School Starting Fall 2011

It's that time of year again as students hustle and bustle like bees back on to campus. Frankly, I love the positive energy and excitement in the air. It's rather contagious. :)

Classes are very interesting so far, Artificial Intelligence and Bioinformatics being my favorite to attend. The engaging and enlightening discussions make the hour past by much more swiftly. In fact, I had a good laugh in my Bioinformatics class the other day that I'd like to share. 

Now Bioinformatics is a class that analyzes DNA and protein structure using computer science. My professor was in the middle of his discussion about DNA and how each parent contributes 23 chromosomes to their offspring. The last chromosome being the XY chromosome that determines the gender: XX for female and XY for male. 

A student in the back raised his hand and asks, "Is there any chance you can get a YY permutation?" Of course the entire class immediately argued that the female can only give an X, whereas the male can give either an X or a Y. My professor ponders and said... "No, well except... ah never mind..." he laughed it off.

'Unless what?', I thought. Then I started to laugh. A few of the other classmates caught on with the implication and laughed along with me realizing that he was referring to two gay men. Yes, we're childish, don't judge. :P

The professor then continues on with his lecture. "Now when there are more or less than 46 chromosomes, we get mutations like Down Syndrome. Of course mutations can be desirable, but most likely they are not," he stated. At this moment, the same student choose to raise his hand and asked, "Would you happen to know what mutation is necessary to obtain the X-MEN Syndrome?" That rallied a round of laughter from the class.

The professor played along and said, "If I tell you... I'm afraid I'll have to kill you. That information is classified." 

"So you do not deny the existence of the X-MEN formula?" He teased.

Class was then shortly over. Everyone came up and high fived our "class clown" for the entertaining conversation. 

I'm hoping the rest of the semester will be this enjoyable. :)

New Apartment

Today marks the third day at my new townhouse. Besides some missing furnitures that we still have to move over on Tuesday, we've had mostly everything unpacked and neatly arranged. I'm glad to say that the apartment looks tidy and well decorated, and I'm feeling amazingly content right now. I'd have my zen moments in the new kitchen cooking dinner for RJ, Tunhi, and James. We'd then sat down in the living room, put on some nice music, light up the laserpod, and just enjoy each other's company and the food. I made chicken curry last night and crispy tilapia with corn and mashed sweet potatoes today. It's the perfect relaxing atmosphere I've always wanted to come home to.

Today I drove around town to buy the little household items that we still needed. It's amazing how I find joy in the tiniest things. For example, the kitchenware isle at Walmart could peak my interest for at least half an hour as I browse the store. Since the moving rush in Gainesville, the work desk that I've had my eyes on were out of stock. I finally found it in the Walmart across town. Once home, I sat down for the next hour to screw the parts together myself. Needless to say, I feel pretty acomplished. In the evening, RJ and I would go for a swim in the luke warm, sparkling pool. When the summer heat dies down and the days get breezier, I plan to spend more time by the pond, feeding the turtles, and reading a book on the swingset. The puzzle pieces are finally starting to fall into place right now.

Divergent

Yesterday, I stumbled upon the book Divergent by Veronica Roth. Having seen it widely displayed at various bookstores, readers' blogs, and websites despite it being a deput novel and only recently released (May 2011), I figured there must be a reason for all of the hype in such a short period of time, so I decided to give it a try. 

After skimming through the summary, I'm surprised that it reminds me of the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, one of my favorite books. They are both dystopic young adult novels centering around a strong heroine with a keen and incredible instinct for survival, but that's where the similarities end. After consuming the book in literally a day, I can safely say that Divergent has it's own unique identity. 

In Beatrice's world, society is divided into 5 factions: Abnegation, Erudite, Candor, Dauntless, and Amity, which are those who value selflessness, intelligence, honesty, bravery, and peace, respectively. The people in these factions act accordingly if not adhere strictly to their "personality" in an attempt to form the "perfect society". 

My first impression was that it would seem illogical to categorize each individual human being into one of these categories. If you think about it, we all have more than one of these traits, if not all, in each of us. Of course that disregard for human complexity proves to be the fatal flaw in this ideology. Beatrice and those who turned 16 that year, has to take a test to determine which faction they belong to. Everyone has one result and it is kept a secret; however, they may choose a different faction to join at the initiates ceremony. Beatrice's result, however, was met with complications as it is inconclusive, making her a Divergent, something she is told is extremely dangerous. She has to fight to keep that secret from ever surfacing, else her life would be in danger.

I won't spoil the rest of the story, but I would recommend all Hunger Games fans to pick this book up! It's an excellent read. It is not yet at the level of the Hunger Games series, but most definitely almost there!

The Order of the Engineer

Today RJ and I attended the Order of the Engineer ring ceremony that was held for graduating engineers. In the ceremony, we took an oath which pledges to uphold the standards and dignity of the engineering profession. In the process, we signed a certificate of obligation and were presented with a stainless steel ring to be worn on the pinky finger of our writing hand. 

A memorable moment was when a professor recalled the story (rumor) of how the first iron rings were made from the steel of a beam from the Quebec Bridge, which collapsed in 1907 due to poor planning and design. He advised us that if somewhere along the road, when our dreams fade and we happen to lose sight of our goals, he hoped that the engineer's ring will serve as a reminder of our oath. 

It was definitely a humbling experience. I reflect back on my 4 years at the University of Florida and can honestly say that I'm satisfied with the path that I've chosen: to become a computer software engineer. Of course there is the huge incentive of my major having the one of the highest employment growth and salary among the engineering profession, but there's also that respect and admiration I have for everything computer engineers have done. The technological progress that is accelerating as we speak is truly astounding. Computers have aided every profession whether directly or indirectly, serving as the backbone of our society. I imagine if all computers are to shutdown right this instant, the world would be in a total state of chaos. And this is exactly why I've chosen this career choice. I want to be a part of this technological phenomenon, this incredible synergy.