This post is overdue...

...Much like the rest of my posts. Regardless, I've been thinking lately about how ridiculous the things I am learning in my classes are. That is, the stuff that I'm learning now would have looked like rocket science if I had looked at it 3 years ago. Would you believe that if theta hat approaches the parameter theta as n approaches infinity, then theta hat is an asymptotically unbiased estimator? Crazy, I know. One way or another, it's insane what you are actually able to understand with some good instruction behind it. Not to mention a little hard work... That was something I never needed in high school. Now, I slave away in the library, studying and doing homework amidst lengthy facebook breaks. Amazing how things change in a few short years. Then, I was a Bruster's Ice Cream Super Scooper. Now, I'm interviewing for a serious internship with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Don't grow up too fast, kiddies-- Being a kid is fun!

Now that I've basically rambled through an entire post, I'll avoid putting you through more.

Go Apps!
Chad

p.s. Vandy and Nova really destroyed my bracket.

Boyz II Men know what's up.

Why do I say that? Because it is, in fact, so hard to say goodbye to yesterday. As a junior, I'm beginning to realize that I am academically over the hill. My short time (at least compared to the span of a lifetime) here at Appalachian is beginning to come to a close, and I'm beginning to enter panic mode. Sure, I have an entire year left in front of me, but reality is setting in: Soon, and very soon, I will be a grown-up. Which (for me at least) entails leaving this place which has become home for me. So, with that being said, let me leave you with a few things that must be done while you are here, if you come here (Gotta leave a legacy somehow!):

1. Get involved with something that gives you an opportunity to leave your mark.
2. Go to every sporting event possible.
3. If the football team makes it to the national championship game, GO.
4. Do your homework the night it is due.
5. Try to make it to the Hebron Rock Colony at least once every fall.
6. Try to make it out to the Blue Ridge Parkway at least once every other month.
7. Soak in Appalachian culture, love your surroundings and the people around you.
8. Grow a beard, if your genes allow it.
9. Instead of looking online for weather-related cancellations, call (828) 262-7669 from your bed.
10. Get to know your professors. They offer a wealth of knowledge and most of them are pretty cool.

With that being said...

See ya! (Wouldn't wanna be ya!!!!)

OHHHHH

It's been too long!

I know you all miss me terribly. And I, of course, have missed you.

Life can be quite the whirlwind when you're in college. Here you are, enjoying your Christmas break, eating some great mom-food and opening presents, and the next thing you know you're eating canned ravioli and orange juice straight from the jug studying for your first exams of the spring semester already.

Here's a flawed logical statement for you (I learned how to construct logical statements in my Intro to Logic class with Dr. Jack Kwong. He's the man!)

Time flies when you're having fun.
Time flies when you're in college.

Therefor, you must be having fun while you're in college.

You liked that, right? Okay so even though there was some flawed logic there, the conclusion is true. College is basically thebomb.com.

Did I mention that I had a treacherous journey down the mountain back to Raleigh this weekend? The sky dumped about 6-8 inches of wintry precipitation on Boone Thursday night and Friday morning. And I really needed to get home Friday afternoon. So I turned my iPod to the most epic music I had (The Lord of the Rings:Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack) and just as I started my descent down the mountain, this song played. As I turned the overdrive off in my car and rode down the mountain at a modest 35 mph, I could feel the intensity of the drive in the car. My life could be a movie.

Not that anyone would watch it. One way or another, I made it down safely, and I made it back up safely, and I devoured some mom-food in the process! (as you make your way into college, you realize how important this is)

So this brings me to today. College is all about making your own choices. Just now, I decided to write this blog for you folks instead of doing my Mathematical Statistics homework. So now I should probably go do that...

Peace out!

More than you may even want to know about me...

My dad had a massive heart attack and passed away exactly one year ago yesterday.

In many ways it was the worst possible situation. He was only fifty-five. It was 6 days before Christmas. His funeral had to be two days before Christmas, meaning that no-one with out-of-town plans was able to attend. And he was no distant father, he did much more than pay the bills and do his own thing. We were very close. He was a superb husband and dad. But it's easy to count the ways your father's death was especially painful.

