TCF, Tennis, Econ Minor, Annenberg Center, Mork, and Mark

Do people want to read about my life? or would you rather read about Google, computer problems, or even – how to make money online? These are popular and interesting topics. Certainly some of my posts cater to these interests better than others. so what can I do to improve my writing style? Hmm.. I’ll ask less questions, to start.

Last night I went to HEAT (TCF’s weekly fellowship meeting) and dressed up with a white collered shirt and a borrowed pair of black pants (thanks, Nick). They had a special housing meeting afterward because we are all applying for next year’s housing. I’ve decided to stay in Marks Hall, but I’m not sure who my roommate will be. I requested Gersh on the form, but Tony (from TCF) is also a great choice. I’ll be going to TCF’s Men’s Retreat this weekend.
I made another small revision to my schedule today. I set Tennis class to be taken on a pass/no pass basis. That means it won’t affect my GPA. My other fun class, MPGU 120a, Pop/Rock Guitar, will be taken for a grade. It’s only two units and I’ve read that the grading is easy. I’ll work about 4 hours per week on guitar class, in addition to attending the weekly 2 hour instruction session. It’s really a fun class: Nick Stoubis is amazing.

Earlier today I went and spoke with Steve Shrader, CSCI/CECS adviser here at USC. We took a look at my 4-year plan, and he showed me how I could fit in an economics minor. It means taking 17 and 18 unit semesters for the rest of my time here. It’s tight, but definitely possible.

I went to speak with Dr. Aronson at the Annenberg Center. He’s a really nice and interesting guy. He is offering me a position to work there and do research. It will require about 6-8 hours per week. When he asked me how much time I was thinking about, I said 2-4 hours. That’s about half what I should actually put into it. I heard about the opportunity through Sarthi S., who is doing research there currently. Their focus is on communications. As I walked back, I thought of something I’d like to get out of it, considering that they have so much hardware and fun toys. A MacBook Pro. That would be awesome!

We had a required lecture from Mork, the man who this year renamed the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science school here at USC to the Mork Family School of Chem. E & Mat. Sci. I thought he was a good speaker, although it is easy to find faults, he did speak honestly and clearly with a unique sense of humor. He said we can get a guaranteed “4 point” by working every day from 8 to 5. It’s a good idea and does require discipline, and I’m sure it would improve grades. But I hardly think that can get you a 4.0, at least not anymore. It has been a long time since he went to school here. USC has grade deflation – and getting great grades, especially for engineers, is always a challenge.

After the lecture, I was very pleased to see Mark Redekopp again. He was my professor for EE 106 last semester. He is a TCF alum and he actually came and said Hi to me =) He’s amazing at remembering names. Now that I think about it, there are so many things I want to tell him, so I’ll send him an email after blogging this. I had his father Larry Redekopp for engineering academy last semester. Another huge father-son connection in addition to Dr. Aronson and Adam Aronson.
There are really a ton of great people here. I really hope I can be like them. It is my goal to never lose sight of this. My greatest fear is thinking that I’m nice or great, when I’m really not. This blindness can be very difficult to overcome. I hope it never happens. I want to be genuinely great and influential. I want to be like the professors and faculty here at USC.