Some Pics from the 'Burgh Part 2: 2006

[Alexander]

Well, I have returned from another fast-paced time at Carnegie Mellon University. This year, being a rising senior and whatnot, brought me lots of privileges and attention that comes with being a big man on campus. Along with all the responsibilities, such as training the new 11th-grade acolytes and preparing for the inevitable college admissions process, I had lots of time to goof around and do the crazy shit that is attributable to teenagers these days. And yes, I got in trouble (twice), but I learned my lessons. But anyway, perhaps these pictures will give my you, my then-not-so-distant THoG pals, a glimpse into the antics of my friends and I.

(Each picture will be followed by a short explanation)


These are the two dorms in which the male and female students of SAMS lived in. On the left is Boss Hall, where I lived. Naturally, McGill Hall, where the ladies lived, is on the right. The courtyard between the two buildings was a favorite haunt of everybody's prior to curfew everynight.


Ah. Here you have a glimpse (a poor one at that) of my room with my head fresh out of the shower. The camera's batteries had died the night before, and I was testing the new ones I had just inserted. I suppose it was a success.


Aside from the dorms, the Scotland Yard Gameroom was a favorite hangout. Offering billiards, shuffleboard, foosball, ping-pong, air hockey, DDR, food, drink, and lots of tunes from the jukebox, it was the place to be on many nights. You can find no less than seven SAMS students in the above picture.


The academic portion of SAMS consists (for seniors) of Calculus, SAT Prep, English, and two separate Engineering projects. Since Calculus is too dreary a class to photograph, I start with SAT Prep, in which I had the pleasure of meeting the incarnation of the "Joe Bloggs" character that was used as the bad example to follow in the course manual. The real-life 11th-grade Joe you see me shaking hands with was an impressionable and humorous protege; just one of the many cool kids that made SAMS so fun to be in. The three people in the background are juniors Rukky (nickname), Bryan, and Adeoye (obscured by Joe).


Me and the SAT Prep instructor, Manuel. A wise and worldly man, he taught us more than just simple tricks to use on the SAT. I hope to keep in contact with him for several years.


English was a drag, but these guys made it rather bearable: Parth, Anh, and Robert (the sleepy guy in the back).


Chemical engineering! From left to right: Matt (instructor), Robert, Brittany, Deivid, and myself.


Electrical and Computer Engineering! My favorite project out of both years, in here you can see my lab partner Reyes, front and lower right. From left to right, and zig-zagging: Bola, Jim, Yves (TA), David and Tim (behind Yves), then Shon and Veronica at the very back. The instructor, Tom, is barely visible behind Jim.

More shall be edited in soon

Enjoy!

[Kale6641]

Awesome

[Alexander]

Here are the rest of the pictures I will post from Pittsburgh.


I made a fair amount of friends this time around, including several 11th-graders. Some were mere proteges; occasional students to whom I passed key bits of SAMS knowledge, both for the program and for the classes. However, a select group became fond friends. The above picture is of myself and Dinora, a 16-year-old resident of Southern California. Now, some of you know of my rather fierce attraction to Allison here in the Sacoroaches, TX, but I will admit; at times, I nearly forgot about her while at SAMS. As beautiful as Allison is, Dinora is hispanic like myself, and we probably had more in common than I have with Allison. However, I guess similarities do not always make for anything beyond friends, and after a time, I realized my situation and accepted that my chances with Allison, however slim, were still looking better than mine with Dinora, or any other girl at SAMS, really. Even so, we are still friends, and I will treasure all the cool things we did.


The three "Alexanders" of SAMS stand assembled here. I am the only Hispanic, but all three of us were crazy to some extent. Alex Lee on the left came from Georgia, but remembered his original Louisianan home well. Coupled with the fact that he is a self-taught (and skilled) artist like myself, we became good friends, if not occasional assassins. Aleax in the middle was an ill-tempered fellow at times, but he respected me (said our name was the greatest in the world) and I respected his space (most of the time). And you probably know about me already. All three of us are dressed up (more or less) in anticipation of departing for the Gateway Clippership cruise, a three-hour ride on the Allegheny, Mongahela, and Ohio Rivers dancing and celebrating the night away. Think of it as a prom of sorts.


Ami and I during the clippership cruise. Ami was the constant friend and tennis partner of Dinora, as well as a Texas native. Smart, mellow-happy, witty, and friendly, she was the only person (aside from Deivid) who could probably beat me in tennis matches. Of course, Parth and I managed to soundly defeat Dinora and she in a two-day tournament, but Ami displayed some impressive skill for some who "hates tennis." Ami, along with fellow student Brandon, engineered the whimsical but fun game of Agagadaba, in which both Dinora and I discovered to be very fun (and rather tricky; that board just doesn't have the right numbers when you need it; good thing I can jump far). Just a wonderfully cool person is Ami, and I am glad to have met her.


A crude image taken of Pittsburgh at night from the top deck of the Clippership. The fountain is at the point where the two rivers meet to make the Ohio River.


The last day of SAMS required everyone to present projects they had done over the six weeks. I really did nothing too spectacular to present this year, so I got to mainly look at everyone else's stuff. This also gave me time to say my good-byes. This photograph is the last time I saw London. A fellow senior like myself, she had been impressed enough by my hair "style" to emulate it often with her own. Major props go to her for being the only girl with the guts to dance with me to Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" at Clippership. If you have seen this picture on Myspace, I can explain the quote describing it, said by one Robert, the sleepy bald chap seen in the earlier photo with me, Parth, and Anh in English class (see first post). For three days straight, pure chance and coincidence found London and I finding each other at the same place every day we had English class, and thus going to class together quite serendiptiously. One day, we walked in together and Robert turned around to exclaim, "London and Alexandria--the two greatest cities in the world!" I was taken aback, and then the joke hit me like a brick. London and I laughed quite a bit. Robert was playing off the fact that both of our names were of major cities (my name I guess being the inspiration for Alexandria in Egypt, which was founded by Alexander the Great). It was a classic inside-joke for the rest of the program.


The night after Clippership, SAMS students gathered to participate in an ancient CMU tradition; painting the fence. To do so, we had to stay after midnight, paint it, and then guard the fence until six in the morning. I left at 3:00 AM, but not after painting my initials in the wood border. Either way, I saw the result after Symposium, and gladly had a photo taken.

So SAMS ended. Shortly after taking this photo, my dad went to get the car, while I had enough time to visit some friends in the UC, go back to the dorm, help some more friends take their stuff to the FedEx office, say some good-byes, and then finish packing up my stuff. My father then arrived, I said good-bye to my room-mate, my droogies from all floors, and then I was rushed down the stairs and into the Monte Carlo. I turned on the radio, and I did not look back...



SAMS 2006: The End