Back to the Present

“You’re not thinking fourth dimensionally.” — Doc Brown, Back to the Future, Part III

College Applications

Hello everyone, I’ve been working on my early college applications, which were due Nov 1. During and after that, I scrambled to get my research paper ready as a supplemental material. Basically, I already had my work done in the summer, but I had yet to write it into an official manuscript/scientific report format.

I learned that an important part of science is how the information is presented, not just how the work was done. Of course, it is important to be able to do calculations, write code, and deal with other techniques, but an equally important aspect is understanding the purpose and explaining the reasoning behind every step.

I also entered my paper into Regeneron Science Talent Search, and I think I may be able to place decently because my topic is quite unique. However, symbolic regression is also an unusual topic that the judges may not see the value in.

However, no matter the outcome, I will be a coauthor of a published scientific article soon.

Stroller

I bought a book called Stroller and I am related to the author by two degrees of separation, which is very funny. Normally, I would not read a book relating to parenting because I only read action web comics; however, I was interested because of my cool relation to the author. I have not read the book yet, but I do plan on doing so. In the next post, I will be reviewing it (it is very short).

It is available on Amazon if anyone would like to purchase it.

Making an App

I have finally decided to make an app using React. It will be a relatively simple app that will tell the user one thing that they can do when they are bored. It will be based on pressing a button, and then the app will grab something from a server and display it. So, nothing overly complicated, but definitely a good first project, since it uses many key parts of React, like buttons and servers.

I would like to learn how to style the website/app as well, but that will come after I set up the functionality. Eventually though, I would like to gain enough skills to win a hackathon.

Overwatch 2 & TF2

I played Overwatch 2 and I like it quite a lot. I especially enjoy playing as Junker Queen and Cassidy, who was renamed from McCree. While “Cassidy” is a much worse cowboy name, I understand why they made the change.

In TF2, I dueled my friend from Shanghai on the Crasher! map. It basically allows one person from each team to become a giant; the goal is to step into the enemy’s goal as the giant. Everyone leaves the server after a few rounds due to the nature of contract completion, so I was able to play many one-on-one duels against my friend since we were the only two people in the server.

STEM Journal

At my school, there is a club called STEM Journal where students are able to write articles about scientific discoveries. I have had to edit about four articles so far, and they have all been problematic in different ways.

There are three main categories of problems aside from small issues like grammar:

1. Broken chain of reasoning and disorganized ideas
2. Lack of context and overuse of jargon
3. Weak analysis of evidence and focusing on purpose

While these problems often feed into each other, I feel that the hardest ones to fix are the first and the third. This is because I can’t force a purpose onto the writer during editing, they must find it themselves. In addition, when the evidence is not relevant to the analysis, I cannot identify whether the issue lies in the analysis or the evidence, because they simply do not match together. Of course, I can use the context, but it is tedious work.

Past Students

According to my new tablemate in English class, I was mentioned in a chemistry class by my former teacher. He had very high praise for me and I’m sure all of the students there were shaken by the glowing review. My tablemate paraphrased and said that the teacher said I was “the best chemistry student ever,” which he probably didn’t say, although it is possible, but it was probably just the gist that my pal got from that encounter.

He commonly talks about his former students, probably to get his students to understand that the world is bigger than just the classroom and the grades that they get inside said classroom. In addition, there is a hint about what types of things he looks for in students.

Memory

My favorite ones to hear about must be the P sisters, who were twins that were valedictorian and salutatorian in their year. They made strong impressions on all of their teachers because they always had a textbook open and were always taking notes, even when the teacher was just rambling about life. It’s no wonder that such focus and passion allowed them to go whereever they pleased for college.

All of the students mentioned have one thing in common: they made a strong, positive impression on him. I feel that many students don’t consider this when they first step foot into a class. They don’t consider how their actions affect the way that others view them. They don’t consider how their lack of action will lead to others forgetting them entirely.

Many people are fine with that, just hiding in the background and enjoying the show. However, many people who do so actually desire something greater but lack the sense to get what they want. Basically, always try to get what you might want even if you don’t know that you want it. Or else, you will not get what you want. Or worse, you could get what you don’t want.

For me, I am willing to teach the class a lesson when the teacher is absent or ask to solve the problem on the board even if I fear that I will mess up. It’s because I seek the thrill of demonstrating a clear process and the joy of knowing I am capable.