Bad weather days…

So… the weather sucks in Regina. Way too much rain and low ceilings for my liking, anyhow. So I’m on my computer instead, before supper and mandatory study time. Instead of flying, we had a grand total of 6 hours of grand school, meteorology and navigation. Which are my favourite subjects, but not for 6 hours. My goodness.

But that’s not really what I’m typing about right now. I don’t think many of you know this, but I’m not very good with keeping in touch with people. Even now, I can feel myself pulling away from my friends back home… I feel like I’m missing out on things that are happening. Even if they say “it’s nothing”, I still feel a little left out of the normal swing of things. It happens every time I quit an activity, switch schools, or leave the province. I can’t even relate to some of my old friends anymore sometimes, and it makes me feel like a terrible friend. And it’s always because I haven’t seen them for an extended amount of time.

Example: I was watching the Worlds swimming trials a couple days ago, and I saw someone I used to swim with 5 years ago. It made me think about what life might have been like if I didn’t quit swimming all those years ago. I certainly wouldn’t have been in the physical condition I’m in now (which is completely out of shape), but then I wouldn’t be in cadets, I would have quit band and would’ve never joined jazz band to allow myself to commit to swimming, and maybe I wouldn’t even have finished piano. There’s so many what ifs.

Anyway… that’s all for today. ^^

Life after High school: Part 1

So… I just graduated a couple weeks ago. It feels kind of weird, in a way. Things aren’t going to be the same anymore… now I actually have to figure out what to do with my life o.o On Saturday, I chilled with most of my friends for an early 18th birthday party… I’m gonna miss them; I won’t see them mostly likely until December. I’m also gonna miss everyone else that I didn’t manage to see that day too… now why did I decide to leave Winnipeg? Well, I need to grow up. It needs to happen. And because I want to go to a university a province away. So what am I doing right now?

Currently, I’m in Regina, spending the government’s money in frivolous ways. In other words, I’m learning how to fly a single-engine airplane this summer, even though I’m too poor financially and in eye sight to continue and have a career in flying. Going into the military and becoming a pilot is out of the question because I wear glasses, and unless I decide to get laser eye surgery, I am disqualified from entering as a pilot. woo hoo.

So, after this thing, I’m going to University of Waterloo instead, and getting a degree in Computer Science and Pure Math … if everything goes well After that… is uncertain. Software developer/engineer? Programmer? Grad studies? Or maybe opera stage director? That’d suck though, considering I would have spent my degree on something unrelated.

So anyway, back to the present. I’m currently in the common area of Luther College, a place which is attached to the University of Regina. We’re learning how to fly from the Regina Flying Club by the airport. I’ve only completed my first flight due to crappy weather, but I hope it clears up tomorrow so I can actually get onto stalls, spins and spiral dives. Actually, now that I typed that… I’m not so excited.

The learning curve is a lot steeper here than at glider, and the flights are waaaay longer, because now we have gas to keep us in the air, rather than… well, nothing We compressed what most people would’ve learned in 5 flights into one: the first flight consisted of most upper air-work, including all different types of turns, slow flight, climbing, and descending. Next flight, we’re onto a bunch of maneuvers that will probably make my stomach sick. More so than the first flight… well, the only reason why I was sick on the first flight was because I ate a little too much at lunch (the pasta was soooooo good, and I couldn’t resist). I also learned that eating too much ice cream is NOT good for your stomach.

I’m having a pretty good time otherwise. I know almost everyone except for one person from glider scholarship, and things are going splendidly. The dorms are nice, we wear more civvies than at most other camps (don’t tell anyone at Penhold!!!), and we just got our flight suits!! It’s so exciting!

We also have some cool hangar pets. There are 3 cats named Pokey (?), Radar, and Charlie. And an adorable dog named Freddie. And there’s a Code Geass plane. well, not really. the registration markings are C-GEAS though

Well, gotta go for supper, then. Will say more later next week.

University narrow down.

So after some thoughtful consideration and discussion with many people about their university life experiences, opinions of friends, opinions of parents and multiple emails to prospective undergrad officers (who are probably sick of me by now), I have narrowed down my choices.

I don’t think I’m going to consider Waterloo anymore. Which sucks, because I always wanted to go there. However, I made a stupid choice by not applying into their engineering department, which IMO, I had a very good chance of getting into. After some self-reflecting, I don’t think I could go into something like math or physics and do research in it. I like to be able to solve problems with my knowledge in math and physics, not theorize and research. That’s why I always do those math contests that some people (*ahem* Andre) gag about and like problem solving and such. I also love computer science, which was my other Waterloo choice, and I’m still a little hesitant to give it up, but let’s face it: computer science is a very competitive field. There are a lot a good people in it, and I’m not really one of them. At best, I’m mediocre at coding and algorithms and other such things.

So what does that leave me with? Engineering and Science. My plan is to wait for scholarship decisions to roll in. I’m going to continue to keep Waterloo as an option in case I change my mind. I’m also keeping Carleton, and letting the Western offer expire. If I happen to get a scholarship to Carleton (which I highly doubt), I’ll go. If not, I’m going to stay at U of M and either do an engineering or science (leading to some other field like medicine or optometry) degree.

