In Which I Whine and Dine
September 9, 2014
The next few days were high on work and thankfully a little lower in outside commitments. I solved a few more problems for cryptography, got to work on some physics and managed a few last logistical things.
Wednesday night held the ‘whine and cheese’ reception for PGC, an event that since the introduction of strict liquor laws for those under 21 has been sorely lacking in wine, replaced with ‘whine’. With guest appearances from alumni and our honorary members, this event and subsequent rehearsal was most enjoyable, despite my harried appearance, racing back from the engineering buildings after some failed experimentation.
Thursday was kind of nightmarish with my discovery that the physics assignment with the printed due day of the next Thursday was in fact due that morning at 10:30AM. After a quick discussion with the professor it became clear that in the first class, which I had missed due to enrollment issues, he had informed the class of the error. I was granted an extension, however, I now had two sets of physics assignments due for a weeks time. Both of which would require many hours of work. At this point I considered dropping the course but decided after some thought that given my passion for it, it was not worth dropping it at the first sign of trouble.
The other significant event on Thursday was the Engineering Careers fair which I visited primarily for the purpose of visiting Connie Ho and Amalia Hawkins, two Penn Alums that were there recruiting and friends of mine from before.
Thursday night I stayed in to cram as much physics work down my throat as possible, meeting some success but not sufficient. It was going to be a long week.
In Which I Suit Up For The Heat
September 8, 2014
Today was boiling hot and stiflingly humid. I dressed for the weather in the morning and attended physics, trying my best to make friends with a few of my classmates.
After class I walked back to Hillel for lunch and during my meal received an urgent text message. I was required at Platt Performing Arts Center for Glee callbacks, so that I could help demonstrate quartet singing. This required me to dress up in full suit and bow tie, which given the sun beating down, was not the most ideal of outfits.
Following my dress change, I speed walked over to Hill House to meet a potential piano instructor for lessons this semester. The first meeting went pretty well and I was looking forward to actually learning to play properly for the first time. However, the entire time, I was sweating in my outfit and must have looked quite amusing to the instructor who was in jeans and a tshirt.
Much of my afternoon was spent singing the same song over and over, trying to maintain nuance for the different auditionees. After that was over, I had a brief break for dinner at Hillel, followed by Newman night. A ritual of induction that I won’t go into on this forum.
The night ended surprisingly early with our intro social event starting ahead of time. This left me a few moments to gather myself before another nights rest.
In Which I Take a Productive Break
September 6, 2014
The next day was empty. Almost entirely. I slept recovered and ate lunch with some new people. A welcome break from the hectic schedule I had previously been running under.
In the night I was a little more productive, refreshing my resume, website and doing a little coursework for cryptography. When 9.45PM hit, I set off to Rodin to join a number of friends from the community for nerf-gun capture the flag in the engineering buildings. Unlike the time in February, this time was packed out with over thirty five people playing. It was great fun and great exercise as per the previous time and I was looking forward to the subsequent times we would get to play.
Sunday was a little busier again, with Glee taking up the bulk of the day. The early afternoon was taken up by ‘Grilling with Glee’, an event held to recruit new members that largely involved us standing around free food and chatting with any prospectives as they came by. The day was a hot 33 degrees and very humid and so it wasn’t an altogether pleasant task, but I met a few new and lovely people including Jasmine, one of the tech staff for Glee that had joined the previous year. It was also a good chance to spend some more time with the other new members of PGC that had joined.
The evening consisted of sitting outside auditions to speak to auditionees and make them feel comfortable and enthusiastic about joining club. However, Sunday night was a little low on volume and so I would be returning the next night again to meet more of them.