Glenn

I love my brother very much, but sometimes he really makes bad choices. He was approached by a kid that goes to school with him yesterday. This kid was nice, friendly, cute, and seemed truly happy to see Glenn, but instead of returning the cordiality, Glenn crossed his arms and ignored the kid. I worry about Glenn sometimes, because he never has friends over to the house or goes to a friend's house. He can be a wonderful person, and treats me so well, but if he treated everybody as well as he treats me, I believe he could be the most popular kid in school.

Ripley and Dolly

My sister, brother, and I went to Gatlinburg a few days ago and met up with my best friend and one of my friends from SMP. It is amazing how much there is to do in a town that you would think to be BFE. But no, this mountain town has more ways to make you spend money than several large cities. There are about 600 mini-golf courses, 40 moving theaters, 80 museums (including Ripley's Believe it or Not and Guinness World Records), 2 theme parks, an aquarium, and 89000 hotels. (Perhaps I did exaggerate on the numbers) It was amazing how crowded that place was, but man was it fun. We stayed in "downtown" Gatlinburg right next to the aquarium (which had SHARKS!!) and spent several hours walking around downtown. I guess I had felt cheated out of my vacation, which I had to leave on the second day of, so I decided to make my own mini vacation, and I am so glad I did. If you don't mind taking 30 minutes to drive 5 miles due to traffic, Gatlinburg is a great place to be.

Fun Math Nerd Games

For those of you who were hoping and praying that the math posts would end when I finally got home, you are going to be disappointed by this post. In Minnesota I learned about two very wonderfully fun games. The first is a card game called "Set". Now you are probably thinking, who would want to play a game where all you do is find sets, but as it turns out, my entire family...including my little brother who hates school, enjoys this game.

The other game is Sudoku. Now, admittedly this is a game only a nerd or a person from England (apparently it is very popular there) would enjoy. What you do in this game is try and fill in numbers. It is a little like one of those magic square type games.

If you are intrigued, or just wondering how truly nerdy I am, here are the websites where you can find out more information.
http://www.setgame.com
http://www.sudoku.com

Anyhow, now I am going to go to Hastings, the store that should be everywhere, but sadly it isn't.

Back Home

I am back to Tullahoma now, and while I am glad to be back now I miss all of the people from Minnesota. I know what you are all thinking..."geez, is she going to miss somebody wherever she goes." By the way, the answer to that is yes, unless everybody I know happens to be in the same place at once. I am ready for classes to start back up at Lambuth, because I know I am going to get bored having to be in the same place without anything to do. And by the way Christie- YES we are going to have a Dead Like Me marathon.

Final Comments From Minnesota

It has been an extremely busy, frustrating, exciting, empowering, four weeks, and today is the final day. This time tomorrow I will be at the airport getting ready to head back to Tennessee. I have learned so much math and so much about math it is truly amazing. The whole secret world of mathematicians is one that I never really knew about, but now want to be a part of.

These four weeks I have learned that 2+3 is not 3+2, a circle and a triangle are the same thing, a sphere is a two-dimensional object, and that the more useless the problem, the more mathematicians like it. I have also learned how to draw four dimensional objects on paper, yet still can barely draw two dimensional objects. My brain has been turned upside down, and I am excited to know that it will probably never be returned to its original orientation.

The friends I have made here are ones I hope to never forget. It is amazing how strongly people can bond so quickly by spending hours discussing math. In my group are Julie, Angela, and Jen, and I don't know that I have ever gotten to know anybody as fast as them, with the possible exception of Bryan. It is going to be hard to have to leave the people I met here, because I feel some connection to every one of them.

Now, the other thing that sucks about going home: PACKING! Perhaps if I had tried a little harder to keep everything organized it wouldn't be so bad, but YIKES- This is going to take a while. In fact, I suppose I should probably sign off and pack.

