Invisible Children

This past Saturday, I woke up at 9am, took a shower, packed my bags, went out to Walgreens and bought sufficient quantities of food and water to last me through the rest of the day and the next morning. I then proceeded to pick up one of my close friends from her house, and drive to the train station where we met about a dozen other students from GBN who were sharing our interest in this important cause: Invisible Children. This day, we were going to be part of a HUGE crowd of teenagers and adults from the chicagoland area that wanted to aid in The Rescue of Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers.

It was about a 45 minute ride on the train from Northbrook to Union Station. Once we got there, we walked from Union Station to Federal Plaza. Here was where we would be "abducted." Our group was given a piece of twine that we all had to hold onto on our march to our "LRA camp". The march all together was about 2-3 miles, however, with an added factor, it felt much longer.

It had been forcasted to rain, but no one had any idea how much that would turn out to be. Before we even left on our march, it started lightly drizzling. By the time we were halfway there, me and my group were absolutely DRENCHED, and it was storming like crazy. Pouring, freezing rain is an understatement! By the time we got to the LRA camp, we started seeing lightning, and our group leader, Mrs. Flannigan, told us there was no way we would be able to stay overnight. We ended up leaving at around 7pm, and headed back to Northbrook.

We ended up celebrating on the train, as we still helped raise awareness for this important cause. We were able to make it through the entire march, regardless if we stayed overnight, and we all donated a generous amount of money before we left. During the march, we often paused and looked back at how many people were behind us, standing up for our same beliefs. Looking at these people, also soaking wet, walking through the streets, it was one of the most impacting sights I have ever been able to see. We couldn't see the end.

Still, I feel a little disappointed that we weren't able to spend the night. There were groups that were able to stay, and although it was out of my power, I was sad that I wasn't able to tough it out. The children in Uganda aren't ever given that kind of chance, to just back out when things seem too tough. It pains me to think of what they have to deal with daily, when we couldn't even spend one night sleeping in the rain.

I strongly urge everyone who is able to help, please do. Go to the Invisible Children website. Watch the video. Buy a shirt, or a DVD, or a bracelet, anything. Spread the word. Help these Invisible Children return home.

Quants?

What does physics and Wall Street have in common?

You might think next to nothing.  If you did, I bet you'd reconsider after reading this article

They Tried To Outsmart Wall Street

here's a short excerpt form the article:

"They are known as "quants" because they do quantitative finance.  Seduced by a vision of mathematical elegance underlying some of the messiest of human activities, they apply skills they once hoped to use to untangle string theory or the nervous system to making money."

I found it so interesting to see the correlation between these very important areas of study.  As a math dork myself, any application of math to everyday life intrigues me.  Most people think of math as a boring class filled with busy work that will get you nowhere in life.   However, people like these have been impacting our world in ways we have no idea.  I personally commend these men and women for doing what i aspire to do when i get older: to apply mathematical logic to my profession, and to apply it in a way that greatly influences many people.

SMiLE!

for those who don't know me too well, i'm a person who always needs to be improving at something.  if i have no goals i am trying to accomplish, i will end up going crazy!  so the newest fad i've been researching is cosmetic dentistry, specifically teeth whitening.  i've looked through many websites and found this website the most informative.  i encourage everyone who is also interested in this topic to look at that website for risks, caveats, and more.

i'm not planning on doing any in-office whitening treatments, so it's very important to find a treatment that can be purchased over the counter, but still be reliable. so if anyone has any recommendations from firsthand or secondhand experiences, please let me know!