Sunday, February 22, 2004
Crossing the Equator, Part II
This story is a continuation of the previous post.
So then it was my turn. After I was blindfolded, I was led down the hallway, through the Baltic Room to the open door to the back deck where I was told to kneel down.
Of course, I was blindfolded so I don't know exactly what happened next. I heard the sound of an egg breaking near my head. Something salty was squirted in my mouth. I'm pretty sure other things were put on my head, too. Then, I was told to crawl forward and I did through a chute whose bottom was covered with something (which I later saw was more food).
After that, my blindfold was taken off and I was presented with the sight of one of those large plastic garbage cans that was filled with a tan looking liquid. A large ladder was half in the bucket. The girl before me was in the garbage can and being told to put her head under the surface. After she got out, I went into the can, went all the way into the liquid, and got out. Two people were standing on the deck above with a large hose running water onto the deck we were on. So I went and washed myself off somewhat before watching people after me in line emerge through the Baltic Room doors one by one and go through what I had.
After the initiation while I was waiting for my roommate to finish showering, another student came by with two garbage bags filled with clothes and shoes saying he was going throw both into a washer. After my shower, I was too keyed up to go to bed (as I normally would have already by this time) and so I ended up going to lunch for the first time since the first day on the ship.
And that is my pollywog to shellback story.
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Crossing the Equator, Part I
One interesting experience we had while crossing the Pacific Ocean had to do with our crossing the Equator.
It all started the night before we crossed the Equator. I had adopted my night shift by then so I first saw the note just after I had woken up and gone down to the computer lab to check my email. Joann had written on the whiteboard something to the effect of "All pollywogs must wear their clothes inside out to class tomorrow (And if you don't know what a pollywog is then you definitely are one)". Now, at that point I had absolutely no idea what that message meant.
A little bit later, I had walked upstairs to the lounge since a group of us were watching the first season of Queer as Folk on DVD and after talking to the other students, I realized that the message I had seen was related to crossing the Equator... One student said we were supposed to wear our underwear on the outside. At this point, I also heard initiation type stories about crossing the Equator and more specifically of someone licking peanut butter off of a hairy guy's stomach.
The next morning we had class as usual and then after class, we were told to go down to the dry lab and form a line if we had followed instructions to wear our clothes inside out. Those who hadn't were told to change clothes and join the end of the line.
Various people other than us students joined us in line and we waited as one by one we were taken into the hallway, blindfolded, and then escorted away.
I'll continue this in my next post.
Friday, February 20, 2004
Night Owl by Nature
I am a night owl, it's true. If I have complete and total free reign over my sleep schedule and no constraints on my time, my schedule inevitably switches so that I sleep during the day.
One interesting story about this is related to the trip to New Zealand. During one of the few classes that our applied geophysics class had before going on board the Palmer, we had the concept of watch explained to us. Each of us students had to take a three hour watch and there had to be two of us on watch all the time; the watch times were also staggered so that two people didn't go off shift at the same hour. At some point, a sheet of paper was passed around the class and among other things we had to indicate whether we would prefer a day or night watch. I was sitting in the middle of the classroom so I think about half of the class had already filled out the sheet. Everyone had said they preferred a day watch (except for one who wrote day/night). I wrote in that I would prefer a night watch since I knew that I am a night owl.
As it would turn out, I was the only one who actually wrote that I wanted a night watch and so I got the 03:00 - 06:00 watch which I didn't mind at all. The grad student who I shared two hours of watch with asked me about the fact that I had requested a night watch. I told her that I chose it because it is my natural schedule. Sure, it did mean that I would be on a reverse schedule from a lot of other people, but it is the more natural schedule for me. I also remarked that I probably was the person who would be happiest with my watch time (since someone had to have it).
That being said, of course, if I'm required to revert to some other schedule for some reason, I don't have a problem with that. For example, when I went to geophysics field camp, we had to be up quite early in the morning and went to bed pretty early in the evening (but really what is there to do in the middle of nowhere at night anyway). Overall, though, I gravitate towards a night schedule.
