Redirection
or Delta Pace
That pretty much says it all.
They say that an obscene percentage of college students change their major/career plans at least once while taking undergrad courses. And now, it seems that I am quickly headed towards becoming one of those statistics.
What else can I say? I love physics. It's applied math, used for research in some of the most cunning ways in the most cutting-edge fields of modern physics. It beats trying to beat stupid high school shits into believing that the quadratic equation really is important.
I started my first field experience today in which I will actually take control of a certain period twice a week for a period of several weeks. Instead of looking forward to it with an expected amount of nervousness, I know I'm going to get up in front of those kids on Thursday with nothing but a feeling of defeat. These kids don't give a damn, plain and simple. Few of them ever will. I know it's not like me to give in to such feelings of hopelessness, but I would have to face that crap day in and day out for the rest of my working life. I'm not sure if that's really the way I want to spend my life.
I've checked out a couple of books from the library. Two of them haven't been off of the shelf in 31 and 32 years respectively; all four of them are texts on elementary quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. Wish we had "Quantum Mechanics for Dummies" or some such book. I wonder how many quantum physicists self-taught themselves the basics...
[If you feel like you're up to a challenge, I would highly recommend reading Brian Green's The Fabric of the Cosmos, which was the final step in my conversion to full-blown physicsaholic. It has virtually no math whatsoever in it, just theory explained in everyday terminology. There are even several examples using the Simpsons.]
or Delta Pace
That pretty much says it all.
They say that an obscene percentage of college students change their major/career plans at least once while taking undergrad courses. And now, it seems that I am quickly headed towards becoming one of those statistics.
What else can I say? I love physics. It's applied math, used for research in some of the most cunning ways in the most cutting-edge fields of modern physics. It beats trying to beat stupid high school shits into believing that the quadratic equation really is important.
I started my first field experience today in which I will actually take control of a certain period twice a week for a period of several weeks. Instead of looking forward to it with an expected amount of nervousness, I know I'm going to get up in front of those kids on Thursday with nothing but a feeling of defeat. These kids don't give a damn, plain and simple. Few of them ever will. I know it's not like me to give in to such feelings of hopelessness, but I would have to face that crap day in and day out for the rest of my working life. I'm not sure if that's really the way I want to spend my life.
I've checked out a couple of books from the library. Two of them haven't been off of the shelf in 31 and 32 years respectively; all four of them are texts on elementary quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. Wish we had "Quantum Mechanics for Dummies" or some such book. I wonder how many quantum physicists self-taught themselves the basics...
[If you feel like you're up to a challenge, I would highly recommend reading Brian Green's The Fabric of the Cosmos, which was the final step in my conversion to full-blown physicsaholic. It has virtually no math whatsoever in it, just theory explained in everyday terminology. There are even several examples using the Simpsons.]
Positive outlook: This physics stuff will take a while, but eventually it will come to me easily enough that I feel comfortable leaving the EDU Dept and start to browse the Purdue catalog for the requirements for a physics major.
Realistic outlook: I'll debate for so long that I'll have no choice but to continue in the teaching track, whether I like it or not.
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