What Happens When Physics Meets Microwaves in a Summer Honors Program?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the experiences of a participant, Moonbear, who is involved in a summer honors program for students. The conversation touches on various personal updates, including a demonstration related to microwaves, Moonbear's recent promotion, and interactions with students during the program.

Discussion Character

  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Moonbear shares experiences from a summer program with honors students, including a demonstration on "things not to do with your microwave."
  • Participants express congratulations to Moonbear on her promotion to associate professor.
  • Moonbear updates on her cat's recovery from a health issue, which was caused by ingesting thread.
  • There are plans for a trip to DC for the students, with discussions about how to manage the following day's classes after a late return.
  • Some participants joke about the proposed "surface anatomy" lesson involving drawing on each other while wearing shorts and tank tops.
  • One participant shares a personal context of being at an airport after a family funeral, expressing a mix of emotions and a sense of missing their own children.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express support and camaraderie towards Moonbear, with no significant disagreements noted in the discussion. The conversation remains informal and personal, focusing on shared experiences and updates.

Contextual Notes

The discussion reflects a blend of personal anecdotes and light-hearted exchanges, with no technical or theoretical disputes present.

Who May Find This Useful

Members of the community interested in personal updates, informal discussions about teaching experiences, and light-hearted interactions among forum participants may find this thread engaging.

Moonbear
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Hi everyone! I was thinking of you all today and thought I'd drop in and say hi and let you know I'm still alive and well.

I thought of you all because I'm working a faculty for a summer program with our state's honors students, and one of the RAs, who is a physics major, did a demo for the students today on "things not to do with your microwave," which reminded me of the threads on that topic back in the day with MIH and Gokul. (And as soon as we replace the microwave now sacrificed to the physics gods, we're going to do it again with more stuff, though the RAs are thinking they might want to take the microwaves off the floors the students are living on tonight.) And, of course, if he's a member here, I've probably just outed myself. :D I'm still requesting grapes for the repeat, even if I have to go do the shopping for them myself.

It's a 3 week program that's intense, but tons of fun. It's a refreshing break to be teaching a group of ONLY honors level students who are there to be challenged.

In other news, as of today, I'm officially promoted to associate professor (I got my notice a month or so ago, but today is the official date).

And, last time I visited, my cat was very ill, but with lots of tender, loving care, she's been restored to full health and is as bratty as ever. It turns out the brat had found a spool of thread and sucked it down spaghetti style. Fortunately, all passed in the end (okay, yeah, the pun was intended). It took her a while longer to recover from all the GI inflammation and medications she was on before we found out it was thread (it wasn't showing in the x-rays), the secondary cystitis, and just general other issues she had from such a severe illness. But she's all better and as normal as she ever was now.

There are probably too many other things I've been up to to fill everyone in, or even remember. It's been a whirlwind of a year. I'm not even on long now, because we have to bundle these kids onto buses ready to pull out by 7 AM tomorrow, so I need some sort of sleep tonight (I know I'm not going to get any on a bus full of rowdy teens tomorrow).

So, hi everyone! I'll look around and see what everyone's been up to and who is still here that I know.
 
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Congrats on the promotion! It's good to hear from you. :smile:
 
Congratulations on the promotion, Moonbear!

Nice to see you around these parts again.
 
Hi, Moonie! It's so good to hear from you!
 
Warm smile -- wonderful to hear from you MB. Congrats on the promotion; it won't be the last. Glad that sinper kitty is doing better. A mad cat with a rifle is never a good thing.

:smile:
 
Moonbear! :D She's alive!

Congrats on your promotion :) And that's good to hear about your cat! Have fun with... barf... those kids!
 
Congrats Moonbear!

Also glad to hear about Ember, I was going through some old threads and was looking at her antics.

I hope you can stop by more often!
 
Nice one beast.
 
Well all right! Congratulations Moonbear. I've missed you.
 
  • #10
Thanks for the warm welcome back, everyone! Yesterday would have been better if they had real buses instead of school buses with no air conditioning. Otherwise, the kids on my bus were so worn out from the past week that they were pretty quiet the entire trip.

The next trip we make with them is to DC to see the Smithsonian museums and *ugh* a baseball game (I'd be perfectly happy to get back on the buses and return home after the museum closes rather than drag out the night with a baseball game). At least that will be on real coach buses rather than school buses, so we can all sleep on the way back. They actually expect the kids to be awake for classes the day after that trip in spite of getting back at probably 2 AM the way it's planned. So, the faculty are all finding creative ways to not have to do any lessons that next morning. I think the one teaching drama classes is going to do relaxation exercises, and the one doing a literature class is going to do quiet reading (and won't say a word if they fall asleep doing it). I'm going to ask them to wear shorts and tank tops that day and we'll all go outside and draw on each other for a "surface anatomy" lesson.
 
  • #11
Hi Moonbear

Moonbear said:
I'm going to ask them to wear shorts and tank tops that day and we'll all go outside and draw on each other for a "surface anatomy" lesson.

Surface anatomy lesson? Sounds kinky. Can I attend.
 
  • #12
welcome back! :smile:
 
  • #13
Moonbear said:
I'm going to ask them to wear shorts and tank tops that day and we'll all go outside and draw on each other for a "surface anatomy" lesson.
Sounds like just the lesson I'd be paying attention to in HS, as long as shorts and tank tops were involved.
 
  • #14
It's the 4th, I'm in Cleveland airport awaiting my flight home, it's right after my Uncle's funeral, and I have a long layover in Philly, with a good chance of delays--I miss my kids and I'm a wee bit depressed...

All this is to set the scene that I was really cheered to see Moonbear was back, even if I missed her. Well, I got to go stand in another line...
 
  • #15
Nice to hear from you, Moonie. Congrats on the promotion! Think you'll be able to spend more time here once the summer class is over?

Chi Meson said:
It's the 4th, I'm in Cleveland airport awaiting my flight home, it's right after my Uncle's funeral, and I have a long layover in Philly, with a good chance of delays--I miss my kids and I'm a wee bit depressed...

All this is to set the scene that I was really cheered to see Moonbear was back, even if I missed her. Well, I got to go stand in another line...

Sorry to hear about your uncle, Chi :frown:.
 
  • #16
Hiya Moonie - even if it's like two weeks late.
 

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