Strange Night

Alright, last night was quite strange. At around 10 o clock two of my friends went out for a night on the town last night, I believe that they went to a party. At around 1 o clock they both came back to the dorm (miraculously they made it back to the dorm, up the elevator, and even to the bathroom), to throw up in the bathroom. My friend, it was his first experience seeing people actually drunk to the point of throwing up. He got one of the Frat boys on the floor to come and see what was up, because one of them was actually throwing up on himself and the floor to the bathroom stalls. I was standing in the distance, and my friend began to panic because he though they were both poisoned. Another guy (who gave up drinking for now two months) came out and checked the scene out, he wanted to use the restroom but of course, with two of the stalls blocked, it would feel strange using the restroom with someone on the floor.

So for a while one of the guys was throwing up and then going in and out of a daze. I believe he fell asleep for a bit. We meanwhile focused out efforts on the friend who was more respondent and cognitive of what was actually happening. We helped him get up from the floor and guided him to his room and set him in a chair. We gave him a trashcan and what not. He was alright for he fell asleep a bit afterwards on the bed. This morning he remembers a large part of what happened.

So now for the other friend who was on the floor. We left him there for about 30 minutes, and then we began efforts to move him to his room. Two other people came back soon thereafter from a party that I had been invited too. They were both fairly conscious and one was a bit on the keen edge cause he started to yell at us for leaving him on the floor, there was a bit of a disagreement there but it all worked well cause they waited until he became a bit more conscious. Unfortunately the friend wasnt able to stand, so two of the other people began efforts to make him stand and guide, or perhaps carry him to the room. It took a while but we made it. I cleared all his art stuff out of his room and they plopped him on the bed. I believe they even put him under the covers or something.

Next we began efforts to clean the restroom because of the fact, we would all get in trouble for having the bathroom with stuff on the floor, and not only that both people have the smell of alcohol on them so that would further bring trouble since drinking isnt allowed in the building. So we teamed up and cleaned. Of course more people came back who were under the influence, they fell out on the floors of their friends rooms as soon as they made it back to the building.

So all in all it was quite a strange night, for it kept me up until 3:30 in the morning several hours pass my Midnight bedtime! But it was all good, I just hope they dont think of going out to drink anymore anytime soon, for it is a real inconvenience's for everyone, for we couldn't even use the restroom for hours.

April Updates

April opened up with perhaps some of the most amazing news.

I am actually going to be in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Scholars Program. the programs is an excellent program that promises to teach the selected students who range from freshmen to seniors wonderful things about research. Depending on their experience, they can gain anywhere from a basic understanding and first hand view of how real research is carried out to the point in which they are really working on the project as if it were their own. The program awards the students in it a $3000 stipend, opportunities to attend several seminars, attendance at a conference, and lastly the ability to stay on campus without paying anything at all. The program is held at Virginia Commonwealth University and the students get to work with VCU professors as being the people who they are mentoring under. Furthermore, research projects range from environmental science to hardcore in depth molecular oncology.

So as you all are now informed, I will be in this program for my summer. So I get at most two weeks home from the year for a summer break and then I come back here for the majority of the middle of summer, and then I go back home for about two more weeks before reporting back to VCU. Quite an interesting plan for the summer break.

In other news, classes are continuing to go full steam ahead. I have to continue to work on several of them to bring my borderline grades back up to the A level. I hope to that within the next few weeks as classes now come to a close. And finally, Cell Biology is becoming more and more of a worthy challenge. It is quite easy once the material is memorized but understanding it is a bit hard. I have so far managed to get an 85 on both tests in it and that is with studying for about 24 hours for each test. One more test to go.

Weekend

• Went to Aletheia Harrisonburg, it was a great and rockin service for Easter (Resurrection Sunday)
• Got about an inch of snow on Friday night in Richmond, major snow of the year

Holla!

It is so fun being able to come back to this blog and write.

Anyway and moving on. Yesterday was so exciting for I got to spend a majority of the day with Phylicia a good best friend. We had so much fun going to Churchland High School and then to the Red Lobster for lunch. It was quite entertaining and I didnt quite expect to eat all this food.I had ordered French Fries, Grilled Steak, Garlic Shrimp Scampi, and Grilled Salmon while she ordered Grilled Chicken and Rice Pilaf. We got the Ceasar Salad and the famous Biscuits. For drinks I had Raspeberry Limonade and she had a Strawberry Smoothie. The meal was quite great and we had some interesting conversation. Hopefully the next time I come home for Spring Break we can meet up again.

