Interesting Decisions

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Fri, 20 Jul 2012 17:07:07 -0400

Hey, I was just curious.

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:07:00 -0400

Don’t worry about it, I didn’t really mind answering. I was just doing my due diligence to ward off random stalkers. Especially if that question had a more interesting answer, it would be like me saying:

So, any romantic interests?

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 02:26:00 -0400

this is a rather odd question for a random unknown person to ask me, but since my answer is rather mundane, I might as well respond: No
Although, now that I think about it, i’m pretty sure that I have way more friends who are guys than friends who are girls. But, regardless - the answer’s still no.

My Pedantic Tendencies: A while back I went to Starbucks along...

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 01:13:00 -0400

My Pedantic Tendencies:

A while back I went to Starbucks along with my friend who, being desperately addicted to coffee, needed her ‘White Chocolate Grande Mocha.’

The coffee/tea hater that I am, I waited patiently in the background for her to finish. She, kindly, offered to pay for my drink in exchange for the ride. So, obviously not going to refuse free food, I search the menu for something other than coffee. I was pleasantly surprised when I came across the Hot Apple Cider drink, which tasted like how I always imagined the famed butterbeer (from the Harry Potter chronicles) to taste: hot, buttery, butter-scotchy, caramely, etc. Protip: If you haven’t tried this particular concoction at Starbucks, then you have been wasting your money there.

Anyway, the time comes to order, so I request my drink and when asked for the size, decisively say ‘Small.’ The lady at the cashier looks at me in confusion and responds with a quizzical ’You mean, Tall?’ The line is only growing larger, so I quickly agree and nod my head in the affirmative.

When it comes time to pick up my drink, I reasonably politely inform the barista that their sizing conventions are a bit skewed and not conducive to easy ordering, and suggest that they might want to look into changing the names of their cup sizes.

Of course my friends immediately start snickering and look completely mortified, and then proceed to tell me that I am pedantic.

And being referred to as pedantic brings up memories of watching the movie ‘Midnight in Paris’ in Art History with the pedantic gentleman who won’t stop spouting incorrect information about various historical figures/paintings.

(Edit: this was kind of a joke. Though I agree with the opinion I expressed to the barista, I didn’t actually think anyone would take me seriously, nor did I actually care that much )

When my sister and I watched the new Spiderman movie, all we...

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:42:18 -0400

When my sister and I watched the new Spiderman movie, all we could think about was Andrew Garfield as the ‘Boy with a Basket of Fruit’ from the Caravaggio episode on Simon Schauma’s Power of Art series. Thank you, Art History.

congrats on all your acceptances! i'm curious as to why it was Yale and Stanford finally; would you say that they have the same type of students?

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:41:00 -0400

Thank you! It was definitely a rather pleasant surprise to get the acceptance letters. I always figured I’d apply just for kicks, but never actually expected to get in.

hmm, well I can tell you reasons why I didn’t like the other so-called ‘big-name’ schools, and why the weren’t the ‘same’ so perhaps that might help?

1. Princeton- seemed too uptight and cliquey, I might have changed my mind if I actually visited but it seemed a bit pretentious and focused on social status, especially with the whole eating house phenomenon.

2. Caltech - I actually really loved caltech. The people were friendly and awesome, the dorms were amazing. I guess it ultimately came down to opportunities there. I think that since it was a smaller school it didn’t have as many opportunities for the students and it was a bit too focused on the sciences. I’m not just interested in CS, I’m also thinking of majoring in something else (Polisci, Econ or Sociology). But, the environment there was super collaborative and helpful. There was a camaraderie among all the students that I’m sure every school would be slightly envious of.

3. MIT - it seemed a little bit cold and unfriendly. I realized that ultimately the main thing that drew me to that school is that my best friend attends MIT. It does have a cool hacker culture, but there seems to be this spirit of individualism. It seemed like other schools had more of a collaborative atmosphere, which I tend to gravitate towards.

