(no subject)

[shadowkat]

Some interesting posts on my correspondence list today.

Ganked this meme from yourlibrarian.

Here's the set of questions asked college applicants -- meme? Answer them in 250 words or less. I can do better than that.

a) If you could create a food truck, what type of food would you serve. Name the truck.

God knows. There seems to be one for everything, doesn't there? And I can't eat 98% of it. I'm not really a cook -- so drawing a blank on it.

Hot chocolate with marshmellows, and Gluten-Free Cookies.

b) It’s 2040. What’s today’s headline?

A meteor is about to hit the earth and we'll all be dead in ten days. [Hey, I can hope.]

c) Name three songs from your perfect playlist.

Left of Center - Ani Defranco
Paint it Black -- Rolling Stones
Life Goes On - The Beatles


d) If you could teach a college class, what would it be?

Cultural Anthropology - Folklore and Legends

e) Name one thing you'd bring to college with you.

Lap-top computer

f) Look out your nearest window. What would you change about what you see?

Be able to see the moon.

g) What object would you write a letter to?

Television set -- for being wonky, I honestly think it has a mind of its own. Either that or the light in my bathroom -- that may be haunted. Or my alarm clock for not letting me sleep longer. Seriously, the thing keeps waking me up at 6 AM, what is up with that?

[I'm very glad I don't have to apply for colleges ever again. Some things, I do not want to redo.]

Comments

[cactuswatcher]

I wondered what the heck these questions were doing on a college admissions application, then I remembered when I saw random topics like this before: Freshman English/composition class. No doubt it's a test to see if you can write in sentences and maybe paragraphs. Maybe see if you should be in something other than the bottom composition class if they accept you at all. I suspect most college applicants doing this don't know what they answer is not nearly as important as how they answer.

I remember my English instructor being unhappy with my work because of reasons that had to do with my dyslexia (spelling, inability to put commas in their proper places, you know the drill). At that point in my life, I didn't know any better then than she did!

d) If you could teach a college class, what would it be?
Been there done that! ... They sure weren't the classes I'd have guessed as a high school senior applying for college.

[shadowkat]

I was lucky -- the college application essay questions that I got were:

1) Discuss an experience or extracurricular activity that you did in high school or during the summer and what you learned from it. (I discussed the two months I spent living in France with a French family that didn't know any English.)

2. Discuss what caused the Civil War or what lay behind it. (I wrote an essay about how economics were the root cause of the Civil War. And the economic disparity between the Industralized North and the Agricultural South led to the conflict, which was a somewhat different take.)

The questions in this meme would have been difficult to answer. I had troubles answering them here. If I were answering them in high school?
I'd have answered "d" with "teaching political science" or "history", I wanted to be a political science major. But it was impossible to get the courses -- you had to put some many points towards them, and everyone wanted to a be poli-sci major. What's amusing is I probably would have ended up where I am now, regardless.

[yourlibrarian]

I'm really impressed you can remember what you were asked to write about! I have zero idea, for undergrad or grad. I remember the doctorate asked what I wanted to study and why I felt the degree was important which at least were practical questions to be asking.

Here are my replies which I posted at Pillowfort:

a) Cuban food, because we don't have any in our area. I'd call it Cuba Aire Libre.

b) "Water pipelines run dry: National Guard overwhelmed."

c) Orpheus by David Sylvian; Vienna by Ultravox; Desire by U2. (My answer remains good for 24 hours only).

d) Well I have in the past, but if I could choose my topic, Fandom 101.

e) Eye mask and earplugs.

f) I'd see an entrance to a tornado shelter.

g) My clip on earrings, telling them to stop going off to explore the world.

[shadowkat]

It helped a great deal that it was distinctive. I do not remember the other essay topics, or what I wrote to get into Law School. I honestly think I'd have much preferred to write a dissertation to graduate law school - then a two day BAR EXAM. Much less stressful (I'm great at writing papers, I suck at testing.) Next life? I'm becoming an academic not a legal professional.

Why would you want a view to the entrance of a tornado shelter? Doesn't sound that attractive -- sort of anxiety inducing actually.

"Water Pipelines run dry - National Guard Overwhelmed" is a great one.
I was debating between - Trump declared dead finally, everyone celebrates, and Aliens invade, decided to go with the meteor.

Haven't heard of David Sylvian or Ultravox, may have to look those up.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, I'd have preferred the writing as well! Though oral exams are the worst of the lot in my book.

In this case the tornado shelter would be quite reassuring because there aren't any anywhere around us. This city is lousy with apartment complex housing and yet none of these buildings have shelters. There ought to be a law that you can't build a complex without one, especially in tornado prone areas. To have one close enough to see it means I could get to it even in the middle of the night.

Always glad for them to find listeners. Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEArdmll_9w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNZAfXekdlY

[shadowkat]

Thanks.

When I was living in an apartment complex in Lawrence, we'd always just sit in the hallway during the tornado warnings. (We didn't have basements either.) It's anxiety inducing. Also, apparently bathtubs work -- my gran would go to the bathtub or shower, if she couldn't get to the basement.

[yourlibrarian]

Our dilemma is that there are no hallways, everything is exterior facing, and there are also no inside wall rooms with no windows. The bathroom is not a great possibility for us because it has large mirrors and there is a shower stall (with glass). Our closet doors are flimsy frames holding mirrors. (Makes for a nice look in the room, utterly useless as protection).

So there are no good options, particularly since we'd be taking shelter mostly against debris rather than a direct hit.

[shadowkat]

You're right that's poorly designed for tornado central -- my apartment in NYC (where we don't tend to have them at all) is so much safer.