Friday’s networking lecture was darn near pointless because the professor spent the majority of the time talking about networking topics that he thought were cool, but that aren’t actually going to be on the final. He gave a mini-review of what the final might cover, but only because I asked him. He glossed over the fifteen chapters from which the final will pull questions, mentioning big topics by name only. All in all, it was a pointless lecture; look, buddy, I don’t care about whatever whiz-bang technology you’re trying to tell us about because the final exam is coming up. I pointed out to him that the class might be better spent going over topics that are relevant to our grades, but he just shrugged it off.
Oppositely, in applicable algebra, I didn’t mind a bit when my crazy Swedish professor went off-topic from the final. He started out teaching mathematical theories about juggling, which was a bit dry, but interesting. He tossed some chalk to illustrate and dropped it all, so I thought he couldn’t juggle. I joked with him “Should you really be breaking all that chalk with the recent budget cuts?”, so he gave me a few pieces to keep in reserve. They sat on my desk just fine till a little later when I picked up my drink, against which they’d been resting, and they rolled off and broke on the floor. “Uhh, crap. We just lost our reserves,” I said, and he chastised me about how I was supposed to be protecting them. The whole class was enjoying things: the lecture, the chalk reserves, him tossing chalk willy-nilly while he scribbled math-based juggling patterns on the board.
Then, however, things got really good: he pulled out this previously hidden sport bag, from whence he took balls, sticks, juggling batons, and other equipment. He then started to juggle for us, and he was awesome! One thing he used was crazy: it was two thin batons with one end on each strung together with a long length of string. On that string, he balanced what looked like a large thread spool, and he did wild stuff with it. He flipped it up into the air and caught it, sometimes flipping it across the front of his body, over one leg, and catching it again on the other side of his body. One juggling trick he did with a ball was to lift a leg really high, throw the ball under his leg, catch it on the other side, and continue juggling. He tricked us, too, and it took a minute to catch on, then we all laughed: he juggled two balls with one hand, but he had a third in his other hand and all he did with it was just hold on to the ball while raising and lowering his hand. It was a good optical illusion with the craziness of the other two flying balls. All the while he was juggling the various objects, he’d talk calmly to us. When we would look amazed at some particular act, he’d ask as if we were silly “What do you do at night?”
Our “quiz” in there was a series of questions about why there are so few math majors at UK, if it’s a boring subject, if the faculty is boring, etc. I suggested he take his juggling act to local high and middle schools, juggle for them, and teach them the math behind it, too. His suggested reading list for the summer included about 6 books by Douglas Adams, who he’s a big fan of. :) It was an awesome end to the semester.
As for good news in my life, I won $200 the other night at UK’s Undergraduate Student Showcase. I submitted a bioinformatics programming project of mine earlier this semester to a university-wide competition, and I came in second place in the Physical and Engineering Sciences category, as announced at the Showcase. Now, ask me who got first place. The answer? No one! The judges award first place, etc. based on the merit of the project on its own, not relative to any other entry, so apparently they thought I did only a second-place job. :P One category didn’t even get an honorable mention, which must suck. Personally, I think it’s a crock. My professors and parents have agreed, thinking the school was just being cheap since first place carries a $300 prize. My dad commented that it’s nonsensical, since you can’t have a second place without a first, unless they’ve come up with a new way of counting. Ah well, at least the $200 will help with rent and groceries.
Congratulations on second place! =P It’s all very “Twilight Zone-esque” how there was no first place, but $200 are as precious as water when you’re in college, so congrats.
Your professor sounds downright awesome — just reading your anecdotes about him makes me want to sign up for an algebra class with him! Your suggestion about visiting high schools and juggle for them was definitely on point — people would be intrigued, for sure.