The Last Word, or Mines Quotes Part 4 of 4

This is another "4 of 4" post, which just means that I don't really know what to say. I think I've said it in my posts from previous years (Junior Year, Sophomore Year, and Freshman Year): yes, Mines kids (and profs) say funny things, especially when it is late and we are delirious. Yes, the GP lyfe and Mines life are interesting lives to lead and would make for an interesting sitcom. But I think what I said freshman year really captures when I'm trying to say: That I think you all are awesome and that I know I couldn't have made it out of Mines without my Mines Kids.

Senior year was special, I have to admit. First, people everywhere started asking us questions like:
"How's Senior Design going?"
"Are you excited to graduate?"
"Do you have a job?"
"Do you have every aspect of the next 50 years of your life figured out?"

So thank you, fellow seniors, for sharing in the inside joke that the only logical answer to these and other questions are to look at another senior and start laughing. Or crying. Mostly crying.

Senior year was also special because we knew we didn't have to figure out the little stuff like we did the first few years. By this time, we knew school was hard, but we knew we could make it. Probably. We knew who our classmates were and what our professors might be like. I accepted that I would procrastinate everything and didn't lie to myself otherwise, yet still lamented against myself when everything was due. We realized that there were a lot more important things than homework. And we had our friends and knew who we wanted to spend our last semesters with. Okay, maybe that's not necessarily little stuff. But anyway.

Here are quotes from some of the cast of characters from my senior year, and as you will see, their quotes range on the spectrum of profound wisdom to moments of nerdy laughter. As a sidenote, each set of quote posts since sophomore year has contained at least one Pokemon reference. Never change, Mines.

***
"I'm a senior. I shouldn't have to go to class." ~ Jake

"I have to go do homework. Well, is Senior Design really considered homework or torture?" ~ Antonia

"It's so boring. I'd rather fail the class than listen to lecture." ~ Eric, on Thermo 209

"It looks like 4 questions, but it's really 40 questions." ~ Rachel, on Jeff homework assignments

"It's a lot cooler to know the Creator of the stuff rather than just the stuff." ~ Michael

"I think free food is a symbol of salvation. Like, we didn't do anything to deserve it. But it's there for the taking." ~ Craig

"The best free food is stolen." ~ Colton

"I wish the library allowed food. And by allowed food, I mean sold food. I don't understand why they don't allow food, because no one reads the books." ~ Rima

"I thought that was a box of donuts but I was so confused because the box said Reservoir Fluid Properties." ~ Amanda, on Ganaa's binder

"Let's put a unit impulse in this jelly bean system." ~ Sean

"I must sleep. It is my time. Farewell. ...That sounds like a suicide note, but you should know that I just ordered an ice cream maker, so I have a lot to live for." ~ Jayden

Colton, looking for a laptop: "I need Windows."
Me: "Story of our lives." (because Green Center has no windows)

"I want to say spiked my interest, but spike makes me think of a Green's function." ~ Elizabeth, on writing to professors for grad school

Krista: "So whether you're getting married, or going to grad school..."
Me: "Yeah, there were two choices. No one wanted to marry me, so I thought, 'Better apply to grad school.'"

"I saw you meeting new people, and I thought, 'I'm glad that's not me meeting new people.'" ~ Andy

"I have a bunch of friends. I see them every day in class." ~ Jake

"Computers aren't your friends. You have to beat the computer into submission." ~ Colton

"He's an abuser. He treats his computers like he treats his coffee." ~ CompScis in Higher Grounds, on one of their professors.

Sean: "Austin, what is geophysics?"
Austin: "Geophysics is when you bang your head against the ground [demonstrates]... and send an impulse through it...and then listen for the echo."

"I miss studying for tests." ~ Rosie, on the torture of Inversion homework

"Huygens..Fermat...meh, I don't know, I'm more of a Maxwell guy." ~ Joseph, on Seismic vs Potential Fields

"We're the three slacketeers!" ~ Rachel

Me: "Why are we so smart?"
"Because we're geophysicists."
Shane: "I think we're just not dumb. There's a difference."

"Guys we're the most attractive department at this school." ~Nik

While studying for Stratigraphy:
Emily: "What does 'coarse with some fine sediments' mean?"
Shane: "Like when a girl tells you she's fine.."
Chloe: "...She's not fine."

Craig: "The arabian peninsula is its own plate..."
Jace: "I was never good with geometry."