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Living on an Icebreaker
What was life aboard the icebreaker like when we traveled from California to New Zealand?
We were on board the icebreaker, the Nathaniel B. Palmer. The icebreaker is used by the United States Antarctic Program and it was definitely an interesting and reasonably comfortable experience living on the ship.
The food on board the ship was interesting. The food during meals wasn't always the greatest. There were five meal times when hot food was served: breakfast, lunch, two dinners, and midnight rations (mid rats)... I wasn't always that fond of the meal time foods (one person in our group made fun of how there was always sausage at every meal), but I did like that the galley was open almost all the time and that I could get cereal or noodle bowls or ice cream whenever I wanted.
I spent some amount of time early on in the trip watching DVDs and videos in the 02 Lounge. There was also a huge supply of video tapes on the shelves there. We were able to borrow the video tapes whenever we wanted and watch them in our rooms (Each cabin had a TV with a VCR player in it).
There was also an exercise room on the ship with a treadmill and rowing machine and bike and weight machine and free weights. Running on the treadmill was an interesting experience considering that the ship was usually rocking slightly. When I was running on the treadmill, I felt like I was going to fall off half of the time if I wasn't holding onto it... I guess that's why I liked using the rowing machine instead.
We had a computer lab on the main deck opposite the dry lab (where we sat watch). The computer lab was where I checked my email and did other work for my classes.
The only thing I wasn't at all fond of was the laundry machines. The dryer left a huge stain which I now think is rust on a shirt that I would rather not have gotten a huge rust stain on.
Still, life was comfortable... I wouldn't mind going on another trip on the Palmer.
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
On the Decision to Go to Kent
It was early in my eighth grade year at Salem School that my parents first discussed with me the possibility of my going to a private high school. I really was not that eager to seperate myself from the friends I'd made and the people I'd known for the past eight years... I knew that if I went to East Lyme High School that I wouldn't see the people I'd known as much anymore because that high school accomodates students from both Salem School and the much larger East Lyme middle school system. If I went to East Lyme, I would be surrounded by a lot of new faces, but would still have those familiar faces around also. If I went to a private school, of course, I would have none of that.
I'm not sure how eager I was to apply to private schools, but I did. Applying to these private schools was a lot like applying to college. That fall I visited each school in turn. I would get taken on a campus tour by one of the campus tour guides. I would get interviewed by someone from admissions. I would gain an impression of the school. Then came the writing of essays and the filling out of applications and finally the waiting for acceptances.
When the letters of acceptances and rejections came back in March, I was offered admission at four schools—Choate, Hotchkiss, Kent, and Salisbury. Finally, the decision had to be made. Would I accept admission at any of these schools? Would I stay at home and go to East Lyme High School?
I had weighed the pros and cons of going away to private school and staying home and going to school. Of the private schools, I was most comfortable with Kent because of its smaller size and its sense of community. Also, I earned a considerable scholarship at that school. If I was going to a private school, I would be going to Kent. However, going to Kent would mean I would have to leave behind my home, my friends, and everything that had been my life for the past fourteen years.
Ultimately, the decision was made to go to Kent... Looking back, I think it probably was the right decision.
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Scientific Aspects of That Trip to New Zealand
Our trip on the icebreaker didn't actually have very many scientific objectives to it since we didn't have much time to do too much specific work. We needed to travel relatively quickly from California to New Zealand. The main things that we did do was a seismic line over the Osbourn trough and a swath bathymetry and gravity survey over the length of the Kermadec Trench as well as in the California Borderlands region.
We students were there because of the applied marine geophysics class that we were taking so we had various things we were required to do. These included the things we had to do explicitly for class like making a presentation and completing a project based on some aspect of the data that we collected.
Another thing that we had to do was geophysical watch and ping editing. Ping editing was basically rote work where every day each of us had to edit an hour's worth of data taken in from Simrad, a sidescan sonar device that we use to take in swath bathymetry of the ocean floor.
