April 19, 2007

SINGAPORE

Done With Fluid Mechanics and Cho Seung-Hui's Birthplace

I finished my first exam this morning, Fluid Mechanics, and it went quite well. The bell-curve system makes it difficult to predict actual grades, but I am not too worried.

During the exam, two Canadian students sitting in front of me (international students were grouped together in the testing hall) walked out just under the hour mark. It was somewhat strange because the proctor collected their papers, and then he looked at me as if he was expecting to see yet another westerner throw in the towel. I don't like the stigma that western students are lazy and not as technically gifted as Asians, so hopefully my marks will help dispel such a myth. If not, at least those two students will bump the rest of us up on the bell-curve.

When the exam ended, we had to wait for our exam papers to be collected. I began chatting with a South Korean exchange student sitting across from me, and he asked how I felt about the fact that Virginia Tech's shooter was from South Korea. I realized I hadn't given much thought to this because it seemed like a moot point. What difference does it make where he was born? Why does it matter if he looks Asian? Cho Seung-Hui committed a horrible atrocity and was obviously mentally disturbed - such things have nothing to do with him being born in South Korea.

While I don't exactly have an ear to the ground in the United States - distance creating serious logistical problems for such an endeavor - I wouldn't imagine the Asian community is being singled out after the shootings. If anything, people will go to greater lengths to help non-natives better integrate so such alienation doesn't reoccur. But again, I don't think the alienation stemmed from the fact that he was Asian, nor does the mentality of the populace treat it as such.

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