"Holy geology, Batman!" ~ Roy

In regards to becoming co-department head of Geophysics:
Tyrel: "When you become an admin or department head, everyone hates you. Even your professors."
Me: "Not Terry!"
Colton: "Terry still teaches. That might be why."
Me: "We can teach. You'll teach Java and I'll teach EPICS."
Colton: "Okay, perfect. You'll teach them MATLAB and I'll teach them (real) programming."

"I've slept so much lately...all that's left for me to become a Snorlax is to grow fur and start blocking people's paths." ~ Antonia, after school was over

Professor quotes:
"I was very forgiving in my grading...it was sunny and I was happy." ~ Andreas

"Keep this handy. It's not in the book, but I thought it was kind of cute." ~ Andreas

"Jeff is the fountain of all knowledge, as we know." ~ Ed

"I will continue to call is aluminium, I'm sorry. It's such a corruption of our language." Ed, on aluminum and English

"This is a Science paper. Which doesn't necessarily mean it's correct. But it's sexy." ~ Ed

"If you guys hate trigonometry, I have bad news for you. I kind of like trigonometry." ~ Paul

"When you start forgetting things, forget this last." ~ Paul, on something I already forgot

"I'll probably use them inconsistently myself." ~ Warren, on geology terms

"Back to my favorite villains, the modelers..." ~ Warren

"There is.. stuff in the solar system." ~ Jeff

"The rich get richer, and the poor form a thin veneer on the rich." ~ Jeff, on the accretionary stage of planetary formation

"You guys are all lithophiles because you're geophysicists." ~ Jeff

"In (Continuum Mechanics class) I told you all that this happened and you believed me like suckers." ~ Jeff

"I don't publish it, and no one else has either, so consider it fiction." ~ Jeff

"Science is like skiing – you have to be willing to fall if you ever hope to do anything great." ~ Jeff

Me: "Who would the bizzaro Jeff be?"
Jeff: "Dave Hale. Haha just kidding."

"I don't know if there's an easy degree program at Mines, but Geophysics definitely isn't it." ~ Dave Hale

"Woody Allen said half of life is showing up. Well, 10% of life is showing up." Dave, on attendance

"The passive voice is not liked by me very much." ~ Roel

"I expect you to write that. Treat me like an imbecile." ~ Prof. Martin

"As long as you keep your wits about you, it will be fine." ~ Prof. Martin

Stuff Mines People Say, v3.1: Now with even more Geophysics flavor!

Catastrophic loss of credit!! Donuts. Tests that took up two classes. Skipping Structural to go to Chick-fil-a. Writing "I'm sorry :(" on the front of a test. You know, normal things in the GP lyfe (geophysics life, for those who don't understand) and Mines life.

In the craziness of rushing from the end of the semester, to field camp, then straight to internships, I almost overlooked at how great of a year Junior Year was. I never want to do it again, and thankfully I don't have to, but there were some crazy, dorky, difficult, fun, and all-around good times spent with both new and old friends.

So without further rambling on the nerdiness and hilarity of Mines kids (and professors), here are Junior Year's quotes. These also include some from Field Camp. There aren't many from second semester...I think I was having too much fun, or got Junioritis or something, so I'm sure I missed some gems that I didn't save. (Sophomore and Freshman Year's are linked for nostalgia's sake.)

***

"I hate boys. I hate Dynamic Fields." ~ Rosie

"I want to get a telescope lens and take pictures of people who are at the top and then run up and meet them with prints." ~ Jayden, on hikers on South Table

"Sometimes I think life would be easier as a MechE." ~ Rima

"Storm's taking a procrastishower real quick." ~ Shane

Cashier at Snarf's: "Do you have your CSM student ID?"
Me: "Not on me, but I do have the emotional scars."

"I call him the gravity whisperer....[whispers] because he talks like this..." ~ Shane, on Rich, our gravity prof.

"If I would've taken this class in 4th grade I would've gotten an A in this class." ~ Shane

Me: "Why are you ramped up?"
Shane: "Because of Field Methods...that class sucks."
Me: "But it's not even Thursday yet..."
Shane: "But it will be...eventually."

"There are two kinds of fedora: real fedora and CompSci fedora." ~ Laine

Rosie: "I bet if you polled the school, the majority of them would say they like hockey."
Shane: "I bet if you polled the school, the majority of them would say they like baseball."
Brandon: "If you polled the school, they would say they watch Pokemon."

