Blog: Yawn
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Yawn - Tuesday, June 19, 2007
I woke up at 6:30 a.m. today which is three hours earlier than usual. None of my family was awake at that time. But it wasn't my idea at all- the reason I got up so early was.... my neighbor's oven.
Her kitchen oven was malfunctioning and wouldn't shut off and was getting hot. None of her family was home, so she rushed over to our place and frantically rang our doorbell and started shouting outside. And my room is closest to the front door.. so I was the one to wake up.
But when I got to her house, the oven had already stopped cooking itself, perhaps as a safety mechanism. But the control panel kept making this beeping sound that would persistently resume shortly after we tried to turn it off. Even power-cycling the unit by flipping the kitchen circuit breakers didn't fix it. So in the end my best advice was to leave the circuit breakers off while she tried to dig up the oven manual or contact the manufacturer for help.
When I got back I couldn't fall back asleep, so I started cleaning my room. I've been going through my old schoolwork/notes and realized something big: contrary to what I've believed, I actually do remember a lot of what I learned in school. Not intricate details, but the general knowledge is still there. Some things I don't specifically remember learning, I now use as if they've always been a part of me. I guess going to school really was important, after all. Shocker.
I also dug up my old College Board reports. I remember getting a 1510 out of 1600 on my SAT I, but I had no idea that before that I was just one percentile point away from being a National Merit Scholar. It's really funny how things like the SAT and AP tests mattered so much back then. I guess they're useful in the sense that they allow learning to be objectively measured, but there was just too much hype. Now, what really matters is the knowledge you've taken with you and how far you choose to go with it. That says way more than just some numbers.
Her kitchen oven was malfunctioning and wouldn't shut off and was getting hot. None of her family was home, so she rushed over to our place and frantically rang our doorbell and started shouting outside. And my room is closest to the front door.. so I was the one to wake up.
But when I got to her house, the oven had already stopped cooking itself, perhaps as a safety mechanism. But the control panel kept making this beeping sound that would persistently resume shortly after we tried to turn it off. Even power-cycling the unit by flipping the kitchen circuit breakers didn't fix it. So in the end my best advice was to leave the circuit breakers off while she tried to dig up the oven manual or contact the manufacturer for help.
When I got back I couldn't fall back asleep, so I started cleaning my room. I've been going through my old schoolwork/notes and realized something big: contrary to what I've believed, I actually do remember a lot of what I learned in school. Not intricate details, but the general knowledge is still there. Some things I don't specifically remember learning, I now use as if they've always been a part of me. I guess going to school really was important, after all. Shocker.
I also dug up my old College Board reports. I remember getting a 1510 out of 1600 on my SAT I, but I had no idea that before that I was just one percentile point away from being a National Merit Scholar. It's really funny how things like the SAT and AP tests mattered so much back then. I guess they're useful in the sense that they allow learning to be objectively measured, but there was just too much hype. Now, what really matters is the knowledge you've taken with you and how far you choose to go with it. That says way more than just some numbers.