I’ve come to realize that what my parents have been trying to tell me was right. The grass always looks greener somewhere else. If I went to Carleton, I would accumulate a considerable debt for a degree that’s not a world of difference than one I would get from U of M. And in the end, it doesn’t really matter where you get an undergrad degree from. For example, say you get a mechanical engineering degree from say, U of Toronto, and someone else gets one from U of Manitoba. Now let’s suppose that both of you get a job at Bristol Aerospace. You’re going to get paid the same amount of money regardless of what university you went to.

I have also realized that if I really want that brand-name university education, there’s always grad school. They (or some external source) grant funding to grad students, so there isn’t the same money problem.

Ah well. that’s the way it goes I guess. We’ll see what happens in the end.

Math, Science, History…

So, a couple of friends of mine introduced me to this sitcom called “The Big Bang Theory”. It’s actually a great show that revolves around the lives of a group of scientists.

So, from what it seems, Leonard is the main character. His room-mate is Sheldon, and they have two friends named Rajesh Koothrapali (spelling?) and Howard Wallowitz.

They’re all really smart, but none of them really have any social skills or any knowledge about the world beyond what they live and work in. For example, Leonard tries to hard to be normal, but usually ends up failing. Sheldon cannot distinguish sarcasm, has a hard time grasping social situations, and often says things that are offensive to others, but doesn’t realize it himself. Rajesh can’t even speak to girls, or even “feminine males” unless he has alcohol in his system. Howard is a pervert who takes advantage of emotionally unstable women and designs spacecraft for NASA.

Combine the gang with Penny, an aspiring actress but otherwise a normal girl, and there is hilarity to be had. While the guys seem to be described in somewhat of a negative fashion, it’s really these traits that make the show an absolute joy to watch.

Unfortunately, I’m not very good at describing TV shows (never done it before), so the best way to find out what it’s like is to watch the first episode yourself. You can find it on Youtube. Happy watching!

University Choices o.O

So in the end,  I got accepted to a grand total of 4 Canadian universities into all the programs I applied for (in alphabetical order):

Carleton University (Aerospace Engineering)
University of Manitoba (Year 1 Engineering)
University of Waterloo (Math & Computer Science)
University of Western Ontario (Year 1 Engineering)

So I’m not sure where to go to yet… I don’t think I’ll be going to Western… I didn’t apply for their major scholarships (I forgot to ^_^”) and there aren’t as many pros to going as there are for the others.

I’m too lazy to list the pros and cons here… but yeah… choices, choices.

They did WHAT?!

So today, I’m going to talk about an ongoing… thing that happens at our school.

As many of you know, I love music, and I often hang out in our school band room during lunchtimes and spares. However, sometimes when I walk in, I feel like walking out again in disgust and going to library.

Why? Because of the new couples that have recently sprung up and taken refuge in the band room.

Well, I can see why they might want to. There are comfortable couches and back practice rooms for them to do God-knows what on/in, and the band teachers aren’t there most of the time, and if they are, they’re in the band office, or they just ignore it.

I don’t mind some of it. But when I walk in at 8:45 am in the morning for Thursday Jazz practice, and I see a couple lying down on the couch together, or I go into a practice room, only to see two people who claim they’re “just lying down” on the ground, entangled with each other, or seeing them sit in one chair together french kissing where everyone can see them… am I making a point here?

I’m not a disgruntled single person. But seriously. Keep it in your pants and save it for after school or something! Is it too hard to control your hormones for 8 hours of the day? We still have to use those practice rooms for you know, practicing our instruments. I dunno about you, but going into a practice room knowing that people just had sex in it is very unpleasant.

But that’s high school, I guess. The school cafeteria’s not sounding like a bad place anymore.

Rejected!

So, I didn’t tell many people, but I applied to get into MIT. The results came out today at 1:59 pm (the math nerds, or very observant people willl get the humour in this)…

and as the title suggests, I was rejected. I guess it was the combination of a few things:

1. being an international applicant, which pretty much cuts your chances in half on the get go.

2. My SAT writing score, which was not in the 700s, and probably as a result, not very competitive.

3. My lack of international recognition in olympiads, science fair or robotics competition.

4. My last minute approach in studying for SATs and a very rushed application.

So, am I bitter, or disappointed? Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at all. I a bit disappointed, I’ll say, but not surprised or very emotional about it.

So to those who did get in, have a blast. To those waitlisted, good luck to you. And to those in the same boat as me, feel free to discuss their experience in this roller coaster ride of applying to MIT. No rude remarks please.

Last year of High School!!

So… I’m in Grade 12 now. Or I’m a senior, however you like to call it.

I have now started adventuring into a scary world: applying for university.

So far, I have my sights set on University of Waterloo, Carleton University (in Ottawa), University of Western Ontario and of course, in my hometown, University of Manitoba. Of course there’s a couple of places I would love to go to that are probably out of my range which I’m applying for, but I don’t feel like saying what they are at the moment.

