Chicago '09ers: let's get to know each other!

<ol>
<li>Concept artist for computer game company, or engineer working for a defense corporation</li>
<li>Political science</li>
<li>His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, or Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown</li>
<li>8</li>
<li>A lot of very feminine pop music. Being really interested in firearms and other weapons technology.</li>
<li>Film/game scores, female pop singers, death metal</li>
<li>I can't really say I know.</li>
<li>Not joining the track or xc team at the start of high school.</li>
<li>1 or 2</li>
</ol>

<ol>
<li>Revolutionary</li>
<li>Poly Sci</li>
<li>Harry Potter and The Communist Manifesto</li>
<li>2</li>
<li>cigars</li>
<li>underground rap</li>
<li>All-State in Track</li>
<li>Losing last week in Football
and 9. 2 Brown :)</li>
</ol>

<p>Awe this thread is so cool. It's one where no one seems overly stressed about their test scores and futures and what not.</p>

<ol>
<li>God. ha, only kidding. I would want to be a photographer or designer. Traveling the world would be awesome too.</li>
<li>As of now, Environmental Studies.</li>
<li>It is literally impossible for me to name only one favorite book. I love:
The Glass Castle
Life of Pi
The Kite Runner
Angela's Ashes
The Chosen</li>
<li>6-ish</li>
<li>fashion and shopping</li>
<li>Oldies. Classic Rock. Alternative. Musicals. And everything in between.
The Beatles (who doesn't?), Jim Croce, Elton John, Billy Joel, America, Queen, CCR, Simon & Garfunkel, Ingrid Michaelson, Regina Spektor, Norah Jones, John Mayer, Matchbox Twenty, Goo Goo Dolls, Keane, the musical Once (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova), musical Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Sufjan Stevens, Coldplay, Augustana, Cary Brothers, U2</li>
<li>I don't know yet. There's still time left for me to achieve greater accomplishments in the grand scheme of my life. As of now, it's probably playing piano.</li>
<li>I didn't reach my goal of getting an A in Hons. Pre-Calc. It seems so trivial but I can't seem to get over it. I guess a bigger failure would be pretending to believe in something I truly didn't only so I wouldn't hurt my friend's feelings. I wasn't true to myself and it felt awful because I was also, in essence, betraying my friend.</li>
<li>It's #1, but it's also my highest reach.</li>
</ol>

<p>Fastfood15-- I went to the library and borrowed a copy of Fleet foxes on your recommendation. They are amazing!</p>

<p>rn, I shoulda thought of God! :p How long have you played piano?</p>

<ol>
<li>heavens i don't know, perhaps i would work as lobbyist or psychologist.</li>
<li>comparative lit</li>
<li>heart by gail goodwin</li>
<li>i hide it well but secretly like 7.</li>
<li>itunes</li>
<li>pop/rock. toughie.</li>
<li>greatest accomplishment? tis a secret.</li>
<li>greatest failure? i know this sounds entirley unreal but i truly believe that failures are stepping stones and therrefore are not failures.</li>
<li>NUMBER 1.</li>
</ol>

<p>Butternut- if your question was to me, this will be my 10th year of piano playing. whoo double digits! haha</p>

<ol>
<li>Venture Capitalist/Neuroeconomics research</li>
<li>Economics & Neuroscience</li>
<li>Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann</li>
<li>3</li>
<li>Thug rap.</li>
<li>Alternative/Hard/"Emo" Rock</li>
<li>Programming a robot through an obstacle course</li>
<li>Giving up every musical instrument I took up</li>
<li>#1!</li>
</ol>

<p>yeah, Ilivemylife, it was, but it somehow got garbled in the process. I've played eight.</p>

<p>what is your:
1. dream career, if money were irrelevant?</p>

<p>Chemical titrator. Lol, actually, either a musician or a writer.</p>

<ol>
<li>intended major/academic interests?</li>
</ol>

<p>Biology. Human biology, in particular. </p>

<ol>
<li>favorite book?</li>
</ol>

<p>Secret Life of Bees; 1984; Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants :)</p>

<ol>
<li><p>nerdiness on a scale of 1-10?</p></li>
<li></li>
<li><p>guilty pleasure?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Chocolate :(</p>