That night I spent it watching American Idol (as I did tonight as well). I managed to help a friend with his Chemistry homework as well. Chemistry is really starting to bite me in the back as it requires so much time and dedication. But I guess, as everyone says, that it will pay off in the end. I just have to continue to progress versus always giving up and settling for less (my previous homeworks assignments have been close to 60-80% versus last times 98%). I need to get 100% like a large majority of the class versus giving up and calling it quits when I dont get it. More of the Chemistry homework opened up on tonight so I will probably try to start the parts that I know how to do on tomorrow. Tomorrow I also have to start reading the chapters for the Cell Biology quiz that comes up next week. I had to print out 25 pages for a chapter today because we are getting notes from another textbook while at the same time reading a part of the chapter for another part (confusing I know). But this is Cell Biology and I do find all this studying for it, enjoyable and relaxing.

One more on the assignments business side is that I also managed to finally go through and read all four chapters that we have covered and are going to cover in the next week. It took some time but I did it and I even wrote the vocabulary words down so that I do know what he is talking about when I go into that Introduction to Geography class. There is one more assignment that I may or may not do and that is the Chemistry lab one. The thing that is annoying about that class is that the assignments never at first make sense. The math is usually so involving yet simple that at first glance you think that you misunderstood until you put your pen to the paper and really look over it. Of course I have to look over it again and again and this will be on Sunday night and then I will get all tired and annoyed. Luckily there is Monday night that comes before Tuesday so then I have that night to do it as well.

Currently I have little to no plans for the rest of the week as of yet. Just more studying and to read the chapters since I put them off so much. Tomorrow I am going to probably ship the broken Nintendo DS Lite off to Nintendo so then that can get fixed for no charge. Lord willing, I should have it back in less than two weeks and then I will be able to enjoy my Meteos puzzle game and Diddy Kong Racing game again.

Home At Last

Well I ended up finishing packing to go home on Friday night. I was going to go back home on Friday but I decided to stay at school for a little bit longer. I managed to get a test done on Friday day after I came back from doing a tour. Further beyond that I was bored out of my mind because around three o clock everyone left the floor. I stayed with a few people until they left at seven. From then on out I was basically the last person on the floor. Some people trickled back in later that night and that was a bit dandy. Beyond that I saw a few of them return in the morning for the later hours. We all mainly left out at about 11-12 because that was the latest we could stay for the next day.

All in all I managed to get several things done while I was there, including packing my stuff. I did do a bit more than that such as completing the test. When I got home I did managed to force myself to do some of the Chemistry Lon-Capa assignment which was and seemed like a piece of cake with a small tutorial video incorporated into it.

This morning started off with me at church. It was quite enjoyable and I really was excited to see all of the members of the church once again. It was a great experience.

Time Goes On

Time continues to move at an accelerated pace. At one moment the clock said 10 the next moment it almost approached the wee hour of Midnight. Sure I should have expected it, but I guess time does go faster when we study. I managed to get a bit of stuff accomplished as usual. More studying was done for two test tomorrow. I hope to do well on the Lab one at 8 in the morning, lets just pray I make it to class on time. The next is a quiz in Cell Biology. I studied more heavily for this one since it is more interesting than a few chemical reactions. Why do we need to be tested in lab, it serves no point. Now if they did lab safety and procedures than I could understand but about the chemical equations themselves, dont those have to be given to us?

Well tomorrow I am going to go to the first of my Honors Seminars, let just hope that I get credit for it or am at least able to even remember to go to it. After that is a meeting to be one of the Student Orientation people over the summer. I might decided to do that as well, however I dont know how I am going to be able to do it since I live quite some distance away. Hm, now that I think about it, I really cant because I wouldnt have anywhere to stay. Maybe I will consider it the year after. I think that I am going to do that, plus it gives me back a few hours in the evening, no doubt for more work and studying or even to relax. I could even wash clothes. This is good planning to seize the next day already. I am too excited for this.

