<p>I was reading all of this during first period but unfortunately did not have enough time to comment.</p>
<p>I really don’t want to go down this path, but the whole name change thing… I think that is impossible (correct me if I am wrong) But you need APs, SATs, transcripts, club lists, FAFSA forms everything with a false name, that is criminal offense for some of those.</p>
<p>Anyways I have to go with Mintie on this one.
[quote]
Cedric’s acceptance into Brown can be described as an act of affirmative action. Many institutions use this form of positive discrimination in attempt to overcome the lack of developmental assets many minorities face. Although on the surface it may seem a noble cause, it is merely a weak partial effort that whisks these kids out of unstable environments and puts them in a position with only a fa</p>
<p>I have a shocking admission everyone: I can’t use macs. I’m extremely computer illiterate even though I’ve been around computers since I was like 4 or 5. My mom has a few macs at the house because she does graphing design and I’ve managed to crash one, and I accidentally uninstalled 3 adobe programs off of another one and it took like 4 hours to re-install everything. So anyway, I got a macbook last Christmas and I finally thought I would learn how to use one. I ended up just getting really frustrated and I asked my mom if I could buy the mac version of windows to make my mac run like a pc… and I got one of THE most disappointed looks I’ve ever seen on my mother’s face (she’s a HUGE apple fan). Long story short, the only mac I can work with is mac and cheese. </p>
<p>wow, that was really random.</p>
<p>About the race thing, seriously just let it go. If people want to change their names, what does it matter? There are students at my school who change their names, have a stupid surgery to create that wrinkle on the upper eyelid, and a barrage of other futile things to hide their race. Race doesn’t define a person; true, cultural influences have a lot of impact on who we are, but no single person can be categorized by a silly checklist of things stereotypically associated with an ethnic group or a set of political lines that are in themselves intangible. In any case, if you really want to do it, it really doesn’t matter. The point is, don’t lose yourself in something as stupid as college admissions; who you are as a person is far more important than anything an employer will find on your resume.</p>
<p>UBER!!! I’m so disappointed in you! OMG! Okay i’ll have to give you a mac tutorial one day. it’s 10 times simpler than any windows os ever. trust me.</p>
<p>Roam, good call: camera is definitely a must! I’m probably going to end up taking a gazillion pictures And why not bring your artstuff? I think that’s a good idea. You can use it to make your room home-y, at the very least. Plus, it’ll be handy in case you have a sudden burst of inspiration :)</p>
<p>Possible Things to Bring, Con’t.</p>
<p>-Books! books! and more books!
-Cool stationery
-Flashlight
-Fan (one of the old-fashioned Chinese ones, not the electric kind)
-Something important I’m forgetting…</p>
<p>Okay let’s just stop scratching the itch. Remember kids, karma! Karma’s awesome; I think it means ‘statistically speaking’ in Hindi, am I right? The Dalai Lama had a discussion/presentation a few months ago when he was in Vancouver and he talked a litte about karma. The best part was when this doctor on the discussion panel on the stage asked the Lama something about karma and the Dalai Lama replied (in his characteristic stilted manner) “karma isn’t magic… it’s just statistics with morality.” And he gave this hilarious explanation involving energy and attraction and he went off on this brilliant tangent about how everyone has a capacity for happiness… wish you could have heard it.</p>
<p>Sheep! Will I be seeing you at Cornell II/I? Cool. I’ll try to bring mine…The only thing is, I suck at it and will probably bring only grief to my fellow TASPers’ delicate hearing. :P</p>
<p>OH AND maybe a ddr mat, if I can find my playstation and the ddr game (o the thought, LOL!)</p>
<p>I won’t be able to bring my instrument (I play the double-bass), but are any UMichers planning on bringing theirs? A TASP orchestra would be pretty cool (and also the summit of nerd mountain)</p>
<p>EDIT: Roam, don’t leave your paint set at home! If you ever get a burst of inspiration and need to paint, I’ll gladly join you in not finishing the assignment… or I’ll just do both of our assignments, we’ll see when we get there =P</p>
<p>I’m going to bring…the last couple harry potter books to reread before the last one comes out, letter writing stuff because I just found these letters my friends wrote to me at summer camp in like 6th grade which are hilarious, much better than emails, and for room decor…hmm…I’m always a fan of creative strings of lights. I think I have some cow ones somewhere. Just to remind me of Vermont and all.
Also, of course as soon as I posted yesterday that no one where I live has ever heard of TASP, I met someone who has. I was babysitting for these kids on my street today, and I’ve talked to their mom like twice, but when she came to pick them up she asked if I was going to be around to babysit this summer. I said I wasn’t because I was going to a program at UMich, and she was like, “Wait, is it TASP?” Turns out she went to one at Williams back in the day. She said she used to do interviews but stopped because the kids were always too far away…so I drove two hours for my interview when I could have literally walked across the street, haha. Small world.</p>
<p>Assorted: why don’t we all arrange to bring a few copies so you don’t have to lug them all?</p>
<p>If we have 2-3 copies of each Harry Potter book we can have a Harry Potter orgy a few days before Harry Potter 7 comes out I’ll bring…the fifth and sixth book. I can bring the fourth book too, if need be.</p>
<p>And karma is a curse. As Ellen puts it: Hope is a form of denial. And karma = hope.</p>
<p>^^ good idea, it would probably fill half a suitcase if I brought all of them…and since we apparently can only bring one suitcase in the shuttle, that would probably not be too wise. at the moment I can see numbers 3, 4, and 5 on my bookcase, I have the others somewhere though if I dig around.</p>
<p>Hairy Potter, eh? hehe…I’m actually just now reading the fifth and sixth installments. I know, I know…For some reason I just never got around to finishing the series. So am I right in assuming we’ll all go to see the new HP movie in July? That’ll be cool</p>
<p>^ You have 2-3 copes of each Harry Potter book!? As in, 2-3 Book 1, etc.? Woah tako! (And I though I was into Harry Potter.)</p>
<p>Anyone here agree that the 6th book was a little… different? from JKR’s other books? I didn’t think it was as good - but don’t take the the wrong way! >_< (Hides from hardcore Harry Potter fans.)</p>
<p>And karma’s interesting… Supposedly it has a lot more to do with your actions than your intentions. My geography teacher was explaining it us back in my sophmore year and he used an example about helping an old woman pick up her things. If you helped the old woman, sure, your intensions were good, but what happens if she was a bank robber and you helping her indirectly resulted in you helping her commit a crime? Well, you get negative karma! …which sucks, which is why I don’t believe in “karma” - surely the universe isn’t governed in such a superficial way? :/</p>
And why not bring your artstuff? I think that’s a good idea. You can use it to make your room home-y, at the very least. Plus, it’ll be handy in case you have a sudden burst of inspiration :)</p>
I’ll bring…the fifth and sixth book. I can bring the fourth book too, if need be.</p>
As in, 2-3 Book 1, etc.? Woah tako! (And I though I was into Harry Potter.)</p>