Snippets of a Day Plus Insight Woohoo!

So I've realized that something that makes me extremely happy...

- is not getting good grades

- is not seeing myself in the newspaper

- is not receiving compliments

- is not admiration from others

...

I actually feel really happy when I can sit with someone, who stares back at me with curious eyes, longing for a way to understand and accomplish a goal in life. Someone, who says, "I don't want to be stupid.. I just want to do well, but I'm so distracted, and I bite my nails, please help me." 
I mean, I should rephrase. I don't feel happy for this person. I don't really feel sorry either. I just want to hug this person and let him know that I am going to work so hard so that he does not have to worry.

I really love teaching students.

Today, I taught the li'l li'l freshman about heat v. temperature, the nature of air masses, the interactions between air molecules at a weather front, the causes of precipitation. I used my hands, my eyes, my smile to try my best to let him know that I wanted him to understand more than anything else during that time I was spending with him in the library. I wanted him to feel safe. I spat out analogies, utilizing the concepts of my pencil bag's heat and my pen's temperature, the members of an overcrowded house wanting to spill into the next-door neighbor's residence, the army pushing a wall quicker than the general, a balloon staying inflated.. 

And I didn't even feel that smart. I just felt aware. Aware of the fact that there is more to learning than just memorizing. There is more to learning than just recopying notes. There is more to learning than asking questions. There is a huge huge huge prerequisite of time-spent-trying-to-understand before any learning can be done. 
And I'm trying to use that prerequisite of learning to study for this AP Physics Electricity & Magnetism test. Hopefully I've already learned the skills necessary for AP Psycology Ha Ha. 

I replayed the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer #3 on YouTube.com over 10 times yesterday because that trailer made me want to live a little more.

I know it's somewhat shallow, but I REALLY love the Harry Potter series.. 

Someone told me today that I should not worry about the intense grade deflation at MIT: "you of all people, Nikki, have no reason whatsoever to worry.. you would put more effort than the five of us [him, four of his friends sitting next to him at the time] combined". Aww. That basically made my day.

And then, one of my friends decided it would be a good idea to invite me over to his friend's barbeque party... He said that as he is my best friend (no totally not putting words in my mouth), I should go.. I told him I have better things to do on my birthday :-o