10 Great Things About Coronavirus

At this point everyone is well aware of the COVID-19 pandemic, so I won't bore you with statistics. I'm not a news outlet. This is, however, a record of me as a college student, which means some very interesting things have been happening--some good, some far less desirable.

When the pandemic reached the point where businesses began to close and universities started going online, everything changed all at once. All classes were suspended for three days while professors figured out how to conduct class through the internet, and all students were encouraged to return home to finish the semester if possible, though housing would still be available for those who wanted to stay. About twenty minutes after the email came through, I looked out the window and saw someone walking out of the adjacent building with suitcases in tow, and all I could think was well that was fast. Others followed suit, and for the next week it became commonplace to look out the window and see someone pushing a cart laden with boxes out toward the parking lot. At the time of this post, the initial twelve members of our squad (as described in the Dorm page) have been reduced to five, and I'll be making my journey home as well by the end of the week.

As you can see, my latest grocery trip went just great.

In such a time, with friends leaving across the country, nearly all special events canceled, employment uncertain, stores picked clean and group gatherings discouraged, it's easy to be depressed. Life has been turned upside-down in the blink of an eye, and we can't even find a single good roll of toilet paper to show for it. In my Positive Psychology class, however, we practice expressing gratitude for the good things that come out of any situation. With that in mind I thought it'd be fun to outline a few of the positives; or at least not-so-negatives. Your mileage may vary.

1. Spring Break! (Sort Of): Students have always complained about BYU's single-day spring break, and this year we got classes canceled for three whole days. Ask and ye shall receive!
2. Lenient Due Dates: With everything going on, the chaos has not been helped by the fact that the school's academic website, Learning Suite, has been crashing all the time under the unprecedented load. And school is literally entirely online now. That means late forgiveness!
3. Introverts Be Not Judged: It's socially acceptable to stay at home and never see anyone now, which is awesome!
4. You Can't Stop D&D: Most college students are using Zoom for online lectures now, but you know what else you can use it for? Dungeons & Dragons. A couple of our players are on total quarantine lockdown right now, but that doesn't stop nerds like us.
5. Pass/Fail? Yes Please: Due to the crazy circumstances, this semester we'll have the option to take either our final letter grade or convert it to a Pass/Fail, which gives you passing credit for anything C or above without affecting your GPA whatsoever. So my nasty electrical engineering class need no longer sink my grades!
6. Saving All That Transit Time: With school at home, I don't need to spend half the day tromping around from building to building. Have I used all that extra time effectively? No. Still working on that part.
7. No Lines: We went to the mall to get something to eat, and even though the tables are roped off and the place is virtually empty, about half the restaurants are still open. You can enjoy not waiting in line and even have a pleasant conversation with the employees while they prepare the first order they've had all day.
8. Going Outside is Meaningful: I could literally stay inside all day long if I wanted to, and that means that when I go outside, it's more for the sake of being outside than anything else. I've found it much easier to be mindful of the scenery and enjoy being outdoors, rather than just rushing by on my way to class.
9. Grooming Not Mandatory: If you're not going to see anybody all day, you don't necessarily have to look presentable, right? If you don't want to shave or change out of your pajamas or fix your hair, you can slack in that department! Let alone the fact that most haircut places are closed anyway.
10. Imagine the Stories: As a writer, this is a gold mine. People will be reminiscing about this whole escapade for decades. I've been trying to record as many details as I can, because not only will I tell my grandkids about the Great Toilet Paper War of 2020,  but there's a wealth of inspiration for other stories--what happens in a pandemic, what things disappear from stores first, how the world reacts and so on. 

That's my bright side list for the Coronapocalypse. Not all of these will apply directly to you, as everyone's situation is different, but I hope it helps you to consider some of the good things coming out of this incredibly confusing time. I mean, I'm literally eating pineapple out of a bag with chopsticks as I write this. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Wash your Hands and Hic Manebimus Optime!

One Week to Re-Learn Calculus

Mechanical engineering majors take a long time to finish. In order to help with this problem, the department has been kind enough to compress three math classes into two, eliminating any parts not directly pertinent to the major and thereby allowing us to get them done a little faster. The first of these Frankenstein Death-classes, known as Math 302, is essentially linear algebra and multivariable calculus smushed into one class--there should have been warning bells going off by this point, but despite my natural reaction to flee and hide, I'm registered for it anyway.

