Greetings from the Office of Admission!

My name is Tera and I am Assistant Director of Admission here at Georgia Tech. I will be blogging throughout the year letting everyone know what is going on in the Office of Admission. Some of you may have submitted your application for our October 1st application date and I am sure many of you are working hard trying to complete your application by November 1st. Regardless of what stage you are in, the best advice I could give you is to RELAX! I know applying to college can be stressful, but don’t forget to enjoy your senior year.

This is the time of year where our admission counselors are out and about visiting high schools and attending college fairs. When our travel is complete, we will be back in the office reading all the applications that have been submitted by students. Our first round of decision notifications will be released November 18th. We are here to help so if you have any questions about the process or your application, check Buzzport or contact our office.

One of the best things about my job is interacting with all the students and parents I get to meet along the way. Another perk is I get to travel! I love Atlanta but it’s nice to escape every once and a while. I just got back from Cincinnati, OH and Chicago, IL. I was a little concerned about the weather in the Midwest, but it was perfect fall weather the whole time I was there.

It’s Homecoming Week here at Georgia Tech so there will be all kinds of fun activities happening on campus. Our office participated in the Door Decorating contest. We participated in a category titled “Buzzin’ thru the French Quarter: Unmasking the Spirits of New Orleans.” We have a “Fun Committee” to make sure every once in a while we take a break from work.

I’m here to keep you updated on everything happening in our office so if you have any questions, feel free to comment on the blog!

Aft facing forward

Monday, October 17th, 1:46 p.m

Countdown to my 20th birthday… 6 days, 10 hours and 14 minutes, but let’s just call it “countdown to breakdown”. What I am going through right now is what people would refer to as a “quarter-life crisis”. I don’t know if this term exists but it should. The most terrifying thing about turning twenty is that you are finally putting your teen years behind and really beginning adulthood, no excuses.
We use the term aft facing forward at work when referring to the orientation of the engine, but in my case, I am trying to reflect on my past teen years (aft) while looking ahead to my unfolding future (forward). The problem with turning twenty is carrying around the regret of wasted teen years. What have I done in all these years that would make me feel like I am ready to move on to the next chapter of my life…my twenties?
And that should explain why I have decided to go jump out of a perfectly good airplane today. Yes, I am going skydiving and yes, I feel pretty good about it, I will finally have something significant to mark my teen years. Whether this is a good idea or not is not up for discussion. I mean isn’t that how people decide to do risky things? No? Well that’s how I did it :/

I hope to feel a sense of accomplishment; I expect to feel relieved when it’s done. I definitely need to enjoy the thrill and excitement. But every time I imagine myself standing on that edge, I have to remind myself all the reasons why this is good for me. The best one I have come up with is that since I am a pilot-in-training, I might actually need this experience at some point. So…that’s what I am going with, and the fact that I won’t get a refund if I chicken-out at the last minute. This is happening.

Tuesday, October 18th, 9.22 a.m

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3D-2ytYHv44

Folks, I did it! I saved the legacy of my teen years and, with 5 days left to spare! I am now officially a risk taker. This should define and shape my future, somewhat. The best part of jumping out of an airplane at 13,000 feet? The landing, for sure. It’s a bit bumpy and awkward when you are have a person strapped to your back, but it’s solid ground, you can’t beat that.

Despite my anxiety at the beginning, I finally decided that it was probably the coolest thing I have ever done, aside from learning how to fly. Would I do it again? Sure …maybe at my next major life crisis? It was exhilarating as much as it was dangerous. I do feel accomplished, I am extremely relieved to be back on earth and I enjoyed every heart-throbbing, free-falling, parachute-flying, ground-landing moment of it. I wouldn’t advise against it, for all you adventure-seekers out there!

I feel better now about turning twenty, it’s still scary when I think about all the things I could have done and didn’t, but I am sure that there will be plenty of time to travel the world, stop world hunger and invent a side-walk escalator-like thing (everyone who has had to go up freshman hill should understand why this would be important, and urgent.) I will change the world, just not right now and not all at once.

Monday, October 24, 7.20 a.m

So….. I turned twenty and surprisingly, there was no meltdown or breakdown, imagine that!

I have now officially stepped into my twenties and with a good story to tell about my teen years. As I turned twenty, my friends congratulated me on defying teen pregnancy and I gracefully said “Thank you,…. I think”.
Now that I have put that behind me, maybe I should start working on this saving the world gig, maybe take it one day at a time. And to all you twenty-something year olds out there, I am now your fellow and the world is our oyster (I’ve been told) and the rest of you, the best of luck as you try to figure out this thing called life.

Always facing forward!

The Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons

I currently work in the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, also know as the CULC. Yes, we have an acronym for EVERYTHING here on campus! Well anyways, I work on the floor of the main entrance and I don't have any classes in the building, so I've never really explored it to see what exactly it has to offer. Approximately an hour and a half ago, my boss sent me on an errand to the top floor. The errand should have only taken me 10 minutes at maximum. But of course my curiosity got the best of me (don't you hate when that happens?) and I decided to explore a little bit... okay, a lot.

(me at work in the Center for Academic Success)

I can't believe what I've been missing out on! This building has so much to offer. From the warm smell of Starbucks coffee that reels you into buying a Cafe Misto every time you walk in the building to the contemporary study areas that MAKE you want to study, this building is definitely something to see. Even the modern design of the biology labs makes me want to take another bio class! Okay maybe not that much, but almost.

