Hi everyone!
Hope you’re well :). This week has a been a busy one for me (hee, unusual, I know) since I had a talk with my research advisor, Prof. Conway, sometime in the past seven days in which we talked about my future. Specifically about how I might want to explore computational modeling, what my senior-year thesis will be about, grad school, lab tech-ing, and all the rest of that good stuff :). Needless to say, I’m in one of my “transition periods” (significant changes in thinking that occur about every six months) and will let you know once it resolves! If it does resolve, that is. The future never really happens quite like you expect it until it happens :).
So apart from emailing all the research professors I know to ask for advice… I took my GRE on Friday! Whew, I’m glad that’s done. Not that I didn’t enjoy studying for the Verbal part of it (so much vocab. Vocab is wonderful), but Math’s the section that really matters for me, so I’m glad to have gotten a good-enough score :). This was of course so much easier than studying for the GRE subject tests or the MCAT, but I’m still pleased to be finished!
In another great thing that happened this week: Prof. L. Mahadevan came to give us a lecture on his research… and it was so *expletive* cool. He’s an applied mathematician, and seems to study just about every biological system he can get his hands on. Here’s an example from his introduction:
“Problems that we think are hard—like learning calculus—are actually easily executed in computers. Conversely, problems that we think will be computationally easy to solve—like teaching computers, or robots, how to walk—are incredibly difficult. Why? Because the things that are easy, like walking, balancing, and much of our social interaction—evolution has had millions of years to work on those tasks. The solutions are unconscious, old, and hard to pull out.
“Take a problem that was solved by ants millions of years ago: traffic. If there are two ant nests, a certain distance away from each other, ants will make a trail between the nests and cross from one to the other. At low traffic, the ants will go both ways using this trail. But at high traffic, this pattern stops. Instead, you see intermittent bursts—ants will build up on one side, then burst in a bunch to the other side, then the ants on the other side will move en-masse in the other direction. Mathematically this is better because you don’t develop a jam.
“This burst pattern is exactly the technique that is used in TCP/IP protocol for the internet. Data is sent in bursts so that it minimizes clogging. We figured this out a few decades ago—ants knew this millions of years before us! And we can apply lessons from this system to swarm robotics, or trying to schedule airplanes, all by studying ant traffic…”
This is so utterly cool. Prof Mahadevan was reminding me strongly of Neal Stephenson (author of Cryptomicon and Anathem) with the abstractness and yet unity of ideas and his process of thinking—it’s just so amazing to have access to ideas this big; someone’s mind who is this expansive. The program I’m in for the summer, CBMM summer undergraduate research, hosts these lectures every Wednesday, and most have been amazing. And Wellesley’s a partner school in the program, so more of us will be able to apply next year!
(Another person I’m very fond of is Randall Munroe, author of the webcomic xkcd. And he’s doing a book talk at Harvard Square in September! It’s always such a surprise to me when I realize I’m living in/near a city that such people come just come to, and I can just buy a ticket and see them—it’s the same kind of feeling when I realize that I’m walking on streets that played pivotal roles in the American Revolution. I’m so happy to be here. And definitely buying a ticket for September.)
But anyway, enough talking. I have pictures this week! There’s a bunch that were taken by Matt, who’s in my summer program with me, from our Martha’s Vineyard voyage a while back. And then there’s a bunch that were taken by Ellie from yesterday and today, when she, Erin P., and I headed up to visit Suman where’s she’s studying French at Middlebury :). It was such a fun trip—I just got back a few hours ago, and really had a great time.
And I hope that the upcoming Wellesley students are getting excited—financial aid and health stuff is due sometime around now, right? There’s less than a month until Orientation, and I and everyone else is psyched to meet you :). Please send me any questions or topics you want me to address—again, I’m friendly, I promise!
On to the pics, and then best to you all!
Monica
More Martha’s Vineyard pictures :). Here we are on the ferry, heading out to the island.
CBMM / MSRP Bio people! Jenna, Vivian, Kristin, Candace, me and Matt.
Ricardo, Lorraine, and Lindsey.
Biking along the coast. ‘Twas beautiful!
This was about where a group of four of us broke off– Conan, Li, me, and Matt– for our marathon bike ride. Here we are, biking through the middle of the island.
Finally found a town! It was hard work.
Apparently the Black Dog is famous here? At least I think. I keep on seeing people with shirts of it. Northeasterners 😛
Back to the beach. Ice cream, exercise, and water– how much better can it get?
Last glimpse before we took off for home again…
Yesterday morning we arrived in Middlebury! Me, Ellie (one of Suman’s friends), Erin, and Dr. Kovacikova (aka Ika’s mom) hung out while we waited for Suman to emerge from her dorm.
Down at the Middlebury Farmer’s market. They had chocolate croissants. I definitely ate too much.
Here we are at one of the stands looking at cheesecakes… but vegan cheesecakes! That’s an interesting proposition. But they were delicious.
Mmm.
Hanging out, playing chess while Suman packed. The fierce concentration on my face was because I was, as usual, losing. I’m way too aggressive with my queen and always lose her within the first ten moves…
Driving through New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. One thing that’s different about the Northeast is that all of these states are SO CLOSE TOGETHER. Forget 8 hours driving across Wisconsin– you can be in three other states in that time here.
Down at Burlington, the bigger town nearish Middlebury. The food reminded me so much of the Minnesota State Fair, which I’ll be missing this year, sadly. Still, this was GREAT.
Looking out over Lake Champlain.
Then Dr. Kovacikova drove us to Mount Tom, a little mountain/hill that I’d actually realized I’d seen before, two years earlier as a first-year on spring break. We not only found mushrooms, but also raspberries and blackberries…
Me, as a rising senior. On my Admissions Office Profile page is this same location with me as a first year.
And then this morning we went blueberry picking. I was in heaven. Ellie.
The rare occasion when I was actually eating berries from the bush. Most of the time I was crouched down eating the ones on the ground. Lots of mulch + the ripest berries = happy Monica.
Blue tongues 🙂