Yeah, massive update, along with some thoughts.
So, my spring break journey. Part 1 was around the South Island of New Zealand. I visited Christchurch with Mike and Davey, and hiked Arthur's Pass with Big Dave. We then rented a car and drove around the entire island. It was awesome. We visited Nelson, hiked 20 km in Abel Tasman, hiked on Fox Glacier, visited Queenstown, cruised out on Milford Sound, and drove back to Christchurch. Part 2 was along the southeastern region of Australia. I landed in Brisbane and met Lord and we went to the Gold Coast, Surfer's Paradise, Byron Bay, Nimbin, and Sydney. Nimbin is the greatest place in the world, by the way.
The story is a lot longer than that, but I've found I strongly dislike writing about what I do, and prefer to keep it to conversation. Here's something to chew on, though.
In NZ, the average age of a university student is much older than in America. University is not viewed as the natural successor to high school as it is in the States. Half of the students in my class have worked as sailors, hangliding instructors, tried out for rugby teams, started a band, and done pretty much everything BUT higher education. They come to university in their late twenties and look for a second start. Living in a culture where the idea of success is not the penultimate goal of one's life, and the idea of a career is an option rather than a necessity, has left me unable to deal with the faster paced and rigid American culture. I seem to have lost focus of my goals, but were those the right goals in the first place? When I didn't even give a chance to anything outside higher education?
Of course, I found my focus again after finishing (finally) a proposal for summer research at Mudd. It's probably too late, since the semester is ending there. But hopefully something will work out. I'd hate to be stuck in Texas for a summer. But seriously, with a proposal title like "PROPOSAL FOR CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF MICRO ELECTRO MECHANICAL SYSTEMS (MEMS) BASED IN SITU CANCER DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS", and with a winning personality like mine, how can you say no?
Hmm, perhaps I should start looking for other employment too. :p
- N
The story is a lot longer than that, but I've found I strongly dislike writing about what I do, and prefer to keep it to conversation. Here's something to chew on, though.
In NZ, the average age of a university student is much older than in America. University is not viewed as the natural successor to high school as it is in the States. Half of the students in my class have worked as sailors, hangliding instructors, tried out for rugby teams, started a band, and done pretty much everything BUT higher education. They come to university in their late twenties and look for a second start. Living in a culture where the idea of success is not the penultimate goal of one's life, and the idea of a career is an option rather than a necessity, has left me unable to deal with the faster paced and rigid American culture. I seem to have lost focus of my goals, but were those the right goals in the first place? When I didn't even give a chance to anything outside higher education?
Of course, I found my focus again after finishing (finally) a proposal for summer research at Mudd. It's probably too late, since the semester is ending there. But hopefully something will work out. I'd hate to be stuck in Texas for a summer. But seriously, with a proposal title like "PROPOSAL FOR CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF MICRO ELECTRO MECHANICAL SYSTEMS (MEMS) BASED IN SITU CANCER DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS", and with a winning personality like mine, how can you say no?
Hmm, perhaps I should start looking for other employment too. :p
- N
posted by Neel @ 4:43 PM
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