Come to find out, there's a pretest in 302 that all students must pass in order to remain in the class. The pretest concerns the material of Math 113, which is essentially the same as AP Calculus BC. I did well in Calc BC--got a 5 on the AP test and everything--but that was four years ago. Not to mention I haven't been doing anything remotely math-related for the last two years in Hong Kong, and in that time my math ability dwindled to nearly zero. Put all those facts together and you've got an intimidating proposition.

This is an old picture, but it was too fitting.

So the week before classes officially started, I was spending three hours a day sitting in lecture (the department is nice enough to organize a 'refresher course' every year for those of us who have forgotten all our math) and the rest of the day studying by myself in the library, doing practice tests, etc. I essentially made a full-time job out of reteaching myself math.

I flopped into bed at the end of every day with a serious headache, but the calculus started coming back. In fact, when the time came to take the test, I was feeling pretty good about it. We had the test from 2002 to practice on, and I felt confident that I could do everything on it. There were 30 questions, so I needed 21 right in order to make the 70% pass mark.

Then the actual test came, and I was in for a rude awakening. It was already stacked against us that we couldn't have any sort of 3x5 card or equation sheet, let alone something as miraculous as a calculator--interesting how the point of this test is to make sure we remember the material from Math 113, in which you CAN use a notecard and calculator...
Aside from that, the test was just plain harder than all the practice tests, and covered a couple of concepts that never even came up in the practice material (they should've warned us about Arc Length; not one but two questions). I harbor some deep-rooted frustration with the department because the 2019 test was so much harder than the 2002 test, and here's why: the class material is the same. No new math has been discovered in the last 17 years, and the curriculum remains accordingly unchanged. Even if the class had become more competitive over the years, this is a pretest we're talking about; hardly the time to impose a tyrannical guess-what's-in-my-head ordeal to clearly identify those among us who don't have photographic memories, but I digress.

Anyway, I sat staring at the test sheet with 19 bubbles filled, all the ones I confidently knew how to solve. I was left to get at least two of the remaining eleven right through guesswork, which is statistically doable but still risky with five available answers per question. I rolled up my sleeves and applied my best fake-it-til-you-make-it multiple choice skills and came out with a final score of 22, bringing me to 73%.

I'm going to try to ignore that this is supposed to count as a midterm, but hey--I passed!

Hic Manebimus Optime!

Turning Leaves

Two months in, college isn't any easier than it was when I started. I mean, I expected as much, but some part of me was hopeful that it'd get better. Unfortunately, as the seasons change, my homework load doesn't.

Before I get going, I'd like to point out that the BYU Grounds Crew has somehow managed to keep the grass green long after the trees have given up. Seriously, it's November--no grass has a right to look this good this late in the year. I have no idea how they do it. Grounds Crew definitely has some magic powers they aren't telling us about.

Now, as for everything else, as I watched the leaves turning vibrant hues and dropping to the ground, I realized that I had actually let myself go, too. I was losing sleep, pulling successive post-midnight days in a row, practicing poor study habits and all but abandoning my standards of room cleanliness. I was irritable, exhausted and far from happy. I even had that maybe I should quit college moment. Through self-neglect, I had turned into a mess, and I saw that my current pattern wasn't sustainable. I needed to fix it, and quickly, before I threw myself into a self-imposed ruin.

So I made yesterday a sort of swift-kick-in-the-butt day, in an effort to put myself back on track. I cracked down on homework, went grocery shopping, cleaned my room and got to bed while the clock still said "PM" for the first time in a week. I even got started on NaNoWriMo (for those who are interested, I'm not going for 50,000 words because I know it won't happen. I'm just trying to see how far I can get.) Then I got up on time this morning, gave myself a good breakfast, made my bed and got a proper start to the day. I even chose to wear laced shoes instead of slip-ons, because in accordance with the bed-making philosophy, the act of tying my shoes actually made me feel more accomplished and capable. With that, I'm happy to report drastic improvement over the last twenty-four hours! I'm feeling happier, more rejuvenated and more in control. Ain't self-regulation awesome?

My thought for the day, then, is that it's never too late to start over. Sure, I completely lapsed on all of the good habits I was trying to build, but I put myself back on the path I wanted to be on, and you can too. Sometimes turning over a new leaf means raking up the old ones and throwing them into the fire, but sometimes you just have to pick back up a leaf you've dropped. Whatever the case, let your colors burn as brightly as the autumn trees--you'll thank yourself for it.

Hic Manebimus Optime!

Sticky Note Chaos

You may remember me mentioning in an earlier post that I wanted to dedicate an entry to the messages other apartments have spelled out of post-it notes in their windows. This is that post. Prepare yourself.

