New York City!!!

I would have written about this last weekend, but unfortunately, I was gone the entire time. On the bright side, the place I was away at was New York City. The only thing that was better than being in New York was being in New York for the sake of intercollegiate quidditch. Yes, that's right, I personally took part in the 2010 Quidditch World Cup. Two days, forty-something colleges, and a lot of Harry Potter nerds make for one swinging good time!

Transy didn't come out entirely competitively, which isn't surprising considering that schools the size of Texas A&M and Purdue were present. With that said, we had a fantastic time having fun and representing our school. Time magazine, MTV, CBS, and an overall surprising amount of press were present for the gathering in the park just off the Hudson; even if certain desperate pleas for an appearance by Stephen Colbert were ultimately in vain. In fact, it is entirely possible that Transylvania Quidditch got more press for the school than any other sport has in quite some time, strange as that seems. Personally speaking, I greatly enjoyed getting a chance to seek against some amazing snitches who have been doing this for years. The quality isn't great, but this link should take you to a youtube video of one of our matches. If you see someone with a gold headband getting thrown to the ground by people dressed in yellow, that's probably me!
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXCLDmc6Wu8&feature=player_embedded

So what's been going on at Transy other than Quidditch? More prominently, we are definitely into the dead heat of the academic calender. The coming week is blissfully short for a Thanksgiving break; during which time I'm sure everyone, myself included, will be sleeping and recuperating as much as possible. I can't quite relax yet though, I have an exam in calculus 2 on Wednesday that may prove rather challenging. Consequentially, the rest of my evening will be spent working a couple of problem sets over power series; exciting, I know.

One of the other things, beside sleep, that I look forward to during the break is a chance to meet up with old friends. I have friends from GSP returning back to the commonwealth from Boston to Michigan, not to mention my high school friends. I guess I didn't realize it until I left all of them for college, but I actually do miss these guys and girls, a lot. Not to say that I'm lonely or don't like it at Transy, just that it's a rather abrupt shock of moving away from all of the friends you've grown so close to all at once. I actually think I may be planning to meet up with them for a rock band 3 jam session, about which I will openly admit, as a music/gaming nerd, I am quite excited.

One thing I've been looking at getting done before too late is starting to look at options for my summer. My ideal job would be either a REU (research experience for undergraduates) or a position as an office staffer or a residence adviser at the Governor's Scholars Program about which I have such fond memories. REU's are a great experience for students interested in graduate studies to get their hands dirty and find out what it really means to do meaningful research in a discipline. Many programs are located throughout the country and pay not only room and board, but a stipend as well. Unfortunately, I question whether I have enough educational and laboratory experience to be competitive for these programs as just a freshman, but I'm glad to know that such a cool experience exists for me as I move through school. I am super hopeful about the possibility of at least working in the office for GSP however. Until such a time as I can apply however, possibly over break, I must remain in question about my summer plans.

And now, I believe it is time for calculus. Problem set, here I come!