| I'll be doing a going away party this Friday, in the evening. Not sure where or exactly when, yet. But it'll be a chance to hang out once more before I head off to Stanford.
(Thanks to Olson & Michael Genereux for the reminding to actually schedule this!) | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment  |
| Since I'm helping Nick move his fridge early on, here's a full schedule. Mostly for my usage, in planning & telling ppl when to arrive.
| | Miles | Duration | End Time |
| Greg & Francine leave Irvine | | | 8:00 |
| Irvine -> Garden Grove | 16 | 0:25 | 8:25 |
| pickup truck | | 0:30 | 8:55 |
| Garden Grove -> Tameko's | 14 | 0:15 | 9:10 |
| Load fridge | | 0:45 | 9:55 |
| Tameko -> HB | 7 | 0:16 | 10:11 |
| Unload fridge | | 0:30 | 10:41 |
| HB -> Irvine | 16 | 0:23 | 11:04 | People helping me should arrive |
| Load furniture | | 1:45 | 12:49 |
| LUNCH | | 1:00 | 13:49 |
| Irvine -> SC | 22 | 0:30 | 14:19 | Need people to follow in cars
|
| Unload truck | | 1:15 | 15:34 |
| SC -> Truck drop off | 3 | 0:10 | 15:44 |
| Drop off truck! | | 0:15 | 15:59 |
| SC -> Irvine | 22 | 0:30 | 16:29 |
And then Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is playing at the Hollywood Bowl, and we head up there for an 8:30pm show! | comments: Leave a comment  |
| | Tags: | lifegoals | | Subject: | ! | | Time: | 04:36 pm | | Current Mood: | stoked |
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| Congratulations! You have been admitted to the Stanford Computer Science Master’s Program beginning Autumn Quarter 2007-2008.
Now for MIT, towards the end of the month. Booyah! | comments: 10 comments or Leave a comment  |
| One of the goals for me in the Introduction Leaders Program (the program at Landmark that I've been doing), was going to grad school.
Within that, you sometimes set goals/milestones, even if they're things out of your control. (Sometimes especially if they are.) A little after Christmas, I decided that I would get accepted to grad school by February 14. (Funny thing was, I didn't realize that was Valentine's Day; I just randomly picked the 14th.)
So, I walk into work today, check my email and see:
Dear Gregory Edward Schwartz,
Congratulations! On behalf of the faculty in Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, we are pleased to offer you graduate admission to the University of California, Irvine beginning Fall 2007 for the purpose of graduate study leading to the Master of Science degree.
<snip>
This letter is an offer of admission only. This is not an offer of financial aid. Your offer is based on your outstanding academic record and your promise as a future scholar.
Booyah! Now for MIT to email me with the same thing! | comments: 13 comments or Leave a comment  |
| As I've mentioned before, I'm interested in going to grad school. As usual, I'm not aiming low; my top choices for schools are MIT and Stanford. I think my greatest area of interest is HCI, though networking, software engineering, and AI are also very interesting to me.
However, what really interests me is The $100 Laptop Project (affiliated with MIT, but an independent organization). You may or may not know, but I've always felt that "higher calling" feeling; specifically, that I want to do something really great, not just "cool" or even "impressive". And the $100 Laptop seems like it could be that. Talk about affecting a lot of people; if I could help build the software used to teach children who use these laptops, it would help advance children all over the world, AND could be eventually ported into American schools, as well. Not to mention the ebook possibilites (I don't mean our proposed company, I just mean in a general sense).
As I've been investigating it, I'm also starting to remember how much (like scuzzlebutt) I'm interested in not only my own learning, but also in advancing our learning systems (ie: improving the POS public school system we have, or at least helping people who go through it to learn better). I've been perusing the projects of MIT's Future of Learning Group and easily half the things listed I've said "Oo! That sounds cool!". (I almost wonder if I should try to go back for a BS in Education or something similar, but I don't think I want to start down that road).
In any case, to the point: I'm trying to figure out where I should start, in the sense of what I need to do. Off the top of my head, my guesses are the more obvious stuff (not in any order):
- Take GRE (study for it first? what is it like?)
- Obtain letters of recommendation from professors @ UCI (& bosses? who do letters of req have to come from?)
- Write essay(s) for each school I'm applying to.
- Contact the $100 laptop project, or should I contact some of the people involved in it directly?
- Try to initiate contact with professors at one/both schools in the HCI departments.
I remember hearing that if you have a professor pulling for you, you'll get in as long as you meet the minimum requirements [or nearly that easily]. On the other hand, if you have no inside contact, it's WAY more challenging to get in. Is that true? - Apply to Stanford & MIT (and possibly Berkely & a school in Washington that is known for HCI)
I have a feeling I'm missing some things, not to mention the easiest way of doing them. Help? | comments: 15 comments or Leave a comment  |
| today: -look at a new verizon phone
immediate goals (next few weeks) -invest in mutual funds and/or stocks (I esp want to look into solar power & tech, not sure what else) -rent an apartment/condo -lose my gut (maybe get a two-pack?) -get my weight under 185 lbs -start bike riding to work -find ways to exercise that I enjoy and will do regularly -organize recreational events with coworkers & friends
short term goals (pref by year's end) -make $50k/year (almost there!) -make Funnel (rss screensaver) work cleanly, get some users? -finish Fiber (online address book) -learn to play the harmonica -figure out a breakdown of $ that works for me (probably based upon the 60% rule) -invest annual max into a IRA and/or 401(k) -get LASIK surgery (anyone know much about this?) -Get better at cooking
medium term (the next 5 years) -make $70k/yr -[help to?] run a company that makes $10k/yr -start my own company? (maybe, maybe not, there are ups & downs with this) -buy an apt/condo/home
long term (the rest of my life) -wife -kids (pref 2, 1 boy, 1 girl) [this is how my family is, and it worked really well] -own my own home -be an active leader in my children's Scouting units (or Indian Girls/Guides, sports teams, whatever)
Other stuff (no specific time period) -Visit Seattle (Navid & Gayle) -Visit Washington (David Porteus)
Anything else you think I should add? | comments: 22 comments or Leave a comment  |
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