You may have seen this one before; I used it as a sneak peek earlier. It was the first, and it remains one of my favorites. After this had been up for a few days, they changed it to "Still hungry :(" and a girls' apartment in the building across the lawn replied with "No you're not," followed by "Come say hi." Sadly I didn't get pictures of all of them, so use your imagination.

This is the only one not spelled with sticky notes, but I felt it had merit. There used to be an additional sign that said "Come Date Me!" with a phone number, but by the time I came back for a picture it had been taken down. Too bad.

Remember the first picture? That one's in building 25, which faces building 26. Building 25 is a boys' building, 26 is girls. One day someone in 26 put up the word "Beans" and nothing else. Our dear friends in 25 #3204 (The 'please send food' people) replied with "Beans?" and another apartment in 26 also put up "Beans." Before long, no fewer than six apartments had the word "Beans" with either a period, question mark or exclamation mark, and everyone was confused. Finally the fourth floor of 25 put a lid on it with this:

After that, the windows were silent for a few days, until game day. For every football game, at least five apartments put up something along the lines of "Go cougs" or "Beat [insert opponent here]." Here's a sample.

Somewhere along the line our friends at 25 #3204 must've gotten some food, because they then tried to unload some excess peaches. The two responses from building 26 were nothing short of perfect.

Then there's 25 #4102. Poor 4102. All they want is some company, but it never seems to work out. One day I looked up and saw this (and the response) and couldn't help but laugh.

4102 has also tried "Somebody love me," "NCMO Tryouts" and "We <3 Girls" (sorry to say I don't have pictures of those). On the other side of the building, one apartment tried a different approach, which I think has been more successful.

4102 changed their approach, probably trying to be a little less creepy.

And this was the counter-offer from the first floor. Ah, capitalism.

So now you're up to speed on the window conversations. I hope you find them as entertaining as I do, and if I can gather enough to do another installment in the future, I will. In the meantime, I have some sticky notes to put up.

Hic Manebimus Optime!

Rainy Day

It's been raining virtually nonstop for the last two days, which can do interesting things to one's mood. Between the cold temperatures, limited outdoor options and complete disappearance of the sun, I haven't been motivated to do much. This is a problem, since I have midterms coming up this week and need to study, but cannot find the drive to do it. Thus, I resolved to make today a good rainy day, to get myself into a more productive mood.

First off, I decided to make cookies, because nothing improves your mood on a cold, dreary day quite like warm, succulent disks of chocolate chip deliciousness. Plus, having cookies allows me to set up a  Pavlovian self-reward system to get my homework done.

In addition I spent a large chunk of time curled up under a blanket and listening to music, because being warm and relaxed tends to make people more productive than being cold and stressed. I also set aside some time to do things I enjoy between study sessions, not only to create study breaks but also to feel like I accomplished something I wanted to do, rather than just things I have to do. I also messed around with my lightsabers for a little while, because it's scientific fact that lightsabers make you smarter. True story.

That's basically it for now. Unfortunately I didn't build a fort in the living room of my apartment this time, although the thought did cross my mind. We had one last week and we'll probably build another fairly soon, so I'll keep you posted. Until then, I have the looming threat of midterms to keep me company. But I also have cookies, so y'know...

Hic Manebimus Optime!

How I Became a (Slightly) More Organized Person

There's one thing I'd like to say before we get started. I've always been a messy person. Everywhere I go seems to wind up looking like an earthquake struck, or at least that's been the case for a very long time. In the past week or so, however, it seems a miracle has occurred: I've suddenly become organized.

How did this happen? Frankly, I have no idea. I imagine a "responsible adult" switch got flipped somewhere, but that explanation does little to satisfy my loyal readers, so I'll tell you one other theory: I started making my bed.

I realize that probably sounds dumb, but there are plenty of articles that talk about how making your bed not only makes your room look better, but provides a sense of accomplishment, thus setting you up for a day's worth of successes. Plus, when it's time to go to bed at night, you arrive to a tidy, comfortable setting instead of the disaster you left in the morning. Multiple sources claim that building a bed-making habit works wonders, so I decided to give it a shot. And yes, I just became one of those I-didn't-believe-it-until-I-tried-it-and-you-should-too people. Yep, I'm cringing too. Try not to think about it too much.

After that, I seem to have followed a whole chain of organizational habit-building, including the following:

• Maintaining a clean desk. My workspace looks better than it ever has, and for once I have enough room to actually do work while sitting there.
• Using a planner. I've never been able to keep that up for more than three days before, but now I find myself pulling it out all the time.
• Using a calendar. It's a big version of the planner. I've never used one of these properly before, either.
• Cleaning for no reason. Yep, I turned into one of those people. I kind of hate it. But my room looks nice.

