Game Day!!!

It's Game Day everyone!!! Wear Cardinal and tune into the game. It's a huge day for us. Go Cardinal! Fear the Tree! It's duck season. 

Study Break! - It's the little things.

These are the things that our modern computers tempt us with. However, they can also just be a really nice laugh during a short study break... as long as that break is short ;)

http://www.hercampus.com/life/campus-living/what-it-s-be-college-told-our-favorite-disney-characters

Yo it's a an ill Academic Episode comin from your bro at the sick school

In PWR today we discussed words that should never be used in an academic paper. We were discussing the purpose of formality for being taken seriously in the prestigious world of academics.

However, we also discussed the debate around the idea of a professor telling students to never use certain words in their papers. The problem with it is that it essentially creates a class division. Students are told that colloquial speech is unintelligent. As a result, they may think of themselves as above the rest of society and reject their upbringing for how it taught them to speak. We also talked some about how colloquial speech or the speech used by young people and teenagers can actually be meaningful. Teenagers have a language of their own to bond together and to purposefully leave out the adults so they feel more independent. For them, their speech is something they identify with. They know who is "one of them" based on how they talk. Therefore, they can only get across certain meanings by using phrases that the adults may thing sound "stupid." As a teenager, I fully agree with this. I don't know all the phrases but there are certainly things that my parents can't understand when I talk and it is a part of my identity that I share with other teenagers. Anyway, here is a list of some of the words we came up with. In no particular order.

• dope
• homeboy
• interesting
• swag
• so _____
• hella
• hear it ALL the term here. It's a big nor cal thing.
• nor cal should probably also be on this list 
• yo
• homie
• stuff
• duh
• howdy
• cool
• awesome
• get/got
• thing
• , like,
• being
• nah
• gonna
• wanna
• bro
• ain't
• 'bout
• 'cause
• 'til
• swagger
• guurl
• means girl
• can be written with at least two u's. But more is preferable.
• Ex: guuuuurl. 
• rad
• yeah, uh, like
• I think
• I believe
• gnarly
• hey
• chill
• cool
• super duper
• freakishly
• poopy
• ish 
• lol
• omg
• wtf
• any texting language
• totes
• swears
• any cuss words
• contractions
• seriously
• lots
• a bunch
• "so" when you mean "very"
• all in all
• mhm
• big
• yeah
• there are things that
• this is the sort of...
• for sure
• dude
• smang
• finna gonna 
• (means going to)
• I'm finna gonna the grocery store
• in deep doo doo
• flowy
• weirdo
• chunky
• sick
• something is cool
• ill
• something is cool
• down with that
• when I was in 8th grade I asked my mom if she was "down with me skipping school" on the last day. She said, "Of course I am down with that." I said "Really? You're down. That's awesome." She got confused and then we realized that she thought down with that meant a negative, a no. Down with that means you are cool with something. 
• okay
• frick
• goodness gracious
• you've got to be kidding
• ye
• or any old english terms

These were such a few. Hope you enjoyed :)

Second Essay - An Academic Episode

Here is my Texts in Conversation essay for PWR - my writing class. The assignment was to pick a topic and find three sources that conflict with each other in some way. It's a springboard for the 20 page research based argument paper that we start writing.... NOW! No rest during the quarter system... fantastic. I do literally mean now, I am not trying to be an over achiever, a full outline and introductory paragraph are due Thursday. Yipee....

As a preview, the paper looks at youth response to political Twitter. It evaluates whether or not Twitter increases political participation and how young people discuss politics on Twitter.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j_C6g3bmGS6JNXFWOv9mdYFbi0e84EE5DmuI7SFwgSs/edit?usp=sharing

Here you go Intellectuals

Yesterday I had lunch with my Pre-Major Advisor. This was a wonderful experience. My PMA is Cathy Haas. She an ASL teacher. When she was 2 1/2 years old she came down with scarlet fever and became deaf. When she was growing up, there weren't as many resources for people with disabilities so she had some hard times growing up while being deaf. Today though, she lives a vibrant life. She came to Stanford originally to work on the research project with Coco. Coco was a gorilla who was taught sign language. She actually didn't agree with many aspects of the research which was really interesting. She didn't think it made sense to teach a gorilla sign language because their bodies actually aren't well suited for it. She thought it was trying to push human ideas and traits on an animal of another species which is not respecting the uniqueness and differences between the animals. Someone who agreed with her is Dian Fossey, a zoologist who studied mountain gorillas in Rwanda). I was so excited to hear about Dian Fossey because I was passionate about her in fourth grade. I did a biography project on her. One of the books I read brought me home crying about the terrible story of her favorite gorilla, Digit, being poached. Getting to hear about Cathy's experiences was really cool. The greatest part though is the experience with ASL and having a conversation with interpreters. Sign language is a really beautiful language to watch because it is so full of movement and expression. I am so grateful to have experiences with this one.

