A year in retrospect

Meant to do this a while back. Oh well.

Seems the school year's already over - I've been out since the first week of May. Went by rather quickly, and it's interesting to consider that that's one-fourth of my college career over. It's all a matter of relativity, I suppose - when you're younger, one day or week or year or whatever is much longer when compared to your lifespan so far. But as you get older, it's a much smaller percentage of your life and seems shorter. Interesting.

In regards to college itself, I ended up with a 3.9something GPA (Got an A- in genetics, 4 points short of an A. Gah.). Works for me. I expect next year might be more challenging as I've got a slightly heavier schedule and (hopefully) more challenging classes. Pretty much all science, all the time.

Just got back from a week-long camping trip in Moab with a friend. Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, etcetera. Was a nice break from sitting around at home and had a lot of fun.

Apparently the Rapture was supposed to happen yesterday, too. Something about an earthquake on the West Coast? Yellowstone's overdue, so I guess it was a possibility. Not anymore. That might have been interesting. Anyways:

One more day

One!

Day!

Mooooore!

[End Les Miserables reference.]

Indeed! I'm now three-quarters of the way done with finals, with only a chemistry final tomorrow morning. Pretty excited. Though, really, finals have been almost laughably easy so far. I had a sociology and biology exam last night, both of which I finished in just over half the time allotted, without having studied for them. I had a presentation in my intro to the Bible class today, for which my group did my one of my favorite books/movies of all time, Watchmen, and that went rather smoothly. The only final I'm actually taking somewhat seriously is tomorrow's chemistry exam, and I've barely studied even for that. I suppose they were right about IB really preparing you for college.

I've also been packing and getting ready to move out of the dorms. As of now, about two-thirds of my stuff is already moved, and the rest is mostly packed up and ready to go tomorrow. The number of containers required to hold all my stuff has gone up a bit since the beginning of the years, which is somewhat heartening (though it'll also be a hassle to move). It's interesting to look at my part of the room and actually ponder how it looks a bit blank without the miscellaneous comics and things I'd tacked up on the walls, as well as the now-empty bookshelf. Guess you do get attached to your space.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm planning to finish packing up before my exam, practice some piano if I have time, then take the exam and get ready to go. Huzzah.

oh no finals oh no

Nah, just kidding.

Finals week is next week and... quite honestly? I couldn't care less. I was told a few times before starting college that it'd be a huge transition, I wouldn't be able to continue my usual study habits (or, more appropriate, lack thereof), I'd meet people much much smarter than me, etcetera etcetera. Let's see.

There wasn't really any transition to speak of. Just school again, in a different setting, with a slightly different routine. The one thing I will note is that interaction with other people has changed quite a bit for me. I've never been very good at meeting people to begin with (though I'm okay at getting along with them once I'm past that initial bit), so it's incredibly difficult to meet new people when I don't see many people more than once a day, and there are so damned many people besides. A friend from high school, who I had lunch with over fall break, pointed out that IB did an excellent job of forcing us to meet people: It basically threw all of us into a room, said "These are the people you will be having class with for the next four years. Meet them.", and walked away. That's not to say that I don't like the people from high school - I believe that having a few good friends that you can really trust is preferable to having a huge network of people whom you are only somewhat acquainted with. Seems like a lot of people are really fixated on the latter. Insecurity? I don't know.

Study habits? Haven't changed a bit. When I've got a test coming up, I'll look over the things that I need to work on briefly, then not worry about it. And I'm doing fine. Actually, in MCDB (Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology), I did the best on the test that I didn't even bother studying for, because I'd gotten an average of a 90ish on the first two and they drop the lowest of the three. I also did quite well on a chemistry test which I walked into sick, with no preparation, and confused about what day it was due to a nap just previously. The results of that test were rather amusing.

Finally... smart people. While I know some very smart people from high school that are at college with me, I haven't met anyone new that blows me out of the water, so to speak. There are other smart students, to be sure, but no one on the scale that I was told to expect. Certainly people talk about having "genius roommates" and suchlike, but judging from the types of people that I hear having these conversations, well, I'm not convinced. (Of note: I really do try not to come across as arrogant. Sometimes it's difficult.)

