Is College Worth It?

    

Is College Worth It?

     Our adventures in the UK are coming to an end, and it is time to hear from the professors. Thinking about the last 21 days has put me in a reflective mood, so join me over my rhubarb yogurt and instant coffee while I process a few thoughts.

    When the economy starts to become uncertain, one sees more and more newspaper articles with titles like the title of this blog entry -- Is College Worth It? These articles tend to focus on ROI, which majors earn the most of their lifetime, and what alternative careers might be as lucrative without the cost and “hassle” of a 4-year delay in hitting the job market. What these articles almost never address, however, is the impact that college has on an individual -- on Who They Are.  The personal growth, maturity, arc toward being a lifelong learner, and being an overall asset to society -- these topics are typically ignored. 

 Take, for instance, the 21 days of growth that these students have just experienced.  It would be hard to reproduce it in any alternative setting. The students have been encouraged and challenged to deeply study a difficult topic (historical cryptography) and connect it to other important realms of learning (history, sociology, economics, etc.) while working on their problem-solving and communication skills. They have gained confidence in their ability to navigate the world, think independently, forge new relationships, and interact with at least one crotchety professor who is older than their parents.

    A trip to London with their parents might have been great, but it wouldn't have been the same experience. A trip to London with their friends wouldn't have been the same experience. A trip to London by themselves wouldn't have been the same experience. College often provides us with truly unique opportunities that mold and shape us into who we are becoming in a special way. 

Students -- don't read below this line

    My spirit of reflection is now going to morph into one of gratitude, while I address some constituencies who might be reading this blog. 

• Parents of these students: thank you for raising such amazing young people! They are smart, funny, respectful, good-natured, punctual, and generally a delight to be around. When I mention to people who aren't affiliated with Furman that I am going to spend 3 weeks mostly abroad with 18 students, they usually give me a side eye and a look that suggests they think I'm crazy. All I can say is they don't know what they are missing. 
• President Davis and Dean Cass: Thank you for your support of the MayX study-away program. As I outlined above, it is a really special opportunity for our students. 
• Nancy and Paige: (From Furman's Study-Away Office) Thank you for all your hard work and support. It is a great comfort knowing that you are on call if we need you. Your efforts before, during, and after the May term make running this ship SO MUCH easier. 
• Nicky and IES Abroad: Thank you for all your work in London. It is hard to imagine making all the arrangements and securing all the tour guides and tickets without your help. Nicky: we appreciate your prompt replies to all of our inane questions!
• Christian: I really can't think of anyone I would rather do this trip with than you. Your constant attention to detail, your enthusiasm, your willingness to put up with me and my quirks -- not to mention your deep love and knowledge related to cryptography -- these all make the trip what it is. 
• Suzan:  Thank you for making it possible for me to have this experience. I know that feeding all 17 mouths by yourself is not easy, especially right after (and before) some extra grand-babysitting. (For those who don't know  -- the 17 mouths include 4 horses, 7 chickens, 5 cats, and herself if she has time!)

Goodbye London! It's been a blast.

 

 

 

 

The End, or Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Welcome to the final student post on this blog, fellow Woodard-ologists! Today was our final full day in London, and we know what that means – presentation time! It doesn’t feel like we’ve been here for over two weeks, and it is sad to see it come to an end. However, we had to have a little fun for the last day. Today, most of the class dressed up as the legendary Dr. Woodard. 

To kick off presentations, my group (Jay, Josh, Kali, and Lilia) gave a presentation on hill climbing and simulated annealing.  These are algorithms that are very helpful in deciphering ciphers previously seen in this class. We gave an example with an MSC, but they can be used with many other types of ciphers. 

Next, Anya, Ava K., and Joseph gave a presentation on SIGABA. It is a machine that is similar to the enigma (which we know all about by now), but it has many more rotors and no reflector. This made it much harder to decipher, and was very important in the outcome of the war. 

For the last presentation before the break, Ava H., Caitlyn, and Katie gave a presentation on the Dilly Girls. They were a group of women that worked in Bletchley Park, and they were crucial in cracking WWII codes, specifically enigma. 

After the first three presentations, there was a break during which we held round two of the photo competition in which there were the three existing categories, best group photo, most entertaining picture, and best scenic picture, and a new fourth category for zaniest professor picture. Here are the winning photos taken by Anya, Makayla, Caitlyn, and Hannah, respectively.

