Hilarious

Just thought this was an amusing piece of news.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8321110/?GT1=6657

Mrs. Carter

Thank you Mrs. Carter for teaching me my trig identities. They just keep showing up in ways that don't really make that much sense, but if I didn't know them math would be much more difficult. I am glad I was able to learn them the first time around instead of avoiding them and hating them forever (like matrices and vectors). Go Tullahoma math department!

Ouch

Math makes my brain hurt. I am sure that once I get it I will like it, but now it is just damn frustrating.

Bonding over Math

As I am learning and discovering new information in mathematics, a group of girls has become very close to me. The first day we arbitrarily decided to be a group based on where we were sitting in the classroom, and in just a week I have gotten very close to them. Maybe it is just the shared pain we have experience in trying math and failing over and over until we get the right answer, but we have all bonded. Even if this summer program weren't as valuable experience mathematically, I have created a group of friends that I would have never known otherwise.
These girls, Jen, Julie, and Angela, are what will keep me going when it seems impossible.

Northfield

Northfield, Minnesota is exactly what you would imagine small town America to be. Thursdays during the summer the road is closed off to cars and pedestrians can wander the streets freely. The local bank sets up a booth and gives out ice cream that you can top with the local Malt-O-Meal cereal. The shops along the street stay open longer to let participants in the fair-like atmosphere browse their shops for extended hours. People hang out in the used book store to say hello to the husband/ wife team of owners that they have known for many years. People from nearby shine up their cars and display them down the center of town. The local band plays music in an open air concert. A basic love for the community of Northfield is expressed in the faces of participants. Northfield, Minnesota is exactly what I want small town America to be. A community that loves itself and cares about its members.

Our Universe?

I am at this math program and we are discussing the shape of the universe we may live in. We for the most part assume that it is basically an endless mass of space with endless length, width and height. Recently we have discussed the possibility that if we were to go far enough one way in space we would end up back where we started. It is basically like we are living in a giant 3D pac-man game. If we go out the left we show up in the right. If we go out the top we come in the bottom. If we go out the back we come in the front. That would mean if we had perfectly unobstructed vision, we could conceivable look one way and see one galaxy, and then look the other and see the exact same galaxy. If we looked the right direction, we might even see ourselves again. This concept had never even occurred to me, but why not. Maybe we have a parallel universe that isn't actually parallel, but us again. Anyway, you can stick with your understanding of the universe, or you can consider others. I mean, why not?

From Minnesota

So I arrived at Carleton College in Minnesota yesterday, and it really is a pretty campus. I took a math class today where we had to imagine our universe being something in four dimensions. I don't really know what the fourth dimension is, but I don't think I was supposed to. Anyhow, the girls are friendly and intelligent, the grass is green, and the birds chirp at varying hours of the day (including the early ones). I guess that I should go do my homework...yes, homework now. It will probably take me much longer than I expect.

Moms

I think all mothers are psychotic at some point.

Nervous and Excited

As some of you may know I am going to a math program in Minnesota. This is one of those things like the first day of school, where you know all the other kids are a little nervous too, but what if they know more or their parents are friends with the teacher. I am more than a little excited about the trip, but it is like going to Midstate band. You know you were good enough in your tryout, but was it just a luck thing? Anyways I am rambling. I'm sure I'll be fine because well, I am awesome... Wish me luck.

Inconveniences for all

I am very sorry for all of you who have been sitting breathlessly waiting for me to post something new. It is funny how often people are driven by convenience. I no longer have the internet in my room on my own computer, so now I have to walk ALL THE WAY through two full rooms to get to a computer with the internet, and thus haven't posted since I have gotten home from school. Convenience changes everything. It is harder to keep in shape if it requires leaving the house. Sixty five percent of people who keep a toothbrush in their desk at work will brush their teeth. It makes you wonder whether you are doing something because you want to do it, or just because it is easy to do. Anyhow, I must be off now to do something...though I haven't decided what.