Space Brownies!!!

Physics today, was everything I ever expected, and then a lot more.  We started the day off with an overview of an oscilloscope. It is a very complex tool that can be used to measure many things, but today we used it to measure the speed of sound and the speed of electricity in a wire. The machine itself is very complex, with multiple buttons and switches that made getting it to work the way we wanted it a hassle. After the lab, we did go to lunch, but instead we went to back to class. We had a guest speaker today, Professor Kenneth Lande, who talked about how the US is cutting back on non-reusable energy sources and moving to greener forms of energy, such as wind turbines and solar panels. He took a more statistical and geographic approach in telling us how the changes were going to be made and why. One interesting remark he made was that if the US wanted to do a one eighty, and switch to only electrical energy, it would have to cover 10% of the map with solar panels, which is equal to 5 states. His presentation opened my eyes to the whole problem and gave the morning a perfect start to the perfect day.

The Space Suit

After lunch, we had another guest speaker, Dr. Don Thomas. He is a former astronaut who has been involved in four space missions. He started his presentation with a very motivational story of who he became an astronaut. NASA rejected him three times, yet he never gave up. Instead, he added to his background by doing the little things. I loved his story because he followed his dream and never gave up hope. After the heartwarming story, he talked about what it is like to be in space. His words were so descriptive that I could feel myself there. I noticed that he said that NASA has about four or five backups to nearly all the equipment that is essential to keep the mission going. It made me think about how Don Thomas did everything to make his dream come true. I believe that we can only move forward in life and science if everybody tried their hardest and never gave up. We had a short break while they set up for the next phase the presentation. Nearly all of the students stayed inside to speak with Don. He took out an astronaut suit and some space food.

Space Brownies!!!

After everyone got a chance to take a picture with Don, we moved into a discussion about surface tension. We followed the lecture with two experiments: one involving a paper clip floating on water and the other had pepper float on water, then they sank when we applied soap. When we finished, Don talked until 4:30PM about the future of space exploration. I loved his whole presentation, he spoke with so much passion and joy that it made you want to become an astronaut. Luckily for some students, they got the opportunity to try on the space suit.

Living The Dream

I had to rush to my dorm and change after class because a group of about 15 students was going to go play soccer. It was really fun getting to be in the sun, which today was not causing too much problems. Minutes into the game, I noticed how long it has been since a good workout. But I was not going to give up, especially since we had a whole lecture on not giving up.  I was extremely exhausted after two hours of playing, barely being able to walk. I met even more people today, especially since nearby joggers were joining our game throughout the game. If I remember correctly, two of them were on the Drexel soccer team.

Every day teaches new lessons. Today’s was not to give up. I wait for what tomorrow’s is going to be.

My Lab Partners And Don,(if you can't tell which one is Don because we all look really young, he is the one in the middle)