The CULC serves a variety of purposes. It is the site of GT 1000 classes (a mandatory freshman seminar class that teaches students how to balance life in college successfully) and many other classes. You can also find academic support here. For example, The Center for Academic Success (where I work) offers One-to-One tutoring which allows you to sign up for a free one hour personal tutor for the class of your choice. What I find most breathtaking is the roof of the Clough Commons. There you find a beautiful green garden where you can eat lunch, finish up some homework, of simply relax. Simply put, this place is amazing.

"When I am sad, I stop being sad and become awesome instead. True Story."

Yes. Yes I am in tears. Who wouldn't be? I loved her. I took her on dates every Saturday. No matter the time. I stalked her online. I studied her every move. And then one weekend I let you go off to Charlottesville, Virginia alone, you betray my love. You took my heart and tossed it on the floor. What is more even humiliating, you did this with someone who isn't even in the top twenty five! And now when BCS ranks you, I hope you get left off their list. Forget you Georgia Tech football, I promise you, you won't be missed!

But I am kidding. I still got love for my Yellow Jackets, but a loss to the Cavaliers this past weekend was a definite blow. We were number 12, now what will we be?! Well, at least we're still the number 24 university in the world (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html). But this weekend of football has just been

depressing. As I have said previous in my last post, I went to Raleigh, North Carolina to watch the Yellow Jackets take on the Wolfpack and it was an amazing experience.

We spent a night packing over thirty people into our friend's home before heading to UNC Chapel Hill to check out their popular Franklin Street. We had a great time just roaming the streets and checking out the nightlife that Franklin Street boasts. Away games. So much fun.

So as a Peer Leader (an upperclassmen living with the freshmen in the residence halls that serve to assist them academically and socially), I have been reliving freshmen year. This is how we celebrate birthdays on my hall:

Working as a PL on the hall is a tough job. It is easier when your hall clicks but with all the things going on in everybody's lives, we can't all have the time to "click." So, here is a request to those who plan to come to Tech, HANG OUT WITH YOUR HALL. That is all.

Now, you may be wondering why I haven't spoken about the arduous classes of Georgia Tech. Well, you have to remember that I am still currently carrying out my "school-free plan." I am still a co-op for The Coca-Cola Company. Still having the time of my life. Still be AWESOME. You might be asking, "What is an awesome mechanical engineer like you Lishan do at The Coca-Cola Company?" Well, I work in the Equipment Engineering Department and I have had the chance to work with the new Freestyle dispenser that you may or may not have seen at

restaurants these days. I worked on the commercialization team for this 125-drink bad boy before that team got moved to another department. Now, I currently work with designing an experiment to test certain factors in CO2. Yeah, real nerdy things. Oh, and remember that giant tarp and light show that was on the Coke building back in May? Yeah, my idea.

But you may be wanting an update on my finger. yes, I believe it is still broken and definitely still crooked. Have you guys ever had acupuncture?

Yes, this was a lot of fun.

For next time: How to become awesome like me.

Fall Break is awesome. Unless you are a co-op.

Exploring Abroad

So I guess it's been a while since my first post, but I wanted to take the chance to update you about my life at Georgia Tech Lorraine and tell you some of the things I've learned about myself

while "getting lost" in Europe.

Exploring the Coliseum this weekend in Rome

The greatest thing about being here at Georgia Tech Lorraine is the freedom to explore and go anywhere I want. It means that on a whim I can jump on a train to Berlin and stand at the wall, I can go to Rome and throw coins in the Trevi Fountain and I can order snails in the Latin Quarter in Paris. These are cities older than our entire country and places with a wealth of things to do and see. I love the sights and the sounds of each place, but I also love that they change each weekend. It's as if I am taking an introductory course of Europe. One weekend at a time, I'm going to "fill in" all the dark places on my map.

King Wenceslas Square in Prague, Czech Republic

I like being challenged and I like the breadth of experience that comes with being here. Simple, everyday tasks become less mundane and in some cases, quite a challenge. I don't mean to be the simple American, but unfortunately, I am only gifted in the language of English. That tends to be okay in Germany, Switzerland and France--countries that have heavy amounts of interaction with English speakers, however, in the Czech Republic, it's a little different story. First of all, though the Czech Republic is part of the European Union, they are not on the Euro. Upon our arrival in Prague, I immediately noticed a can of Coke on sale for a whopping 32 CZK. Fortunately for us, that equated to about $2 USD--it's still pretty cool to glance at our dinner bill and see that we spent two-thousand, five hundred dollars on dinner...

This whole experience and atmosphere has also made me appreciate the little things that we have in the United States--free bathrooms and free refills most importantly! How Europeans approach their day is completely different--there is no rush, just efficiency and everyone takes public transit EVERYWHERE. The culture here is unique in every single country and I love being able to immerse myself in a different experience every weekend. When I do graduate, somewhere in the near future, I plan on looking for a country that is internationally focused, that has offices all over the world.

Helping to guard Prague Castle

My experience so far has really just opened my mind to a lot of possibilities that I hadn't really considered. I came in to Tech thinking that I would probably want to work in Atlanta, but after my experiences here, I know that I could be comfortable living and working anywhere. I'm sure by the end of the semester I will have opened my mind even more to other opportunities and I really can't wait to see what those might be.

The sun is slowly coming up and I'm getting ready for my last day of class of the week. I'm off to Cinque Terre this weekend to explore some of Italy's beautiful coast. Let me know if you have any questions (patrickrucker@gatech.edu) and I will be more than happy to answer them!

Ciao for now!