Star Trek and Georgia Tech

I've officially been accepted to the Georgia Tech Honors Program. And because I've been accepted to college, and the honors program, have a bad case of senioritis, and have been feeling decidedly spunky lately, I responded with the above e-mail (click on the picture for a better view).

Good choice? Good choice.

**Note that this does not mean that I will definitely be attending Georgia Tech. It just means that if I do, I'll be in the Honors Program.

UIL and Anglerfish

I am afraid of fish. You have no idea how massively uncomfortable this makes me.

Oh, hey. Long time, no see. Lately, I've been devoting most of my efforts towards my youtube channels, EveryFlavorVlogs and katherinifyable. Which explains why I haven't been updating the blog. Sorry.

On to things pertinent to senior year.

I'm officially on the UIL Ready Writing team, which means that I competitively write essays on behalf of my school. To most people, I suppose this is the exact opposite of fun. But I'm different--in an ideal world, I would do nothing but write essays, watch Star Trek, and make videos. I actually look forward to cold writes in English. I like to tell people my opinions when I'm asked, and I like to flaunt my (humble) knowledge of current events, literature, history, and science. Essays are my thing.

In order to obtain my sacred position on the team, I had to try out. Yes, there are other people that enjoy sitting in a chair for two hours and analyzing ethics. Actually, there are five other people that tried out for the three spots on the team.

So here's how it works: we're given two quotes--one relatively modern, and one from another era. We choose one of the two quotes, and write an essay over it, interpreting it as we wish. Unfortunately, the paper with the prompts is missing in action, but I do, however, have the essay that I wrote in response, which gained me my spot on the team.

The Hope Lies with the Proles

"The hope lies with the proles." It is the phrase echoed by Winston Smith in George Orwell's 1984, suggesting that the key to triumphing over an oppressive system resides in education. It is a paradox: freedom derives from education, yet education is limited when freedom is limited--they are mutually dependent. Without education, the knowledge that injustice persists will remain unknown, and injustices will continue.

The anglerfish dwells in a permanent state of ignorance, completely unaware of how truly abysmal a life it leads. The anglerfish is frightening, scaly, and an unattractive specimen of the animal kingdom. It is a habitant of the deep sea, a highly inhospitable environment as a result of tremendous levels of pressure, a severely limited amount of light, and it consequently maintains a highly restricted diet of whatever happens to fall into the depths of the sea. Yes, the deep sea anglerfish has no reason to be happy, but it is ignorant of a better, more hospitable world. It is content with the depressing sea around it only because to the anglerfish, nothing else exists.

Humans too often suffer from the condition of the anglerfish, or at least they do in Orwell's 1984. The proles, non-government workers with mundane, unknowingly restricted lives, are unaware of their manipulation and oppression by the INGSOC regime. They, like the anglerfish, have no motive for their happiness, yet they are content with their lives because nothing else exists to them. But the anglerfish and the proles differ: the proles have the power to rebel and resist their oppression. This idea of the human ability, necessity, and desire for rebellion litters the pages of Helen Maria William's Julia, which contains her poem "The Bastille: A Vision." In the poem, a prisoner of the Bastille, after immense torture, gains an omniscient persona that permits him to envision a future exempt of injustice. The speaker further exhorts the reader to resist subjugation and strive for injustice. But the key is education. Without knowledge of their situation, the proles do not know how to rebel, or, for that matter, how to rebel.

In the world beyond dystopia, satire, and omniscient personas, the paradox of freedom and education persists. China is largely recognized as one of the most controlling and restricting governments, and is increasingly recognized as such by its own citizens, with the growth of the internet. Companies such as Google have been criticized for their permittance of the Chinese censorship of the internet and communication, yet many Chinese citizens remain anglerfish in their world. Recently, however, large steps have been made towards the public education of China's people. The Google homepage has been rerouted to Hong Kong, which cannot be censored by the Chinese government. Now, searches including "Tienanmen Square" contain images of violence, uprising, and oppression, rather than the prior, highly-censored search results containing tourist information. In addition to Google, the Nobel Prize committee has made leaps toward universal freedom and education. This year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to an orchestrator of rebellions against the Chinese government, who coincidentally is also imprisoned by the government he resisted on account of his efforts. His receipt of the prize is predicted to lead to greater awareness among the Chinese people.

