Working on Memorial Day

So first: thanks to Evan for ceding ownership of this blog to me. Hopefully there will be more posts than there were last year. And more contributors.

As the title of this post suggests, I was working today. That's not such a bad thing: I hate not doing anything, and being aimless for even the two days this weekend was an unpleasant shock. Around spring break this year, my boss from last year, Joel, asked if I could spare a week this summer to do some data analysis for him. Maybe it's strange I accepted, but he is one of the most intelligent people I have met, and last year I learned a lot from him, and from this first day, it seems that this experience will be similar--more intense in fact.

We're analyzing world immigration data between 1960 and 2004. And along the way, he's teaching me most of the applicable statistics and mathematics. So a lot like last year (refer to last years post: the one before this one). Only more intense, as I mentioned before. The concentration level I sustained for about eight hours today (including breaks I suppose) was about the same level of concentration I maintained for each of my finals before I left. And right now I'm mentally exhausted. It was very, very difficult.

I guess this confirms that I'm a masochist, but I'm looking forward to going in tomorrow. I hope everyone is enjoying their summers so far!

--Cai