"Without me, we wouldn't have made it this far in college. Well, I wouldn't have made it this far without me. True story." ~ Shane

"Anna was almost our 29th electrode." ~ Joey, after Anna almost touched an electrode during a DC survey in GPGN303

"If I got a B in AEM, I would punch myself in the face." ~ Shane

"What happens in the Linux Lab stays in the Linux Lab." ~ Stephen and Colton

"And that is why we are esteemed geophysicists. We are not limited by that thing known as reality." ~ Stephen, on geology

"The great thing about Structural is that it's worth just as much credit hours as Continuum." ~ Bradley, because Structural Geology was easy and Continuum was NOT

"I was actually really productive today. Probably because all my homework was due." ~ Emily

Nik, on the Continuum Mechanics final: "There was a little k, and kappa, and a big K. You can't have three k's in a problem!!"
Jennifer: "Yeah, that's just racist!" 

"What's a Green's Function?" ~ All of us Juniors, all the time

Professor quotes:

"You guys have seen this notation before...probably." ~ Jeff

"Do you know what a SWAG is?" ~ Terry

"That is one crunchy potato chip...You could just let it soak in your mouth a while." ~ Switzer, to a kid eating chips in ProbStats

Student: "On the test, are there points for a picture?" 

Switzer: "No. A picture should be reward in itself."

"Oil is a metamorphic rock derived from the primary rock, dinosaurs." ~ Jeff

"This is basically Maxwell's 5th equation. Don't quote me on that...actually, no one would ever, ever say that." ~ Andrei

"Can anyone tell me what isopach means? Iso...pach..Iso...Iso...Iso...pach...pach [waving hands] Pach... Pachy...Pachyderm.. Iso…pach ...?" ~ Dr. Bob

Random quotes from field camp:
"In the beginning, God created the Laramide orogeny."

"That DC inversion was beautiful."

"And it's not even smoothed yet, just raw beauty." 

"No makeup and still a ten."

"Last one in the vans is a geologist!"

"There are more buttons in this truck than the MT equipment!" ~ Andrei

"Do these trucks automatically downshift? Because mine just did." ~ Andrei, not too long after the buttons quote

"Look! Geology IS useful!" ~ Batz, after propping a door open with a rock

"So where is this water coming from?"

P.S. Yep, I miss you guys. 

Quips Heard at Mines, Pt. II

This is a lot belated, but I know everyone can't go without their famous Mines Quotes! (Click here for last year's edition). T'was a year! A year of flannel Fridays, late nights in Brown, late nights at the Stoop, late nights in the Linux Lab, late nights in the Java classroom, and late nights everywhere else. When it gets late, we say funny stuff. Or stuff that seemed funny to me at the time. So here goes, and thanks friends, classmates, and even professors for a terribly great year.

"If you don't know what you're doing, just cite the Invertible Matrix Theorem." ~ Ethan

"Why are you bored? Do homework, there's no reason to be bored." ~ Me, to Carolyn

"I'm learning so much researching this atmo cloud seeding data!!!!" ~ No one ever (In GP EPICS II)

"I could hear your lollygagging from down the hall!" ~ Nate, on Ben's lollygagging

Rebecca: "I think I just felt a nerd on my arm."
Ethan: "Sorry."

"Wow. We know all the math we want to know...." ~ Marilyn

"This is why you don't be friends with men, only me." ~ Carolyn

John: "Hey let me do that crazy integral for you!"
Me: "Said no one ever."

"My physics notebook brings the boys to the yard." ~ Me

"Guys I know how we can stop the wave- destructive interference!!" ~ us at Urbana

Nick: "Am I a hipster by by not being a hipster?" 
Quentin: "Or is that the 2nd derivative of being a hipster..." 

"Notecards for tests are the new Pokemon cards. You treat them all delicately and some are better than others." ~ Natalie

Carolyn: "ChemEs make me sad. They're studying all the time."
Me: "ChemEs make me feel happy because they're sad all the time."

"This is like the biggest curve in the history of history." ~ John, on the Physics II exam curve

"They call it Dead Week because after everyone gets through this week they're all dead." ~ Matt

"I thought about going into Mining. But I'm too tall" ~ Brandon

David: "Is this...? This is all Pokemon music!!"
Colton: "Yes it is." (on our way to Urbana in St. Louis)

Me (on our EPICS earthquake data): "What does NPH stand for?"
Rosie: "Neil Patrick Harris?"

"I guess one class of Thermo isn't so bad compared to a whole major of it". ~ Nathaniel

"If I had a job where I could get green boxes all day, I'd totally do that!" ~ John

"I want to be Terry when I grow up." ~ Austin, on our awesome department head

"Uniformity is for squares" ~ Me

Alejandra: "Put it into that wolf thing."
John: "Wolfram Alpha?"

