照片由Shiana Joy Photography提供.
Tiffany Nicholson holds her cat, Ripley, for a Christmas card photo taken in Fairbanks
2021年10月. 尼科尔森计划毕业后获得机械学士学位
2024年秋季工程学.
极光编辑的注释:
In its more than 20 years as a campus literary journal at the University of Alaska 费尔班克斯，冰盒有几种不同的形式. 它在上世纪90年代后期以杂志的形式开始 1990s, morphed into a print journal, became a literary website, and then was revived 作为一份从卷开始的年度期刊. 15 in 2021.
Not all universities have their own publication featuring undergraduate voices and 原始艺术. In collaboration with many faculty members, writers and artists along the way, our students at UAF have proved to be tenacious, working together to solicit 内容和募集资金出版 冰盒.
卷. 19 of 冰盒, which featured cover design by Jade Lamoreaux, was published in 2023年夏天. The journal was distributed to faculty, students, local high schools, 全州艺术组织及其他组织. 卷. 《买球app》将于2024年夏天上映. Our appreciation to author Tiffany Nicholson for providing permission to share her 这期《买球app》杂志的故事.
蒂芙尼·尼科尔森
2020年伊始，前景一片光明. 去年的大部分时间都是我度过的 in the math lab of the UAF Chapman Building relearning the algebra and trigonometry 我在过去的十年里都忘记了.
I sweated over word problems involving oddly shaped gardens and the subtle but distinct differences between trigonometric identities, but mostly I just literally sweated. A phenomenon unique to the Chapman Building is that the thermostat is quite possibly set on Dante’s ninth circle of Hell, but I persevered much as a pilgrim does and finally 我准备上微积分课.
I had the notion that understanding calculus was only for the predestined few. 然而, I could not ignore the fact that precalculus and specifically trigonometry had ignited 我对数学有一种近乎痴迷的渴望. 也许是在数学的混乱中 confidence, I tossed out the idea of a biology degree in favor of possibly pursuing 工程. 当然，这取决于一个特定的约束:我是否 微积分得了A.
As spring semester 2020 started, you might have well thought it was Black Friday and UAF数学系正在免费赠送图形计算器. 我35岁才出现 minutes early to that first calculus class, eager to prove myself and nervous that 我不值得. 然而，就像奥林匹克举重运动员严格练习 fundamentals of a movement before adding weight, my prerequisite mathematical training established a solid foundation as I entered the world of derivatives and integrals. The initial ideas of calculus came easily (for the most part), and, when I scored 第一次考试得了99%，我觉得自己势不可挡.
然而, the rapid spread of COVID-19 quickly dissipated that initial excitement, and, as if my eyes were held open with specula, I was forced to watch as the universe 把我整齐的人生计划扔进碎纸机. 我惊恐地意识到 the rest of the semester (and subsequently my entire 工程 math sequence) would 是在线.
In the pandemic, my focus became simple: This was survival, both physically and academically. Unfortunately, COVID-19 had the innate 能力 to morph me, in record time, from a motivated, full-time employed student who kept an excellent study routine into an unemployed, stretchy pants-wearing, Stardew Valley-playing procrastinator. 其余的 of the semester, I woefully trudged through video lectures and scoured the internet for homework help, all the while riding a smooth curve downward in terms of material 理解. 但只要有坚定的决心和上帝的指引 YouTube, I came out of my first calculus class with an A and nervously submitted the 文书工作把我的学位改成了工程学.
My first lessons in 工程 would come not from the classroom but from my 人al 生活. Immediately in my second semester of calculus, I became acquainted with the 熵的概念(被亲切地称为混沌). 很像顺时针轨迹 of a helix centered along the z-axis (a downward spiral), my 人al 生活 spiraled 进入障碍. 发生了三件事:一场毁灭性的分手，一只逃亡的猫和一只 失去了脚趾甲. 一切似乎都要崩溃了. 在那之后不久 week of classes that I had a solid cry in the 工程 study lab (which in hindsight might be a rite of passage) and realized I was actually thankful classes weren’t in 人.
个人成长很少像买球app希望的那样是线性的. 相反，它是一个指数模型 function where we maintain a steady curve before witnessing a dramatic increase in 能力. When we work tirelessly without any noticeable results, it’s known colloquially 如同绝望之谷. 到了微积分的第三学期，我可能已经拼凑起来了 my 人al 生活 and corralled a rather elusive feline (who showed up looking rather befuddled as to why I was so distraught after her month-long absence), but mathematical frustration ran rampant, and “imposter syndrome” was abundant as I trudged through 我自己的绝望之谷. 无法进入传统的教室或面对面 tutoring, I felt like I was fighting the mythological multi-headed Hydra, conquering 一个数学概念却发现它暴露了更多的弱点.
In the end, the very thing I thought would be my undoing (online classes) was teaching me a very valuable lesson, one applicable to both 生活 and the classroom. 吉姆·马蒂斯 puts it: “You don’t always control your circumstances, but you can control your response.”
我开始了自己的战略运动. 数学解曾经只是一种手段 to an end became nothing less than works of art, because that’s how I made it appealing. Abstract concepts that seemed vague and inapplicable at first glance became 人able and often comical tales once you had historical context for the conditions under which 它们被开发出来了.
Online classes might never be my preferred means of learning, but the chaos of 2020 taught me how to adapt my learning style to a rapidly changing situation. 我不会 say it was the best of times or the worst of times, but I did build a lot of character, 这让一切都不同了.