Farewell Minnesota

SMP Pictures

Hey, here is a link to some pictures from Minnesota.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/xilarasion/my_photos

The More SMP album has some pictures of me. When I get home I can upload some of the other pictures I have onto the blog.

Final Understanding

All month in Minnesota, I have been in the bottom half. I had never ever known that feeling before. It has been such a humbling experience, and probably a taste of graduate school, where everybody is good at math. I know it has been a good experience for me to see what it is like to not understand, to go through a class understanding so little that I have to spend an extra few hours outside of class (not including my 4 hour homework time) to understand, but damn, can't I at least get something. Today, something did click in my head, and I was able to see the pattern and understand the rule. Today, hope came and I remembered that as stupid as I may feel here, I am actually able to grasp the material we are learning. The feeling of everything just "clicking" in my brain is one that I have missed for the past three weeks, but now that it is here...Wow, it feels like a true accomplishment.

Update...5 Days until I am back in Tullahoma. I am still loving the people here, and I wish I could take them home with me, but I miss home. I miss the South, where everybody waves to everybody else, and don't assume a wave to be a rude gesture. I miss being in a place where fried chicken and barbecue are actually available instead of tofu and hummus. I miss being in a place where people talk with a drawl, and so slowly that they are actually understandable. More importantly I miss my family and friends back home: all the people who I have known for years, and in some cases my entire life. So, only 5 days, 3 weekdays, 2 class periods, 1 project, and 1 plane ride until I am home.

6 Days Left

I am having a great time in Minnesota, but I am ready to go home. So I took a test today, and it is the first time in my life I ever understood so little that I am actually hoping for at least a 50. This whole program is flipping my world upside-down. Never have I worried about getting less than half of the material. It isn't that I haven't been trying either. That is the part that makes it hard. But in 6 days I will be getting off of a plane in Nashville and then I head back to school, where the classes aren't as intense. Wait....aren't summers supposed to be my time off?

Fun Quotes

So, as I told many of you, I am having an awesome time with my group at the math program. Here is a sampling of some of the ridiculous fun stuff we have said.

Group 4 Quotes

Doot doot doot. ~ Angela

It’s either one or infinitely many. ~ Raena

Jen, your buns always look nice. ~ Julie

I just don’t care right now. ~Jen

We’re like an old, married foursome. ~Julie Huh?!

I’m really close to the center… ~ Raena

Probably… knot. ~ Angela

Does anyone understand what I am saying? ~ Jen
I wasn’t listening. ~ Angela

At least my buns look nice. ~ Jen

I just wrote the date as September 24th. ~ Raena

We’re on the last one! ~ Julie
…Ow! ~ Jen

What time is it? I have a watch… but… I’m busy. ~ Julie

I really want pictures of all the sets of twins! ~ Julie
Remember to bring your camera. ~ Jen
I don’t have a camera. ~ Julie

You’re in my blind spot. ~ Raena

Those look like clouds from The Simpsons. ~ Julie

Sometimes I like to pretend that people are listening to me. ~ Raena
What did you say? ~ Julie

Professor Quotes

No… Yes… What’s going on?? ~ Katherine

What?!? They wear just underwear for religious reasons? ~ Erica

Other Quotes
Crayons are my favorite medium. ~ Sarah

That test was cool. ~ Sarah

I can make up a doubt—would you like a doubt? ~Cordelia

That’s such a cool shirt. If I had a shirt like that I’d wear it every day. ~ Sarah

I’m okay in my own world. The world in which other people talk is confusing me. ~ Cordelia

Pictures

Here is a link to some of the pictures from Minnesota. I don't think I am in any of them though.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/xilarasion/album?.dir=/e05a&.src=ph

Sleepless in Minnesota

Ah, the pleasures of the fun of few hours of sleep combined with one dimensional items in the fourth dimension. I thought it didn't make sense before. Now I have no chance.

Cannon

I saw a guy get shot out of a cannon today. Is it strange that that made me actually want to get shot out of a cannon myself?