Chris Taylor---January 1993
[This is one of my first signs of old age. I am now old enough to
write an anual newsletter. Here is my first in a series. Be warned
that much of the material in here is based on the assumption that
you care about me. After all, I wrote it to people I care about.---CCT]
Last month I received a number of Christmas newsletters from
different people. The thought crossed my mind that I was
probably old enough and far enough removed from a number of
my friends that I should jump on the Christmas newsletter
bandwagon. Realizing the added strain placed on postmen/women
at Christmas time, I restrained myself. Now that 1993 is here and
the mail glut is over, I have decided to write my first annual
newsletter.
Typically newsletters cover the highlights of the author's life
since the last newsletter. Since this is the first one, I am left in
an awkward position. I will try to hit the highlights of the
highlights for my first 21 or so years and then get a little more
detailed on the last six months. I apologize in advance for the
next few paragraphs but include them as a matter of duty as
opposed to any interest they may be to you. If you find them
down right boring skip past them and I will not be offended.
Highlights from the 60s:
I was born 12--14--69 and enjoyed 17 peaceful days of life in India.
Highlights from the 70s:
Went to Finland to see an aunt and
uncle get married. Had a close encounter with a snake charmer
and his cobra. Experienced my first elephant ride. Moved to
Indonesia. Came to the U.S. for the birth of my younger brother.
Caught pneumonia. Saw my first snow. Returned to Indonesia
by way of Hawaii. Went to 1000 Islands in Indonesia. Stayed in
a hotel with that had a baby elephant in the lobby. Slept through
my first minor earthquake. Climbed inside a volcano. I've had
enough, I'm only up to 1973. I'm bored, let's just say that I made
it through the rest of the 70s, all of the 80s, and the first 2.5
years of the 90s.
Highlights from 92.5 --- present:
In August I finished my work at
EROS Data Center and moved to West Lafayette, Indiana to
pursue Masters and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering at
Purdue University. I am living with my Aunt and Uncle there.
My uncle is a professor in Ag Economics at Purdue, and their
home is a little over a minute walk from my office on campus.
My living arrangements have been ideal.
My responsibilities at Purdue this last semester included three real
classes (probability, digital signal processing, and linear algebra),
a one hour a week seminar, and a teaching position. Two of my
three teachers were excellent, and although my courses were
challenging, I enjoyed them and learned a lot. My teaching
position involved teaching two introductory electrical engineering
labs. Each lab consisted of 26 students and met once a week for
three hours. I lectured for one of the three hours and the other two
were spent performing the lab assignments. I also wrote a quiz
and summary questions for them every week. Although my
teaching commitments consumed around 20 hours a week, I
enjoyed it immensely and view it as a conformation of my career
goal of teaching at a university. I am teaching the same lab this
next semester with 60 new students and taking three new courses
(estimation theory, circuit theory, and complex math).
I feel at home at Purdue having made a number of friends and a
host of acquaintances with classmates, finding a church in which I
feel at home, joining its choir, and getting involved with the
Navigators Christian fellowship on campus which has helped to
meet most of my social and some of my spiritual needs. God has
met all of my needs and all of the wants. Life is good and for
this I am grateful.
Highlights present --- near future:
It may be a bit presumptuous
for me to place in writing what will happen to me in the near
future, but I do feel qualified enough to give a rough prediction. I
plan on completing the three courses I already mentioned,
passing all of the students in my labs except two of them who
will quit showing up three quarters of the way through the
semester (this is a bit of a stab in the dark since I have not met
any of the students I will be teaching), becoming more involved
with the Navigators (I have agreed to be on the committee to help
plan their weekly large group meetings), playing intramural
racquetball, getting a start on my dissertation (probably just the
page numbers), and returning to EROS Data Center this summer
for a few months of gainful employment. Boy, I thought I had a
long sentence in the last paragraph, but the last sentence is even
longer. I am relying on your uncharacteristically long attention
span to allow you to comprehend it. Don't let me down.
Highlights from the rest of my family: My mother and father are
making another visit to the far east this month. Dad is presenting
a paper in Tokyo. My older sister (Stacia) is still in China. Her
big news is that she recently got engaged to an x-roommate of
mine (Brian Steward). My brother is a junior at Stanford in
industrial engineering. He has been invited to spend his spring
quarter at Stanford's campus in Washington, D.C.
Be good at being good,
Chris Taylor
This letter is copyrighted 1993 and I retain this copyright. You may freely
copy it as long as this copyright notice remains intact.