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Boy, boy, crazy boy,
Get cool, boy!
Got a rocket in your pocket,
Keep coolly cool, boy!
Honestly people, calm down.
I picked up today's copy of The Lantern and was stunned by the front page. The Lantern, for those unfamiliar, is the predominant on-campus student newspaper at OSU. I usually find reading them from time-to-time rather informative, and they're all over campus every school day.
The front page today looked like this:
Sensationalist much?
Let's start with the Swine Flu. First of all, that picture. It's a picture of a baby being screened for Swine Flu in South Korea. Is this related to the single probable case of Swine Flu discovered at the OSU Med Center? Nope. Does it look sensational? You betcha.
The Ohio State University has been handling the Swine Flu extremely well, in my humble opinion. Before each and every press release has gone out, OSU sent out e-mails to every student at OSU, explaining in great detail the situation, what was being told to the press, and what the plans were to counter any threat of spreading disease. Students have received a number of updates on behalf of the Office of Student Life, OSU's Emergency website, Provost Joe Alutto, and VP of Student Life Javaune Adams-Gaston. They cover everything from FAQs to simple tips to prevent spread of disease to simple updates on whats being done.
www.emergency.osu.edu is a great resource for all OSU students, faculty, and staff. It's probably also good for parents out there to be reassured.
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The second headline deals with an "Explosion." As it happens, guess where I was yesterday morning at that time! You're right! MacQuigg. One moment I'm in Calc lecture, the next moment the scene looks a little more like this:
Students evac the building and all buildings connected
Firetruck! This is not a fire drill like we all thought
Now, these images may seem alarming, but let me point out a few things:
1. Students evacuated without incident. Now, we all thought it was a drill or malfunction at first, so we weren't too speedy initially. That changed however once we heard the sirens. Which brings me to point two...
2. The fire department was darned quick in sending a firetruck plus support vehicles and an ambulance. It took them only a couple minutes to navigate OSU traffic and get to MacQuigg.
3. "Explosion" really only meant small rupture of a tank in one room. There was a brief fire due to that rupture, but it was contained immediately, with the pulling of the fire alarm as a precaution. Firemen checked out the building, not a single person (not even the graduates working in that very room) was injured, and as far as I know MacQuigg went back to normal operations (minus that room) that day.
Things happen. Swine flu's come out of nowhere and valves on tanks rupture. But these things happen once in a blue moon. And on the off chance that they happen (or even happen in the same day), OSU and Columbus have got trained, professional personnel to deal with things.
They're organized, they have plans for every situation, and they keep the students informed.
Sounds like we're in pretty good hands. :-)
Take care,
Rob
Who says you can't go back?
Been all around the world and as a matter of fact,
There's only one place left I want to go,
Who says you can't go home?
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, its alright.
Edit note: For some reason targetx, the host of the blogs, didn't post my last two entries until now; make sure you scroll down and check 'em out!
Recently, I have had two really really cool opportunities to be reminded how much remembering your home away from college can really rock.
The Greene County Alumni Club is, like, the coolest OSU Alumni organization ever. Last Spring/Summer when I had just decided to become a Buckeye, these guys took me under their wing and held all kinds of cool events for OSU students, past and present, to celebrate some Buckeye Pride. That would have been cool by itself.
Imagine my shock and amazement when I got a call from the Lincoln front desk that I had a package. It was from the Greene County Alumni Club! They made me a care package full of college essentials (Ramen noodles, post-it notes, candy... Absolutely marvelous!). It even had a nice note from them wishing me well and letting me know that they've got my back.
For all you soon-to-be OSU students out there, I hope you keep an eye out for your local Alumni club. We've got 'em all over the world, and they usually do A LOT (care packages, scholarship contests, send-offs, etc.) to look after the current generation of Buckeyes.
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The second cool thing that happened recently was my mom's birthday. I knew it was coming, and I hadn't called home in a little bit. I think my mom assumed I would just place a phone call or some such. Nope, not for my mom. She's way too awesome a mom to just get a phone call.
Instead, I called up my sister a few days in advance and arranged for her to come get me (Dayton, my hometown, is only about an hour from Columbus). She came, got me, I bought some flowers and a balloon, and achieved TOTAL surprise at my home church. My mom turned around and was absolutely shocked (in the good way, I'm pretty sure :-)) to see me. It went beautifully, and I got to grab a quick lunch with most of the family. Good times.
The moral of this story is that when you go off to college, don't forget about your family back home! They raised you and made you the successful college kid that you are; it's cool to do something nice for them every once in awhile. You owe it to them after all they had to put up with before you went out the door to college anyway. :-)
Take care,
Rob
Everybody's working for the weekend,
Everybody wants a little romance.
Everybody's going off the deep end,
Everybody needs a second chance.
I consider myself to be fairly hardworking.
Whether it be Swing Dance Club, Theme Park Engineering Group, Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors (cursed robot!), Accelerated Calculus, Big Brothers Big Sisters, or any other number of things I do every week, I keep myself pretty busy. There's always work to be done!
But Saturday I took the day off. And it was glorious.
