The other day Mom walked in and slapped down a newspaper on my desk. "How to win a Rhodes," exclaimed the title written over pictures of students training to pursue one of the most respected honors in academia. The story followed students from the Ivies as well as ordinary state schools that are trying to get more students involved in the competition. That article put to rest all my jitters about going to P2 - it reminded me that the program has an astounding number of Rhodes/Marshall/Truman/Gates scholars. What's more, kids who are serious about going after the awards are given loads of training outside the classroom: their social skills become just another function of their very powerful brains through mock interviews and mock cocktail parties.
Maybe I'll go try out for a Fulbright scholarship. I'd love to spend some postgrad time in Tokyo or London. It also puts my mind to ease about the fact that I'm leaving all the smart guys (phil/syed/joanne) in a short 4 months. It's like looking at a double-helix pattern as a two-dimensional image: the paths separate, but they come back together and repeat the cycle over and over again. Perhaps I'll run into the smart guys at one of the real cocktail parties, and we'll make important-looking small talk about peace in India or the cover story from the latest edition of The Economist. It's a scary thought, but then again so is going by myself to Japan once I get past the initial novelty of being close to all things video gaming. 