We students each had a three-hour watch. My watch was from 3 AM to 6 AM. Since I had hour-long classes starting at 8 AM and 9 AM, my watch time ended up dictating that I take up a night schedule. I would go to sleep after class (or sometimes after lunch) and then get up in the evening.
Watch was not exactly thrilling work. Basically, we had to sit in front of displays watching to make sure that everything was functioning properly. Every fifteen minutes, we had to record various measurements in the log such as latitude and longitude and speed and course mean good and ocean depth as well as geophysical measurements such as gravity and magnetic field strength. We also had to record in the log any problems as well as events such as entering and leaving various nations' waters.
When we got to New Zealand, the science wasn't quite over yet. I had signed on to take a class that consisted of traveling around the north part of the South Island for a couple of days. I had to prepare a short presentation for that and give it sometime during the trip. Overall, I did learn quite a bit while on the trip.
Monday, February 16, 2004
Why I Like Acting
I talked to some degree about some of my memories of acting, but I never really addressed why I enjoy acting in the first place.
I used to think before high school that I just didn't like being alone with the spotlight on me in front of other people, but I discovered from my time acting and later singing at voice recitals that that simply was not true. In truth, I found that I am less anxious just before going on stage for singing or acting than I am when appearing before others for other reasons. Sure, both come with anxiety which I think is normal when you are about to perform in front of an audience, but I know how to harness that anxiety when I on stage. I also know that after all the rehearsals, I am just too absorbed in what I was doing on stage or in what I was singing...
I remember once on opening night of Ring Round the Moon that I was standing with Monica off-stage and at the last second, I couldn't remember what in the world my first line was (and I was the one to speak first). I remember the slight panicked sensation that I felt and the anxiety of not remembering what I was about to say. What if I messed up? Yet, when I emerged on stage just seconds later, the words I was supposed to say emerged from my mouth without me consciously thinking about them...
How was it that the words came to me at that split second? I think they were there because when I emerged on stage, I remembered... the simple act of emerging on stage as had been rehearsed was enough to trigger my memory of how I was supposed to act and who I was supposed to be. That brings me to one of the things I like about acting. At heart, I actually like acting because I enjoy escaping myself and being someone else for a change. I've come to trust my ability to become someone else; the words will come to me. I'll remember what my character is thinking, saying, and doing; I'll become the character. I'm not infallible, though, but there are only two times that I have truly gaffed on stage and these were always during tech week rehearsals or at dress rehearsals... never at an actual performance.
There is at least one more reason I can think of that I like acting. I like acting because it gives me a chance to focus on something very different from academic work. I find acting is a good way to release myself from the academic pressures of my life. The intensity of being fully there on stage takes me away from my regular stresses and often allows me to tackle those stresses anew and refreshed later.
Another thing? I do love the adrenaline rush of being on stage... it's a great feeling.
Sunday, February 15, 2004
On Mathcounts
One of the first times that I made any sort of name for myself came with this math competition called Mathcounts. Back then, Mathcounts was a competition limited to seventh and eighth graders with three levels, a regional level, a state level, and a national level of competition with varying numbers of people advancing to the two higher levels.
I had shown strength in math and in working out mathematical puzzles before I became involved with Mathcounts... there were things like Math Olympiad in fifth and sixth grade that I did well at.
Mathcounts is a three part competition (excluding the Masters Round and the Countdown Round). First, there is a Sprint Round in which there are a high number of questions and not so much time to work on them. In the Target Round, the questions come in pairs and there is the same amount of time allotted to work on each pair. In the Team Round, the teams (teams consist of four) work together to solve a group of problems in the allotted time. The individual scores are completely based on the Sprint and Target rounds. Team scores are the average of the four teammates individual scores plus the Team round score. The Countdown Round was an extra round in which the top ten players would face off in a single elimination tournament answering questions as quickly as possible after they appeared on the screen.
When the first regional competition came up for me when I was in seventh grade, I helped lead my school team to a top four finish while also finishing in the top four individually myself. A third place team finish is good enough to get our entire team into the state competition. When the state competition came along that year, I did respectably, but not good enough to advance farther (an individual needed to place in the top four to advance to nationals). My journey that year was over.
