A continued tribute to Sam
I couldn't remember my dad's nickname for Sam, so I sent him an e-mail a few days ago asking. Here is his loving response. (With additions from me so you can understand our inside jokes.)
The Nikname (My brother spells him name "Nik") was "SFB" ... shit for brains.
Derivation: because of some of the stupid things he would do.
Like: His feeding time was 10 pm every night in the kitchen, which is on the floor above the family room. SFB would sit and look at my dad from about 9:07 PM until 10 at which time my dad would feed him. But every night, he would fall for a fake "go upstairs" for the nine hundred and umpteenth time, even if he had just eaten.
Like: Taking a nap in the well worn pathway across a room and not even looking up when someone walks towards him (like carrying a laundry basket).
Like: Living near a vacuum cleaner for 15 years but still get scared, even if he heard the noise downstairs.
Like: Standing behind the person washing dishes, so close that we would trip over him when stepping backward ....etc., etc...
(And my favorite line:)
Although ugly if taken out of context, it really meant, Kat, you are a cute little shit!!
Love,
Dad
Spring Break
Two contradictory terms for this spring break: lame and drama. You might wonder how they can fit together to create an awesome spring break, and if you are wondering, just keep reading.
I flew from Boston to Orlando, where Brian and Melissa graciously picked me up from the airport on the way back from visiting Brian's brother. When we got to the house, many of the guys were already drunk, so we wasted no time in joining them. Soon, the get-to-know-you game of Never Have I Ever got underway, and we learned a lot about each other very quickly. And not 3 hours after we had arrived, I was back on the roller coaster with David. Go figure. Highlights of the evening were Jeff falling backwards in his chair from shear drunkenness, dirty stories from just about everyone, and roommate lovin' in the hot tub. I think it was probably the best night there because everyone was just so happy to be there, and we were all in the mood to drink.
The next few days consisted of laying around the pool, hitting up the beach some, rollerblading, drinking, etc.
The house was a perfect size for all 13 of us; the backyard was huge; the location was decent although it would have been nice to be a little closer to Daytona, but I can't complain. Everyone got along really well even though it was a somewhat random group of people. And when people were lame, we let them know...with shaving cream...
Tuesday we went to Kennedy Space Center and got our nerd on. Despite the cost and lines, it was awesome to be able to see everything I've been studying all these years, especially this year in space design. I know the non-AEs might not have been overly excited like me, but it was damn impressive to see how complicated the mission operations really are. There was an exhibit for the Apollo/Saturn V missions, and it's always amazing to me to see the advanced work they did back in the 60s and 70s.
Thursday, I had a rough night because I wasn't feeling well, I was stressed about the work I have coming up, I didn't know what to feel about certain boys on the trip, and I was sad about graduation and leaving this place and my friends. I've become really close to so many people here, especially my roommates, and it's scary to think about not living with them anymore. I try to remember we'll keep in touch and visit, so that we can have lots more pictures like this (even though this isn't all of us):
At other points during the week, we played mini-golf, went out to eat, some people saw a Braves pre-season game, some went to Clearwater for an adventure, and Emily and I went outlet shopping. During this trip, we sang Marc Broussard, Dirty Dancing, and Gavin DeGraw like a bunch of teenage girls, and Emily pointed out this nearly fitting song (I took out most of the parts that didn't really fit):
I don't want to get too close
You see this isn't where my head is
If you knew me I'm not like this
But I just found someone special
And that's really something special
If you knew me
Nice to meet you anyway
I believe you're very fine
Still I haven't got the time
I don't mean to be so strange
But my life just took a change
So before this goes too far
Let me tell you what you are
You're amazing, I'm attracted
But I'm terribly distracted
And I'm trying to be verbal
And I'm back into this circle
Nice to meet you anywayBack to the two themes for this trip (lame and drama), I realize now I can't really publicly post much about either. One lame thing was the weather, about every other day. And I've given hints to some of the drama, and the rest doesn't include me, so start asking around... But I can say that David's prediction "haha, it looks to me like everyone's a little horny. I'm locking my door at night" came true. To end this post, here is my favorite compromising picture of the trip.
Feel free to comment with your own caption. ;-)
Grad School Part 2 - MIT
On the 17th, Darius and I left for MIT. Once we got there and navigated the T (their metro) to the hotel, we set out to explore MIT's campus. What did we realize? It's ugly! It is right on the Charles River, which is nice, but it's more industrial and gloomy than one might hope. I don't mean to say it's depressing just to look at, but there is room for improvement. We checked out the recreation center, which is no GT sac/crc/whatever, but it definitely was nice. After gawking at the gymnasts for a while (yeah men's team without shirts), we meandered through the dorm areas of campus and along the river. After an excellent St. Patty's dinner (where we were rebels and had wine (and Darius had the best white wine I've ever tasted, but we can't remember the name - it was German though), not beer), we scalded ourselves in the 104 degree hot tub (I think instead of cleaning it they just turn the temperature waaaay up).
