October 2007 Archives
Advisor: "You know, I had a student come to me the other day and say: 'I have succumbed to mediocrity!'"
Me: "Yeah, I know how that goes."
Advisor: "Yes, it does happen... I mean, it's not to say you're mediocre, but... well, it happens... Are you happy?"
--A conversation I had with my advisor while recently withdrawing from the History of European Civilization.
It's for some interesting game theory research:
Brought to you by the #1 New York Times bestselling author:
'Jews Need to Be Perfected by Becoming Christians'
And I thought that Christians would be perfected by converting to Judaism... I guess I'm just a little passe in the eyes of the right-wing demagoguery. Personally, what offends me is not Ann Coulter's rabid xenophebia, but the fact that anyone at all buys her books. In any case, reading the entire transcript attached to the article above is well worth the time.
I'm on my 42nd page of solutions for the week! I haven't finished, and I have class in 4 hours. And I haven't slept!
When I came to the University of Chicago, people told me that the school was extraordinarily difficult. As the quarters came and went, I felt that it was fairly challenging, but certainly not insurmountable. I began to disregard the extremist hype as just misinformation or an attempt my some people to compensate for their weaknesses.
Alas, I was wrong. I judged too soon. I sit buried under an average of 60 math and physics problems each week, which generally necessitate writing 30-40 pages of solutions. I have 8 hours of lab every other week, each session of which necessitates writing at least 10 pages of data-reporting and analysis. My one core class for the quarter has a reading list of 15 books. Then there is the research and traveling for debate... I have slept a total of 12 hours since last Thursday morning. I am pain.
