The E-pocalypse

Now it couldn't have gone unnoticed that a short week after spring break, we were in for the most famous Mines-specific holiday of the year, suitably dubbed "Engineering Days".  Nobody calls it this of course.  Every year they come up with a play on words around the shortened, and more colloquially known "E-Days" that range from pirates (Sail the 7 SEa-Days), to the twenties, to even zombies.  The theme for this year's E-Days was of course, a zombie apocalypse, what with the real apocalypse going on at the end of this year anyhow (2012).  It was soon known by all as the Epocalypse or Epocalypse-Days.

After weeks of anticipation, stocking up on cardboard, and preparing for another zombie apocalypse, E-Days was finally here, and the night kicked off with a comedy show, casino night, and ceremonial male beauty pageant known as "Mr. Big Digger".  But the real fun started on Friday.  

As part of the biggest collective group of Mines students you will ever see outside, I joined several hundred other students bright and early Friday morning to participate in the traditional Ore Cart Pull down Colfax Avenue.  With enough people in white T-shirts to stretch almost a mile down the street, people in the front holding onto the rope pulling the ore cart, a donkey wandering around, several people on unicycles, and a group of adventurous people playing follow the leader, the group proceeded down Colfax for about 7 miles until we ran into the Capitol and stopped to listen to some quick speeches before we began our feast on free Chipotle Burritos.  By the end we were all happily exhausted with our stomachs full, and lazily rode the bus back to Mines to participate in my personal favorite E-Days festivity, taking naps outside and playing the guitar.  Other events of the night included a stunning Tesla coil demonstration, an Undie Run where donating clothes gives you an excuse to run around in your underwear, and a surprisingly fun Dubstep/Techno Concert.

The next morning awoke with a must-see, the legendary cardboard-boat race down Clear Creek.  I'm telling you, the people here never run out of things to do with that Creek.  From all over, people brought their brightly painted and duct-taped work to be put to the test of floating down the river, competing for prizes ranging from best themed to best fall or crash.  Surprisingly, several boats held up fairly well, and were able to make it down the river 3 and sometimes even 4 times before becoming too waterlogged to stay rigid.  I was so excited by it that me and a friend are convinced that we're making a boat and entering the contest next year.  

Next was the carnival, the home of the catapult competition, mining competition, and very long lines for free food, but free food nonetheless.  I find it very rewarding to give up some time and volunteer at events like these.  I ended up being the balloon-blower for a kid's (as well as grown-up's) carnival booth, and it was one of the funnest parts of my day.  As a contradiction to the usual reputation that E-Days is known for (lots of beer), I ended the last night going to a root-beer keger and a fun late night of playing Super Smash Brothers.  Sunday the campus was quiet, it was evident that many were hungover or just plain exhausted from the weekend.  Our Mines brains snapped back on and we tried to get as much homework done as we could, but our efforts usually ended up being futile.  That was okay though, because it was the weekend, and it was nice outside, and who really does homework on E-Days anyway?  Little did we know what was to come.  Should have listened to my classmate and read her hand-drawn sign that was displayed on the ore cart pull, "REPENT FOR THE END IS NIGH, FINALS ARE COMING" (to be continued...)

Adventures in Low Places

During this fine stretch of spring at Mines, in between all of the physics homework, epics sketching, and unexpected NHV essays, I ran into a group of people called Intervarsity.  They welcomed me with open arms, and starting from scratch, I began to attend more and more of their meetings, bible studies, and events.  One fabulous event put on by not only Intervarsity, but all of the youth groups around campus every February is called Soiree.  You'll have to find an insider, or someone who speaks french, to find out how to pronounce it.  Inviting every girl on campus, all the guys get together and organize this huge, fancy, and hilarious dinner/comedy show/dance night that is definitely a must-see.  And as a perk, the whole event is put on through the goodness of their hearts, at no cost to the ladies.  It was spectacular to say the least, it literally felt like we were at Broadway.