"16pi....the answer to everything!" ~ Brandon

"Mark Goldie was the savior of Phys II." ~ The kid sitting behind Mark in class (also students everywhere)

"You're killin' me, Bigs!" ~ Tim

Professor quotes:
"Don't do drugs, people.....DO PHYSICS!!!" ~ Chuck Stone

"We don't call the Coulomb the Cool, but we call the Ampere the Amp." ~ Chuck Stone

"There are no infinite cakes in life. This is a bit of a disappointment." ~ Roel

"You can't escape Gauss!!" ~ Roel

"Why think when I can run code?" ~ Dave Hale

"If you try to graph its equation of motion, it looks like a spring on Spring Break. Springs gone wild!" ~ Rod Switzer
(There are many more Switzer quotes transcribed in my Calc III and DiffEq notes...unfortunately they're in a box 60 miles from me right now. So this one will have to do.)

"Maybe there's aliens with refrigerators on the other side of the moon...? I dunno!" ~ Humphrey
"It's not rocket science, it's rock science!" ~ Humphrey

The man, the myth, the legend: Shane Johnson quotes:

Me: "I wish I'll get 100 on the exam and beat Shane."
Shane: "You'll need 101 to beat me."

"So that's what the DiffEq book looks like..."

Shane: "Series are the reason I almost failed Calc."
Me: "You almost failed Calc?"
Shane: "Well, almost got a B, I mean."

"He just seems like he would be the nicest grandpa...and then he goes and hands out B+'s!!"

"Doesn't matter- all I need is a 76....I mean, I can get 19 questions right on that. "

"Geez, I just don't miss problems!"

"I never distiguish."

"I wish we had LESS time to study physics. I wish we could take the test now."

"Just know that you can get it done. Always. "

"That's why I don't cheat off of anything because I'm like, 'I'm probably right'."

Michelle: "If I could get a B in Java, I'd be ecstatic."
Shane: "Ec-static fields?"

"I just can't wait until it's summer so I can watch the Discovery Channel."

"I don't hyperventilate. Hyperventilating is bad. I focus. I get it done."

P.S. I miss you guys. 

I Got By (With a Little Help from My Friends)

Me: "...then I stopped doing Math because I'd rather do Physics all day."
Brady: "Sheesh...SOMEBODY goes to Mines."

Dear Everybody,

I think you are awesome.

I think you are so awesome, that you are one of the greatest reasons I'm glad I came here. You are the reason I made it out of freshman year alive (except the grace of God...but I think He let me know you all). You made me get by with fun, encouragement, advice, goofiness, and everything else. You kept me sane and insane when the school would've eaten me. So if I haven't said it before: Thank you.

This post is long overdue, so now it's more of a 'I miss you guys' post.

Thanks to the best floor I could ask for, the inaugural floor of Maple First North. We were all quite different, and not all of us formed friendships, but somehow it ended up being an awesome jumble of #1stNorthSwag. First, I had the best roommate ever. This is inarguable. Thanks for being a beautiful person inside and out, the times outside doing homework, the long conversations late at night.

Me: "Sigh...I just want to go to bed."
Rima: "NO. Katerina....sleep...is something for people in liberal arts colleges. We are engineering students!"

Hallmates and other Maplians: you were mostly all awesome, save my shady neighbors that got kicked out after one semester. Thanks for leaving your door open. For having a comfy futon. For the Nerf wars in the hallway and throwing other things. For staying up late studying, but more for the study breaks in between. For being dependably in the same places every night. Distractions, such as Youtube videos, or simply being there. Diggerden runs, and ramen breaks. That time I thought I failed SolidWorks and the Physics test was looming. For listening to my complaints about everything...all the time.

Kyle: "I'm done reading Eragon."
Me: "I'm almost done reading Moneyball."
Jayden: "I'm almost done reading the internet."

InterVarsity: Thanks for being the craziest, awesomest group of people who love Jesus. For the cupcakes. The friendships. The journeys. The sarcastic comments during movie nights. The hugs, needed or not. For looking out for me and being a good bunch of people to hang out with.