The next day was the official day of poster sessions, tours, meetings with professors, etc. At the poster session I talked with a few professors, and there is a lot of interesting research that bridges what is being done at Tech and at Colorado. They are building small satellites but also focusing on space systems design and optimization (which is more where I want to work). There is one professor, Dr. de Weck, that is a perfect match with my interests. We had a meeting in the afternoon, and he told me that he really does want to work with me, but he's afraid he might have too many students already. I feel pretty good that if he does take someone, I would have that chance, because he allowed only me to schedule a meeting with him that entire day.
But anyways, I was funded through Draper Labs, so I had to take a tour of their facility. They have some pretty interesting research and projects, but it would be in controls and orbital mechanics, which is interesting, but I don't think I want to do my Master's work in that. Don't get me wrong; I am honored to have received the fellowship from Draper, but my fingers are crossed that I get a national fellowship and can work with a different group.
Department Score: 9
School/Boston Score: 6
Overall Score: 8
Grad School Part 1 - Colorado
I know my Spring Break story will be much more interesting, but I have to back up to cover everything else that has been happening. The second weekend of March (9th-13th), I went to Boulder to visit the University of Colorado at Boulder. This was my first graduate school visit, so I was kind of nervous, but I was glad that I could "practice" at Colorado before visiting MIT and Stanford. Overall, the program is prety decent, but their strong points are astrodynamics, building instruments and small satellites, and bioastronautics. Although I used to be more interested in astrodynamics, I'd rather do space design, and while building satellites would be interesting, their actual space design program is still being built, so I might not benefit from that. And in a new twist of events, I've always been interested in biology and human reactions in space, but I didn't think I had the right background for it, so I never said anything. Turns out, that's ok. So Colorado's strong academic point is their good program in life sciences in space. GT doesn't really have a program like that yet, and as you'll find out later, MIT does.
But UCB's main selling point is that Colorado is
gorgeous. I found that out with Rachel when I stayed with her Friday night to Sunday morning. Friday we left right after I was done with grad school stuff for a hot sulfur spring. It was about 2 hours away in the mountains, so it was about 30 degrees outside, and the smell was just slightly unpleasant, but the hot springs were amazing. There are about 20 or so separate "tubs", so we got to relax for about 5-10 minutes in one before rushing off in the freezing weather to the next one. Quite a Colorado experience.
The next day we had an amazing breakfast at the Buff Restaurant (I could have my share of fun with the "buff" jokes there), climbed around Red Rocks (it was a beautiful 65 degrees out), then took a tour of the Coors Brewery, where we then got free beer because it rocks to be 21. We ran into another guy who was on the trip there, David, who also visited MIT the following week when I did. That night I had a (blind) date to AEPi's chartering banquet, which had good food, and it was nice to dress up, but well, not the best first blind date experience. When we left, there was 2 inches of snow on the ground! Talk about a weather swing.
Department rating: 6
Boulder rating: 8.5
Overall rating: 7
Bye Sammy
I thought my dad was joking around when he said some "serious news to share" today. I hoped he was pulling my leg and was going to tell me I got a fellowship. But instead he told me my cat died. :-( Sammy was about 16, and we've had him for 13 years. He's been annoying to my parents because of his mess and constant meowing when he's hungry, but more importantly, he's been a great lap warmer, a companion nap-taker, and a constant source of love and affection. Despite the fact that I'm allergic to him, which makes it hard to get near him for very long, I'll miss him a lot, and you've been a great friend.
I love you Sam!
And more to come about graduate schools and Spring Break soon, I promise.
100
Instead of posting about obvious subjects such as how my visit to Colorado was and what I'm thinking about graduate school, I realized I need to clear up a misconception that I've been alerted to. Many of you may have heard about roommates and my goal dealing with making out last semester. Our goal was, between the 6 of us, to have a lifetime total of at least 100 make-outs by the end of the semester. First let me stress that this is over our entire lives -- not just last semester. So here is where the misconception lies. We did not make out with anyone just to increase our number; getting one step closer to our goal was just an added bonus to making out. So I hope that clears things up in your minds. And I bet you're wondering "Did they make it?". Well of course. :-)
"Anything can happen in the woods."
Seeing as my favorite musical is Into the Woods, last weekend I recruited a willing bunch to go watch the play with me. First of all, DramaTech did an amazing job. As I was sitting there during the first act, trying not to sing along to the songs, out walks a handsome prince. "Damn," I whisper to Jen, "he's cute." And then the next prince walks out. "Damn," Jen whispers to me, "where do they find these men?" For some reason over the next few days, I decided I wanted to meet Cinderella's prince. I didn't know how, until someone suggested I send him a note and a flower before his next show. Debating the idea and the option of including a flower, I consulted my relationship advisors, Melissa and Brian. With their reassurance that it was a good idea, I was determined just to give it a shot. I thought, "Why not just see what happens? If he's not interested, only a slight loss of ego, but no real harm done." So I sent the note and the flower to him at his show on Thursday, and to my amazement when I got home, he had IMed me. After some, what some might call, playful banter, he invited me to the Into the Woods after party on Saturday.
