Magic Touch

As time passes by, things are getting better. Unfortunately, this is our last Sunday, or day to have some major free time doing fun things, but then again, it is Sunday, so we get the chance to do that. This morning I woke up a bit earlier than I could have. I showered and had breakfast downstairs in the lobby with Raymond, Lee, Kelly, Jessica, Cory, and Tonny. Like last Sunday, there was Panera. Unlike last time, I actually decided I'd get some. When the time came, Jenny came to sign the cohort out for some breakfast. We headed over to Province, a French bakery in Hillsboro. There, we had an extensive selection of various good, but I decided I would share the French Toast with Katherine and order a Lavender Lemonade along with a Peach Macaroon, a Coco-Dusted Raspberry Truffle, and Salted Caramel truffle. Though I would have expected a bit more from the French Toast, the Lavender Lemonade and truffles made up. Overall, I enjoyed it. After with some time with Jenny, we shuttled back to Hank for lunch and then for our respective activities today.

Morning brunch with the cohort.

Capturing the morning

Got that magic touch.

The options were between going to the mall, the Adventure Science Center, or the Nashville Zoo. I chose the Science Center. We bused about a 15 minute ride there and once we got there, we got our wristbands and had the liberty to explore as much as we could for the few hours we had. I started off at one of the many different areas that had to do with personality, heredity, and genetics, examining things like how the male and female brains develop and differ. I was even able to see how I would "look" as I aged (it looked like my face was moldy more than anything). I spent it with Ryan and Griffin, both from my proctor group. We eventually went everywhere else, exploring as much as we could. For example, there was a solar system exhibit that had an array of the planets in the solar system and even a cool weight converter that lets you know how much you weigh on the solar system planets (I was about 6 pounds on Pluto and about 450 on Jupiter). Also, there was this really cool room in the the play structure that allows you to freeze your shadow with walls that are made from glow in the dark material that allows the shadows to stay. One of the other really weird things I was able to do was move a ball with my brain (and maybe also technically my mind also). I paired up with Griffin and then Ryan to see how well we squared off. The description said to relax your brain, but all I know was that Theta and Alpha waves were graphed by the headband we wore and somehow that was what moved the ball. Unfortunately I found it sketchy that Player 1 had a tendency to win (I won as Player 1 against Ryan and Griffin, but saw Player 2 from another competing pair lose, and also lost as Player 2 when I tried again with Ryan. Furthermore, there was a wheelchair basketball exhibit, which totally brought me back to the wheelchair social experiment. They also had two examples of inconveniences with people who use wheelchairs (a public telephone and a cafeteria-style ketchup dispenser). It felt nice feeling more aware of other issues that come into play, yet I also think (if I can recall well) that there weren't really ways for handicapped people to get up the complex structure of the center. Fortunately, I was able to get on as much as I could. There was a play structure in the heart of the center that was made up in a realistic heart shape as well as other organs, and spine-shaped ladder/bridge that led up to the top where one could see an open view of downtown Nashville. On the way down, I took every chance I found to go down the slides, or anything that wasn't stairs, for the sake of being adventurous and feeling like a kid. In the end, after all the great things I experienced, I regrouped with the rest of VSA , but bought some dried, space-appropriate ice cream to try with the rest of the crew.

That handlebar mustache though..
& the view from as high as one can get at the Science Center

We had free time until about 6 PM for dinner, so with about an hour that I had left, I napped, fixed up my lanyard that was slightly messed up, and spent the remainder of the time literally just hanging out with Raymond and Lee not really doing anything. Dinner tonight was very decent. There were a lot of jokes and apparently Katherine even began to cry at times. As you might be able to tell, it was a good time with the group.

Following dinner was Trivia Night. I felt a bit tired for it tonight, though, and went back into the game room where students were free to do quieter activities. I spent my time just chilling out for a while, working on reflecting today and getting some other work done. Time went by fast and before I knew it, it was time to head back here to Hank. There was supposed to be a stargazing activity that was going to be hosted by the Astronomy class, but it was ultimately cancelled. Instead of being able to just go and check something new here out, I spent some time with my awesome proctor and just relaxed it off for the rest of the night. Speaking of resting, tomorrow is Monday. Monday means class. Monday means a full schedule (with the exception of both SOFT and SOFT+ time), but to be ready for class, I'll be prepping on some work and then get rejuvenating rest.