Brobots

Recently I began "mentoring" a short-term (6-week) robotics project for a local high school (Southwest Early College, in downtown Denver). The project is organized by Rocky Mountain BEST. This would be the first time that I've worked directly with inner city high school students. I had another potential chance to work with inner city schools with Teach For America, but at that time I wasn't sure about working such a job.

So far I've attended the local RMBEST kickoff meeting and two of the after-school meetings with the students, and I think the teacher leading the project said it best: "these students have character." Sure, most of them aren't gunning for four-year colleges after graduation, but that doesn't make them any less interesting as people and fun to work with (albeit challenging at times). Sometimes, it's worth it to see "the other side" and experience it yourself.

Bytes of News

• Some things never change. During the winter break 2009 rush for CUSat, I volunteered myself as "food lead," gathering everyone's dinner order everyday, then calling in the order for delivery. I think we tried every delivery restaurant in Ithaca over the course of 2 weeks. Yesterday at work, we decided to order Chinese food from down the street, and once again I went around the office asking people what they wanted, then called in the order. < / coolstory >
• After a 4-year hiatus of reading a book for fun (last book I read for fun was Message in a Bottle, back in 2006), I've picked up reading again, starting with In the Lake of the Woods. Like what many of the reviews say, the story can become quite chilling at times, but is very well-written and tends to keep you guessing and reading. Then there's the fact that the author leaves the central mystery of the story unresolved, and instead offers a few different hypotheses for what might have happened, with plenty of evidence to back up all hypotheses while simultaneously not refuting any of them. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book, especially its ideas regarding human nature.

• I'm starting to realize that I can relate to more and more of the media that I immerse myself into (movies, books, etc.). It's like a wake-up call for myself to recognize my perceived shortcomings and do something about it.

Before Sunrise/Before Sunset

Ever since classwork has finished (since Tuesday 5/18!), I've been watching movies more frequently than I usually do. Those who know me well know that I (usually) watch so few movies during an entire year that I can count them all on my fingers. Maybe on fingers of one hand.

Among the movies that I watched (and convinced some friends to reluctantly watch with me) were Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. I first heard of the two movies shortly after the latter was released (on NPR en route to 6 AM swim practice before school one day, and again in AP English class). Now, to lots of people the movies are rather boring and cliche, but personally I really liked both of them, and after these recent viewings I like them even more (last time I watched them was maybe 3-4 years ago).

Now, what do I like about these movies, you might ask? The premise is pretty cliche I must admit, but these movies revolve around dialog and conversation between two people (literally), which I think is the interesting part and what makes Before Sunrise and Before Sunset unique. The topics that the conversation hits are interesting, with viewpoints that I can relate to personally, especially the cynicism that was explored deeper in Before Sunset.

Happy Slope Day

"What this means to me is more than I know you believe

What I thought of you now has cost more than it should for me

What I thought was true before were lies I couldn't see

What I thought was beautiful is only memories."

Lawl school stories

I've been working various part-time jobs at the Cornell Law School during the last 3.5 years, including library assistant, Interlibrary Book and Copy Service, A/V tech support, and computer lab consultant. I don't think I ever fully knew my way around the corridors and stairways of the law school until this semester. There are so many secret shortcuts you can take through doors and stairs.

One perk of working with the A/V team is filming all-day law school events. Of course, you're stuck in a room for most of the day, but they have free food (usually breakfast and lunch). This weekend and next weekend are the Trial Advocacy finales downtown in the real courtrooms.

The mock trial cases are interesting sometimes. Today's was interesting in particular. In the beginning of the trial, it felt like the objection rulings were always in the defense's favor (despite the numerous objections that the plaintiff's team threw out), but at the end of the trial when the defense called up their last witness to testify as an expert, they were unable to have her admitted as an expert. Three times the defense tried to lay foundation questions for expertise of their witness in a different (but related) field, and three times an objection against the defense was sustained. It must be very frustrating to prepare questions for a witness that you couldn't actually ask because they could not be identified as an expert, but it was impressive how calm the law students were.

I think that watching mock trials for the Trial Advocacy class for 4 semesters has familiarized me with some legal jargon, but if I use legal jargon in my everyday language, I'd be talking about stuff that I know nothing about. I feel more comfortable sticking with cameras and projectors.