Spring Break! Oh wait...it's over...

I've come to the conclusion that winter term is organized to be cruel. By which, I mean that I've recognized that the longest uninterrupted (save MLK day) stretch of the academic calender comes after the return from winter break and before spring break in March. It was long, it was stressful, it was cold, and it was dark. But then, it was over, and there was the glory of spring break to bring me hope again. We got a week off just as the sunshine and the warmth started to really return to the commonwealth...and then it was over, and we all realized there were four weeks until finals. Woops!

I had a pretty calm spring break myself. Unfortunately, unlike many of my friends going to various beaches in South Carolina and Florida or camping in Tennessee, I was stuck at home. Reason being, I had to get my wisdom teeth out. My operation went fairly well, but still, I'm glad it happened on break and mostly healed up before I got back; there's no way on earth that two or three days out of commission could have happened on campus. Even today, I'm writing between two meetings with a big stack of homework to greet me when I finish. But still, the more they throw on me, the more I get used to it. College, it would seem, is a better institution for habituating to the sort of workload in the "real world" than high school was. At least, this is true for my high school and for Transy specifically-not at all a plug for the quality of the institution.

On the bright side, the ability to once again wear sandals for days on end and avoid having to wash socks due to the warmer weather has done wonders for the general mood of campus. A few flowering trees and more daylight hours don't hurt that at all either. Sometimes I swear I was never this perceptive about the weather and its effect on me before college. Then I realize that I didn't have to walk outside between classes and to meals, and it the world makes sense again.

The other big news for me comes in the form of my employment at the university next year. During the 2011-2012 academic year, I've been hired as a Residence Adviser! Not only is this a godsend for me financially, it means I'll have the pleasure of working with 36 or so lucky first years on the first floor of Clay hall. Of course, it also means regular late night rounds, but I'm sure I can handle that. Although, if everyone would sporadically choose to behave themselves and make my job five times easier, I certainly won't complain.

On the note of my jobs, it's time for me to go get some more homework done before the Student Government Association convenes tonight to discuss a constitutional amendment (SGA constitution). So, I hope you're enjoying March, and I'll be sure to do the same myself!

Wait, I thought I was a Math and Physics Major?

Now, I know what my title might suggest. Some sort of existential and or introspective crisis and consequent epiphany following a long period of constant study which has caused me to reevaluate the academic interests and values in my life. Unfortunately, that's not what I meant. What I did mean is that although my studies require little other than pencil, paper, calculator, and occasionally a computer, I spent much of my weekend assisting a friend of mine in an entirely different field of study. Which involved just a little more mud, a little more labor, and a different perspective on research.

I suppose the preconceived notions of research involve people in white lab coats looking intensely into vials of strangely covered fluids being mixed with some sort of collection of incomprehensibly complex machines in the background. Why exactly biochemical medical research has become the icon of all scientific inquiry I'm not quite certain, but it's certainly not the full extent of the ivory tower endeavors in modern science. As I already said, any research I conduct in my fields will be distinctly chemical-less. The incomprehensibly complex machines are still a distinct possibility, but at least cyclotrons and lasers sound cool. My friend however, a senior environmental science major (self designed) has a distinctly different idea of what research means.

I don't know whether my proper title is field assistant or chauffeur but either way, I spent quite a few hours this weekend driving around Lexington, pushing through mud, and collecting samples of water with the esteemed infinitely more qualified environmental scientist. We were effectively locating various points, specifically chosen for their relation to natural or man made sites and phenomena , along streams that run through the city and gathering data. For one, we made use of a dissolved oxygen probe that, much as the name would imply, determines the content of dissolved oxygen in the stream at a given point. We took pictures, noted temperatures, and gathered samples for later work in the lab (this part I won't actually be involved in).

And of course, we got wet, we got muddy, and we got cold. All in the name of science, or at least quality water in Fayette county though. Before getting a chance to work on this project, I didn't think that I wanted to be an environmental scientist, biologist, ecologist, or anything of that sort. After working on it...I still don't think that at all. But still, I think it's good for me that I got to experience; and I think that's one of the major benefits of a campus where everyone knows everyone including LOTS of people completely outside of their area of study. Interdisciplinary study is the academically progressive movement, but even outside of that specifically, just interdisciplinary interaction is stimulating and rewarding.

Seriously though, just think about it: a cyclotron. Coolest sounding huge machine ever!