Saket Vora

All my grades have come in:

ECE 403 - Analog Electronics………… A
ECE 435 - Control Systems…………… A+
ECE 492 - Independent Research…….A+
ENG 331 - Technical Writing………….. A
IE 311 - Engineering Economics……… B

I was pleasantly surprised with the Control Systems and Independent Research courses. I’ll upload my research paper if anyone is interested in skimming over it. I was hoping for something better in IE 311, but whatever. I really disagreed with the professor’s teaching and testing style. Overall, not a bad way to end this semester. I really took a hit in the mid-term exams with some ridiculously stupid mistakes.
A few of my good friends are graduating this year; some after four years and a few after just three years.

Nate Derbinsky, Computer Science
We met each other after seeing our names appear on the top scorers in Mr. Genter’s high school physics class. We were in different sections, but soon got to know each other through mutual intellectual prowess, computer club, and literary journal. I first heard about the Park Scholarship through Nate, and he was instrumental in guiding me through that application process, and selflessly spent numerous hours showing me around NC State and helping me make my college decision. Nate has a lot of well-paved roads he can take in his life, but he’s always looking for challenges and pushing himself to new heights.

Mary Williard, Physics & Math
I met Mary as a Park scholar, for we were both in the class of 2007. We worked together in Honors 201 with Dr. Greene and as committee members for Learning Lab II. Her boyfriend (now fiance) was a computer engineering student. Mary and her generous parents hosted parties at their lovely house with a real wood-fired pizza oven. Mary is incredibly sharp — she won a Goldwater, was a finalist for the Hertz fellowship, and she was a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research fellowship. She is graduating a year early and is going to Stanford this fall to get a Ph.D in physics.

Brandyn Lee, Mathematics
Brandyn and Nate knew each other from Calculus III class in a similar way that Nate and I met each other — common intellectual prowess. They both took Physics 208H - Electrical & Magnetism, the same time that Mike and I took it. We formed a natural study group. Brandyn, being a mathematician, always had a unique perspective to our study sessions, and we formed a tradition of going out for pizza the night before the exam. A very easy going and open person, Brandyn is a friend with whom you can spend five hours in one sitting in a free-flowing discussion from philosophy, culture, science, and mathematics. I remember in the days before our final exams in my second semester at college, Brandyn swung by my dorm room one night and we tried to understand the physically meaning of the calculus concept of ‘curl.’ Six hours and one of those epic conversations later, we still didn’t have an answer but had a great time.

Kevin Henderson, Chemistry
Kevin is a fellow triplet who we got to know in high school. Incredibly sharp, he constantly aced all his science classes and competitions. In his senior year, he placed top 12 in the country for chemistry. Kevin has an inrrestible charm about him and can make anyone laugh. He can go long hours at high energy (probably powered by an insatiable appetite for Skittles). Kevin was a principle member of the Green Hope Science Olympiad too. After spending a year at NC State, he transferred to UNC and a had a great time. He has attended numerous conferences and his undergraduate research work has won several awards. He has used polymers to make functional molds of fly eyes. Kevin is graduating a year early and will be attending Northwestern University in Illinois this fall to start a Ph.D program in chemistry and bio-materials.

Naman Shah, Environmental Science with Health Concentration
Naman came to Green Hope when we were in our Junior Year, and quickly became a close friend. His family is Gujurati like we are, and they moved into our neighborhood. Fueled by a powerful innate sense of justice and compassion for his fellow man, Naman is deeply committed to improving the lives of those less fortunate. He is open, tolerant, and a joy to discuss any topic with. Oh, did I mention a bit mischevious too? He went to Chapel Hill and in just three years has gotten a lot out of the college experience. He has done substantial research with malaria and has made trips to Cambodia and Bolivia for conferences. He is an active member of Hunger Lunch, and has gone on several trips for them as well. Naman will be going to India this summer to work on a field team for polio vaccination, and then continue research at UNC in the fall before entering a medical program.

Michael Lee, Computer Science
Mike and I met in our first semester at Green Hope, and our friendship grew throughout high school. Tough we had our disagreements with politics, Mike has always been great to discuss things with and we have common interests in many other things. In our senior year we did a summer camp in multimedia studies at NC State and he played our valient Jedi warrior with dogged determination. We roomed together our first year at NC state. Through Mike I have been better informed on a great many things. He changed my opinion baseball, which was quite a feat. He got me to thinking about sports and politics in a way I had never done so before. Mike is extremely well read– I know of no other person who keeps themselves aware of as many different topics as Mike. Committed to his goal of becoming a game developer, Mike sought out opportunities at NC State — being part of the Game Development Club, doing summer internships, visiting gaming related conferences, and keeping an eye to the future. He will be graduating early and was accepted to the highly touted Digital Media Studies department at Georgia Tech where he will work on his graduate degree.

Nader Moussa, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics
Nader Moussa. I’m not even sure where to begin. In fact, I think I’m going to hold off on this character until a later time.

I’ll post some news later when I finalize my apartment for next year and I’ll put up my summer reading list.