In the Middle East, such a rebellion that is only hypothesized of china has already occurred. A single fruit vendor, residing in Tunis, disenchanted with the treatment he had received from the government, lit himself on fire in a solitary act of resistance. His spontaneous suicidal mutiny did not go unnoticed by his fellow Tunisians.Within days, rioters plagued the streets in such great numbers that military force was required (although, they too could not dampen the flames of rebellion.) Their passionate opposition inspired many Egyptians, particularly the radical political party The Muslim Brotherhood, and spurred an overthrowal of their long-time president Hosni Mubarak, and a complete reestablishment of the Egyptian government. and it began with a Tunisian fruit vendor, who unknowingly educated the masses in a rash act of bravery.

Overcoming justice isn't easy. It requires martyrs and dedication. However, the first and most important step towards freedom is education--of the masses, not of the elite. But until the public is educated, injustice will continue until people are aware of the world around them. The hope lies in education

You may have picked up on the anglerfish motif. I'd like to chalk that up to my own creativity, but I infact ripped it off from the famous vlogger Hank Green, of vlogbrothers fame. Watch the video that inspired it here:

More Interviews

I had initially intended to blog about my interviews with Columbia Engineering and Harvard immediately following their occurrence, but I was preoccupied by the time-suckingness of Poet Museum.

I interviewed with a Mechanical Engineering major from Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (c/o 2010) on Sunday at a Starbucks. The kid that went before me was named Dennis, and I was the third person she interviewed that day, which may or may not be ominous. I didn't feel spectacular about that interview--for some reason, I wasn't able to think on my toes quickly. I kinda felt like I was translating all of my thoughts into another language.

On Monday, I met with a Harvard graduate (c/o 2004) at Panera Bread. The interview was to occur at 6:30 pm, but for some reason, I thought it was at 4:30. Needless to say, I was incredibly stressed out when she wasn't there at 4:45, until I realized that I came at the wrong time. So I went home, did some homework, and came back at the correct time. There was a knitting club going on simultaneously, which was quite awkward... and ridiculously awesome. I genuinely enjoyed this interview. Very stimulating conversation. DISCLAIMER: I don't actually think I can get in to either school.

Poet Museum

The last week or so of my life has been completely and utterly devoted to Poet Museum. Poet Museum is to senior year as national conventions are to presidential elections. (Side note: I didn't come up with that analogy... it is the brainchild of my government teacher.) Poet Museum is either the culmination of a massive amount of effort, and the point at which seniors are officially allowed to succumb to senioritis. In a word: ugghhhhhhh.

My partner and I chose to present over Helen Maria Williams. She's fairly obscure, so I'll summarize: she's an over-sexed radical for the French Revolution who lives to be provocative.

I made this video, which is a (ridiculously dramatic) reading of our poem. And by "made", I really mean "spent over twenty-four hourse agonizing over".

Yes, the first song is "O Children" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Yes, that is the song that Harry and Hermione danced to in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And yes, that is Voldemort at 2:54, between the clips of Hitler.

And here are a few pictures of other people's presentations that I made my brother take because he was loitering around our table too much:

On Hortas and Justice

A Horta, from Season 1, episode 25 ("The Devil in the Dark") of Star Trek, The Original Series

It’s funny how the simplest, most concise statements can be interpreted a multitude of ways. Take, for example, the phrase “You cannot eat my sandwiches”. It could be taken to mean “you cannot eat my sandwiches”, meaning that someone else can eat the sandwiches, but the person being addressed cannot. “You cannot eat my sandwiches” could be interpreted as an accusation that the person addressed does not have the ability to eat the sandwiches. “You cannot eat my sandwiches” may mean that something else can be done with the sandwiches. “You cannot eat my sandwiches” may ban the person addressed from eating those specific sandwiches, but still entitles the person to eat other sandwiches. And finally, “you cannot eat my sandwiches” limits the person from eating the sandwiches, but says nothing about not eating other food.