4. Harvard (I was waitlisted, but I might as well tell you my opinion of it) - I liked Harvard. When I visited (MIT’s CPW was the same weekend as Harvard’s, so I went there to see some friends) it did seem more formal than other schools. And the one thing I disliked was that some people did have a sort of ‘I’m better than you’ air - but I’m sure you can find people like that at all schools. What impressed me about it was the care that the upperclassmen and the admins had for all the pre-frosh. They put a ton of effort into Visitas and were super helpful if anyone had any questions. I was only there for an hour or two, so I can’t really say much about the school though.

So, when it came down to it I liked Yale and Stanford the most. I think the students are similar. I know a ton of people who were trying to pick between the two schools, so I’d say its the people who make the schools. There are a lot of differences between the two, certainly (and I think I outlined some of them before) but I think those schools are attractive to similar types of people. They both seem to be very welcoming and friendly.

Bear in mind that some of the schools I rejected for other reasons, even though I liked their spirit a lot.

Some Super Superficial Reasons

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 01:19:00 -0400

Anyway, I was reading through my tumblr and I looked at my why I choose Stanford post. And then I realized that I forgot some reasons why I decided on this school. So, prepare yourself…

1. Its motto: ”Die Luft der Freiheit weht”

Otherwise known as “The Winds of Freedom Blow” - its not an exact translation, but that’s the essence of the statement. When I compare this to a motto like Veritas or Lux et Veritas, I think about two things. 1) Those mottos are really lame and not only that, but they aren’t even original and 2) This really captures the spirit of the farm, and what I hope to get out of life.

If the motto of my school were just truth, I’d think cool…I guess this means I’m like John Locke’s blank slate, and am gaining the truth in college. Its gratifying I suppose to learn that I will actually be learning in college, but it doesn’t really inspire any emotion in anyone (or at the very least me). And then don’t even get me started on Lux et Veritas, its like oh Veritas was pretty good, but we’re a better school so lets just add some light onto the beginning. I don’t think it actually adds any meaning to the motto.

The idea of ‘the winds of freedom blowing’ is rather liberating. It feels as if you can do anything in college.

2. The Bathrooms:

These are integral to a good college experience. Its quite possibly one of the reasons why I decided on Stanford over Yale. The bathrooms at Yale, were, quite simply, terrible. Of course, they did make up for that by having the most amazing dorms/residential colleges ever. Anyway, the bathrooms are Stanford are quite nice.

3. Chuck:

Ever since I saw the television show Chuck, I harbored a secret desire to go to Stanford. I’ve pretty much always been a slightly ‘nerdy’ kid (**this is a pun…for those of you who have ever seen Chuck, you’ll get it), as in infatuated with computers, so I could relate to the main character. And then hearing him talk about Stanford (though admittedly its all dialogue written by screenwriters who have probably never been there) made me want to go there. Of course, I probably wouldn’t have cared if it were any other TV show, but this is definitely my favorite one, and i’m rather sad that it’s over. Plus, I hope that the whole Secret Agent CIA recruiting from Stanford pans out :)

Just Be Nice

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:25:42 -0400

If I’m nice, I think that I will be, at the very least, satisfied with who I am as a person, regardless of how life turns out.

So, first, for one of my friends, I’ll explain why I think being nice isn’t actually conducive to ‘material’ success. Bear in mind that i’m using the word material really loosely here. What I’m referring to more concerns success in career options and the general ‘moving up the working class ladder’ sentiment.

Have you ever tried kicking someone out of your group/team even in something as trivial as a group project for a high school class? Its definitely not as easy as it looks, even when you know that you are completely in the right. Scenario: There is a boy is your group who tries really hard but clearly doesn’t know what he’s doing. You don’t have the heart to kick him out, since he’s clearly trying.

This is probably the worst situation, but ultimately if you want to succeed you really have to tell it as you see it. I’d like to think that I can do this, but in reality I have failed multiple times when in this particular circumstance, although I did succeed once - so maybe i’m getting better. I really admire my friends that stand up for their convictions, and I hope that eventually I can be that person.

Ok, so perhaps I should clarify, being nice to the exclusion of all else isn’t conducive to success in any form, material or even in relationships.