I’m still trying to decide what to go into. I think I’ll either apply into a Mathematics/Computer Science thing or Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering. I would really like to go away for university, so I have to start applying for money and student loans and such. And, I might start working this year. That’s a very big “MIGHT” because as it stands, I have no time for a job.

So, we’ll see what happens. I’ve applied for the Loran Scholarship, and will do TD and the Wendy’s Classic achiever one. Wish me luck!

Gliding 2008

So, summer has gone by and passed. But I thought that I’d tell you what I did anyhow.

I learned how to fly a plane. A glider, to be exact. Not a hang glider, where you’re hanging on for dear life, a plane with no engines. This was made possible by the air cadet program, which is funded by the Canadian government and so, we get to this for free. Well, not really. We still had to pay for our license and exam, but all our flight time and training were paid for, which I think is a pretty sweet deal.

For half a day, we would attend ground school, where we would learn subjects such as the theory of flight, meteorology, gliding procedures, flight operations, air law, navigation and radio. This was to prepare for the Transport Canada exam, which is required to get your license.

For the other half of the day, weather permitting, we went out to the field and actually flew. The learning curve was steep: within 7 lessons, you have already learned how to take off, keep behind the tow plane that’s taking you up, fly a circuit and land. You then do a solo check, and then you get to fly by yourself. then you do 20 solo flights with checkpoints along the way to make sure you’re still attaining the standard. At the end, you do a flight test, and if you pass, then you are finished your flight training.

Flying was probably the most difficult part for me. Ground school was easy because I knew how to study and how to take multiple choice exams, but when you’re flying, you have so much to think about. It took me a few extra dual flights for me to go solo, and once I did, I had a hard time landing smoothly and bounced a few times. But I learned that you have to put the past behind you and concentrate on what is happening at the time and make sure you make the right decisions so you can fly safely, and have the confidence that you know what to do.

I now go out to my gliding centre on Sundays, and I’ll be hopefully clocking in time so that eventually I’ll be able to take up younger cadets flying so they too, like me, will be inspired to go for their license when the time comes. I may or may not post pictures up on flickr later.

Umm… Hi. I’m back

Hey guys, I know I haven’t posted since…. forever. Sorry! Life has been real busy. An update for y’all

In Music:

In the beginning of the year, I was involved with the Senior Provincial Honour band. We played an epic piece called “Russian Christmas Music” by Alfred Reed and other cool things. In other oboe news, I was also in the scholarship competition for youth orchestra (I finally got into senior orchestra!), and the Winnipeg Music Festival. I won a shiny-looking trophy called the Robinson, Little and Company Ltd. trophy. I also ended up playing in the Gala Concert.

In orchestra, we played a concert in December at Pantages Playhouse. Our senior orchestra went to Brandon last week for school tours (man, I love Forbidden flavours!!) and I’ll be heading out to linden Christian and St. Amant Centre with the concert orchestra for more school touring.

In piano news, I have been working tirelessly (haha) on ARCT performer’s… I was also in music fest for that, except I got pwned in both my classes. I was even last in one of them… Yay!!

Cadets:

I’m a newly-minted (well, not so newly) flight corporal. joy. notice how this isn’t actually joyful and therefore it is been typed in almost all lower case. w00t. I also applied for gliding again this year. Man, I’m going to be pissed if I don’t get on course again.

Manga/Anime:

As some of you might have seen on my other blog, manga reviews have kind of been put on a halt. Instead, I decided to tread into the mysterious world of scanlation. I’ve made my own group called Domo Scans, and we have released a work by the manga-ka of Karin called Sakura no Ichiban, a joint project called Peacemaker by Minagawa Ryoji, and a cheesy six page oneshot called Tokkei Winspector. I’ve also been working with Manga-Heaven on Crimson Grave and will be working on two of their new projects; Belial Strawberry and Necromancia. Oh, and I’m slowly but surely typesetting Shina Dark for Operation Boredom.

School:

I’m a little hesitant to talk about school. I’m not really getting along with the teachers in this second semester. My French teacher is threatening to phone my parents lest I forget to do yet another assignment, my English teacher has deemed me ‘way too unorganized’, My math teacher might be slightly peeved that I didn’t tell him I was doing the AP Calculus BC exam instead of AB and I double-booked wind ensemble and graphics design and neither of those teachers are happy.

I’m OK with the students. I’ve met some really nice people here; a girl in grade 12 is helping me learn the Calculus BC stuff (since I’m not in the course) and most of my classmates are really nice, but there’s some other people who would rather see me suffering a terrible death or something. I’m “getting along” with my stand partner in band, but I’m pretty sure she hates me.

If she is reading this: yes, I realized you hate me. I kind of figured that when you gave me the silent treatment after the first day of school. I’m not that dense.

But… yeah. I’m getting ok grades, I’m not asian-failing yet. I still get my hot meal and blanket (2% more until a pillow, lol). But I’m very much missing SJR…

Especially that 2 week long spring break!!! Curses!!