At Broadway, Soriee 2012

Now I couldn't talk about spring this year without mentioning our extreme plans for Spring Break!  A couple months back, me and a friend ended up going to an info session about a trip to Costa Rica planned for spring break.  I didn't really think I would go at first, but after some mutual coercion and longing for culture, my mind soon changed.  Led by two guides through the Outdoor Recreation Center, I was part of a group of 12 students that ventured to the lands of Costa Rica during our break from school.  I'm still quivering with excitement from the trip (and recovering from getting sick afterwards), which ended almost two weeks ago.  Jumbled together with a group of random people that somehow went to Mines too, we were quickly introduced to the culture of Costa Rica after finding our way around multiple towns, ordering food, and just living daily life in a different way.  The trip was emphasized as a down-to-Earth backpacker-style travel experience with a focus on interacting with locals to get as valuable and relevant a learning experience as possible.  We carried everything we needed for the trip on our backs and moved from hostel to hostel through Turrialba, to a town on the coast called Puerto Viejo, and finally San Jose.  Included as part of the fee for the trip, we participated in a canyoneering experience where we zip-lined through trees and repelled down waterfalls.  We also spent two days rafting on the river Pacuare and had the opportunity to visit a local indigenous village.  By the end of the trip, we were inseparable, and had shared so many fears, moments, and snacks that we just didn't care about boundaries any more.  It was quite inspiring for me, after having worked as a girl scout camp counselor, to see a group that had challenged itself so much and grown so much in such a short amount of time. 

 

After getting up every day to do something new and running around with heavy backpacks on all week through the extreme humitidy, we were thoroughly exhausted once the time came to return to the States.  When we got back, we couldn't stop saying "Ola" and "Gracias" to people for weeks!  As an afterthought, I just have to say that I have never experienced an entire bag of stuff getting so smelly that I had to wash everything to get the smell out (for some of my clothes, twice).  All in all, an epic trip with an epic group of people, to a beautiful and inspiring country.  I really hope I can give something in return to Costa Rica someday.  Although the cost may be great, great as in practically a whole semester's work study earnings, travel truly opens the mind in ways that just book learning can't.

Speaking of which, I've got some bookwork to do.  Until next time, Pura Vida!

A Truly Epic Friday

Things are starting to come together, while at the same time, piling up like crazy.  As an attempt to make my 8 AM physics-studio-mornings a little less stressful, I started getting up and going to yoga at 6:15.  It was perfect for studio in the morning because I was totally awake by the time 8:00 rolled around, it calmed me down to focus and face the ensuing physics problems, and it got me to the CTLM Building just in time to miss the line at Einstein's and be able to eat a delicious bagel for breakfast!  The idea would have been perfect, except for the fact that when the work piled up, I simply could not get myself to bed at an adequate time to wake up that early.  I blame our writing class (NHV) (and also multiple applications that needed to be done: applying to be a Resident Assistant (RA), the McBride Honors Program, etc).

I feel like I'm learning a lot about what a real engineer does at his/or her day-to-day job with all this talk about engineering ethics in NHV and writing of clarification memos and letters of understanding in our engineering design class (EPICS).  Although being required to print out and have read 10-15 page papers every Tuesday and Thursday proves to be considerably more difficult when your printer decides to break on you and you end up running to the library to print them off for $1.50 apiece, I do enjoy the break from math and science, however small it is.

But enough talk about all this ethics and EPICS... the really epic thing that happened this winter so far was the outrageous, unexpected, and much needed snow day!  There I was on Thursday night, panicking about Friday's Club Fair which I hadn't planned for at all, trying to figure out how to work my work-study job from 8:00 AM to 11:00 while at the same time setting up my booth, and stressing about the upcoming RA group interviews, when I finally wrenched myself from the computer and gave in to sleep.  I awoke to a confused self answering my cell phone at 5 in the morning and listened to an automated message that I didn't fully understand.  I checked my email a couple hours later and the truth was made clear.  SNOW DAY!

Mines was officially declared a winter wonderland, and without a care in the world, everyone frolicked like penguins to the sledding hill.  From all over campus, people brought their laundry baskets, sleds, tubes, cardboard boxes, snowboards and skis and let gravity do the rest of the work.  I don't remember a day comparable to this day where every person I ran into was just so utterly happy.  Sledding was followed by finishing the entire 2nd Lord of the Rings extended movie, ruthless snowball fights, and a girl's night complete with truth or dare and a finale of Pride and Prejudice.

