Back in Time

Everyday at Brown is always different. There is no way that any day will be boring, even if you don't do anything else besides go to class, because just being on campus is an experience within itself. During our class, which feels short and sweet for the amount that we learn, we take notes through a lecture, then we get to discuss our group projects for about half an hour. I'm really excited for our presentation, I have a feeling that it's going to go very well. We assigned ourselves each an aspect of our China vs. America Powerpoint presentation, and I'm going to be researching the pros of China's governmental policies and America's government's cons. 


Today, after class, the cohort and Mrs. Kaplan went to Governor Brown's house. Though he wasn't actually the one who Brown University is named for, he was an instrumental part of Rhode Island's foundation. Admittedly, after a long class, I was not really looking forward to taking a tour of an antique house, but in hindsight, I'm really glad we went. Unlike some historical sights, all of the furniture and 'hardware' (East coast for doors and handles) are original antiques. Seeing the tables they wrote on, chairs they sat on, beds they slept on, and even the clothes they wore was almost a surreal experience. That unearthly feeling may have been contributed to by some heat stroke and dehydration, but nonetheless, I really enjoyed the Brown House. 

Governor Brown's house. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside the house.

After dropping by back at my dorm, which has become the designated snack and study spot, and getting some pizza at Antonio's, the Macro kids went to our movie night. On the 4th of July, class is cancelled, so in order to make up this class time, our professor organized an educational film night. As we got comfortable in our chairs, Nick Coleman popped in the 'Moneyball' DVD. Some might be suspicious about the actual educational quality of the film, but one of the main protagonists studied economics at Yale, so that's it right there. All joking aside, because Moneyball is based on a true story, even though every single reference to sports player or team went over my head, it was fun to see how math could actually be applied in real life. I doubt I'll ever be a General Manager of a sports team, but if I were, I know how I would pick my players. Applied math is a lot more interesting to me than just theoretical, because you can actually test it, instead of just taking it as it is. What studying at Brown has taught me, besides how many times the A's have won the World Series, is that there is always a way to do what you want, even if you're taking one specific class. I'm taking Macroeconomics, but I still get to learn a bit about statistics and how they're used in the real world.