20K, AMA, and Pics; Yay!

DarkPlasmaBall

United States46561 Posts

June 15 2013 09:45 GMT

I generally don't write milestone blogs, but this is my 20,000th post on TeamLiquid... and in some cultures, writing the equivalent of one post per minute for a whole half-month is revered.

So... yay! I've hit the 20K milestone

Dance.

So first and foremost, feel free to ask me anything

I figure an AMA aspect is one way to encourage conversation. I'm a lover of mathematics, education, tennis, StarCraft, and long island iced teas.

As both a math educator and student of math education (I'm currently tutoring privately and at public centers, and I'm also a full-time student working on my PhD in mathematics education), this man- Taylor Mali, teacher and slam poet- has the attitude I wish to emulate (and I wish more teachers would copy) as an educator:

I make a goddamn difference... now what about you?

Now for something a little bit more StarCraft-related...
Some of my favorite photos that I've collected at MLGs when I was fortunate enough to meet some SC2 players and personalities:

Casters:

+ Show Spoiler +

Some day, Apollo will come to the northeastern United States... Some day...

Day[9]: + Show Spoiler +

"I like math too!"

DJ Wheat: + Show Spoiler +

Saw him after midnight once he finished casting the whole day... and yet he was still running around. If this guy had any more energy, Blizzard would remove his amulet.

Artosis: + Show Spoiler +

"You have fantastic taste in clothes." And then he told me how good chargelot archon is.

Tasteless: + Show Spoiler +

"Sick shirt, man."

Team Liquid:

+ Show Spoiler +

Must construct additional pictures with TL Korean pros >.<

Nazgul: + Show Spoiler +

The man who's responsible for me losing hours of free time every day, with all the time I spend on TL.net <3

Hot Bid: + Show Spoiler +

I'm surprised Hot Bid didn't find a way to photobomb this picture...

Sheth: + Show Spoiler +

"Hey, I like your shirt!" "And I like yours!"

Tyler: + Show Spoiler +

The [American] Handsome Toss.

TLO: + Show Spoiler +

The Bearded Wonder.

Ret: + Show Spoiler +

And the Best Dressed Award goes to...

Evil Geniuses:

+ Show Spoiler +

EG EG baby baby baby... both old and current faces...

SirScoots: + Show Spoiler +

An amazing e-sports personality.

iNcontroL: + Show Spoiler +

"Hi iNcontroL!" "Call me Geoff." Shit just got real. I'm honored to moderate his stream.

IdrA: + Show Spoiler +

See what I did there? Just kidding; Machine is the man.

IdrA and HuK: + Show Spoiler +

Completely normal, of course. Maybe it was because of the shirt I was wearing?

LzGamer and Axslav: + Show Spoiler +

Gone, but not forgotten <3

Koreanzzz:

+ Show Spoiler +

My APM increased just by being near them. Needs more Jaedong and Bisu though.

Mvp, Nestea, Losira, and MKP: + Show Spoiler +

Yes, that is me giving a Nestea to Nestea. He enjoyed the gift

DRG: + Show Spoiler +

I asked him to do his zergling scratch dance with me. It was legendary.

MC: + Show Spoiler +

MC in his Murloc suit ^^ This is his attempt at smiling

MMA: + Show Spoiler +

I was fortunate enough to ride the elevator up with Losira, MMA, MC, and July.

Polt: + Show Spoiler +

His English is better than half the Americans I know.

Select (and Slasher, technically): + Show Spoiler +

Glad he's back!

A few more friendly faces:

+ Show Spoiler +

A mad scientist, a boxer, and a few others... still need to meet White-Ra though <3

Naniwa: + Show Spoiler +

Bad picture; great player.

Drewbie and Catz: + Show Spoiler +

My hotel room was right across the hall from Root (old school Root, before they disbanded and then came back).

SLush and KiWiKaKi: + Show Spoiler +

...I know, right?

