Leap Day

Well, today is our bonus day of the current quadrennial. I am at school, and got back results of a quiz which I thought I got a 92 on, but I was mistaken, I got a 96. That was a piece of positive news.

We tend to think that our year is neatly 365 1/4 days, but that's not really the case. We have a leap second or two added virtually every year at the changing of the year. The existence of atomic clocks have made correcting even these very minor errors noticable.

Several things have struck me as I've observed my fellow students on campus:
1) an awful lot of them use the automatic doors for the handicapped, hitting the button to avoid having to open the door themselves. I notice an awful lot of cold getting into the buildings as these doors stay open longer than normal.
2) It seems like a lot smoke. I don't know if it's the socioeconomic background of them (it's a state school), or otherwise, but given what's known about the health effects of smoking, it seems like our anti-smoking efforts are failing in a big way.
3) I seem to fit in better with the foreign and/or older students. I guess it makes sense for two reasons: a) I grew up in a different culture (America 30 years before them) and b) Like many of these foreign students, I'm motivated to really learn. They wouldn't be here if they didn't care.

A Blessing And A Curse

Having recently returned to college, I have been surprised at the lack of academic rigor in my classes. Given 30 years away from academic math, this has proven both a blessing and a curse. The lack of rigor means that on quizzes and the like, I am being tested on the material that we have covered in class, and not on my ability to factor polynomials or my understanding of fractional or negative exponents. Still, I realize that I need to regain these skills and the understanding that goes along with them. It's a blessing that I can take my time in regaining these skills, but a curse that I am not forced to get them back more quickly.