I was encouraged by those results, though. The next year I did better. I managed to claim a top four finish individually from the written competition and the Countdown Round. Our team finished in the top four again. When the state competition came around that year, I finished in the top four individually and in the Countdown Round. I was going to the national competition.
The national competition is held in Washington, D.C. Before the competition, my teammates and I met a couple of times to practice problem-solving techniques. So it was that I flew to Washington, D.C. back in the eighth grade.
I'd been to Washington, D.C. before with my parents, but I'd never flown there; we always drove from Connecticut to Washington, D.C. My parents were driving there this time, too, while I flew with the team.
I spent most of the time at Washington, D.C. at the hotel that we were staying with since that was where the competition events were also held. I did spend some time sight-seeing with my teammates, though, and that was fun.
One of the big fads were these state pins. We were given a a number of state pins of our own state when we arrived. It was a lot of fun trying to collect the other state pins by trading the pins we had... I definitely did not get a full set, but it was pretty fun trying.
Then, the competition was over; we found out how we did. I did okay, but not great compared to the other competitors. We had one final dinner where an important Countdown Round was held and then it was over. The next day, my team flew home. My Mathcounts days were over.
Math itself wouldn't be over for me, though... but that's another story.
Saturday, February 14, 2004
In Support
| Marriage is love. | |||||
Friday, February 13, 2004
Those Years I Spent Singing
(a.k.a. How One Good Audition Led to Me Singing in Europe and Carnegie Hall)
I've been listening to CDs from my past since I got home from the office today. Reading the entries in that memory book yesterday made me want to listen to that music that we made across Europe as Sound of America and also made me want to listen again to that All-Eastern Chorus performance at Carnegie Hall that I will never forget.
While I started singing in a chorus when I was in fourth grade, I didn't become much more serious about singing until my sophomore year at Kent. That was the year that I decided to sign on to take voice lessons. I would take voice lessons from that year on up until I graduated from Kent.
Towards the end of that first year of lessons, my voice instructor suggested I should audition for Regional/All-State Chorus. Now, I've never really liked auditions much, but I agreed to do so. When I returned as a junior, we began working on my prepared piece for the audition. The audition consisted of three parts: the performance of the prepared piece, singing a slow scale upwards and downwards, and sight reading. I remember that my audition was late and that I was the last person to audition for my judge. I gave the audition my all and I walked out with a score of 94/100... I found out that that score was very strong, but I can't help but wonder if my judge was just tired of listening to the tenors that came before me...
Still, that score was enough to get me into Regionals and All-State Chorus that year. I auditioned for All New Englands that year, too, but did not make it on the technicality that I sang a song not on the All New England list for that year (due to a mixup by my voice instructor and others).
That spring I received a brochure in the mail and I heard about Sound of America for the first time. Sound of America is an honor band and chorus made up of students from across the United States that performs a European Concert Tour every year. The chorus was still seeking tenors for the upcoming tour; they sent me a brochure because I had been involved with All-States... I think I dismissed the idea of going at first, but then finally I decided to go... I'm glad I did.
In the summer before my senior year, the music director suggested that I apply for All Eastern Chorus. Now, All Eastern is a bigger deal than All-State and All New England since it constitutes all of the region of New England down to Maryland and District of Columbia. I didn't honestly know if I had a chance of making it, but I agreed to apply... The application asked for various pieces of information. Of course, at that point I had to admit on the form that I had auditioned only once ever and that I had only been to one Regional and All-State festival. I think I may also have added about my involvement with Sound of America. I wasn't confident that this would be enough to get in.
I still remember to this day when I found out that I got in. I was sitting in my room at Kent when the phone rang and the music director gave me the news... I had been accepted! I was really happy and I literally jumped up and down with excitement when I found out... I was going to be performing at Carnegie Hall!
I still believe that none of these opportunities would have come to me if I hadn't auditioned in my junior year and gotten a good score. I'm glad I did... Singing in Europe and at Carnegie Hall were both unforgettable experiences.
