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!