What's more interesting are the blessings scattered throughout the situation. He had been unemployed for about a month and a half prior to his death. I called home fairly frequently previously, but once he was laid off I called every day and talked to him for at least ten minutes. I arrived home on the 17th, two days before he died. But I was able to spend almost the entire day on the 18th hanging out with him. His death occurring at the very beginning of Christmas break probably seemed like awful timing, but in fact it was perfect. I had no plans to work over Christmas break, so I was able to fully devote my time to all the arrangements that need to be made following the death of a family member (if you've never experienced them, you would not believe how much needs to be done) and grieve for three whole weeks.

And then there are the blessings relevant to this blog, which were actually some of the most important blessings I experienced during that time.

If you spend any amount of time on App's campus, you will inevitably here the term "Appalachian Family". I can assure you that what sounds like a generic cliche certainly is not, and that the sense of family and camaraderie experienced between all those with any connection to Appalachian is very real and very special. I had friends from Winston Salem, Greensboro, and Charlotte who, two days before Christmas, left their families and drove to Raleigh (up to a 2.5 hour drive) to attend my dad's one-hour-long funeral service, hung around for a half hour or so afterwards, and then drove straight back home. I will value these friends, and their commitment to support me through anything, for the rest of my life. I knew none of these people before I stepped foot on App's campus, and I can't help but feel as though our relationships would not be the same had we met somewhere else. The Appalachian Family extends far and wide, but more importantly, it is genuine and it changes lives. No other institution can nurture relationships they way that App does.

That being said, I hope all of you enjoy your time with your family this season. Be sure not to take eachother for granted, and be safe!

Go Apps!

Chad

Exams:really hard, or really hard not to like?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! EXAMMSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

...oh wait... I have it pretty easy during exams!

That's right folks, I've stumbled into a fantastic position to be in during exams in college: though this semester has unquestionably been my hardest, I am somehow making it out at the end of the semester with two moderately difficult exams, and two gimmes. So I look around at all my friends studying for their dreaded exams for Organic Chemistry, Cost Accounting, Calculus II, and so on and so forth, and yet I waste away more of my time playing video games, updating my fantasy teams, and making plans to go to chattanooga FOR THE FCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!

It's really pretty awesome, I think. Other people are studying day in and day out, and I just see this coming week as an opportunity to hang around the apartment and do nothing. I'm sure that probably bothers a lot of people-- my beautiful girlfriend Erica hates me for it (in the most loving way possible, of course). And don't get me wrong, I'll be studying some. Probably 2 hours for Linear Algebra, another 3 for Mathematical Statistics, one hour for Intro to Finance, and 20 minutes for History of Rock. But that totals to just over six hours of studying over the next week. So that means in seven days, there are 7*24=168 hours in a week, minus 7*8 for sleeping =168-56=112, so 6/112=.053571. I will be spending about 5.3571% of my waking hours this week studying, and about the same (six hours) taking exams. So that means I'll spend approximately 10.7142% of my waking hours participating in academic activities. Not a bad week, if you ask me :) More to come later!

Testing 1-2-3

Gotcha!

As it turns out, this isn't really a test, but seeing as how this whole blogging thing is kind of new to me, I figured that a title implying that this post was only a test would, in the case that this post was lame, make you think, "Oh, that was only bad because it was a test." See how clever I am?

One way or another, the purpose of this blog is to inform you (whoever you are) about college life, and life at Appalachian. I don't know much about college life-- I've been doing too much since I got here (anyone catch the irony in that statement :-P ?) I guess that's really one of the most important things about going to college: get involved. A lot. Class is great, and I'm always yearnin' for some learnin', but college is every bit as much about social growth as it is about academic growth. Having the best possible college experience is all about balancing your academic work with cultivating a life outside of class.

In other news, my fantasy football team is about to get above .500 for the first time since the 3rd week of the season. Assuming Matt Schaub doesn't have a career day tomorrow...

More to come later!