Down with Webassign

Enough said. Physics homework is eating me and spitting out my bones.

Dark Suckers and Church

Going to church is often a most interesting event. Every Sunday morning, I find myself pounding on the bathroom door, yelling for Ben to get out of the shower as "we are leaving in FIVE minutes!", shooing the kids out the door - "get in the car and behave" - and taking the dog for one last "go" under the bush.

While interesting events happen before church, more entertaining events occur during the church service.

We have just ended worship, and Mr. Nelson is giving the sermon. My dad feels it necessary to adjust Mr. Nelson's microphone - three different times. After which my dad sits down in the back of the church. with Andrew on his lap, and they entertain themselves by laughing about my toes, which are apparently peeking out of the back of my chair as I am sitting in my usual position - comfortably on my feet.

Ben is in the soundbooth. We have just sung "Better is One Day", which reminds Ben most frightfully of Tim Hawkins' "Better is Hundai than a Ford" . He is trying his best not to laugh.

Mr. Nelson's sermon has to do with light, however I am not understanding the main subject of the sermon as I am whispering to my grandma what I have been learning about light in physics, and giving her the scientific side of the sermon. "No Grandma, this is how it really works...the reason you can't see colors in the dark is because of the way that the cone cells and rod cells in your eyes work..." Thoughts of the index of refraction and laser beams are filling my mind, and I am overcome by the amazing properties of light and how it completely reminds me of God.

Meanwhile, my mom is thinking about Dark Suckers. Yes - Dark Suckers. She happens to come up with an explanation that she claims biblically eliminates Dark Suckers, and later, during the potluck, I hear everyone discussing Dark Suckers, and once overhear my mom saying "Go ask Elisabeth! She knows how to explain it better than I do." I am indeed asked about Dark Suckers, as eventually I am joined at my table by Mr. Nelson, with whom I have a grand conversation about Dark Suckers, light, physics, and Mr. Tesla.

Such is a day at my church. Filled with physics and Dark Suckers.

Spatulas

The cook at my work stared at me as I gazed at the full container of spatulas and pondered aloud, "where are the spatulas?"

Really, where were the spatulas? With myself as the origin, the (x,y) position of the spatulas - with the units being meters - would be (0.5, 0.25). Because of the mathematics showing the location of the spatulas in the spatula container, I appeared either blind or considerably unobservant.

It turns out that in order to avoid presenting myself as such, I should have specified that I was looking for a particular size of spatulas, which were indeed absent from the container.

125 days...

125 days until I move into my dorm at Reed!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the meantime I am awaiting results of my Stats exam...it was really easy...hopefully I didn't do anything stupid on it! It was nice to be able to have very little homework tonight - I went and worked for one of my coworkers instead. Hopefully Webassign is easy again this weekend so I can get busy working on the plans for my Tesla Coil! Next weekend will be difficult as we will have a physics essay due...and I'm sure it's going to be that dratted one where we have to figure out the speed of light using a microwave and a Hershey's bar. I am so very unsure of how to go about that. That will be...a very long weekend! Thus I'm going to go get some sleep...one can never get too much sleep...

128 days...

There are now 128 days until I leave.

For the last couple of days, the fact that I am going to be attending one of [reputedly] the most liberal colleges in the Pacific Northwest has been very much on my mind. I have had quite a few moments in which things just "thud" and I wonder - "what on earth am I doing? What am I getting myself into?!" I don't want to be changed into anything that does not honor God. I want to come out stronger and more solidified with God than ever.

But this is where God is leading me. It was an open door; set apart from the rest of the places I could have gone, and thus I am trusting that God is going to keep me and guide me. I am so scared - but I know that I will be happy at Reed! I can't wait to go somewhere where grades are not the emphasis and where [most] everyone loves learning. I can't wait to be somewhere where I am not the only person who discusses physics at the dinnertable or brags about my lack of sleep. I know I'm going to be happy there. And happiness is certainly helped, but not determined by the surroundings. Happiness comes first of all from God. Yay!

And why am I even worrying about this when...I haven't even gotten to experience it for myself? Granted I have been asked by Christians and non-Christians alike - "why are you going to Reed College if you are a Christian...?" but I think that God has wonderful plans in store, and I am excited. =) And praying hard for a wonderful roommate!!!

Before physics lecture today, I was being annoying to one of my classmates and "cheerleading" for him as he obtained green checkmarks on webassign in the last five minutes before webassign was due. This disturbed him greatly, and he rolled both me and my chair out of the lab and left me hollaring in the hallway. I was then positive that he would block the door to keep me from coming back in, so I picked up my chair and snuck around to another door to the physics lab. Then everyone just watched as my hysterical, giggling, mischevious self set the chair down and sat down in it, trying to regain my dignity but finding it impossible because of the giggles that would not stop coming. They attacked me in full force as the said classmate yelled, "You BROKE your CHAIR!"
"I did NOT!" *giggle*
I then found a piece of broken plastic underneath my chair. I um...DID end up breaking the chair...kind of. Oh well...such is my life.

Ponderations

Of my acquaintances, only those who do not own cows firmly believe that cow tipping is possible.

Yay for God!