Onwards towards finals week, then. And all that.

Rumors of my activity are greatly exaggerated

Aaaaand as promised, here's the Real Life Update post. RLU. Acronyms.

Well, let's see. The latest round of college exams is here and, uh, mostly over. I've got an MCDB exam tomorrow evening, but as a friend pointed out, they drop your lowest score. And since I've gotten 90s on the first two... well, motivation is a tad bit low. I took a chemistry exam last Thursday. The exam was supposed to take about an hour and a half. I finished in half an hour. I'm reminded of the time in freshman math when I finished a quiz before the teacher had finished handing them out to the rest of the class. The score comes back tomorrow. I hate to sound cocky, but I'm not too worried. I've never really had an issue with taking exams.

On a less exam-y note, I recently found out that I need to spend about $200 of "Munch Money" that came with my meal plan on food by the end of the semester, or else it will expire. So, I've been buying beverages and gelato like a madman. I think I went out for gelato with friends twice last week. We're planning to go again after the exam tomorrow night. And I've still got $180 left. Gah. Diabetes, here we come? (We actually calculated it, and I could have purchased 40 scoops of gelato with $200)

The last big thing that's happened is that I got a job working as a lab assistant for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which has a lab just by campus (I may have mentioned this previously. I do not recall.). Mostly I'm doing data crunching, though some calibration-stuff with the instrument will happen eventually. It can be a bit boring - I think if I had been involved with actually taking the data, even to a small degree, it would be a bit more engaging and, eh, relevant. Nonetheless, it's fairly interesting and I'll stick with it for now. I'm interested in getting a spot at my chemistry professor's lab - he's a Nobel Laureate, Thomas Cech, and his research is very interesting to me.

I've got next week off for fall break and I'm rather excited. Not to be home - I've been heading home most every weekend (because I'm borderline antisocial, alright?) - but to see friends that I haven't seen in a long time. I'm also thinking about visiting my high school when I get back home Friday. Plans, plans.

How to get around on campus

So thus far, I've seen people getting around campus by car, bicycle, tiny bicycle (I don't even know if there's a real name for those but they look so silly with a grown teenager riding one and the knees flailing about and such), skateboard, tiny skateboard, longboard, roller blades, a scooter, and on foot.

UPDATE: I've now also seen someone on a unicycle and someone on an electric scooter.

UP-UPDATE: I just saw some people on one of those two-person bicycles. Those are called tandem bicycles, I think.

UPDATE VOL. 3: Saw someone in a velomobile earlier. I don't like the name "velomobile". I'm going to start calling them "Bike-Pods". I think I should just make a page to list the vehicle types that I've seen around campus.

Modes of transportation that I have not but would very much like to see (Along with helpful reference images!):

• Piggyback ride
• Horse-drawn carriage
• Chariot
• Bear
• Sherman crab tank (Actually, any tank would be fine, but one with a mine flail would be hilarious)
• Zeppelin
• Roman testudo
• Siege tower

Just my two cents.

P.S. On an irrelevant note, I just ordered a 22x17" House of Doolittle Refillable Doodle Pad from Amazon, for my desk. Hopefully it'll prove useful for my spur-of-the-moment doodling, calculations and whatnot, notes to myself, etc.

Week One: Complete!

Made it through a week of classes! Yeah! Checkpoint reached! And it's... well, not very stimulating or challenging thus far.