The first order of business was an event called Spring Fling. It's for current high school juniors to get a good first look at Ohio State. There are info sessions and the Spring Game (football game that previews the football team for the upcoming Fall season) and in the morning, a little reception time with breakfast. I went to this as part of Honors Ambassadors (Honors volunteer organization that helps with recruitment). Basically, I got to spend the evening talking to prospective students about why OSU is so awesome: the outstanding and ever-improving academic reputation of the University, the diversity of student life here, the city of Columbus, the opportunity for Study Abroad, and a million other little things. Muchos fun times.
Next up was a chillax afternoon of watching the Spring Game on TV from the comfort of my suite in Lincoln. Lincoln dorms have a living room to share among 10ish people, which I really enjoy. The Spring Game itself was pretty nifty, though I will confess to napping through much of it (hey! I had a long week, give me a break!).
The Saturday ended with a lovely trip to a Columbus Crew game with my roommate Frank and my favorite Emily in the whole wide world. The Crew, Major League Soccer champions, could only manage a tie against the evil Chicago Fire. Still, it was a great game, and thanks to the Student Union and ExploreColumbus I got tickets for only 10 bucks, including a $5 concession voucher. Sweet!
The day was fun, but now it's time to hit the books again. Alas!
Take care,
Rob
I've got another confession to make
I'm your fool
Everyone's got their chains to break
Holdin' you
She takes up way too much of my free time. In fact, to say I have free time is completely false; any free time I would have is eaten up by her.
She's temperamental. One moment everything is fine, the next nothing is going right.
But I can't help myself. I knew what I was getting into. I knew that I was committing a lot of time, patience, energy, and love into this.
It's Spring. And that means only one thing.
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FEH Robot Project!
Our baby goes up a hill
The most up-to-date version
So in FEH, Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors, I have to build a robot. From scratch. It must be programmed to run completely on its own. It's the capstone of sorts for freshmen Honors Engineering.
This is harder than heck. Countless hours go into this darned thing. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I hate it. It's a heck of a learning experience though.
This is our obstacle course:
View image
I can't begin to talk about all the details of this project. Suffice to say, it's where all my free time and energy are going this Quarter. if you have questions, feel free to comment/shoot me an e-mail at kapaku.1@osu.edu.
Be on the lookout this Quarter for more updates! Will I get the darned thing working? Heck, will I ever get the darned thing built? Me and the rest of Team Minority Rapport (Me, Kristen, Hany, and Jordan) will do our best! Tune in to this blog to see how we do!
Take care,
Rob
Oh, you know where, now I can't see, I just stare...
I, I'm still alive.
Hey I, but, I'm still alive.
Hey I, boy, I'm still alive.
Hey I, I, I, I'm still alive, yeah.
Ooh yeah...yeah yeah yeah...oh...oh...
Wow.
I think I'm never, EVER going to do that again. See the last entry for an idea of how beastly and sleep-deprived my week was.
I know what you're thinking. "But Rob, how ever did you survive all of that horror? What does one do when they've completely dug themselves into a veritable abyss of tasks and terrors? When one has precariously procrastinated, potentially pwning themselves?
1. Take a deep breath. Stop and think about what needs to be done. It's important to be super organized when there's a ton to do. Making a clear plan of action is the first step to digging one's way back into the land of the living.
2. Start! Like, immediately. Close the facebook, stop surfing wikipedia, get off the couch, and get started right away. Telling yourself you'll start in just a few more minutes does no good. Trust me. I've been there.
3. Work like a fiend. You are a kid on fire and nothing will get in your way! Just keep truckin' away at it, and behold as the to-do list shrinks ever so marginally.
4. Take [only a couple!] some breaks! You have to eat still, right? Eat with friends for 30 minutes. Get up and walk around for a bit. Maybe swap tasks to something else entirely for 15 minutes just to give your brain a rest. For example, a great homework break is doing some chores around the dorm like trash or organizing/cleaning your room.
5. Celebrate the small victories. OK, so it's four o' clock in the morning, I haven't slept more than two hours per night all week, and I've now got ten different kinds of energy drink in my system (BAD IDEA).
But hey, I finished this lab memo. Hooray!
Every little victory brings you one step closer to getting everything done. Encouragement is super important, even if it's for the little things. I know I would never get done all the things I try to get done if not for the amazing support system I always have around me. My friends at OSU do little things here and there to make sure I don't drown in the million things I juggle, and for that I am eternally grateful.
Take care,
Rob
Once again life's thrown me a curve-
And it blew up right in my face.
Once again life's rattled my nerves-
Don't you see what i'm stuck in the place?
I am officially the master of digging myself into holes.
I'm behind in every single class I'm in this Quarter. I need to read a few chapters of Math tonight, read even more chapters of Physics, and create the world's greatest chassis mock-up of a robot the world has ever seen for Engineering. Additionally, I need to round up some loose ends in post-trip documentation from my Spring Break trip to Honduras.
