For the first time since freshman year, I was able to stay in the same dorm room from one quarter to the next, though I did have a new roommate (Rob, I think?). More continuity: I was a teaching assistant for Calculus II again. Graduation was less than a year away, so I needed to make plans for my next chapter.
Below are my books for Biomechanics, Manufacturing Engineering & Technology, Mechanical Engineering Design II, Automatic Controls, and Psychology of Advertising. It was kind of awkward when I asked my Biomechanics professor for a reference letter to accompany my application to study biomechanics in grad school... at UT-Austin. Per his brash and humorous mien, the prof's knee-jerk response was "Why would you want to do that?!" It was a good question - Georgia Tech had/has a strong bioengineering program. I was ready for a change of scenery, though. I wasn't particularly enamored of Atlanta, and moving to Austin meant I'd be with my brother Tim (who was a sophomore at UT) and my Aunt Elaine (an Austin resident since the early '70s). I got my recommendation letter and sent it to UT, along with my impressive transcript and high Graduate Record Examination score - I took a (then-novel) computer-based version of the GRE; no #2 pencil required.
While I was proficient in the conceptual underpinnings of biomechanics, I was less comfortable with applying that knowledge in the real world. Someone who ably bridged theory and practice was a classmate of mine: Derrick Adkins, a member of Georgia Tech's track team (the image below shows my abstract and his abstract from our individual term-paper projects in Biomechanics). I didn't know him personally, but it was thrilling to watch the live broadcast of his gold-medal win in the 400-meter hurdles at the '96 Summer Olympics. He later coached track & field at Columbia University, but it's not a storybook ending - Googling indicates that he has been forthright about struggling with depression, possibly related to head injuries sustained while training:
Derrick Adkins profile (New York Times)
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