Tag: Physics

Finding a Niche

Finding a Niche

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When you come to college for the first time, it’s a bit difficult to find that perfect place to study. After growing up and spending a majority of your time at home, college it is quite the change of atmospheres.

Over the past week and for the next week I would probably go crazy if I did not have places on campus where I love to study. When you have a test in every class and you are a major in Biophysics and Biology, you’re bound to feel a little crazed.

Here are my two favorite study places:

Harry Potter Room: Honestly I have no idea how it got the name, I actually don’t even know the real name of the silent study hall in Cudahy Library. And personally I do not think it looks anything like the hall in Harry Potter. This space  is a large silent study hall with lots of people burying their heads in books and laptops.

Isaac and Al’s: This is the Physics study lounge, most departments do not have there own lounge but being that our dept. is kinda awesome we not only have a lounge but we are also equipped with a computer room providing free printing for Physics Majors. Not to mention the free food any time Professor Rubbel is in his good mood. Sure, it would be nice if the dome on top of Cudahy was a physics lounge but its not, it is an empty old room. If I get the chance to go up I will take a picture and post it as proof.

Gone With the Wind

Gone With the Wind

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Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, I make the 0.4 mile trek from Fordham Hall to Sullivan Center for Student Services for my first class of the day. Earlier in the school year, I was able to calculate that it takes me approximately 12 minutes to make that walk, which allows me to leave my dorm at 9:08 am and still make it to my 9:20 am class on time. However, starting in mid October, I noticed that I was consistently arriving at Sullivan sometime between 9:22 am and 9:24 am, thus making me late to class. I soon figured out the cause of my troubles: wind tunnels.

As a girl of small stature, the wind on campus is a formidable enemy for me. I have been blown into walls, bushes, traffic and helpless pedestrians. The best way to explain what I look like when caught up in a wind tunnel is to recommend that you watch this video:

Ducks blown off their feet by wind

In the map below, I have included my route to class and the areas on campus that I consider to be wind tunnels, symbolized by tornadoes.  As you can see, I encounter three such wind tunnels on my way to class.

A map of the wind tunnels I encounter on my journey to class

Realizing this allowed me to conclude that, even as unknowledgeable in physics as I am, I needed to factor wind resistance into the time it takes me to get to class. I now add about a minute for every normal sized wind tunnel and a minute and 30 seconds for every large wind tunnel I encounter, so I get to my classes, meetings, and adventures on time.

And the more I venture out, the more I come to realize that I can brave any weather, no matter how blustery…especially if I have my backpack to weigh me down!