After this break we continued with the final three presentations. First, Ella, Hannah, and Makayla discussed the history of the Japanese cipher machine known to the British and Americans as the purple machine and how it worked. Then, Margaret and Maggie brought to light the stories of Arlington Hall and the female code breakers that worked there. Lastly, Nick, Rhodes, and myself discussed the modern code breaking competition Kryptos, the methods for solving a Kryptos puzzle, and presented codes that we had created. 

In the late afternoon, most of us participated in a walking tour scavenger hunt. 

My group’s hunt was themed around Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty. Many of the riddles were based on wordplay which were very fun to see once we had figured them out. At the end, the prize each of us got (besides being “inducted” into a secret society) was a chocolate bar. The experience overall was very fun, although challenging and sometimes frustrating at times. 

The other two groups had spy-themed scavenger hunts. This included getting many random documents from bartenders, and suspiciously opening a briefcase in an alley. One of the two groups doing this scavenger hunt may have gotten a little distracted along the way, but in the end at least one of the groups completed the hunt. We were even rewarded with a super cool pin that everyone was extremely excited about. We also got $10 off our next scavenger hunt, which will unfortunately go to waste since we leave tomorrow. Overall, I think everyone had a great time roaming the streets (and alleys) of London. 

In total, I think that this MayX has been an exciting, fun, and educational experience for all of us. Although many of us are probably excited to go home, rest, work on summer research or classes or jobs, I think that there is also a sad feeling that is inevitable with the end of anything enjoyable. Regardless, I believe that we will all remember this experience and recall it fondly in the weeks, months, and possibly even years to come.

Ready, Set, Canva!

What's up Crypto Peeps! 

 

This is Josh Saadati and Joseph Tarrant bringing you the inside scoop on the sneakiest May X of Furman University. Today was spent in preparation for our presentations tomorrow. It is crazy to think that this is our second to last day here in London! It seems as though we just arrived yesterday and now our time is coming to an end. Despite the sadness that comes with that, we had to keep being productive, though. 

Like so many times before, we boldly started off the day with a class session at the IES center. I (Josh) traversed the tube from our dorms with several friends, but left them to their own devices when they caved to the primal desire for caffeine while on the walk from the tube station to our classroom. I pride myself in my ability to maintain energy without assistance from drugs. Class today took a bit a of a different turn from the usual: after a short briefing on return travel plans, we split off into our project groups in order to put the finishing touches on our presentations for tomorrow. During this time Dr. Millichap and Dr. Woodard met with each group to check in on progress, offer suggestions, and answer questions. While we certainly didn't achieve Alan Turing levels of concentration and productivity (looking back having all eighteen of us working and talking in a small student lounge area might not have been the best plan...), we still managed to get a lot done. In particular, my group focused on ironing out the order of our presentation, working out the kinks in the computer algorithm we plan to use as a demonstration, and cleaning up the slides to make them look as professional and cohesive as possible.  

My (Joseph's) group spent most of today finalizing the information we wanted to put on our slides for our presentation tomorrow. We already had an outline for what we wanted to do and how we wanted the presentation to flow but we needed to finalize our information and rehearse how we would present. That took most of the morning, afternoon, and evening today. We took a brief break after lunch on our preparation because Ava Kinghorn went on a side trip to the Museum of London to see Jeremy Bentham’s (the father of Utilitarianism) skeleton. 

A few days ago, several students (including myself--Josh) who went to a restaurant called Slim Chickens for an allegedly paid-for group dinner tragically had to use their own funds to buy sustenance after the card reader rejected all six cards Dr. Millichap and Dr. Woodard produced. Thus, as reimbursement, the professors graciously treated us disenfranchised folk to lunch today at a large outdoor food market near the IES building. Since our usual greenspace behind the building was closed for construction and the student lounge was occupied, most of us made do with the couches in a small area between the lounge and the stairwell. For our afternoon entertainment, Ella recounted a tale from her mystical hometown of Naples, Florida involving a young girl with magical hair who was kidnapped as a baby and trapped in a tower by an evil old woman. It took some of us more time than others to notice the similarities to a certain beloved Disney movie, but Jay remained particularly convinced that this was just another wild "Florida Man" story until near the end.  

An official photograph of the girl kidnapped in Naples

After lunch, everyone split off to do their own thing for a couple hours. I personally wandered around for a bit with Lilia, Ella, Hannah, Kali, and Katie (and later Jay and Rhodes) through various markets and shops, where we of course stopped for some sweet treats! Jay and Rhodes in particular found some stunning new garb at the Camden Thrift Shop. Unfortunately, I didn't think to snap a photo, but stay tuned and you just might see them sporting their fresh fits before the trip is over. 