What time is it? It's Swingtime! - First Performance

Swingtime had our first performance last night at Fall Ball. Fall Ball is really fun social dancing event. Last night I had some really nice partners who taught me how to waltz, polka, and tango. I loved it! Plus, performing was a blast. We have such a great group of people and I am really looking forward to the rest of the year. Enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/a/echtwilson.net/file/d/0B1UgfmyBg5BEcUZmT1NYbDZDTVk/edit?usp=sharing

Dorm Meeting with President Hennessy

The President of the university came to our dorm to answer questions and just have a general discussion with us. It was such a great opportunity. People asked such great and intelligent questions that he responded to with wisdom that comes from years of experience. Then he responded to my question, "What makes you feel like a little kid again?" with the answer "Ice cream and just a small bite of cotton candy." I feel like I got smarter and more cultured just by listening to him talk for two an hour. It was great to meet with him on a much smaller and more personal scale. I could go on and on.... but homework calls. 

The little things...

This made my day infinitely better :)

http://www.wimp.com/puppiesdoor/

This is what my day looks like, GIVE ME A BREAK, I just got out of Midterms!

I guess I actually won't be going to all of these today, It's not physically possible. But having a schedule look like this is very overwhelming. 

I won't grow up! / You are never to old to...

CARVE PUMPKINS! It's Halloween time and people get excited. Baked goodies, candy, perfect company, and pumpkin carving. A great way to spend the evening between midterms. As my family knows, I try to stick to a solid rule of no studying the night before a big test. Some studying early can pass as acceptable (which I did for both my midterms) but then the rest of the night should let the brain relax and settle in. It's a muscle, I'm an athlete, don't let it get tired out.

This was my favorite pumpkin someone carved. The Stanford symbol :) I think it's awesome. Some other great ones include Karel (the robot that we learned to program way back when in week 1 of college), C-House (the name of my dorm, Cedro), and Kaya's dancing people.

Kaya and I and our pumpkins. Mine is a witch's hat, I know it's hard to tell. I had a meeting during the session so I had less time to carve. It's also very important to note that the witch's hat is not just any witch's hat and is not a Halloween reference, it's a Wicked (the musical) reference. I carved Elphaba's hat. Did you really think I was going to be mainstream about pumpkin carving?

Time to Rewind

Relaxing after first midterm and before the next one. Getting out of the Stanford Bubble and chilling by watching The Daily Show. Number One source for current events and immediate laughter / happiness :)

Did all I could. Left it all out on the floor.

First college midterm complete! I was really well prepared for it but some of the questions were weirdly worded or just seemed like they had multiple answers based on how you interpreted the question. But I feel really good about it. And I finished the test and checking my answers with 15 minutes to spare! Let's hope the next one goes just as well.

It's a big deal.

I am sitting in an auditorium for my first midterm in college ever. Wow. Is it weird or bad that I am more excited than nervous? I am here twenty minutes early so there isn't too much for me to be stressed about. Other than remembering 5 weeks of information on communications. Woo hoo!

College - It's about branching out

Today, Kaya and I took a risk and did not go to Wilbur brunch. Wilbur brunch is what we are used to. It's right outside our front door and is filled with all the crepes, smoothies, waffles, bagels, biscuits, paninis, and omelets that we are so fond of having Saturday and Sunday morning. So this morning, we mustered up our courage and ventured one block North to Arrillaga dining. We decided that college was about trying new things and we should be able to at least try some food in other dining halls.

The long journey was rewarded. We were met with the greatest trophy of them all, berries. Berries, the number one food missed by college students. They weren't even frozen. Real fresh strawberries and raspberries. A miracle to say the least. We piled our plates high and went back for seconds. There was also freshly baked scones, fruit and greek yogurt, blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs and egg whites, and even plates of crackers, cheese, and dried fruit. What a way to start the day!

Dress up! It's Halloween Time

The costume of the night was Chris and Alyssa as Gatsby and Daisy. (They are a couple)

Here is my attempt at getting a view of everyone dressed up. It's done quite poorly.

I am a Jackson Polluck painting and Kaya is a flapper girl. 

The Halloween tradition is that everyone dresses up and goes to a dance party at the Mausoleum, Leland Stanford Jr.'s grave. We had a fun time. The best part was trying to fit our entire dorm into the photo booth.