I'm currently enrolled in Intro to Molecular/Cellular/Developmental Biology (From here on out, I will refer to it as MCDB), General Chemistry for Majors, Intro to Sociology, and Intro to the Bible. My MCDB class is seriously just a review of last year's class, according to the syllabus. However, it also doesn't cover as much stuff, so maybe they go into more detail. Maybe. Chemistry might actually prove to be an interesting class, as it is taught by Thomas Cech, a Nobel Laureate. Thus far, however, it's just been a review of basic stuff - significant figures, units, dimensional analysis, etc. More on that in a moment. Intro to Sociology also seems like it might have promise - the material seems relatively interesting (bordering on IB Theory of Knowledge-esque). However, I'm not certain that the other people in the class are capable of discussing it at an engaging level. Yes, yes, that's me being egotistic. I don't care. As far as Intro to the Bible goes, I'm actually amused since my teacher seems more liable to laugh at the Bible than I am. Hmh. Could be a fun class. Intro to the Bible is also my smallest class (as it is an honors class), with about 20 people. The rest of my lectures are all at least 100.

I've also come to the realization (Er, re-realization?) that I'm really really bad at meeting new people. I was okay in IB because generally people were pretty motivated and intellectually interesting to speak to, but it's nigh impossible to judge that sort of thing in a college environment, with thousands of people walking around. As such, I'm finding myself making pre-judgments of people before I meet them, which might not necessarily be a good thing. The problem is, I'm somewhat incapable of having an extended conversation with someone that I don't already respect to some degree. And it's proving to be somewhat difficult to respect these people. For example, in my first chemistry lab section, we were (again) going over basic things: significant figures, units, and the like. Here's the gist of one of the problems that they gave us:

You have a 5.0 cubic centimeter sample of a substance. It has a density of 1.5 g/cm^3. If you were to double the volume to 10.0 cubic centimeters, what would the density be? DO NOT CALCULATE THIS - JUST GIVE AN ANSWER AND EXPLAIN WHY.

See the part where it explicitly says "do not calculate"? Well, at least three people (Possibly more - these three were sitting right in my vicinity) attempted to calculate it. I tried to explain why that wasn't necessary. One person sort of figured it out after a moment (Or, at least, pretended to). One person couldn't be convinced. One person stared blankly at me for a moment before just writing down 1.5 g/cm^3. At this point, I decided that interacting wasn't really worthwhile and decided instead to draw a picture of the most interesting thing in the room: A faucet. See below.

So... yeah. As I suspected, the intellectual transition to college wasn't a transition at all. More of a fall down a hill. The social transition, however, may prove to be a bit more problematic. I will say that I have met some people who I am okay with interacting with for an extended period of time. Some are Lakewood IB kids who came to CU. Another couple are IB people from other schools. One is my roommate, who is pretty alright. And finally, I met a senior over breakfast one day, after convincing the coffee shop to sell me a cup of milk (I am not a coffee drinker at all). So, I guess there's hope.

Onwards, then.

On a different note, I may have found a potential way to make some money over the course of my college life. A friend of mine who was in debate (Now going to Stanford) is starting up a business, selling debate research to high school coaches, and offered to pay me to design a logo for him. I, of course, accepted, and it seems to be going well (Progress shots to be uploaded at some point). I guess I could do some graphic design/consulting as a small part-time affair, though it might be tricky to establish myself. Something to consider.

Insert college-related title here

Well, I'm all moved in and classes start tomorrow. Not actually that concerned about the classes themselves - the most classes I have in a day is 3 (although some are a tad bit longer than others - my chem lab is almost 4 hours long). The main thing I'll need to work on, I think, is meeting people. As I mentioned in the last post, I'm a pretty solitary person by nature. I'll need to force myself to get out and meet new people in this first year, since we've already purchased a one-bedroom apartment for next year. Hopefully I can get together the resolve to talk to people in my classes, etc.

I've actually been at home for the last two days. Came home the night of the 20th, after a meeting with my 'flock' (a group of 20-30 people from my dorm). Haven't really been up to much - went out and purchased an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/fax machine the other day, got some candy and snacks for next year, grabbed some dress clothes and suchlike, etc. Mostly it's just been seeing the family a bit before I head off - though I do plan to be home every couple of weeks. It's nice, going to a college that's just a 40-minute drive from home. I'm far enough away to feel independent, but close enough that I can get home easily if I should want to.