The classic example is compromising on something in a relationship (whether it is a romantic relationship or just a platonic one) that would clearly make you subservient or make you compromise your ideals. Obviously, that is a bad idea.

Hopefully at Stanford next year, I’ll try to open up a bit more to my friends and actually get my opinions and viewpoints out there to develop closer friendships sooner.

On a slightly related but otherwise tangential note (actually this is more of a case study than a side note) - In a strange sense of the word, family is really important to me. Although people may think that I’m just lying through my teeth, full of hot air, or whatever the correct idiom in this situation is -many could apply,- especially seeing as I don’t really talk to my extended family much at all, this is at least half my fault, I think that ultimately I’d rather see my family be happy as a whole than for me or any particular individual to be happy or successful as an individual. This is actually an incredibly selfish desire, despite its seemingly altruistic nature on the outside. Ultimately them being happy as a whole means that they are nice to each other, they get along well with each other, no discrimination/bias, etc. And this whole utopic ideal, would make me happy - hence the selfish part. My parents tell me that i’m a ‘mundrikotai’ a lot (I have no clue how to spell the word, its in tamil, i think - but essentially it means that I don’t mind my own business). I don’t think the world is very fair, but I’d like to make it come as close to the line of fairness as possible. So, even when my sisters have arguments with each other, I only side with one or the other relatively briefly, and try to calm down an altercation before it gets too bad (hopefully they can attest to this and I’m not just fabricating situations in my mind). This is kind of sounding really self-serving and pompous, but I’m by no means a saint. I lose sight of this goal a lot and I have arguments with my parents and sisters that escalate simply because I continue for the sake of arguing or because I need to get my point across since I have some grand idea that I’m correcting all the injustices in the world. But, I try to not let that happen too often.

Strangely it seems that people always say that its the nice guys you have to watch out for. I’m not sure if this applies to me (I may actually be really mean to people and I just don’t realize it, since I have some twisted view of myself), but I guess I don’t really see any major skeleton’s in my closet.

So, back to the main purpose of this post - being nice. I guess I see myself as some kind of grand mediator of the world or whatever. This is actually the reason why I want to go into politics or law, and perhaps become a Supreme Court Justice someday. This is probably one of main reasons, though I didn’t mention it in my previous post on this subject, of why I was reluctant to turn down Yale. I feel like deciding on Stanford may have put that idea on the backburner for slightly longer. Although political science (incl. foreign relations, law etc.) may not be subject I’m most interested in studying in college - it falls shortly behind Computer Science - I think I can say that its something that I’m incredibly passionate about. So, I’m hoping that after studying Computer Science (with ideally a triple major in also Political Science and Economics), maybe trying my hand at entrepreneurship and working for long enough to make enough bank, I can try my hand a political career.

**Disclaimer: This is my attempt at a introspective post, so don’t blame me if its terrible, I’m just following my friends’ advice.**

This graph also demonstrates the ratio of actual learning that...

Tue, 29 May 2012 22:52:52 -0400

This graph also demonstrates the ratio of actual learning that takes place in that class to time spent otherwise…with the probability of seeing the actual slide in the microscope equaling the amount of time spent doing something useful.

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have..."

Tue, 29 May 2012 22:38:03 -0400

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

- Steve Jobs (2005 Stanford Commencement Address)

Kind of the story of my life…except edit the last line to...

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:29:00 -0400

Kind of the story of my life…except edit the last line to be more applicable to high school/ future success etc.

Perhaps I’ll go to Northwest Folklife tomorrow. Its my last one after all, and I really enjoy it. It would be more fun at any rate than studying and doing homework.

Well, that failed miserably

Sat, 26 May 2012 01:04:00 -0400

So remember how I said that I would post my thoughts…forget about college, about anything. Well, I haven’t. To make a long story short, I choose: I’m going to Stanford next year.

While this makes me happy (because I really do like Stanford and what it stands for) its also a bit bittersweet, because it means leaving my dreams of going to the east coast behind. I actually really liked Yale, I might have (?) like Princeton…actually, nah, I doubt it. But still I liked Yale and the ‘faster’ mentality of the east coast. Perhaps I’ll just go there (east coast) after undergrad, to fulfill this dream.