Another notable event this winter was the 3rd largest (ever) Spring Career Day which also happened to be on Valentine's day (formerly known at Mines as Irish Potato Famine Celebration Day).  One thing to look out for before each Career Day at Mines is free root beer floats!  The Career Center makes an effort to hand these out at random places around campus along with each Career Day's Manual for the entire week before the career fair.  Because I work at the Career Center, I had the pleasure of handing some out, as well as stuffing some 600 bags of Smarties and Nerds (get it, smarties and nerds?) to give to all of the employers that were on their way here to seek out their treasured Mines students.  Whether you're a freshman looking for a summer internship (these do in fact exist!), a grad student looking for a career, or a cheap college student looking for some free "schwag", Career Day is the place to be on Valentine's Day.  I'm pretty sure I just ate chocolate for lunch that day so I could go to Career Day during my lunch break.  Some great finds this year were: a loaf of bread, a kite, an egg full of silly putty, and a set of recycled/compostable pens and pencils.

Happy Valentine's Day/Career Day/ Irish Potato Famine Celebration Day! (duct tape roses made by yours truly)

A Break from Calculus (and How I Developed an Emotioal Reaction to a Certain Shade of Red)

The Light Bright I took back to the college, a great de-stresser

The break was sweet, and so was the chocolate.  The time spent with my relatives in Salt Lake was invaluable, as I hadn't been able to spend Christmas with them in about 2 years (the year before, I was in Brazil...long story).  My traditionally Norwegian family took me "skiing" (I was snowboarding) a fair amount of times using their pre-bought lift tickets.  This was a blessing for me as a poor college student, despite the unfortunate lack of snow in Utah.  While visiting family, I got to play like a little kid again with my little cousins, scribbling down songs on little books we made, building Lego hotels, and feeding imaginary pandas.  After feeling nostalgic over the old Light Bright (above), I had a sudden urge to take it back to college with me and put it in my dorm room.  Another thing I ended up taking back to my room full of sleds and instruments was an unused hammock, one thing I definitely recommend to anyone in the dorms with lofted beds!

In Front of the Sherpa House Restaurant on Washington

Soon it was time to come back home (Colorado), and I was quite excited, concerning the numerous winter storm warnings for Golden that had been sent to my Mines email over the break.  Much to my delight, we arrived in Golden a day early, right in time to see a fresh new layer of snow blanketing the town, and spent the day hiking around Golden and visiting local restaurants (there is no lack of restaurants in Golden).  Lunch at the Sherpa House was especially enjoyable, complete with a buffet of traditional Nepalese dishes, chai tea, and snowed-on prayer flags outside.

Before I knew it, it was time for classes again, and I was running off to my first physics class, blissfully unaware of what I was getting myself into.  As of right now, having been to class 3 times, I can say that this class has by far the most stressful, intensive, and vexing material I have ever had the pleasure of being graded on.  I guess that's why Mines has the reputation of having the second hardest physics program in the nation.  As a slight disclaimer, this is coming from someone who had no prior physics experience (in English).  I'll admit it, it's not true that I'd never touched the subject before, I was part of a high school physics class for a semester in Brazil.  I chose to have that experience over choosing to go to high school as usual for another semester and maybe getting a chance to take physics at the small community college in my already small town (physics was not offered at the time in my high school).  And it's also not true that I don't have a profound interest in the subject.  But when it comes down to it, I can hardly believe the amount of mistakes a person can make on one problem.

 The real trial in this class is the online homework; your hard-earned numbers are met with either a green box of joy, or a reddish-gray box of disapproval telling you that your numbers are simply "Incorrect.".  Now I understand why many Mines students have an inherent emotional reaction to that certain shade of red.  Without help and support from friends, I don't know what I would have done.  If one thing is for sure in this class, collaboration is a must.  And if you ever find yourself having emotional reactions to red boxes, I strongly encourage you to take a deep breath, seek others who are probably going through the same feelings that you are, and give yourself a second chance.  After all, you have 15 tries, and at least with myself, it's not that I don't understand the material, it's usually that I forgot how to integrate, wrote things down wrong, left my calculator in radians, or simply need someone to tell me that the answer is in km/h and not m/s.

