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| The weather is beautiful outside. Crazy to think that two days ago I opened the door befuddled to see a white canvas on the ground. I'm about to go the Arkansas vs. Georgia baseball game. Arkansas is ranked 10 and Georgia 25, so it should be a great game. But, my primary reason for the post is to reveal some more quotes I have obtained from my endearing kids at work. Without further adieu...
--Justin: “I’m having a headache. [Jessie: like a migraine?] No. Better than a migraine. That’s why I don’t have any short term memory.” (one of my favorite quotes)
--Malcom—while playing four-square: “Yah, that ace will get you presents, but it won’t get you any treasures.”
--Michael: “I’m going to be the dumbest criminal.”
--Malcolm: Yah, I like to give examples because it’s like integrity. Ya know, like when you go walking down the street and see some girl and say, ‘what’s up?’ and then you start talking. And the next moment you know she pulls out a badge and you’re like, ‘ah, no.’ Yah, it’s like that.” What a perfect example of tangential thinking.
Justin—talking about how is pass went: “It was good…great…better…worser. I think. I can’t remember.”
*********And my #1 quote........
Nick—passing a note to me in group: “Does ‘corny’ mean you want to have babies?” | | |
| Well, the blind date went well. My friend, Moe as we call him,
and I went out with these two girls, Sarah and Kathlene two Saturdays
ago. Jeremey Turley, the mediator friend hooking us up, has my
full confidence in any other blind date he suggests I go on, as these
girls were smokin'. We took them to the Arkansas baseball game
(where the UA won I might add). Overall, I--and obviously the
girls--had a fun time. Who knows if another date is in store....
I'm so down about Dr. Dowdy. Memories of his class and my
frightening encounters with him have been circulating through my
mind. When I teach, I want to teach (somewhat) like that
man. Challenge preconceptions. Demand superior
effort. Write itsy bitsy letters on the board. Yah, I want
to be like him. Dr. Dowdy had to of been the smartest man I have
ever met. I don't know if OBU has the capability to post audio of
his memorial service online, but if you happen to know how to do make
it work and work for OBU, then you should make it happen. All of
his students would be extremely grateful.
*Random note--What's up with the French? They need to all take some
Zanex or Valium. In the U.S., we label the rioters Conduct
Disorder; as frenchmen, they are angry protestors. Since they are
so hacked off at the governement, I suggest they band together as a
militant force and attempt to overthrown Switzerland--they've been
without a war for 400 years or more, I'm sure they're wanting to get
into one for practice. Plus, they could have all the cheese they
wanted.
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| Here are some cool things that have happened the last couple of days...
- I've agreed to go on a double-blind date, my first ever. I will go with one of my friends some weekend in the near future and go on a fun date with a best friend duo who are swimmers on JBU's team. They've agreed, we've agreed. I'm stoked. No doubt there will be some laughter once this is over.
- Elizabeth, my sister, turned 16 yesterday. Happy birthday!! Remember the day you turned 16? I got a shotgun and drove my dad's 88 Dodge Caravan to school. Yes, you know it was pimpin'. I was sittin' on 20's in a white van with the wood grain paneling peeling off on multiple locations. I think at that time a window and the a/c were not operating right. Remember Chris Farley's sketch about the "Van down by the river?" This was the said van.
- Gave away all my GRE study materials. It felt better than loosening your belt after the Thanksgiving meal. Eric, I suppose it is the gift that keeps on giving.
- Nearly completed teaching the older kids at work how to swing dance. Just call me Antonio Banderas (the new movie he's in is about rough kids turned good via dance). You know, there's a rough resemblence between us. I'm so proud of the kids, because they'e come a looooooong way. So much so, I'm thinking about turning the class name; I hereby dub it "Geek to Sheik."
- Played poker last night. Never have I seen quads before (4 of a kind...poker lingo), until then--twice. It was crazy. I lost to quads and came in second. Would have done better, but it was 1 a.m. and I wanted to go all in every time until the game was over. Actually, I've considered entering my skills into local satellite tournaments. Now, what will be may alias?
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| Time to pack the flip flops and hawaiian shirts, I'm going to
Orlando!!! Dr. Rapport called this afternoon to offer me the
position. Obviously, I immediately accepted. I was so
nervous/ excited when he called. Here is a transcript of the
opening of the phonecall:
Me: Hello?
Dr. Rapport (DR): Hello, is this Dustin?
Me: Yes, this myself, uh, me, uh, uh, him, he.
I understand I can't talk. I've accepted that fact. I'm
just glad it didn't deter him from offering the slot. Man, I'm
going to be a Floridian!!!!! The winds of change are shifting; first
there was oklahoma with the dry hot season and tornados, now I will
experience the hot, muggy, aligator infested swamplands with the
hurricanes. Blessed. Wow, I'm still in disbelief.
I'll be there in early August. I was the only one he
accepted. There will probably be about 6-8 incoming people in the
whole program. I know there were over 170 applicants this past
year, so I'm extremely grateful. Really, truly thank you,
Jesus. Thank all of you for your prayers. Who knew that a
good ole boy who went to OBU in podunk Shawnee, America could beat out
other people. Kudos Dr. Roark, Prof. Estes, Longest, Barbe, and
others profs. I credit them all. Wow, now that I feel like
I'm giving an acceptance speech, I'll stop here.
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| Its done. I'm back in Arkansas, safe, sound, and sick. Drastic climate changes don't help me much (i.e. 80 degrees to four inches of snow). My body and mind are completely worn out. I went to bed at 6 p.m. last night and woke up at 8 this morning. That's 14 hours for you budding mathematicians. As for the interview, I have to say thank you for all your encouraging remarks and prayers (thanks, Jason, for enlisting the Stephenson family), I truly felt them. My nerves only showed up at breakfast, but after that I felt right at home.
Each interview session was excellent. So much so, that of the 4 people that interviewed, the grad student I stayed with said that two of the people were "not even considered" after my interview! My only competition is a 32 yr. old guy from Ohio State Univ. Essentially, he was the Eric Jobe of psychology. I was impressed. However, he lacked a lot of social skills; so I feel that I've got the grad students on my side. There are many factors going into the decision, but those are some of the major ones. The faculty will meet on Wednesday to make their decisions.
Dr. Rapport is simply amazing. (Skip this paragraph if you don't care about psychology) His work revolves around a cognitive model of ADHD. At the basic level, there are three "core deficits" to ADHD: Impulsivity, Inattention, and Hyperactivity. He is collecting data and has run initial studies showing that hyperactivity is, in actuality, not a core deficit, but an effect of a different core deficit of working memory. A paper coming out next year will probably take the life's work of a British researcher, who talks about hyperactivity as the core deficit, and essentially toss every bit of literature based of his ideas into the trash heap. The lab see themselves as renegades. Think about it, if working memory is the cause and hyperactivity is the effect, then, theoretically, your could train a 3yr old's plastic brain and almost rid ADHD without the use of any pill. That's exciting (pharmacutical companies won't like this at all)! Here is a basic stat: most models explaining ADHD's detrimental affect on scholastic achievment have R2 at 40-50, accounting for the variance. Dr. Rapport's model accounts for 91% of the variance! Absolutely unheard of.
Basically, I really hope I get into UCF. New facilities are being built, the campus looks brand new, and all equipment is state of the art. Dr. Rapport knows everyone who is anyone in ADHD research. Opportunities seem limitless. He has put grad students on faculties across the nation, from Lehigh, NYU Stonybrook, Vanderbilt, Ivy League, etc. If God wills, I'll get in. Keep praying. Thank you all so much. | | |
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