I felt a nostalgia rush upon entering VRAC this morning. The warmth and mugginess felt like a heavy blanket. It felt like home. (I have no A/C in my house haha)

For the Luncheon Lecture, I enjoyed talking to Dr. Danielson today. His approach to improving education systems is quite interesting. The biggest takeaway, for me, was that lecture capture isn’t always helpful because it depends on the course subject. For example, lecture capture is a fantastic supplemental tool for courses that require more memorization (like anatomy) but not so much for courses that involve more problem-solving (like chemistry).

In the course of our conversation, I asked him about his academic history (what was his major). He said something along the lines of:

“For my undergrad, I majored in English and I minored in Film Studies. I wanted to screenwrite. But the lifestyle I wanted versus my goals… They were different and I had to change paths.”

I appreciated that. I’m still in the process of figuring out a lot of things in my professional life. Originally, I wanted to pursue the more traditional mechanical engineering route of graduating and going straight to industry (most likely working on CAD or HVAC/R systems).

But upon coming here, I realize that I want to chase after innovative research (especially in regards to virtual reality). Also, I realize that I strongly dislike the Midwestern weather (no offense y’all). But… the stuff I want to work on is here… so I’m definitely going to have to compromise between geography and work goals.