Now, I have no business making claims about my great strides without providing photographic proof, right? Right. First off, I'll show you two of my roommates' room. It looks a lot like they way mine did a few weeks ago.

 In contrast, here's mine now. Not bad, right?

Plus, who doesn't love this bedspread? (apart from vegans, I suppose--I don't think they make "keep calm and eat salad" fabrics.)

Oh, and this is my desk. Also looking pretty good lately.

So that's it. I'm going to try not to gloat about how my room is the cleanest in my apartment, or how I'm mastering techniques usually reserved for Pinterest people. Okay, I'm gonna gloat a little. Here we go.

There. I'm done now.

I'm not going to try to push these organizational behaviors on anyone, mostly because I tend to react violently when people tell me what to do with my space. Instead I'll leave you to ponder your options, and maybe submit a humble suggestion that you try making your bed. See if you like it.

Hic Manebimus Optime!

Trial And Error

Normally I would be waiting a few more days before my next post, but quite a bit has been happening recently, and I felt I should make up for my less-than-diligent summer installments, so here we go!

I have now completed a week of classes, and I must say I'm getting used to the college dynamic. By which I mean I've embraced the fact that everything could change at any time. College is a world of spontaneity, and I'm discovering more and more that the the best way to get through it is to stay loose. You have to be simultaneously relaxed and on your toes. I'll let you decide whether that's actually possible.

A thought occurred to me as I was thinking about a certain board game, in which a group of players must work together to succeed. Each round, a new crisis faces the colony, and players must join forces to combat their circumstances. I believe living with roommates is a remarkably similar dynamic. Sometimes the crisis is a communication breakdown which has caused there to be six gallons of milk in the fridge, and sometimes the crisis is that a toilet is clogged and nobody in the entire building owns a plunger.

I'm happy to say that we've survived both of those scenarios. It only got sketchy for a little while.

This week also saw the emergence of new communication methods between apartments. I have heard that putting signs in windows is a fairly common thing, but I've been pleasantly surprised with some of the things other students have spelled out of sticky notes on the glass. It's gotten to the point where entire conversations have developed, and I plan to make a whole post out of it, so in the meantime I'll give you a teaser trailer from an ill-prepared apartment two stories above my own.

And that's just the beginning. More of those later.

In other news, last night my roommates and I went to a friend's apartment to watch the football game against Arizona, which was very fun, if a little long and drawn out. I mentioned last time how the level of school spirit in college is flat-out intoxicating, and I'm finding more and more evidence to support this. First of all, BYU is known for having one of the strongest traveling fan bases in the country. This was proven true when we out-sold the Arizona fans at what was considered their home game. Granted, it's important to note that it isn't technically their stadium, but it's a lot closer to them than to us. Secondly, following our field goal victory in the last six seconds of the game, everybody we saw on the street cheered back and forth with us as we walked home. Drivers honked, passengers yelled and night joggers high-fived us in single file, making it really sink in that everybody was watching. We didn't make it back to our dorm until about 1:00 in the morning, but it was worth every minute.

Come 6:00, of course, I was rudely awakened by the ear-splitting noise of the fire alarm. Now, I've been through plenty of fire drills at various places, but this alarm was something else. It's RIDICULOUSLY LOUD. By the time I stumbled out of our dark apartment and onto the lawn beside the building, I was already checking to make sure my ears weren't bleeding.

That isn't the end, either. Once outside, we had to sit listening to the unholy noise for a solid thirty minutes, barefoot and freezing, while the hall advisors and fire department determined the problem. The verdict: some kindhearted soul pulled the fire alarm for absolutely no reason. I had hoped that college students would have grown past that sort of junior-high-level prank, but I suppose I was wrong. It isn't all bad, though; I may be falling asleep on my feet now, but I had half of my homework done before the sun came up, so it's all good.

That's all for now. Tomorrow I will be using my class-free Labor Day to recover from my sleep deprivation and most likely clean the apartment, which has rapidly deteriorated over the last four days. I have my work cut out for me.

Hic Manebimus Optime!

First Day Of College

Ok, so today wasn't actually the first day of college, but I intended to write a post prior to now. In fact, I wanted to write one when I moved in last week, but it didn't happen. So here we are, on the second day of college. Apologies for that.

I'm in there somewhere!