So we skip ahead to the next day. I was at a rugby party when he called at about midnight to say they were almost ready. At this point, I got a ton of heckling for leaving a ratio of 10:1 (too Tech typical, it seems) to go hang out 1:1. I'd never really been out with someone I wasn't friends with already, so I was a little nervous, but there was nothing to worry about. The party was fun, Sergio was nice, I met a lot of new people, and I saw some DramaTech people do things I never really thought I would see at a party. But everyone thought it was really cool how "courageous" and "forward" I was, even though I thought writing a note was the easy way out. Oh well, I'll take the complement. We left to hang out at DramaTech at about 4 in the morning and then went to City Cafe around 5:30. When we left, the sun was coming up. And there we had my first all-nighter at Tech. Yadda yadda yadda, I finally took a nap at 10 a.m. And whatever happens, happens.
So to make the weekend amazing instead of just great, I heard back from Stanford! Now, to preface the good news, I don't want to sound egotistical, but the Aerospace Department at Stanford gives about 5-7 students a year funding to do their Master's (out of I don't know how many, but a good number). So they offered me a Stanford Graduate Fellowship, which includes waived tuition and a lot of money to just go to school (for 3 years, at which point you then will have taken quals and be ready to work for someone at your thesis). You aren't required to find a research assistantship until your 2nd or 3rd year, and at that point, you can pretty much get whatever position you want because you are funded at that point. So this is
amazing. I don't even know if I want to go to Stanford, but I was ecstatic to be honored with this.
So now I'm off to Colorado to visit UC-Boulder for 4 days, then next weekend to MIT, then at the end of the month, I'm off to Stanford. I shouldn't complain about this decision!
El Futuro
Estaba en el gimnasio la semana pasada, y me dio cuenta de algo un poco triste. Todos los padres estaban alli para coger sus ninos, y esperaban con paciencia y amor. (La parte triste viene, espera un momentito) A las siete, recibieron abrazos de sus ninos y salieron para sus casas. Y no se exactamente porque, pero me sentia triste porque nunca puedo ser una de estas ninas chiquitas otra vez. Pienso que tengo estos sentimientos porque voy a graduarme muy pronto y me asusta un poco. Aunque tengo que asistir a mas escuela, un capitulo grande en mi vida va a cerar, y quien puede dejar facilmente lo que estaba casi todo su vida para 4 anos?
Y ahora en ingles (but it doesn't sound as pretty):
I was at gymnastics last week, and I realized something a little sad. All the parents were there to pick up there kids, and they were waiting with patience and love. (The sad part is coming, wait a moment.) At seven, they received hugs from their kids and left for the houses. And I don't know exactly why, but I felt sad because I can never be one of these little girls again. I think I have these feelings because I am about to graduate, and it scares me a little. Even though I have more school to attend, a large chapter in my life is about to close, and who can easily leave what was almost your whole life for 4 years?
Gymnastics Fan Club
Despite the lack of large signs and air horns (ok, I told Brian at least no air horns were allowed), we had an awesome fan club of Eric, Melissa, and Brian tonight at the meet. Thanks for coming guys! And even though we lost by 1 point (so close in gymnastics!) and we didn't have the greatest meet ever, it was a ton of fun, and I shouldn't worry so much about competing! I proved that by doing the best vault after the meet ended because we just wanted to get a video of it, and I knew I wasn't being judged. And every year we lose to Emory at the first meet then kick their butts later in the season, especially at Nationals. So no different this year, right team? :-)
Competing in Gymnastics
So I do it every year. I always invite my friends to watch us compete at our home meets in gymnastics. But what makes me the most nervous about meets? Having people I know there. And I guess it's worse this year because of the new skills I am competing and the fact that I don't feel ready (but I guess I never totally do). Because of our small size this year, we need people to compete events they normally don't compete. So I am competing vault and bars, both of which I haven't done since high school.
I just learned a new floor routine (like literally 4 practices ago), so I'm not up to par with my last routine, and the tumbling is thrown half-assedly in with what little breath I have.
I just got over my fear of vaulting (like literally 2 practices ago), so that's not refined at all.
I haven't done bars since high school, so I've been forcing myself up onto that tortoruous aparatus these past few weeks.
And beam. Well beam is just scary.
And this would all be ok if I were generally at a higher skill level than I am. But I'm not. It's hard when you really get into gymnastics when you're 15, and you only do it 3 months a year for your high school team. It's not like I'm looking for a pity party; I just want to get these thoughts out there. And I still want everyone to come to the meet and cheer loudly for the entire Tech team. :-)