Throw into this mix the Swing Dance, the Honors Ambassadors, the Theme Park Engineering Group, the Leadership Ohio State, the time with friends, the time exercising at the RPAC, the time in class, lab memos for Engineering, homework and quizzes between Physics and Math, Serving With Honor, Pinwheels for Prevention, Science Day 2009, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and underwater basket weaving (OK, I'm lying about that last one) and you can see that I seem to have overbooked myself a wee bit.
Sleep? Pah, overrated!
The good news is that most of that stuff will be resolved this week. I've just got to finish up some things and then life gets significantly less chaotic. I've also been wasting a lot of time still shooting the breeze with friends, so I can crack down on that a bit more. By this time next week, all will be well.
You know, as long as I survive this week.
Moral of the story: just because Winter Break you were itchin' to get out and get involved, that DOES NOT mean Spring Quarter you should try to make up for lost time. And die.
Wish me luck.
Take care,
Rob
Don't think we're not serious.
When's it ever not?
The love we make is give and it's take,
I'm game to play along.
I have a tendency to try to do a lot at once.
Fall Quarter I was that little starry-eyed freshman ready to dive into anything and everything.
Winter Quarter classes defined my life and I hit the books hard. The weather was terrible anyway, so people weren't too terribly inclined to go out and about.
Now it's Spring. There are cold snaps here and there as Winter dies hard, but the weather is (on average) pretty nice. Clubs are meeting more often, events are coming up, friends are all about hanging out, etc. Unforunately, the classes are just as demanding with Physics, Calculus, and FEH (Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors) all needing my attention. The FEH robot project is especially beastly, so expect me to talk about it A LOT this Quarter.
There are so many great opportunities at OSU, it's sometimes tough not to get sucked in. I have to constantly remind myself not to apply for every awesome thing I find at OSU- there's just too much awesome for one kid to handle!
Know thy limits.
Stay tuned to see which ones I decide to pursue and which ones I have to leave be.
Take care,
Rob
Out of the tree of life, I just picked me a plum.
You came along and everything started to hum.
Still its a real good bet,
The best is yet to come.
PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS
The Classes:
(note: class titles are semi-official and of my own making)
Engineering H193 - The Robot Project
-This class is epic. It's basically legendary in the college of engineering for being crazy fun, crazy cool, crazy hard... It's crazy. This thing will mean long nights and long hours in Hitchcock Hall (the home of the College of Engineering) plus a great deal of homework. On the other hand, it also means I get to build a robot! My inner nerd is geeking out. :-)
Physics 133I - Waves and Random Awesome
-We start with Simple Harmonic Motion and end up at special relativity and light. I'm rather excited. Physics has always been a point of interest for me, so this class should be crazy cool. I've got a new prof for this physics class, and he seems really cool (as was my last one, I should note).
Math 263A - Multivariable Calc
-This is actually the third quarter in a row I've had this particular instructor, and I'm thinking that's a good thing. He's a good teacher, cares about how the students are doing, and the TAs for recitation really know their stuff. If you've read my blog before, you know that Calculus tends to kick my can. Stay tuned to see if I can continue my trend from B to A- to (hopefully) A this quarter.
Other awesome activities happening this Spring:
-more Swing Dance Club
-more Serving With Honor (service organization in the Honors college)
-more Big Brothers Big Sisters
-more Theme Park Engineering
-more random stories about why THE Ohio State University is frikkin' sweet
Take care,
Rob
You came down,
You looked around,
And you were not the same after that.
Every so often, you have an experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Some are good, others are bad.
This one was spectacular.
My last two entries give you many of the details of what I did with my Spring Break. As a quick recap, I went with the class Engineering 692 (open to all majors, all years) to Honduras to implement engineering solutions at Montana de Luz orphanage in the rural region. I've talked at length about the class, about the technnical job, and even shared a heart-warming story or two. But the heart of this Spring Break was really all about people.
It was about this group of OSU students who learned to work with, talk to, and trust each other. We would work all day to make our solutions a reality. But the real magic happened during meal times, and in the evenings. In rural Honduras, you don't have too much to distract you. Consequently, one learns to really open up and talk to the group. We discussed life, college, academics, beliefs, and just about everything you can imagine. We became a real team, united in our mission. These are some really cool kids.
It was about a team of staff members that believe in the orphanage and believe in the OSU engineers to make a real difference. They were so welcoming to us, and extremely helpful throughout the week. We were able to ask them what they really need, and they told us time and again how grateful they were.
It was about faculty at OSU who were with us every step of the way. They helped us figure out the technical details of our project in the Winter, then went with us to Honduras in the Spring. They wouldn't do the work for us, but rather made sure to guide us so that we always knew how we could make the best of our abilities.
Most of all it was about the children. Fernando and Hector and Havier and all the little children. We would play with them in the afternoon, and they were absolutely wonderful. They were so curious, so wanting to get to know us and play with us and see what we were up to. Language was a bit of a barrier for me (Honduras is a Spanish-speaking nation; I took French), but the kids were patient and always got the message across. They're wonderful kids who deserve all the help we can give them and then some.
The world is a bigger place than the life I'm used to. I'll always remember that.
Take care,
Rob
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