Good afternoon everyone!
I hope everyone here had a happy holiday, I know I did!
I would have liked to post much earlier, but a lot had happened recently, so I couldn't find the time. Let's start with Christmas.
This year was much like any other; we get up, open presents, then go to my grandparents the next day.
This year, my parents got me new winter boots, which will really come in handy later (I'll explain later in this post)! I also got a new laptop, which is what I am writing this on as of now. It's a really nice Dell Laptop, so Dad, when you read this, thanks again. There is only one issue with it: the OS is Windows 10. While I still despise Windows 10, I really don't like Edge! I need to set Chrome up on this laptop, but I just haven't got around to it. One of the gifts I did not expect was a multimeter! It's a really nice Fluke 117! I try to use it whenever I can, since its nice to practice and experiment with. All in all, the multimeter is most certainly my favorite present.
So like I said, we went to my grandparents the next day, and it was nice to see everyone. Well, mostly everyone. My one cousin has COVID-19, and therefore could not attend the get-together. That makes him the second one in my family to have become infected by the virus. He seems to just have a cold, and will most likely be just fine thankfully. Anyway, another one of my many cousins, a Lance Corporal in the Marines, was there with his girlfriend, and it was nice to see him too, but that's not why I brought him up. I think it was one of my aunts who offered him the task of opening the wine bottle. Well, I'm not sure if he's never done this before, but it didn't go well. He took the bottle in one hand, and the corkscrew in the other, and really, really pulled on the screw. In fact, he pulled so hard on both components that he dropped the wine bottle. As you would expect, my entire family started screaming at him. His father, grandmother, and brother were the most furious. He kind of just stood there chuckling in shock and surprise. Naturally his brother and I then turned to his girlfriend to rightfully welcome her to the family!
His brother doesn't serve in the military and instead works for a mortgage company. He's really kind and enjoys writing stories. I don't mean your typical novels; I'm talking really odd, but interesting, science fiction stories and the liking. He does this on the side, and even gets some published! He and I talked for almost the entire time at the family gathering. He typically likes to go on and on about this table top roll playing game called Vampire: The Masquerade. It's like D&D but with vampires. And it's not like I don't enjoy listening to his explanations and stories; in fact, as a fan of D&D, I find this alternative really interesting!
Now that I have discussed the gathering, I suppose I'll move forward in chronological order. Next up, would be my college decision. Oh, I should mention, I got accepted into Penn State University Park! I finally decided to commit to a college once I found out how competitive Penn State dorms were. I also figured, what's going to change between now and January when I planned on deciding.
After consideration for many months, I decided on: Michigan Technological University.
Why? Well, let me start by discussing my insecurities with high school. While progressing through high school, especially in 10th grade, I learned that I was not like everyone else.
I did not take interest in athletics like most people, nor was I good at them. I got into bad training habits and that really disappointed me. While most of my classmates were focused on their looks, relationships, and athletics, I was focused on my grades and not much else. Throughout this, I kind of blindsided what everyone else thought of me.
This is how its been for a very long time. Like a very long time. For crying out loud, my best friend was my teacher in 3rd grade. I absolutely hate looking back on this, but I still recall standing next to her for the entire duration of recess for many days. I don't know why I never caught on like most people, but like I said this tunnel vision of mine remained for many years.
When I reached tenth grade, I realized all of this and rapidly became more and more self-conscious and insecure. I became much more quiet. I considered very few people friends. I looked more and more towards my robotics team for support.
This is when I learned that a lot of people on the robotics team appreciated and liked me, the old me. The one who naturally fit in, and didn't go into this depressed hiding state. I feel like I can revisit that old me at MTU.
Now, how does this relate to my college decision? Well, I feel as though Penn State is a larger school and it will therefore be more difficult to find out where I fit in. I also distinctly remember, both my faculty advisor and student contact saying that no one is trying to impress anyone at MTU. There are no cliques, and everyone gets together as one. That unity sounds amazing, and that sounds like the college experience, I not only want, but the one my mental state needs.
MTU is also an adventure. I have been up there once, and I have never experienced that much snow! I want to travel and see the world, and I figured it would be nice to knock one out in college too! This interest in traveling probably came from my father, and it really grew after we road tripped out West!
The campus is also really beautiful. Here are two screenshots that I just took while writing this actually!
No comments:
Post a Comment