Lilia with her sugary concoction

Another interruption to our presentation preparation today came when we had a zoom call with Ralph Simpson. Mr. Simpson has a ton of knowledge about historical cryptology and also owns a ton of cool machines related to historical cryptology. He showed us several of these machines and gave several interesting anecdotes about how cryptology happened in World War II and after. It was interesting to see the covert side through things like the CIA supplying other countries with machines that they had a backdoor entrance for. It was really incredible to get to learn from Mr. Simpson and to be able to ask him questions. It was especially useful for my (Joseph's) group as we were able to learn more about our project topic from him. 

This evening, I (Josh) went on a personal adventure to do a photo shoot at a local TARDIS (a.k.a. a blue police public call box that has come to be associated with the sci-fi TV show Doctor Who). Props to Lilia, who made the forty-minute trip just take pictures of me in front of a random box from a show she doesn't care about!

I grabbed some delicious Turkish dinner before heading back to the Stay Club to meet with my project group. We made some final modifications, ran our presentation, and congratulated ourselves on a job well done. Can't wait to impress the profs tomorrow! 

Speaking of which, it's high time all us cryptographers got some rest before the big day. Until next time! 

 

-Josh Saadati 

-Joseph Tarrant 

 

Be a Goldfish

Welcome back Crypotologists! What an exciting free day everyone had! Maggie and Margaret were posting pictures in the photo circle before peopler were even awake; talk about early bird gets the worm! They took a trip to abbey Road and recreated the Beatles album cover!

While we're on the subject of early mornings, I can't forget what Dr. Millichap, Nick, Kali, and Katie accomplished early today. These runners completed a 10K race in Richmond, the neighborhood where Ted Lasso takes place! In true Dr.Woodard fashion, we took a pre-race (and a post race) selfie to remember the day.

A special shoutout to Dr.Millichap for placing second overall and Nick for placing 10th out of all the males. Kali beat her personal record and Katie had an awesome time as well! After crossing the finish line, the runners had lunch at a pub from Ted Lasso, did some shopping, and went separate ways for the rest of the day.

After Hannah and I's dreams of the London Zoo were crushed by the outrageous ticket prices, we decided to improvise and visit a local farm this morning. We were by far the oldest people there (by about 15 years), but it's safe to say we definitely had the most fun. We saw sheep, pigs, ducks, chickens (thinking of you Dr. Woodard!), cows, rabbits, and our personal favorite, goats.

Other adventures this morning included Ava H.'s trip to Westminster, Dr. Woodard's experience with My London Walks, Lilia's time at Notting Hill, Lorelei's time at the British Library, and Ava K's church service at St. Paul's Cathedral.

The afternoon saw multiple trips to Harrods, the biggest and most luxurious department store I've ever seen. Hannah and I went in search of Jellycat stuffed animals, but walked away empty handed after looking at the price tags. Makayla, Ava K., and Anya took advantage of the store's many cafes, and decided to have some mid-day tea.

Rhodes and Jay had shopping on their brains too, but found much more appealing prices at the Coal Drops Yard and walked away with cool new shoes.

Dr. Millichap continued his day in Richmond, exploring the MI5 spy exhibition at the National Archives.

Ava H. checked out Wimbledon and the Chelsea FC stadium, while Lorelei, Caitlyn, Hannah, and I enjoyed an afternoon in the theatre district. Lorelei saw the Phoenician Scheme and the rest of the girls and I watched a musical production of The Great Gatsby. We had a brief fan girl moment when we realized Corbin Bleu, an actor from High School Musical, was Nick Carraway.

The evening was filled with delicious dinners and early bed times as we prepare for a full day of academic indulgence tomorrow.

To finish out, I'll leave you with some advice from Ted Lasso himself: "Be a goldfish."

Good night cryptologists!

-Ella

A Punt-astic Day in Cambridge

Hi there Crypto-blog-readers! This is Katie and Hannah giving you the daily debrief of the Breaking Codes and Winning Wars May X in London!  

 

Today we explored one of the oldest Universities in the world, Cambridge University, which was first established in 1209. Our day started bright and early at 8:15am with a coach ride to Cambridge! (Yes, it was a coach, not a bus. Our coach driver got upset every time we called it a bus... oops) Although we were all a little tired, we were so excited for the adventures ahead. 