Now, on to the positives of Stanford, so I can make myself happy again after writing down those mildly disheartening thoughts.

1. Its closer to home (To clarify: a lot of people really like going far away from home for college, but I don’t. I think that its nice to be able to visit when there’s the opportunity, but California is still far enough away that I can be my own person. To expound on that, I think its really important for kids to live away from home when they go to college. It encourages independence and allows them to discover who they are as a person)

2. Its warmer (While, this might seem like a really superficial reason to like a school…I mean who cares what the weather’s like, its only going to be 4 years, I think that it makes a huge difference in both personal activities and academics. It encourages students to go out more - even if its just to the lab. If it was really cold then people would just be huddled up in their dorm and not want to leave or even do work.)

3. Its an AMAZING school (Can I say any more? Especially since I want to study computer science, you can’t get better opportunities than at Stanford. But, moving on to my other interests - Polysci and Econ, so far - Stanford is also extremely well known for both)

4. Location, in the sense of opportunities (As I mentioned before, Stanford is literally the perfect place for anything computer science related, or even econ related. Why? Because its right in the heart of silicon valley. This actually makes a huge difference in the number of opportunities afforded students right by the campus)

While I didn’t talk to anyone for long enough at Admit Weekend to become good friends with them, hopefully that will change once I actually get to campus. I think the most important thing that you can get out of a college experience are good friends. Strangely (or perhaps not so strangely) there are only a small handful of people that I know from high school that I can even really say I’m friends with.

So, from now on I’ll move onto more interesting topics that have little to do with college, and more to do with self-exploration. This will probably make my sister and two of my friends really happy, because they keep telling me that I should find myself and make my personality known.

I actually disagree with this sentiment, since I think I have a personality/opinions. I just don’t share that much of myself with others, which is probably where they get their ideas from. The other problem is that I don’t know enough about certain subjects to comment on it - and then I refrain from commenting rather than making absurd judgments. But, its actually really hard to change my opinion on something once I have my mind set.

This post is getting really long, so I’ll leave you with this: I’m either an INTJ or an ENTJ, now I need to figure out which.

I just discovered this

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:42:00 -0400

So, as you might have gathered from the title of this post…I just discovered this: http://www.thatssotrue.com/top/1

It makes me happy

There are many very true ‘memes’ in this, but also most of the gif’s are really funny and very applicable to my life.

well, more like patterns but still…Who else sees Rosie the...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:39:40 -0400

well, more like patterns but still…
Who else sees Rosie the Riveter in this?

pimpinhoes65: Hey Google Ah yes…i’ve found myself...

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:24:00 -0400

pimpinhoes65:

Hey Google

Ah yes…i’ve found myself directed to random things many times. Protip: don’t just type in ‘v’ apparently the only thing you could possibly be interested in there is Victoria Secret

My Word

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:12:00 -0400

So, my very first extremely pretentious post…after this it won’t be as much. I’ll bet a certain someone(s?) is just going to tell me how un-opinionated I sound, and that I’m more a Spock than another certain someone. Huh, this is rather circular logic, but I digress.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand: College Acceptances. I got into Yale, Caltech, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, UPenn, USC, and UW. I was very surprised. I never in a million years expected to get in to all of these schools. But, I was also waitlisted at Harvard. The plus side of this, is that I can say I wasn’t rejected anywhere, but also it actually makes my decision harder.

Unfortunately, i’m incredibly indecisive. So, while I visit these schools, I’ll post my thoughts regarding their campuses. (Mainly this post is just to set the premise for more of my posts to come)

I already visited Yale during their YES-Weekend. It was pretty awesome, because I wandered around New Haven past midnight, and swung on the swings in the Saybrook(?) courtyard. They also gave me a cake for my birthday. It was a very very very good cake (carrot cake I believe, from this awesome vegan bakery), but it had some fruits in it. I am strangely allergic to some fruits, so I just avoided them like the plague. My twin sister got coffee cake, which I liked better, because then I didn’t have to avoid parts of the cake.