Although physics can be aggravating at times, in a strange way, I kind of enjoy it.  It's like looking through all the clues to find the answer to a murder mystery.  Anyhow, here's to being done with the first full week of classes!

Christmas Wars and Taking OWLS at Hogwarts

As I was riding back home on the train from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I reminisced about all the unbelievable things I had seen and done during my first semester as a wizard.  From nearly losing an ear to an accidental explosion in potions class, to learning how to ride a broom, and seeing a hippogriff, the semester had been nothing less than eventful.  Living in the Gryffindor dormitory, I had made loads of friends and acquaintances after many sleepless nights of practicing spells and working out ancient runes.  Already, I had forged a strong friendship with some that I know will serve as a more powerful weapon against the dark arts than any magic.  The last couple weeks of OWLS had been draining, but at the same time we managed to squeeze in some time to go out and enjoy some butterbeer.  Nonetheless, it was neat to see our class progressing together through all the hurdles of studying as a wizard at Hogwarts.

Now, I wasn't really at Hogwarts, but I sincerely felt like it when I was riding home on the Amtrak, through all the snowy mountains to my desert home in Utah.  Why couldn't it have been?

Girl's floor gift exchange

As I was riding back home on the Amtrak from Mines, I was reminded of all the crazy things I had seen and done in such a short time.  I felt like I had learned more in 6 months than I probably did for a whole year in high school; my brain felt stuffed.  From igniting experimental rockets in Chemistry, to pranking the guys' floors, and seeing a Hippo (Denver Zoo), the semester was one I'll never forget.  Living in the Traditional Halls, I had made tons of friends after many sleepless nights of writing lab reports, doing online biology homework, and stuffing inconceivable numbers of people in a single room to watch movies.  Even in this short time, I know I have discovered friendships that are a more powerful weapon against zombies than any Nerf gun.  The last couple weeks of finals had been grueling, but at the same time we were able to squeeze in some necessary down time to go out, play in the snow, and enjoy some legendary pizza at Woody's.  At the very least, it was rewarding to see our class progressing through all the hard times and red boxes of studying as an engineer at Mines together.

Just recently, the floors of Bradford Hall in the Traditionals (Gryffindor, obviously) were engaged in an intense Christmas decoration war, resulting in a night of shirtless guys wrapping their entire wall in wrapping paper and stewing up more crazy ideas for their plot to beat the girls.  The second floor's decorations were complete with lights strung up and down the entire hallway, a cardboard Christmas tree, and even lights in the windows spelling out "PEACE", a sight seen all the way from Sorority Hill.

The guys' Christmas Wars decorations, complete with broken sleds after some late-night sledding

Now a summary of this last month wouldn't be complete without a brief description of Finals and Dead Week.  It was something I had been dreading since August, and it definitely involved more time spent just sitting down and studying than I had previously experienced.  However, with the support and help from some good friends, a lot of the weight of Finals seemed to be lifted off my shoulders.  And contrary to popular belief, I find it hard to say that Dead Week is actually "dead".  Classes still go on, and there are still people out and about making snowmen, putting up Christmas decorations, and doing other such things.  There are also great Pre-Finals Workshops, tutoring sessions, and study areas specially available for the students this week, showing that there is quite a bit of help and guidance if you only go out and ask for it.  Me personally, I found it was most effective to get together with a friend or two, leave the dorms (due to enforced 24/7 quiet hours making the dorms alarmingly quiet), and go to a separate building, in our case Brown Building so we could listen to people playing the piano, and as down-to-earth as it sounds, spend some quality time with the books, former exams, and our notes.  Friends don't let friends fail.  At least not at Mines they don't:)

Anyhow, It's been a wonderful semester, and I can't wait to come back for the next!  That is, after a much-needed break to catch up with family (and on sleep).  See you next semester!

How Zombies Taught Me How to Study

It was on.

After a relaxing fall break, everyone started preparing their arsenals of Nerf guns, marshmallow shooters, balled up socks, and dance moves for the upcoming zombie apocalypse.  Some of my friends had literally been stocking up on supplies, modding Nerf guns, and even practicing missions for weeks.  It's a good thing they knew their stuff, for I probably wouldn't have survived to tell this tale without their aid and superior zombie-fighting expertize.