 

Once we got there, we met our first tour guide, Mary, and went straight into a walking tour around Cambridge. Our focus for the tour was Alan Turing and WWII, but we got to see so many things with a huge academic history and incredible architecture. One of our first stops was the Cavendish Laboratory. This laboratory was built in 1874 after there was a need for space since there were students doing science experiments and dissections in their dorm rooms... eww! However, Mary told us that Cavendish was home to many of the most famous science experiments in the Modern World. For example, in 1913 Niels Bohr conducted his famous atomic structure experiments in this building. In 1897, J.J. Thomson and his team conducted his cathode ray experiment in Cavendish which confirmed the existence of the negatively charged particle, the electron. It was incredibly rewarding to stand where these experiments took place, because this is what we have studied in many of our science classes today! Mary mentioned that if it weren't for these types of discoveries and these scientists' deaths from mercury and radiation while working on them, then the world would not have progressed in physical science as much as we did in the past 100 years. Then, we went on to see The Eagle (Royal Air Force Pub), King’s College, and we went inside King’s College Chapel and learned about its history. Mary was an epic tour guide!

After the walking tour, we went on a punting ride on the River Cam with our guide, Tom. Tom graduated from Cambridge University where he attended Trinity College. He is now studying computational linguistics in Edenborough, and he is spending his summer being a punt tour guide! Punting is a small wooden boat with a guide on the back pushing the boat along with a long pole. The tour took us next to about 4 colleges of Cambridge including King’s College, Trinity College, Queens College, St. Johns college. In addition to the tour of the colleges, we got a small couple of lessons in various subjects. For instance, Dr. Woodard asked if there is rowing on the River Cam. Tom informed us that there is a separate part of the river that is set just for rowing. We also learned a little about the rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge. This past year, Cambridge University Boat Club won against Oxford University Boat Club in the famous annual Boat Race! We all had a blast and wished that part was a little bit longer. The best part of the punt ride (in our opinion) was when Lilia tried punting for herself. Tom was generous enough and brave enough to let her try. Let’s just say that Lilia should stick to riding the boat instead. Tom had to save us from crashing into multiple boats on the bank... anyways! We then had a little bit of free time to grab lunch and explore with the short time we had left. While we were on the walking tour, some of us saw numerous places to grab ice cream so we naturally couldn’t leave Cambridge University without a sweet treat! Then we got back on the hot coach...  

Then came the computing museum. We were all a little worried after our bus driver got lost a few times attempting to find the place and once we saw the place we were even more worried that this was going to be a rough museum. Once we all found the old school gaming consoles and arcade games, everyone got really excited and jumped into playing all of these fun games. Dr. Millichap went straight into playing Donkey Kong on the Super Nintendo from 1992. Not surprisingly, he was very good at this game. Kali and Jay found the Lego Star Wars game on PlayStation 2 from 2000; they could not stop playing. Also, to no surprise, Dr. Woodard got excited about the 70s office exhibit, which took him back to the old days. Ella and Hannah were so excited to see a cool typewriter, so much so that Hannah convinced Dr. Woodard to possibly bring in his working typewriter that is sitting in his attic. Hannah also learned a lesson in typing from Dr. Woodard. She learned that the shift key, that makes each letter uppercase, was literally because the keys on the typewriter shift to print the capital letter on the paper with ink. Very cool! Some of the other notable games played at the museum included Space Invaders, Pac Man, Mario Kart, and Wii Golf. After a bit of time at the museum, a few of us (Ella) were a bit tired (pictured below).  

 

The ride back to our housing was another story. The coach was so unbearably hot, and the ride felt like it was never going to end. We all tried to distract ourselves but not much was working. When we got off that coach, it was the best feeling ever!  

 

We finally got back to our housing, and all went our own ways to find dinner and get some much-needed rest for our last free day tomorrow.  

 

Thank you for reading! Be sure to come back tomorrow for some more stories of our amazing time in London!  

 

Signing off, Hannah and Katie 

 

Honorable Mention Quotes / Stories  

 

“I think it’s better to stay in school than go out and work. That’s why I’ve been in school my whole life.” - Dr. Mark Woodard (at approx. 11:35am)  

 

“Do you have chiggers here?” - Dr. Mark Woodard (at approx. 12:30pm   

 

“Ava K is the Nick polygraph. When Nick is talking, I look at Ava’s face to see if he’s telling the truth.” - Josh Saadati (at approx. 6:09pm)  

 

“Lilia is not making good choices. She’s trying to cook chicken and sprayed my dry shampoo (highly flammable) in the hot pan instead of cooking spray. We’re lucky to be alive.” - Ella Perry (at approx. 7:49pm)