So what's it like? Well, I'm not at Harvard. But if you didn't already know that, I'm not sure what to tell you. I am, however, at Brigham Young University, and I'm enjoying it, if I do say so myself. College is very different from high school, and the last few days have been a major adjustment. I think I'll take a little time to talk about some notable differences, for all those future generations of freshmen and anyone else who may be interested.

1. Living with other people. I have five roommates now instead of my family, and they behave very differently from my family. It will take time to get used to their individual quirks and behaviors.
2. Classes are much farther apart. On a large campus, the struggle is not only to find your classroom, but to find the building in which the class is held. I've been carrying a map lately.
3. Cooking my own food. My summer culinary crash course is serving me well thus far, but it is difficult to juggle cooking time with homework, sleep and the slim possibility of social interaction.
4. Unrealistic expectations. Most professors will claim that you need three hours outside of class for each hour in class, but if you do the math that often adds up to more than 24 hours each day, let alone the fact that I need to sleep sometime. In a world where it's literally impossible to satisfy everyone's demands, you need to learn to put your sanity ahead of school.
5. Rooming with people who stay up later than you. I sleep like a rock, so it isn't really an issue if I turn in early, but for most people this is a legitimate concern, so take note.
6. More than four classes per day. I have five on some days, which is more than I've had on a single day since junior high.
7. Fewer than four classes per day. I also have days with two. This makes it difficult to establish a routine.
8. Unprecedented levels of school spirit. It doesn't matter what sport you're watching or who the opponent is; if you're in the student section, you're fully invested. No excuses.
9. Love/hate relationships. I've developed a lot of these with various things (but not people, thankfully), school being chief among them. I like being here, but I despise homework.

I heard someone say not to let your education get in the way of college, and another not to let college get in the way of your education. Though it seems paradoxical, both of these are true. And in a way, they both say the same thing: much of our learning and growth is done outside of the classroom. It's those little things that happen each day that make us who we are, and ultimately they're the reason why I have to say I love it here.

Hic Manebimus Optime!

Housing Misadventures

I am happy to report that I did successfully finish my online classes, so my graduation from high school is no longer under direct threat (refer to previous post if that sentence made no sense to you). I imagine it will be liberating to no longer have to worry about such things, since I have been doing online classes for the last four years. What will I do with the extra time? Frankly, I have no idea. But I'll come up with something pretty quickly, I'm sure. Just you wait.
In the meantime, the gap left by online classes will be filled with studying for AP tests. There's always something else, isn't there? Another three weeks and things should let up; then we'll be into movie-watching season (last year in calculus we watched all of the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy after the AP test was over).

But enough of that; on to something that relates to the title of the post!
Now that I know I won't be moving off to Hogwarts--um, I mean, Harvard in the fall, I need to secure housing arrangements at my mid-range school. It all started with finding a room, a process described in several emails I had received from the university. I knew how this was going to work. I logged on to the housing portal at the time and on the day that I was instructed (this was with priority status, mind you) only to find that there were a whopping zero beds available in on-campus housing. None.

Well, that isn't entirely true. There were a few beds available in the sardine-can dormitories where students are required to purchase a meal plan, but zero in the apartments with kitchens (that's where I wanted to live). My reasoning for not wanting a meal plan is simple enough: it costs about twice as much as actual groceries cost, and I don't want to put my hard-earned scholarship money into cafeteria food. So essentially I had the makings of a very serious problem on my hands.
Fortunately for me, the university in question told me when cancellations in the desired facility would be posted so that I could switch into one.
The chase was on.
So there I sat, staring at the computer screen moments before the clocks struck four. As soon as the counter reached 3:59.59, I refreshed the page and saw that the number zero had changed to six. Not a lot of real estate for the hundreds of students who wanted a slot (and likely dozens who were sitting there hoping to catch one), but at least it wasn't zero. I frantically clicked through the first one I could find--only to receive an error that the bed was taken. That was within the first three seconds.
I backed up and clicked on another, and this time it worked. I had a room. The other four were gone within another ten seconds. I count myself lucky to have gotten one, but I want to make it known that I owe my victory entirely to my years of "sniping" classic Lego sets on eBay in the final five seconds of the auction. Fear my nerd powers.
This is far from the end of the road. I may have escaped the overly expensive meal plan, but my new room was on the first floor of the building, and I would much rather have a higher floor to reduce the amount of noise coming from above. I have a chance now, though, and before this I had none. Now that I have a space in the proper building, I can hopefully trade with someone on a higher floor, which should be a much less stressful process than the adrenaline-pumping escapade of getting a room in the first place. Until then, I have more high school to attend to. Those AP exams aren't getting any farther away.

Hic Manebimus Optime!