It all started that Monday; the infection had been detected in three unlucky souls at midnight, whom for the first morning were free to roam through the humans undetected and infect as many other humans as they could in a struggle to satisfy their undying hunger for human brains.  In other words, everyone playing started as a "human" wearing the orange bandana on their left arm, and 3 people were selected to be the original zombies.  These three could then touch any human to "infect" them and thus, turn them into zombies, now wearing the orange bandana around their forehead.  See the official rules and stats here: http://inside.mines.edu/~mmazzocc/rules).  I heard horror stories from that first morning physics class.

That week, I proceeded to learn quite a bit about myself, my study habits, and my ability to cope in high stress environments.  Here are some tips I came up with for surviving a zombie apocalypse (as well as for staying organized and doing well on your next exam):

•  Lesson #1: carry everything you need with you for the day on your back.  This means nerf gun, marshmallows, marshmallow blow gun, foam sword, extra socks, the works, as well as other things like homework and books (there is an art to this however, because carrying too much means being weighed down and not as agile at escaping).  The Monday of the infection after a sneaky lunch at Einstein's, I found myself stuck in the next building I had a class in.  Thinking it was not worth the risk or effort to go back to my room in the short time between classes, I resorted to pulling out my Calc book and studying.  I may have to thank the zombies for my score on that next Calculus test with all the extra studying I got done that week.  

• Lesson #2: know your surroundings, and never underestimate the tenacity of the zombies.  Later that evening after studying in another building for several hours, three of us were ambushed by a group of zombies as late as 9:00pm!  Many bad situations like this are avoideded by simply checking behind your back and around corners, so do it constantly!

• Lesson #3: plan ahead and always give yourself extra time.  As a human, I began changing my habits; I left for classes at least 15 or even 30 minutes early to avoid the hourly rush of students, and every night I sat down and made a game plan for the next day, including each class, meeting, and every place I had to go to for the whole day so I would know what I needed to carry with me and when I needed to think of a creative escape route.  After a close call, I also decided to make a point to start doing online homework the night before the night it's due.  The same night as the first ambush, I had online economics homework due at midnight.  After all the time it took for us to call in reinforcements and make our way back to the dorms, I was very close to missing the deadline.  I thought I had it bad on normal nights trying to get it done in time. 

• Lesson #4: check out the other cool places to eat and study on campus.  If one thing's for sure, nobody ever survived a zombie apocalypse by eating at the same old cafeteria for every meal.  After the experience of being a human running from zombies for a week, I happened upon multiple places to eat, play the piano, hang out, and study inside buildings and in places I never knew existed.  Take advantage of the awesome place you're going to college at!

• Lesson #5: strength is in numbers, and communication is key.  As it was understood that the chances of survival were much greater with someone to walk with you and watch your back, fellow humans instantly became friends, which served as a great way to meet people.  I also learned that when traveling with a larger group of humans, basic commands and formations were essential when facing large hoards of zombies.  Make sure there is clear communication throughout your group of humans.

• Lesson #6: don't go out and play in the snow when you've been temporarily locked out of your room and all you have is a bag of marshmallows as a weapon.  I am the only known survivor of this folly...

• Lesson #7: never lose hope! you never know when you'll find an antidote out there.  And even if you do become a zombie, have fun with it!  Many people actually prefer the zombie side of the game; however, I'm one of those who would much rather fight.

By Saturday, a helicopter had located the last of us, fending off a massive hoard of zombies heroically in our Halloween costumes, and was able to rescue a whopping 17 out of the 250-some that began the game as a human.

After everyone was done throwing snowballs, our floor proceeded to celebrate Halloween by carving pumpkins, reverse trick-or-treating (coming to other people's doors at the dorm, making them say "trick-or-treat", and then giving them candy), and attending a surprisingly really fun Halloween dance/party night put on by the Residence Hall Association.  I had much more fun dancing with friends than I think I ever could have if I payed a lot of money to go to some crazy concert in Denver.  Just goes to show that you really don't need to spend a lot of money to have fun as a college student.

Needless to say, it was the coolest Halloween ever. :)

Prom Dress Rugby Pics!

Love: the sexiest rugby team in the universe <3

FORCE X DISTANCE, WORK WORK WORK!