one of my math friends had a t-shirt that said "you had me at hello world" and DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANT.* why would you buy a shirt like that if you didn't get the very obvious computer science joke? I feel like I would glance at it and be slightly mystified but rather unruffled as I walked by if I didn't get it. but then again, he's kind of a weird guy, so I wasn't actually surprised.
but, title-inspired anecdote aside, here's the situation: although I don't personally believe I have any greater intelligence than any other above-average college student, I somehow have come to be revered as some kind of genius by my family, friends, and most of the greek system at my school. I earned this reputation by deciding to be a math major and 4.0-ing my freshman year of college, but mostly by drunkenly spouting off that I want to be a mathematician when I grow up at a few too many parties. I have proceeded to solidify my reputation as my college career has progressed. exhibit a: every book on my bookshelf is related to math or science, from "the drunkard's walk: how randomness rules our lives" (a fantastic book, actually, that I'd recommend to anyone) to "here's looking at euclid" which I think may just be the funniest book title ever.
what can I do? I like science, I like math, and I find nerdy jokes to be completely and ridiculously fantastic. but let's just say such things are not always well received in a sorority situation. when I first brought "here's looking at euclid" to the house, I definitely got a lot of blank stares in response to my laughter. to which I promptly responded, "come on people, euclid?? the father of modern geometry??? do you really not get it?" which, granted, may have made some of my friends feel stupid, which I tend to do and then feel completely horrible for doing. my roommate was studying for a final last quarter and struggling saying the word "encephalopathy" causing me to launch into an excited spiel about bovine spongiform encephalopathy** (which maybe the coolest disease ever since it is so incredibly fascinating). but then she stared at me and I felt the pang of guilt I get whenever my intelligence gets too wrapped up in my excitement and the people I'm with can't quite appreciate it. I promise I never try to make others feel dumb. ever. I actually try to fit in, but with people I'm close to, I let my guard down and then somehow I always feel like my brain might reside in a different galaxy than theirs.
don't get me wrong, I've never tried to dumb myself down. I'm proud to be considered intelligent and love the opportunities it affords me, but sometimes, being introduced to someone new and garnering the response "oh, so this is smart girl" or "are you that one crazy 4.0 genius girl?" is not exactly what I'm going for.
but then again, what am I going for? why am I writing this blog? honestly, I have absolutely no idea. I could feed some lines about "improving the reputation of the greek system" or "trying to find an outlet for my outcast angst" but really, I'm not that angsty and the world should just drop the greek system stereotype since most of us have some modicum of intelligence and are actually high-quality people. I think I was inspired by a friend when he joked that I should write a book about being a genius in a sorority and this is what inspiration led me to.
anyways, since I've been jumping around between writing this and being on facebook and have been stumbling for the past hour or so, I'll sign off for the night but leave you with a beautiful fact: a number is divisible by nine if the sum of its digits is divisible by nine. so 69932164572 is divisible by nine since 6 + 9 + 9 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 6 + 4 + 5 + 7 + 2 = 54, which is divisible by nine.
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* hello world is a computer science joke, basically, since a common first programming assignment is to make something print hello world.
** BSE is mad-cow disease and essentially causes cows to get holes in their brain (it can also affect humans) from proteins misfolding. it's all in the name--bovine (cow) spongiform (spongy, the "holes" part) encephalopathy (brain disease). so cow spongy brain disease.
