The Last Days of Summer

As summer winds down, I’m preparing for the new things another semester always brings: new problem sets, new late night problem set homework sessions, new sleep deprivation, new drunk screaming neighbors, new levels of complete and utter failure, and the like. But before all that begins, I do have to say that I had a good summer. I hiked three of New York’s State Parks, biked around the Cornell Plantations, visited the Farmer’s Market, read for fun, spent some quality time with Hezekiah, mastered routes on the bouldering wall, and enjoyed Ithaca in summer. I also got blisters and bruises, was bitten by a couple dozen insects, and got rained on every other time I tried to leave Olin, but I’m willing to put all that aside for the greater good.

Last year I gave unasked for back to school advice. This year I’m here to talk about the evils of the corporate world having a job and working 9 to 5. In three words: don’t do it. You will slowly feel the life leaching out of you until one day you find yourself sitting at a table peeling dried glue off of your fingers and asking yourself “What is the meaning of life?”

Just kidding. I worked fifty-three days this summer designing fluid mechanics models without a full weekday off. In the end, we have a model ready to be built and three others in various stages of development to show for our work. It was totally worth it. I made enough money to cover my rent and food, gained design experience, and – dare I say it – had some fun every other week or so.

It was a different experience, working straight through the middle eight hours of the day, then getting back to the apartment after five and having absolutely nothing to do. No office hours, no problem sets, no parties. I went to sleep at 10:30 last night and woke up before seven voluntarily, then couldn't go back to sleep for the first time in months. I’m going to savor that moment, because it’s not going to happen again unless I switch into Arts and Sciences anytime this year.

So now that I have a few days off before classes start, how do I plan to use them? I have a couple things to wrap up to prepare for the school year, then I’m thinking I’ll get a few last books from the library to read for fun before all the books I pick up have Greek letters and chemical formulae in them, maybe go biking around campus. One thing I will not be doing: solving any fluids problems. Well, maybe just one . . .