Well I guess I will go now and think of something I am starting to get tired already.

Life Goes On

Life continues to move on at a strange pace. There just seems to be loads of time in one day, but the time is always filled with stuff to do. We have to study, take care of business, and go through loads of discussions with people all to no avail with one thing accomplished. Then we wake up the next day with tons more work to do. The cycle just goes on and on. There just never seems to be any end to it all. There is no end all.

But anyway though we live in this cycle new things seem to pop up that always diverts our attention away from these things. I guess because we go through this endless cycle anything that disrupts it seems to be interesting and attention grabbing. We will go ahead and do it and risk the consequence of having to do what was planned at a later date or even not at all. Anything, and I mean anything, that diverts our attention.

I have sadly fallen victim to this cycle and am currently struggling to regain my place in it. Really though, I just have one assignment to do but I keep delaying it until the deadline on the 11th, which I need to go ahead and take care of. Other than that my other work gets done at a steady pace.

My goal for this semester is simple, I just want to get an A in all of my science classes. That looks fairly positive as long as I can raise my Chemistry grade to above C status on the next few tests, manage to maintain my High B in Cell Biology as well as figure out someway to get through Chemistry Lab. Luckily we have one test this week so we get to see how they play out in there. My Calculus class is coming along well. I have managed to get an A in there and am working towards keeping it so long as I continue to do the homework at a reasonable pace.

In other grounds, I am steadily limiting my participation in student activities to only a few. I need all the time I can get at night. I am really only going to keep the ones in which I have nice friendly relationships with the people (ideally Student Ambassadors, Alumni Ambassadors, APB Cinemas, and Aletheia). One of my favorites this semester has been Aletheia. It is really interesting in there for we get to share the Word of God to others and we get to hang out on weekends and at their house for nice food and fellowship. I love being around them.

Well that is all that has been happening. Later days and I hope to write more often.

The New Week

The new week say the onset of the results of a fruitful period of studying. After going through and looking over my notes on the weekend, I went to one of my professors offices on today and sought her help on Replication and the Packaging levels of Chromosomes. I managed to get to see just how nice and kind she is, and it really helped for now I understand it a little bit better. I was able to at least show some knowledge, because I had studied I understood exactly what she was talking about. She is slowly becoming one of my favorite professors/instructors. It is kind of amazing.

Chemistry I worked on a lot today. I worked on it since I came back to the dorm and until about 10 at night. The LonCapa problems (online homework) is so annoying. At times it seems to not even have anything to do with what we are doing in class (answers and helpwise). This section I got two questions wrong, as I didnt understand what they were asking for while I got the other main problems right. Someday I hope to get a one hundred on an assignment.

Life continues to move along at a formidable pace. Everything still goes by as if there is an endless cycle of things to look for. Of course there are many things to acquire, but I am trying to figure out does this education in school really matter. Why cant we have a system in which doing this stuff was more interesting that that which we are doing now? There is always this issue resounding in our minds.

Recent Happenings: Class Review

Lots of new things have been happening since the beginning of the month. Amazingly nothing has been too profound or difficult during this semester. Although some things have become and turned out to be quite difficult, I have managed to be able to handle it. The most difficult work has happened in my Cell Biology class and my Introduction to Human Geography class. Cell Biology is a tad bit difficult because we have to remember some of the most meticulous stuff to such a comprehensive degree that it demands that we study and go over it daily. There are study sessions for the class, but because of laziness, a lack of initiative and incentive (0.5 points on the test is sadly not that much of an incentive), but there isnt anything to go to them for. I have began to implement a plan to be able to go over this material daily for hours so that I can manage to handle the work and material. I do hope that I can get it all under control so then I can pass the test admirably. Introduction to human geography is mainly hard because of the fact that we have to memorize these tiny places all over the world and be able to remember their capitals and then their tidbits of knowledge. I may complain about it, but it really isnt that bad. If I remember it is only a tiny portion of the grade that doesnt really compute to anything that tragic. Especially considering all the other things that the class entails.