"Your opinion doesn't matter, Katerina! Make me a sandwich" ~Ben and Nate

The rest of the Miners: I met you all different ways, from Slate, Playfair, ice cream, SUMMET, to Humans versus Zombies and beyond. A lot of you I met in class and a few of you shared my exact schedule 1st semester (cough, cough, Geophysicists). Thanks for the homework help, making fun of shared professors (and their socks), letting me sleep first semester, ganging up on the jerk in PA dodgeball, surviving as my lab partner, being a cool and reliable EPICS team (gasp! Yes, it can happen), and being goofy during physics studio. For random jam sessions. Trips to get froyo. For advice on classes (especially when to skip), and advice on not selling tickets to the Baseball games. For helping pass the time during said ticket selling with chit chat. The hilarious inappropriate awkwardness in DiggerDen everyday (this is also for IV). Matching sweaters. For helping each other out getting an assignment done, literally, last minute. For sharing in the complaining about everything, even if all of us went overboard.

For making the M stand for home.

I miss you guys.

I started collecting these quotes 2nd semester (so don't be mad if I forgot a lot)....quotes that, to me, said "Mines" in a couple sentences. Some people are quoted more frequently than others because of the amount of time spent late at night high on caffeine with them. So as time approaches infinity, coupled with caffeine use increasing, the quotability of conversations increases exponentially. Or something. Need a graph? Naw, I didn't thing so. So here are the Quotes of Mines Freshman Year:

"My physics TA has a reverse mohawk. I was like wow, you're such a physicist!" ~ Nathaniel

Me: "I should just screw NHV and become a horrible engineer. Then I will kill people with my seismic waves."
Rebecca: "Well I can kill more people as a BioChemE. Then I can implant defective heart pacemakers. MUAHAHAHAHAAHA!!"

"So I've watched 4 seasons of Prison Break, and I've been studying a lot of calculus. So my dream was that I had to do Calc to break out of prison." ~ Brandon

"Geophysicists are like the pimps for Petroleums..." ~ Connor

Me: "I just don't know how to talk to this CSU kid, Rima."
Rima: "Give me a lattee."

Clinton: "I'm freaking out for these tests!"
Me: "You need baseball in your life, Clinton."

(before the torque test):

Nate: "You look like a dog-"
Me: "About to get shot?"
Nate: "No just anxious."

"Hey guys, let's pull an all-nighter!" ~ Rebecca

"He's trying to ask you out. He's trying to ask you out because you're a female with a heartbeat....Back away slowly and wave your arms in the air screaming...make yourself as large as possible...Boyfriending adverted. " ~ Connor as the French Dude at Soiree

"Jesus is like a trip. I don't know what he's on!" ~ Me

"I'm getting really tired of thinking." ~ Matt

"I'm getting senioritis again." ~ Brandon

"So as you can see here, Kay Olin becomes Mus Covite. It's kind of like a sex change."
~ Prof. Duncan, on metamorphic rocks during the only believed instance in which his class laughed

‎"That brings us to Integration by Parts. That's what your book calls it, but I call it witchcraft." ..."So the formula for your integral is ultra-violet minus super voo-doo." ~ Prof. Jane Walker

"Clearly, more logic gates equals more fun!" ~ Prof. Hellman

"Who took the last donut for our learning group?"
"Probably a ChemE."
"#&$%ing ChemEs." ~ Angry People in CompSci Class

"...Next thing you know, they'll be letting girls into Engineering School." ~ Jayden, to me, Andrew, and Dr. Kuo

"Do you guys have stalkers?" ~ UNC girls to me and Rebecca, on being a Mines girl

"So if we can't help you guys with romantic relationships, we can at least help you guys with Physics relationships." ~ Levi the Physics TA

"We know you're married to baseball!!" ~ Clinton, to me

"Smells like....sweaty engineering students." ~ Ethan, after walking into one of the Brown study rooms

"Who are we missing?"
"That one kid who smells like pot."
"I don't know his name." ~ People in CompSci class

"For the rest of studio we should just lon-ygag: lollygag on Lon-Capa until we get the worksheet. You look like you have study-d: ADD while studying." ~ Adam, my physics studio partner

"Curse my continuous partial attention!" ~ Matt, making an NHV reference

Brady: "Do you want to crack my back, Storm?"
Brandon: "If you want me to"
Brady: "Yeah, I'd like that. No homo."
Me: "Hahaha. I'm totally quoting you guys on this."
Brady: "Make sure you don't forget the 'No homo' part."

"Look at those rocks. They're so cute!" ~ Rima

Marilyn: "If there was a sarcasm font, what would it be?"
Nate: "Comic Sans."

"Screw everything!" ~ Me (often used)

"Now most people will look at it, see it's 2 a.m. and say '[F***], it's 2 a.m.' 
I look at it and say 'Hey, I've got 8 more hours! :D'" ~ Brandon

P.S. I miss you guys.