Anyways, I'm heading back up to campus in about an hour. Apparently there's a "dessert with the professors" thing tonight, which I suspect would be a good thing to attend. Though it's doubtful that any huge, meaningful bonds will be formed with the professors - the freshman class is (unsurprisingly) rather large. Oh well.

I've got only two classes Monday; biology and chemistry (science day?). Should be interesting.

Movin' In

Well, here we are. Just moved in to my dorm today, and classes start on the 23rd.

I wish I could say that I'm excited, but I'd be lying. More accurately, I'm just feeling drained. Not so much physically, but more emotionally.

They say it's a huge transition, switching to college. Huge amounts of freedom, no one checking up on you, etc. Me, I haven't noticed anything yet. Just a change of scenery and new people to meet. The latter of which I am not doing a very good job with. I've always been a pretty solitary person - something that probably won't help me out too much, here. I imagine I'll do alright once this lethargy wears off.

Guess I should probably go find something to do now. Sitting about in my room isn't getting me anywhere.

The Beginning of the... Beginning?

One week until August. Three weeks until I finish with my current job. One month until I begin college. Interesting.

I'm usually not a very sentimental person, but as I move closer to the big day (Of note: That may be the first time that I have ever used the phrase "the big day"), I'm really starting to look around and realize that all of this is going to change. It's strange to think that I've been living in this house for essentially my entire life, and in what amounts to the blink of an eye, I'll be living somewhere completely different, with completely different people. Not to be too melodramatic, though - CU Boulder is just a bus ride away from home, and I fully expect to be coming back to visit at least twice a month. If only to go out for dim sum with the family.

Even still, it's a major reminder that absolutely nothing in life is static, and almost everything about one's current way of living can change at the drop of a hat (Also of note: I don't think I've ever used the phrase "at the drop of a hat", either).

Sentimentality aside, I need to start packing up stuff to bring along with me for move-in on the 19th. I've decided not to bring my (huge) desktop, and will instead be taking my new laptop. Speaking of that, I ended up returning the Lenovo that I had purchased before and am currently waiting for a new HP to come in. More on that particular escapade another time. I also need to go out and buy supplies, notably some sort of organization system. I'm currently considering getting one of those filing crates and a bunch of hanging folders to organize stuff by class, etc. In addition to that, there's the usual: loose-leaf paper, notebooks, whatever. For my... artistic side, I'm thinking about getting a Moleskine sketchbook. It's a bit on the expensive side, yeah, but I figure I'll give the high end a try.

Decisions, decisions.

Miscellaneous adventures through time, space and AP scores

Well. Seems like all sorts of stuff is happening. From the top, then!

AP scores came in yesterday. I took BC calc and psychology, got 5s on both. Yayhooray. Wasn't altogether surprised at the score on calc, to be honest (hell, I was almost expecting to be audited), but was amused by the 5 on psych. I distinctly recall making up some terms and flat-out skipping another. Oh well!

So, I believe it's thank you time again!
Mr. Stearns: Thanks for guiding us through the curriculum this year (and dealing with some of the dumber things that we did). While I'm pretty good at picking things up, I do need someone to show me how to get started. So, thank you again.

Let's see. My orientation session at CU is tomorrow, and I realized earlier that I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing in terms of class registration, course requirements, etc. Should be... Interesting.

Finally, my new laptopp should be coming in within a day or two. Surprisingly, UPS appears to finally have become competent, having shipped it from North Carolina to Kansas in just two days. Previously, they liked to ship it north a state or two, then west a bit, back south, etc. The final test will be to see if it sits in Commerce City for weeks on end.

That's about it for major news. I guess it's worth mentioning that this entiire post was written on my new cell phone (an LG Rumor Touch from Virgin Mobile), making it the longest thing I've ever written on a phone. Yeah, me!

The First of (Hopefully) Many

I'm writing a blog!

... Oh dear, I am writing a blog. How does one begin a blog?

I suppose I could begin with who I am. Many of you reading this probably already know who I am, but for the benefit of the (probably nonexistent) readers that don't, here goes.