<ol>
<li>favorite music genre?</li>
</ol>

<p>Pop/rock/classical</p>

<ol>
<li>greatest accomplishment?</li>
</ol>

<p>Making it this far =)</p>

<ol>
<li>greatest failure?</li>
</ol>

<p>Lol too many to name just one.</p>

<p>and 9. how high is chicago ranked on your list? be honest.</p>

<p>High. Numero uno, I'd say.</p>

<p>1) researching the links between history and folklore/indigenous and ancient societies/medieval and early modern european literature...and writing books and traveling around the world and also translating books </p>

<p>2) history and romance languages double major, with a minor in philosophy</p>

<p>3) uhhhhh...plato's republic, harry potter, wuthering heights, tristan and iseult, the castle by kafka, lord of the flies, faust, les trois mousquetaires, etc...</p>

<p>4) 6.5, but i don't act it</p>

<p>5) whoever said being in a sorority before, i second that. also...cheesy country music and lifetime movies.</p>

<p>6) a pretty wide range of stuff, mostly weird bands no one else likes...indie rock/strange foreign music</p>

<p>7) hmmm well i'm really proud of how the book club i started got lots of members and just got a grant to buy books...and my ballroom dance club had a really successful bakesale!! yay! </p>

<p>8) probably how i used to be a slacker and wasn't realizing my full potential</p>

<p>9) #3ish i think...i can't say any higher than that because i haven't visited it so i can't really tell yet</p>

<p>circumlocution- glad to hear it. Which album did you get? I'm digging their self titled album.</p>

<p>the self titled album. :)</p>

<p>what is your:
1. dream career, if money were irrelevant?
2. intended major/academic interests?
3. favorite book?
4. nerdiness on a scale of 1-10?
5. guilty pleasure?
6. favorite music genre?
7. greatest accomplishment?
8. greatest failure?
and 9. how high is chicago ranked on your list? be honest.</p>

<p>1) a classics or gov/poli sci professor and published fiction author
2) classics! gov or poli sci would be pretty cool as well. I also really want to study foreign languages--Greek, Portuguese, etc.
3) I can't possibly name just ONE. I love Philip Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy, I love LITTLE WOMEN, I love THE GREAT GATSBY....yeah, I love almost every book I've read.
4) 8/10. It's pretty strong, but I've also been told that I'm very good at "acting normal," whatever that means. :D
5) The HBO show IN TREATMENT and anything related to Gabriel Byrne, if we're talking shallow pleasures. Getting a new book, getting new music, getting e-mails, playing any piano better than the clunky spinet I own now....lots of things. :)
6) jazz or classic rock!
7) In terms of awards, it's definitely my success at Academic Decathlon. In general, I consider learning how to interact with others and succeeding at being thrown in with complete strangers for a week to also be very good accomplishments (I was a way shy kid growing up).
8) Getting way too involved in this situation that then fell apart and left me an emotional wreck for several weeks--it was just a general fail for me and forced me to sort of grow up and stop idealizing situations and people
9) 1/7. Absolutely wonderful school. I applied EA and am getting ridiculously jittery about it. :>)</p>

<p>Hopefully some of us will be classmates next year!</p>

<ol>
<li>hmm... That's a good one. I'm not going to sit here and pretend to know what I want to do with my life. In fact that's one of the reasons I like Chicago, the huge core curriculum will give me a taste of pretty much everything.</li>
<li>I don't know, I like a lot of different things,I'm going to take my time to make that decision.</li>
<li>I love reading, but I'm really critical of books. For example, I don't really like the Great Gatsby because I think Nick Carraway is the most self-righteous character ever. He kept telling the audience how he reserves judgement of other people and how he is the only honest person he knows, I really wanted to grab him and say, "get over yourself buddy." My favorite boks are probably Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom.</li>
<li>6.25 I'm about as nerdy as a captain of the football team and wrestling team can be. I get really offended by the "dumb football player" stereotype... I mean, I work just as hard in school as I do on the field or the wrestling mat and it really hurts when kids in my honors and AP classes who subscribe to those beliefs don't want to talk to me b/c I am a football player and that's all they know about me.</li>
<li>I enjoy watching gymnastics. If I weren't 6'3" and well over 200 pounds, I'd definitely try Gymnastics, I imagine it would be like flying.</li>
<li>I listen to pretty much everything, but I'm the lead guitarist in a metal/hardcore band (think Chiodos or Catherine).</li>
<li>Last year I worked really hard and earned a starting spot on the football team, I was the only junior with a starting spot.... but then I broke my leg the day before the first game and missed the whole season. So I worked even harder. I came back this season and not only earned the starting spot but was named captain... it was great.</li>
<li>I am quite shy, and horribly afraid of girls. If we meet next year, ask me to tell you the water fountain story... funniest thing you will ever hear.</li>
<li>1</li>
</ol>

