Ben, ‘11

Summer is now officially over halfway done, which is a very scary thought. Part of me is excited for school to start up since I will get to see all of my friends again and begin my classes, which I’m very excited for. However, at the same time, I could still really use some relaxing and a nice, quiet break. I still haven’t had hardly any breaks since Christmas due to classes, my alternative spring break, research, and working with the Admissions Office. With that said, I’m very excited for this upcoming week. My parents and younger brother and sister are flying out to visit me and I’m going to take my personal days from work and visit the Outer Banks and Williamsburg with them. It’ll be the first time since Christmas that I have seen anyone from my family or even from back home for that matter.

So, that’s what lies in my future. Right now, one of the most exciting things is the fact that the campus lake is still drained while they clean it out, which says a lot. Yes, I managed to get in some volleyball with friends, but that was about as social as I got this week on-campus. I’ve mainly stayed in my apartment, done a little reading, watched some TV, and continued with my list of “Classic Movies I Have Yet To See”. The past week I finally got to “The Rock” and “North by “Northwest” (which were both very good) as well as “Vertigo”, “Some Like it Hot”, and “Jesus Christ Superstar”. I’ve also started doing a lot of my own cooking. It’s a bit easier at times and saves me some money on my meal plan. Since I’m still not a fantastic chef, I stick to a lot of rice, pasta, soup, etc…

The lake has been drained for a while now to clean it

Finally, I had lots of free time since my disc golf course project is on hold, so I felt like I needed a new project. So, I recalled an idea we had for Collegiate Disaster Relief Team (CDRT). CDRT is comprised of Univeristy of Richmond students who travel to New Orleans for an Alternative Spring Break. We each had to pay over $200 to go this past year to go, so we’re trying to fundraise more so that it can be free like in the past. I am on the leadership team for CDRT and we thought it would help to present to businesses a video about what our group is about and why New Orleans still needs our help. I thought that it would be a simple project, but it took a lot longer than expected. It took about ten hours, but that may be solely because I wasn’t used to the computer program and had issues with syncing the audio and video. However, the initial draft is done and I’m happy with it. It will still require some editing with the voiceover and a bit more, but I need a break from it for now. I’ve posted it below.

This was the video I created this week for the CDRT proposal

Research was very trying this week. The first two days covered tons of new materials such as eigenvalues and eigenvectors and directional derivatives. It was way over my head and very frustrating. I basically had a glazed over look for two days straight. I just wanted everything to slow down for a while. However, at the end of the second day, my mentor told me that we had covered in those two days what he thought would take a week, which was some good news. It just goes to show that, although research may provide some breakthroughs and times of discovery, not all days and weeks are as rewarding. There are times when it seems like you’re going nowhere and just won’t get anything accomplished.

Also with research, our group went off-campus for our weekly lunch to Kuba Kuba, which is a really fun Cuban restaurant in Richmond. Finally, those of us who are on-campus doing research were invited to a Richmond Braves baseball game for free. The Richmond Braves are a minor league team that plays in Richmond. It was a fun game and a beautiful night for baseball.

Lunch at Kuba Kuba

The Richmond Braves baseball game

A game at the Richmond Braves game where contestants
created a human hamburger

Finally, I met up with one of my good friends from Richmond. We hung out at a local swimming pool and then at his house, which was a much needed break from campus life. For the first time since Christmas, I had a true home-cooked meal, which was definitely welcome. That’s all on my end for this week. Keep on enjoying summer because it’ll be over before you know it.

Quote of the Week: “Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I assure you mine are much greater.” -Albert Einstein
Thought to Ponder: If an escalator breaks down, does it become stairs?
YouTube Video of the Week:

For some reason, I thought this was very fun and entertaining
14 months in 42 countries