I am so excited that I'm going to Reed College!!! I never thought I would be able to go. I am just simply amazed. Just amazed. I'm praying...hard...for some Christian friends at Reed...iron sharpens iron kind of friends...because life at Reed won't be as easy as say...going to Portland Bible College or something. I really almost considered going there. That was before I discovered physics. Thus a lifetime ago. GOSH I am EXCITED!!!!

So today I was extremely depressed because my grade in physics went from an A+ to an A. One of my friends told me
"If I had your threshold of depression, I'd be depressed all the time."
I just got more and more depressed all day...Tutorial drove me insane...I *gasp* assumed that two triangles were similar and then was wrong because I couldn't prove it. Logic, my friend, is...beautiful. Assumptions are not. In fact, they can make life quite ugly. That was depressing. And then...I came home...lamented to my mom about how I would never be able to major in physics and how I would be the stupidest person at Reed and all these woes...wallowing in the "depths of despair."

Joy and happiness. I had let grades dictate my life. God told me so quite plainly and reminded me that life is not about GRADES but about the fact that I am learning - the point is to have fun learning and not to have my happiness dictated by whether or not I am at the top of the class. By having fun learning, I will glorify Him. He made me to have fun learning! I glorify Him by being who I'm made to be!
"What do you do for fun?"
"Um...school!"
It's true! So true! I enjoy it with my utmost being. This is who I am created to be - passionate, exuberant, and happy about the strangest things! And thus, I am not going to let grades be the barometer of my happiness.

And that's one reason I want to go to Reed. Grades will not be the priority! If what has been advertised is true...

Thank you Jesus!!! Woohoo!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!

Now to get back to some neglected research so I can build that tesla coil! I am taking way too long about it...

Decision is Made - I am going to be a Reedie!

I've finally made my decision; I received all financial aid information from Lawrence. This was the deciding factor, and it turned out that they did not offer me as good of a package as Reed did, thus - I am going to be part of Reed College's Class of 2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I never thought that I would be accepted to and actually attend my first choice college. I prayed so much about this because Reed isn't necessarily made up of people with my beliefs (i.e., Princeton Review selected it as the college "where students are more likely to ignore God") and it would be a real challenge not only academically but spiritually as I'd probably be one of the few Christians on campus. Though I wanted to go really badly, I asked God to open or close the doors as He willed - and the doors were opened.

YES!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Waiting

Still no word from Lawrence. I'm so ready to know. I'm so tired of waiting. I am having such a hard time not being stressed about all of this...all it does it run through my mind...I'm really just...ready to let go and be done thinking about where I am going to be in the fall. I just want peace of mind.

And thus...I was reading Philippians this morning:

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. - Philippians 4:4-9

So the peace of God which transcends all understanding...I want this peace because right now I just don't have it. I've got to stop being anxious; I've rejoiced and I've thanked God and I've sent up a request to heaven for more money for Reed but I am going to STOP being anxious about it and I want that peace! Amen! God take control of my thoughts.

I'm feeling sick right now too. And I so need to be doing homework! All I did after school was stats, physics, tesla coil research, and then sleeping all day so I guess that is what my body wants. It's pretty much screaming for it right now, so I am going to give myself seven hours of blessed sleep. Yaaaaay! No, I will NOT think about that physics essay that is due on Monday! I need sleep NOW!

Forget it. I skipped the Precise Definition of a Limit and went to Continuity, where I was in bliss because I actually understood it!

So yesterday I heard from both Lawrence and Reed. Lawrence was kind enough to send me another alumnus letter about why they loved their time at Lawrence. Personally, I think that money is more of an incentive to go than promotional letters. I don't understand why they haven't given me financial aid info yet! And then Reed sent me a calendar. Umm...yay? It was definitely very beautiful and made me want to go there even more but again...these promotional things are really not going to help half as much as financial aid will!

Now back to physics homework, which really tried to eat me up yesterday.

Limits

No college emails or letters today. Surprising! I've received at least one email, phone call, or letter almost every day for several weeks now. Writing the appeal tomorrow...hopefully Reed changes my financial aid to a more preferable package...

So right now I am teaching myself calculus. I enjoy it very much but am having a hard time with the precise definition of a limit. I must have read each page about six times. I'm going to MAKE myself understand it. I have two calculus textbooks in front of me. One of them is closed because it did not have the information I was looking for. I do not understand why there was a temporary constant added into one of the proofs. Time to search for more calculus lectures on Youtube. I don't want to wait until Monday to ask my former math professor. I want to know now. Somehow I have a feeling that if I were taking calculus this quarter, I would spend my time in class listening to the lecture instead of spending lecture time doing physics homework, like I did in precalc.

I'm leading worship tomorrow. I should really get some sleep before I do that. But I want to understand this first! Unfortunately as my body approaches zero sleep, the limit of my brain function capacity is zero. Almost zero at zero sleep, but not quite. Otherwise I couldn't breathe. Or something. The function is undefined at zero sleep.

No rejections!

Whitman: Waitlisted

Which means that I probably won't be sticking around on the waitlist trying to get a spot for the class of 2013...financial aid is too risky. At least I wasn't rejected! Yay!

Still waiting to hear from Lawrence for financial aid. That's the last piece of the package (I'm sure UW won't offer any sort of financial aid and that makes me less likely to be able to go) and then it will just be a decision between Lawrence and Reed that may or may not be dictated by financial aid. I really hope we can appeal for financial aid for Reed though!

Alright...back to stats homework...