<p>sorry it's so long guys and girls, my bad. Hope I get to meet you next year!</p>

<p>ecksfactor,
If you attend Chicago I want to hear all about your experience. I have a DT/G son (a little bigger than you) who's a junior who is also interested in Chicago. Are you thinking of playing in college?</p>

<p>ecksfactor: I LOVE The Great Gatsby (and F. Scott Fitzgerald in general), and I also hated Nick Carraway. I think that Fitzgerald intended for Nick to be a ******bag, and that we are thus being asked to consider the book through the fact that we are only told the story from the perspective of Nick. Perhaps it's further social commentary, or perhaps it's something else...</p>

<ol>
<li>Totally forest ranger.. maybe just staying in a cottage somewhere near a forest taking photographs.
realistically perhaps a social /environmental entrepreneur.</li>
<li>Environmental studies, Physics, Sociology, Mathematics, History... Its hard...</li>
<li>favorite book?
Natural Capitalism , Masters of Rome series (Colleen McCullough), Tao of Physics, Schrödinger's Cat, Eleven minutes (Paulo Coelho) , The Brethren(John Grisham) , Free to Choose, LOTR... quite endless really...</li>
<li>6.5 - I'd never miss any opportunity to discuss the economy, politics, modern business or the coolest new Scientific development..... unless i can play soccer ,squash or get a little tipsy:)</li>
<li>guilty pleasure?
Libertarian books and blogs, listening Russ Roberts explain something new... sitting on a boat in a river for hours- fishing or just chilling...</li>
<li>favorite music genre?
This is very odd in the country I come from.. Never met anyone else who likes it - but I love Country... Keith Urban and Toby Keith Kick ass!!!
"Free and easy" is my favorite song right now give it a try.. its a cool chilled song.. I love the concept of a country, redneck lifestyle... I'm brown though...</li>
<li>greatest accomplishment?
Starting my own Environmental business thats making killer profits!!!
Couple of other cool large scale environmental things I've done...</li>
<li>greatest failure?
I ignore and forget my failures.. guess my greatest failure is i dont learn from them. Much easier to look at the millions of positives of life:)
and </li>
<li>Chicago Is third on my list in the US 4th overall.. don't get me wrong I'm in love with it... just a lot of other considerations... Its cold for starters ;) I'm an EA applicant by the way</li>
</ol>

<p>Spazzity! Thank you sooo much, finally someone who agrees with me! Everyone I've talked to about The Great Gatsby thinks that Nick is the greatest thing since sliced bread... As far as the idea that Nick's self-image is further social commentary, I'm not sure. I think Fitzgerald added so many instances of Nick describing how honest he is in order to disassociate Nick from the dishonest (and possibly illegal) activities of Gatsby and Tom Buchanon, so that the story could be told from an outsider looking in on the ridiculously wealthy of the 1920's. That's what I think and unfortunately it makes Nick seem like a jerk.</p>

<p>CountingDown,
Yes, I do want to play football in college, I love football. If your son wants to play in college, give him this advice: Be persistent and aggressive. Make a highlight tape of his season and start sending it to colleges he's interested in, you should probably send them in the Spring of this year, Don't wait til his senior year. If he receives an email from a coach or a school, keep lines of communication open don't be afraid to send an email every two weeks or so. This way the coach gets to know him and he gets to know the coach and the school and their intrest is peaked by the beginning of his football season and he can send them some game films. I play Offensive and Defensive Tackle, so coaches look for the same thing in our game films, tell him to play strong and play mean. Nothing illegal, don't get his team penalized, but every head coach and offensive line coach I've talked to referred to one particular play that they really liked because it showed my aggression. Offensive line coaches like kids who play with a chip on their shoulder. But finally, tell him to figure out what kind of situation would be best for him. I like Chicago because it is a place that puts school first, and sports are a fun activity. It's not that way at every school, even other D-III schools I've been recruited by, so it's something he'll have to decide for himself.</p>

<p>I hope I could be of some help! Good Luck!</p>