to add a few more schools to this list, as it's very hard and competitive to get into one of these schools.
#10) I was a groomsman at Jeremiah's wedding. That was fun.

So that's 10 things that happened since last time. Well, gotta go. Have General Relativity in the morning.