My name is David Chen (As you may have guessed from the title of the blog. Good job, you!). I'm 17 years old at the time of this writing and live in Colorado. I graduated from the International Baccalaurate program in high school a few months ago. And... well, I'll deem that sufficient for the time being.

Why does someone start writing a blog, anyways?

My Life Since Graduation

Okay. I can do this! Rewind three months, to just after graduation. Pretty good ceremony. I must admit, however, that I'm still not convinced that I am, indeed, graduated. Hopefully it'll set in soon. So. Graduation's over, and my family's off to California. Left the night of graduation, so I wouldn't have to go to any graduation parties. Wait, that came out wrong. Anyways, we were in California for a week, visiting Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. Suffice to say, I saw a lot of mountains and a lot of trees. Good trip.

As for what I've been up to since we got back... well, I think I might need some more subtitles for that.

Work and Play

I've been working three or four days a week since we got back. It's probably better for me than sitting around at home all day, anyways. We had planned to go to China this summer as we've done in years past, but with the Worlds Fair in Shanghai (where my mother's family lives), it'd be altogether too hectic. So, instead, I'm workin'. Keeps me busy, I guess.

Despite that, I've still got a ridiculous amount of free time - more than I know what to do with. I find that I like to be engaged most of the time, and so do my best to find things to do. Since summer started, I've gone through four 1000+ page novels in a series (now working on a 5th). I'm also continuing to practice taekwondo (though we're off this week). Beyond that, as insane as it sounds, I've been learning things. I figured out a Calculus 3 topic that I should be covering next year, multiple integration, the other day and plan to continue with that (Mr. Stearns, if you're reading this, what were some of the other topics you mentioned?).

The Big Day

... That was yesterday. IB test scores released! I'd rewind again and tell the harrowing story of how nervous I was, but I'd be lying. Truth be told, I've never been too worried about this sort of stuff. I won't bother putting up my scores (I assume I'm allowed to share them, anyways), but yeah, I passed and earned my diploma. Yayhooray. Which, I suppose, prompts a few messages to hopefully-possibly-readers. Quickly, look for your name!

Ms. Morgan: Thanks again for being my EE supervisor! It was a great experience (even the awful smell) and I really appreciate your guidance during the whole process. Also, your name gets to appear twice!

Ms. Morgan and Ms. Talle: Thanks for all your work in preparing us for the test. I felt extremely comfortable with the topics being tested - which was unthinkable a few years ago. Also, Ms. Talle: Thanks again for those smoothies!

Mr. Buck and Mr. G: I took the IB Math test last year, but a thank-you is still in order. Thank you for teaching the techniques and, in another sense, the mindset needed to excel in math. (Mr. Stearns: Your thank-you comes later, since AP test scores aren't out yet - to my knowledge, anyways - but, in preparation for the more serious one, thanks for allowing all of that Scrabble at the end of the year!)

Mr. Mehlbach: I've always been better with analysis and the significance of historical events than remembering the specific dates, but you prepared me to do both in an engaging and challenging setting. Thanks! (Insert bow here.)

Mrs. Kirby: Thanks for teaching me to enjoy poetry - I was never a huge fan of it prior to your class. Thanks also for helping me be able to express myself better through discussion, etc.

Looking to the Future

Ah, yes. THE FUTURE. A place of mystery and wonder! A time when we shall be assisted by robotic helpers to - oh, wait, not that far into the future.

I'll be attending CU Boulder next year, and majoring in Biochemistry (Probably a crazy choice, but oh well - I've ever been the math/science type). I'm going to orientation... exactly one week from today, actually, and I realized the other day that I have no idea what I'm doing as far as class registration and such goes, being the first in my family to go to college here in the States. Should be an interesting experience.

Apart from that, I'm not overly concerned about the transition to college. They also say that the transition from middle to high school is big, but if I remember correctly, that wasn't too bad, either. Sure, this one's going to be more major, but I'm not worried. Let's hope!

So that's that, then. I've finished my first blog post! That wasn't so bad. Now let's see if I can keep this up.