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mykingofclubs
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Name: King
Gender: Male
Interests: Christ, judgment and decision making, Christianity and morality, the application of biblical truth to everyday life, and most things mathematical and analytical (incl. card games).
Expertise: Spades, Bridge, Statistics, Cognitive Psychology, and the Minor Prophets.
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
10/11/2005
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| Well, for any remaining readers, this is my last entry. Everyone has flocked to myspace (yuck!) or Facebook. Perhaps I'll be resurrected elsewhere one day, but not soon.
Thank you all for the wonderful comments over the past couple of years. I've enjoyed the Xanga experience.
Blessings to all,
Spudman | | |
|  | Currently Watching
Stardust
By Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer
see related |
The rest of you won't have to go to school forever. Me, on the other hand... I'm in school for about 20-25 more years.
Hard to believe that school starts this week for the kids and next Monday for me. We'll be back in town soon. Carolyn's dad came through his surgery with no problems, although he'll probably have more surgery in the future. He had a pacemaker removed due to infection, and they may need to put a new one in after his infection is resolved. His birthday is tomorrow (Sunday).
We had a nice visit to Valparaiso University yesterday. We were fortunate enough to run into a professor who showed us around the engineering department labs. VU is now a good second option for Nathan (behind Rose-Hulman).
We saw Stardust tonight - I highly recommend this movie! Lots of fun and adventure.
TTFN | | |
| Just got an email from an old friend in Iowa. He's unhappy about a lot of things, gets angry, and doesn't know why God isn't fixing it all. I've known him for about 12 years and was able to quickly put my finger on his problem: his expectations and reality are out of whack.
He's about 48, has a "loser job" (his term, not mine), and he has a kid who is entering high school who is on track to end up with the same kind of loser job his dad has. Midlife crisis anyone? But, this is a broader issue - he is letting the world's expectations dictate his own perceived success. In the grand scheme, his life is great! He's got a wonderful wife, their home is paid off, he is able to work in an environment where he can do artwork (his passion) rather than in a restaurant or factory, and he lives near family. So, what's the problem? Expectations... from mom, dad, siblings, television... all serve to undermine his satisfaction with life. He's not a gifted teacher or orator and thus doesn't get the obvious kudos at church, either.
Is this your problem, too? Are you trying to live up to someone else's expectations? Are you trying to be someone you are not? If you want to get better at something because it is the desire of your heart (hopefully placed there by God), then go for it! Change your present reality to achieve your goal! BUT, if you're trying to make others happy (or, worse yet, make "society" happy), then you're destined for a lot of grief. These others aren't satisfied for long, and the nameless ones like "society" don't provide encouragement or hugs. 
On another note - I got grief from some about my last reading (but Krystal found it "kinda interesting!"). Tough! God made me this way, so deal with it!!! LOL!
Later taters,
Spudman | | |
| I don't have the time to write a summary, so I'll just include a link to a very nice treatment of this topic by Martin Luther King himself: MLK on Communism.
The guys return tomorrow. It's my mom's 79th birthday today. Friends from out of town visiting today (we're going to Paducah tonight for dinner). Going away party for my graduating Ph.D. students last night. Programming galore on the job front (some of which I really enjoy!).
I apologize for being a bit out of touch this summer, but I really do care.
TTFN,
Spudman | | |
| Geez,
Been catching some grief for not updating. Not much, though... not too many people want to hear about my life!
Well, the guys left for Mexico on Thursday. Their absence hasn't quite sunk in yet. Probably has for Rachel since she was stuck home alone for a long time today.
We've been looking at colleges for Nathan lately. A trip to Rose-Hulman and Butler helped clarify some issues. We planned to visit Wheaton and Valparaiso in August, but this may slip to September. People frequently ask why we aren't just sending the guys to a state school since I get a 70% tuition reduction as a professor. Let me explain. First, the cheapest option isn't always the best one. Second, cost is important but must be considered along with other factors. So, what factors are we considering?
1. Strength of the program of study at the school. This is often ignored by parents and kids who are more taken with the school's overall reputation. Here's an easy example - would it be better for Matt to study theology at Wheaton (a Christian school) or U. of I.? Illinois has an excellent academic reputation but it's theology program is likely to be populated by a lot of people who read the Bible as literature and philosophy, not scripture.
2. The teaching environment. Although U. of I. has an excellent academic reputation in engineering and thus a solid choice for Nathan, my experiences as a student there proved it to be a mediocre teaching environment. A lot of teaching assistants leading classes, class sizes were huge for the first two years (and many were "flunk out" classes intended to reduce the number of engineering majors), and a lot of faculty weren't interested in connecting with the students.
3. The spiritual environment. This one is more complex because most schools have programs like the Wesley Foundation, Intervarsity, or Campus Crusade for Christ. So, the support system is there if you seek it out. However, since you have to live in the dorms, it can be a real drain to be around people who want to party all the time, have foul mouths, bash religion, etc. Unlike high school where you can go home to get away from this stuff, at college you are always surrounded by your classmates.
Don't let the price tag of the private schools keep you from applying. Compare your ACT scores to those typical at the school and if you're much above average, you have a shot at grants and scholarships to attend there. Public schools are good options, too, but make sure that your major is strong at the school (ask about ranking, equipment, resources, internships, job placement upon graduation), ask about class size in the major and percentage of TAs teaching classes, and get connected with a campus group or church. The latter can also help guide you to the best dorms or other living arrangements.
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I've been a bit stressed this summer with multiple demands on my time, but I'm making solid progress. Two of my Ph.D. students are now done and my Masters student defended her thesis (and is now my doctoral student). I've got one last Ph.D. student who will defend next month. Defenses demand a lot from an advisor so I'll be glad when I'm past this unusual spurt of defenses (I'll only have two within the next 2 years, so FOUR in one summer is a lot!). I'm plugging away at the video game programming for the grant and some analyses for a collaborative project in which we are evaluating various statistical methods of modeling data (see book I'm reading above). I have a couple of manuscripts to revise but they're on the back burner for now. School starts in about a month, so I'll have to start updating PowerPoints in about 3 weeks (I've been reading various sources over the summer to update my JDM class).
Well, now that I've bored anyone who read this far, I'll sign off for now. I hope to see you at the Grounds or Real Life this summer.
Cheers,
Mike | | |
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