12 Waiting for Results [2]
It turned out that my timing was spot on. As I exited the lecture hall, I watched as on the opposite side a stream of students began to pour in.
At first, I couldn't spot Olivia among the crowd. But that's when she suddenly popped out on my left, and together, we made our way into the hall.
We got ourselves situated somewhere in the middle rows, blending into the buzz of the students.
The professor, who was set to deliver our lecture, entered the room. He had a slightly receding hairline and a small stature. The students hushed their voices down and began to listen to the professor.
"Welcome to MIT students, we're gonna get started today with Calculus, I will show you how math will be taught here... Well, at least in the first couple of weeks."
"So let me tell you briefly what's in store, the first topic is a Derivative, we are gonna look at it from many different points of view, the geometric interpretation, is one that we are gonna focus on today and then we are gonna talk about why Calculus is so fundamental, that is, I'm gonna mention the importance of derivatives to all measurements, be it science, engineering, economics, political science, etc. and I'm telling you if someone is gonna teach you well it's gonna be at MIT" - "Well unless Aliens can get you on a better Math course. Do you know any aliens?"
"They just discovered life on another planet yesterday." A guy in the front row exclaimed, he had striking blond hair and an athletic physique. He spoke with such enthusiasm that it seemed as if he couldn't wait to share the news. However, he must have mistaken the professor's joke with an actual question.
I gotta admit, I knew what he was talking about, but it didn't feel like the right time to talk about this.
I kind of remembered reading something about it, or at least skimming the headlines. So, here's the deal: they just cracked the case with the Kepler Telescope yesterday, and it's all about the K2-18b planet. This bad boy does a full lap around its star in just 33 days, and it's right in that sweet spot they call the "habitable zone."
That's not all. It's been common knowledge that this planet's got a liquid ocean under a dense layer of hydrogen, it's a Hycean Planet, but yesterday, they stumbled upon Dimethyl Sulfide. And here's the thing – on Earth, it's only produced naturally, thanks to the bacteria and plankton in the ocean. Basically, we're talking about some serious marine life vibes happening out there!
The professor casually brushed off the comment and started to explain how you can find a derivative of a function through its geometrical interpretation. Finding a function's tangent line at a specific point and calculating its slope.
While most of us in the hall were already familiar with these concepts from previous courses, the professor's love for math could be felt and the passionate approach set this lecture apart from our high school experiences, especially when compared to Mr. Johnson's teaching... That's for sure.
After deriving the formula for the derivative and providing an overview of what One Variable Calculus really is about, the professor concluded the lecture with an encouraging note, "I'm holding out for you guys to get the nod for the program so we can dive even deeper into this, you will be able to find derivatives for any type of function."
After a round of applause, I left the hall with Olivia and after taking a short stroll together through the campus we decided to go back to New York. We had 2 weeks left before the results of the SAT would be out.
After I got back to my apartment it was already late, but I decided to post something new on my blog, it wasn't like someone was actually reading it, but it also helped me organize my own thoughts. I made a post on the Learning Tree of Math as well as the Memory Palace technique for remembering shit.
Looking at my phone I got a message from Alex
'Yo, bro, I got a position in G1, I'll be playing top main'
He got a spot in an e-sport team. I guess there would be a party coming as soon as he comes back. And just as I thought, 5 minutes later I got another message from him.
'We're drinking man, Amelia will come by our spot tomorrow, you can invite Olivia or something. Wink'
'You know that Lucas is back right?' I answered
'For sure, he can drink with us what's the big deal.'
Eh...
The next day I finally decided to ask Lucas why he stayed in this cheap apartment and he responded that he likes it when money stays in his bank account and not out of it.
"I like money, lots of it" was word for word what he said.
He also said that living cheap gives him inspiration
Yea. I don't want to know what kind of inspiration he is getting and where it's coming from.
With just a measly two weeks left on the clock, I figured it was high time to sort out my financial situation or at least lay down the foundation to drop a thesis that'd make it in the papers or come up with a patent that some big-shot company would wanna snatch up.
I kicked things off by wrapping my head around Physics Fundamentals for college. Momentum, Fluid Dynamics, Electricity and Magnetism. Thermodynamics, Optics, and Waves, not to mention the down-and-dirty basics of nuclear physics and particle physics.
I had that all locked down like a vault. But what really got my juices flowing was diving into nuclear decay, thinking about the neutrons flipping into protons and vice-versa, with one of the quarks exchanging while the nucleus emitted bosons.
And as far as math goes, I was all about honing my proof-writing game and putting the finishing touches on the Abstract Algebra course.
...
Meanwhile, in one of my dreams, still with three blue comets zooming past, and a bunch of those eerie green ones circling around them, something went down.
It was like I woke up inside of that dream. It stopped feeling like I was just watching a flick; I could actually move my head around, and check out the distant sky, but that's about as far as I could go.
Since the last time, I didn't hear any more whispers calling out, which really had me wondering what was it all about.
In the second week, I thought, "Let's dive into some freakin' Electronics." Grabbed this book on the basics of electronics, and with all the provided examples, I was cruising through Nodal Analysis, Kirchhoff's Laws, Filters, and Rectifiers.
Hell, I even got into AC analysis, figuring out Amplifiers and dissecting systems with a bunch of bipolar and unipolar transistors and all sorts of different connected circuitry.
I didn't have the time or opportunity to work with real circuits, but I was definitely making massive progress.
Lastly, I tackled Control Fundamentals. Learning how to lay down the law of a physical system using fancy differential equations.
And what really made me go, "Holy shit!", was that you can flip that physical system into an electrical circuit, believe it or not. Just need some Capacitors, Coils, and Resistors to map out the whole darn thing and analyze it's behavior.
The two weeks flew by, and I was making steady moves in a bunch of different fields. I was just about ready to open up some online proof forums as well as sift through existing patents, to get a feel for the industry, you know?
Maybe catch a hint or two about where to kick things off. It was time to roll up my sleeves and start digging.
'Paching!!!' 30 minutes later I heard a sound indicating that I got myself an email.
Today was the day. I clicked on the message with anticipation and read:
'Dear Maximillian
On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT Class of 2023. You were identified as one of the most talented and promising students in one of MIT's most competitive applicant pools ever. Your commitment to personal excellence makes you stand out as someone who will thrive in our academic environment.
...
Furthermore, in consideration of your outstanding SAT Score of 1600 and the glowing recommendation from the head of the Math Department, Acting Professor Milik, we are pleased to extend an offer for a Full Scholarship at MIT. We cordially invite you to a meeting to discuss the details of this opportunity, scheduled for July 21st.
Sincerely,
Etnis Jones
Dean of Admissions
'
"Holy fuck! Meeting in 2 weeks it is then!"
