FLO ROCKS!

And anyone that says otherwise sucks!

I have been wanting to write something about my experiences at FLO Valley. Actually, to be precise I have written quite a bit about my experiences there. One was a thank you note to a teacher. One was an “Ode to the FLO Valley Calculus Teachers.” The thank you note will have to wait quite some time before I show it to anyone. The Ode is just too long and nobody wants to read that anyway. How do you thank the people that have meant such a great deal to you? When I figure it out, I will be sure to do something, but for now, just know it is on my mind.

Equilibrium Stole Some Sleep from Me

I am troubled somewhat by something I learned in class last semester. It has to do with the wolf/rabbit populations. The book implies that there is always a balance between rabbits and wolves according to this handy little vector field. We learned no matter where you start on the phase trajectory you will always end up on the path. There are equilibrium points along that trajectory. This is all well and good, but so many factors can change anything. Fortunately the book says there are many equilibrium points. I guess that means there isn’t a general equilibrium, it is just at that place in that time, with that weather and external forces there is an equilibrium point. How is that an equilibrium though, isn’t it just a point? If there are 500 wolves and 10 rabbits, hell, we’ll just call that equilibrium point. If there are 1000 rabbits and 50 wolves, well hell, there’s another equilibrium point. What are the criteria for an equilibrium point? Could it just be within a function? Does the book say there are many equilibrium points to avoid any problems that might be caused by a minor change in any one of the environmental factors? Can’t one small change at one early point send the whole function into madness? I have to give Frank credit. He did mention that. Yes, I looked back at some of my notes last night found this in red, “In a chaotic system a change of just one rabbit can change the entire equation into spirals and fractals.” (He didn’t want to go into it, and I think I can see why). Can we just call any one of those chaos points an equilibrium point? Are there equilibrium points when we have a chaotic function? What the hell, why not call every point an equilibrium point? Is Stewart (textbook author) just giving us a way to solve a problem in easy terms so in the future we learn that that was just a way to introduce a more difficult concept? Math texts like to do that. Or is it just that I hadn’t slept enough and read too much before I ‘tried’ to go to sleep. It could be that I just remember it wrong. Fortunately in math you get to learn things more than once.

I know later on in my college endeavor this answer might be more obvious and I may laugh at the fact that I was even up last night thinking about this. I could be way off base.

Those damn rabbits.

University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL) Math it is!

Washington University (WU) would take at least seven years to get my undergrad in physics (and that is if everything goes perfectly). At UMSL it will probably only take about four years to get my math undergrad. The ultimate goal is the graduate program at WU, the quickest way to get there is via UMSL. UMSL may have more evening classes available, so I wouldn’t have to mess with my work schedule as much, and it is slightly closer than WU.

I took my calc III final on the 23^rd. I had a 99% overall in the class prior to that. I only needed a 53% on the final to get an A in the class. Every time I sat down to study I felt like I was just repeating stuff. I know the formulas; I guess I just got burnt. I didn’t do as well on the final as I was capable, but am still confident I will get an A. I think I would have rather done poorly on one of the test and better on the final than vise versa. I will miss that class though. It was actually quite enjoyable.

I’ve been quite lucky with my math teachers at FLO. Anne Marie Mosher is a great teacher and has become a friend. John Hake doesn’t know it, but he helped me get away from computer science and stick with what I like doing. I wasn’t ready to stop taking math classes. Frank Brooks, he helped me remember what I always wanted to do (I don’t have a link for him). I have always been interested in astronomy. He told me about some of the teachers at WU and what they are working on. That was all I had to hear.

The whole summer semester I have been trying to figure out the best way to get into physics. It is ironic that at the beginning of the semester I was going to got to UMSL math, and now at the end it is not really still, but back to UMSL math. In May I wasn’t sure. I just wanted to take more math classes. Now (July) I am sure of what I want to do. It has been a hell of a semester, thought provoking, enlightening, and motivating. I’m glad I went through it. I still have some minor decisions, but the major ones are past me… for now.

(and no, I will never quit writing about school)

And now for something completely different!

I went to The Muny for the first time last night. Anne Marie, Rick Armstrong, his wife Fran and I went to see Miss Saigon. It was sad and awesome! There was a real helicopter flying overhead for one of the scenes. Prior to the Muny we went to this great Greek restaurant. I can’t remember the name, but if I find out I will update. It was soooo good. I felt really special being in their company. Anne and Rick are great. I have met them both before at school. Fran was very impressive. It was nice to be around her. It is always nice to be around intelligent people.

Physics at Wash U

I have finally come to a decision about school (again). I was on a math path when I met someone that made me think. He wondered why, if I like astronomy so much, don’t I just major in physics. He told me about some of the projects the physics professors at Washington University are teaching and I was immediately enthralled. I thought about it for a long time. I don’t know what took me so long. Now that I have decided on physics it seems like it was the obvious thing to do from the start. After all, it was the first thing I wanted to declare way back when I just started.

I should be sure to thank him.

There are still some details to work out. I may not be able to register for this fall because I missed the cut-off for applications. I may have to pay taxes on my tuition, and I don’t even know how much that is going to be. If I have to, I will get financial aid for the taxes. OH, and I still have to get accepted. I have to work my work schedule around it as well. It is what I want and I will take the risk and go for it.