In my other classes we have done some phenomenal things. Today was the first time that I got up in front of the lecture class to work out a problem. Sadly to say I confused myself and didnt even manage to get past the first step because of the confusing way that people did their work. But nonetheless, it did pass the time and when the teacher worked it out I understood everything completely. So it was a win-win event. One of the major things that has happened in the class recently is that there have been several rising of talking and email sending about it. It was so bad at one point that the instructor had to get the teaching assistants to stand up and monitor the class at one point. We [the class] managed to calm down on that day and she hasnt had to do it again. When the student sent the email out, I responded back to it, urging her to tell the instructor, and I guess that she did.

For general reporting purposes we have done two labs in Chemistry lab. We have done the Acid Rain lab in which we produce Sulfuric, Nitric, and Sulfuric Acid and immerse those (along with Hydrochloric Acid) in water to produce Acid Rain. This week we have also done an experiment in which we have to discover the limiting reagent in the experiment with some green substance and other substance that makes it turn from green to purple. It is quite amazing really, I wish I had my camera in class. I need to start bringing it no doubt.

Outside of the class front, I continue to pursue exploring various campus groups. I have taken a sort of backseat role in some while increasing my participation in others. For example, I am now nearly at all of the Aletheia events with these awesome people who are all about loving people and bringing about God's Holy Word. They are quite nice and seem to be living like the bible says. As I have said I have been inspired many times by them. Well it is getting quite late and I have more homework to do, so until next time.

Snow Day

No we did not get out of school today. Rather we had a short lived snow event. It was enough snow to get into the mouths and to stick on the sidewalks but I believe that there wasnt enough moisture to make it last long. Oh well, we did get a wish, a chance to see some real snow. However, but now during this break time we could see ice, freezing rain, and sleet which is horrible but lovely.


The past days have been spent emerged in homework and the reading of dull textbooks. They have some interesting spots but mostly, no doubt, they are dull. One of the highlights was doing a lab experiment today in which we were able to make the gases that are in acid rain. We even made acid water as well for Chemistry Lab.

Back on Track

VCU is finally back in session and we are ready to take names and kick some tails! Well things have been going on alright for now. Mainly I have been spending more time in the dorm room and getting to know more of the people on the hall. I think so far that about each weekend I have spent with at least a few people constantly and stayed up late talking to people. They are so interesting that I put off my tiredness just to talk. I dont know, I guess that there is some sort of hidden feeling in peoples minds that they just dont want things to end. But alas we all have to meet that thought.

Apart from taking and focusing on my classes diligently, I have also began to spend a bit more time on the bible and looking and studying it. There are strange stories in there that always have messages that pertain to the world at hand. Not only that but many of its claims are true and it seems to provide us with the only hope for a neat future and a fulfilling life. I wont get into details though.

I will make every effort to come back and post just dont think that it will be as often as it was last semester. I am out of class in the afternoon, which for me, is the laziest time of the day, as I will just sit in the room and stare at a screen constantly or lay down. The evening is when I am most productive, but strangely I havent been able to focus that much as there seems to be no point in studying if the test is in 20 days. But yeah, I am out.

The Year in Review

The Year in Review

I do not know how long this will turn out to be so I will definitely partition it into several parts. 2006 was quite the year for nearly me and everyone else I know. Perhaps the two most important events in our lives was graduating from high school and then the matriculation into college. These were two of the greatest events of the year. However, notwithstanding or overlooking the other things, there were other major things to have happened to me this year. Perhaps it was more of a transformation into an even better person or perhaps the realization that the small things in life really matter, versus trying to attempt to begin a changing of the world. No matter what it was though, I cant pinpoint it right now, truly great and marvelous things did happen. I will probably go into much detail perhaps but that doesn’t matter, it is good to be able to remember some of the good things that have happened to us and me in particular.

Winter 05-Winter 06

While in high school during this time we experienced many things. Perhaps the most important to me was the opportunity to finally finish sending out all of the applications to my colleges. Applications were sent to Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Notre Dame, Temple University, Winthrop University, Florida Institute of Technology, Norfolk State University, Jefferson Scholars at University of Virginia, and I believe that is all. I also sent many applications for scholarships from various donors. Apart from the college scene, I also continued to actively participate at school in several capacities for volunteering efforts and extracurricular efforts. School was fairly great, though Calculus began to become more and more of a chore. Once I got to Physics, I decided that that part of science wasn’t for me. I struggled to maintain an A.