Even the biblical phrase “Thou shalt not murder” is a hazy command. What or who shalt thou not murder? Shalt thou murder murderers? Shalt thou murder those who aren’t of the same nature? Does the law apply to thou, the individual, but not to thou, the group? I am no judge of character. I’m not very apt at determining the guilty party, or rather, the more guilty party, in a situation. I wouldn’t know what consequences to assign to a convicted criminal. But sometimes, I we (which may refer to either my own subset of the population, or the entirety of it, depending on your perception) are too quick to judge.

In the Star Trek episode “Devil in the Dark”, a creature is murdering many miners in a colony on Janus VI. The crew, which includes Kirk, Spock, assorted red shirts, and miners from the colony, embarks on an expedition to kill the creature. However, Spock (who prides himself as being logical and devoid of emotion), brings up the point that the creature may be the last of its kind, and killing it would be a “crime against science”. When faced with the creature, which identify as a Horta, Kirk finds himself unable to kill it, on account of its seemingly passive nature. Spock does a trippy Vulcan mind trick, and finds that the miners had killed thousands of Horta eggs (without actually being aware that they were eggs), which the Horta was obligated to protect, and was acting out of defense when she murdered members of the colony. And then, like any classic Star Trek episode, all conflict is resolved and the Horta and the colony work in peace without any further issues. I’m not sure who was more or less justified in that situation, the Horta or the colonists. As previously stated, I’m not sure where justice lies in most situations. However, I do acknowledge that I am no judge.

This is exactly the issue that Elizabeth Bennet faces in Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth, who “fancies herself a good judge of character”, initially perceives Mr. Darcy as pretentious and haughty. His actions are later revealed to be (relatively) justified as the novel progresses, and she falls in love with him, in another Star Trek-y ending that is far too resolved to plausibly reflect actual life. Austen purposefully make Elizabeth relatable, so that the reader may realize that he or she (probably she) is also guilty of prejudice. It is indeed a “truth universally acknowledged” that the majority of the words that spew from our mouths about other people is complete codswallop. I, for one, stick my foot in my mouth multiple times in a single day. And I’m fairly sure I’m not the only one with saliva on their toes (but I wouldn’t want to make assumptions, as that would be judgmental).

Even (or rather, especially) under the hand of the government, people are misjudged and punished although innocent. Consider, for example, the millions of Jews whose lives were taken although leading innocent lives. But even their deaths were justified to their murderers. Do you know how many innocent people have been ordered to death in our own governmental system? The woman who kept the inn where John Wilkes Booth and his cronies formulated their plans to assassinate Abraham Lincoln was sentenced to the death penalty, although not actually having any knowledge of the assassination itself. I mean, I understand that it was during a time of political turmoil, and the entire country hated anyone who had anything to do with John Wilkes Booth, and our current society is much more civilized (or at least, we think we are), but seriously?

I’m not too big on judging in general. Not merely because I’m so bad at it myself, but because there is so much room for error on issues that have the potential to be serious. So many issues are simply not able to be quantized. Honestly, I don’t understand our societal need to group, rank, and isolate individuals. Why should it matter if I’m ranked fourth, fortieth, or four-hundredth in an easily-manipulated system largely based on effort rather than intelligence, in which the variables are readily skewed? Why should the amount of melanin in my skin restrict or permit me to receive special scholarships? Why would the number of blemishes on my face, the yellow-ness of my teeth, or the shape of my figure make me more or less beautiful than any other person? The fact of the matter is that as much as we want it to, there is no formula to life by which we can determine justice, and as wonderful mathematicians as we fancy ourselves, there is no way that we could possibly derive one.

P.S. I have a multitude of news, ranging from college interviews to AP English projects, to battling exhaustion.