Also among the living

Hey y'all,

So I haven't posted much lately either. Please don't shoot me. Also, I'm basically stealing Meredith's format for encapsulating the college experience.

Orientation week is drawing to a close here on the Farm. Stanford is, of course, wonderful. As is the weather. So far I have been fountain-hopping twice, including one time where we all walked through Meyer Library dripping wet afterwards. My dorm, which has a lot of upperclassmen, is pretty small and quiet and my roommate goes to bed before 11 *cough cough* Bern *cough cough*, but frankly I'm happy about that; at the all-freshman dorms across campus, Monday seems to be the new Friday.

Stanford is big on ethnic diversity, too. I listed myself as "Hispanic" on some form in light of my Portuguese-American ancestors, and now El Centro Chicano has sent me several emails inviting me to join their peer mentoring program. So before to long, I may also be enjoying the ministrations of an ethnic counselor.

My classes so far are computer science, linear algebra (yes, I'm a techie), and finally Introduction to Humanities: The Human and the Machine, which seems vaguely TASPish in its interdisciplinarity and maverick reading list (Plato, Philip K. Dick, a Japanese anime film, etc.). Classes start tomorrow, so I can't yet comment on whether they're actually good or not; for now all is sweet anticipation. Similarly, my other activities have yet to solidify, although they will likely include playing with a jazz combo and possibly some type of sport, whether intercollegiate badminton or intramural football/Ultimate. Plus I'm getting a job, either teaching math to elementary schoolers or doing computer work in a biology lab. I'm pretty psyched about both options. Also, I met up with the Mormon student community when they banged on my door at 7 AM yesterday.

Seems like a lot of people here are from Texas and California - hardly anyone from the East Coast. In fact, some profess a strong distaste for the East Coast and its institutions of learning. My MIT/Caltech T-shirt has been a source of some controversy. But the atmosphere in general is very relaxed and devoid of arrogance. People keep on saying "I have no idea how I got into Stanford, but . . ." and then we discover they won state science fairs or wrote novels or created smokeless grass-burning machines or something.

I am going to bed now so I will be fresh-faced and wide-eyed for my 11 AM math lecture tomorrow.

Groetjes,
Sam