Sundance: + Show Spoiler +

This guy gets it.

?????: + Show Spoiler +

I actually killed the person who messed up this picture, for obvious reasons.

And I guess the tradition is to thank those who have been particularly helpful, friendly, or communicative during the time I've spent here on TL...
Thanks to:

neoghaleon- for giving me all the explicit details of your future relationship with DRG (invite me to the wedding!)
lilsusie- for purchasing an SKT T1 shirt for me <3
Jealous- playing PPL and SSB64 was awesome (and looking forward to your summer tourny!)
micronesia- for our conversations regarding math and science education!
Azera and Recognizable- for the PMs regarding math problems and education!
opterown, Shellshock, and Kristoffer (and others)- for creating amazing LR threads and writing out those live reports!
StateofReverie- because why the hell not?
Naniwa and Thorzain- For the TSL3 Finals, and this: + Show Spoiler +

Day[9]- for this: + Show Spoiler +

Husky and Mr. Bitter- for this: + Show Spoiler +

The moderators- for putting up with any and all of my shitty posts. ^^;;

Thanks for reading! Cheers to the best community a guy could be a part of. And feel free to PM me if you ever want to chat about anything

More gg, more skill.

+ Show Spoiler +

Obligatory.

~DPB

S:klogW

Austria657 Posts

June 15 2013 10:26 GMT

One of my favorites in the General Forum!

Congratulations DPB!

DarkPlasmaBall

United States46561 Posts

June 15 2013 10:30 GMT

On June 15 2013 19:26 S:klogW wrote:
One of my favorites in the General Forum!

Congratulations DPB!

Thank you, Mr. Entropy

Paljas

Germany6926 Posts

June 15 2013 11:20 GMT

the idra pic is good.

Nedereden

777 Posts

June 15 2013 11:37 GMT

Wow Im so Jealous. How'd you get dat Idra pic...
+ Show Spoiler +

Kappa

Edit:
Dat BoxeR pic.... hahahaha... I'd have done the same...LOL!

Emzeeshady

Canada4203 Posts

June 15 2013 15:19 GMT

--- Nuked ---

DarkPlasmaBall

United States46561 Posts

June 15 2013 15:38 GMT

On June 16 2013 00:19 Emzeeshady wrote:
Nice pic with the IM team! Was that at the IPL team league finals?

Also, the DRG picture is priceless, gratz on 20k.

It was MLG Providence 2011; IM (and Quantic, when they partnered with IM) came to a nearby venue for photos and signatures

And DRG is a cool guy ^^ Actually, I found that most pro-gamers- Korean and foreigner alike- are pretty cool people and generally approachable (although perhaps not right after a scathing defeat- they may want a little time away from others then).

docvoc

United States5491 Posts

June 15 2013 15:43 GMT

What kind of a teacher are you DPB? How did you realize you wanted to be one?

EDIT: I realize it's math or science related, but I'm kinda curious as to the subject haha.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States46561 Posts

June 15 2013 15:49 GMT

On June 15 2013 20:37 Nedereden wrote:
Wow Im so Jealous. How'd you get dat Idra pic...
+ Show Spoiler +

Kappa

Edit:
Dat BoxeR pic.... hahahaha... I'd have done the same...LOL!

Yeahhhhhh -____-' I was so upset!

On June 15 2013 20:20 Paljas wrote:
the idra pic is good.

Here's one of a smiling IdrA

BLinD-RawR

ALLEYCAT BLUES51702 Posts

June 15 2013 15:52 GMT

#10

I don't have a question but I just wanted to tell you that you're a cool guy.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States46561 Posts

June 15 2013 15:56 GMT

#11

On June 16 2013 00:52 BLinD-RawR wrote:
I don't have a question but I just wanted to tell you that you're a cool guy.

Haha thank you

+ Show Spoiler +

You know I'm an SKT fan, right?

DarkPlasmaBall

United States46561 Posts

June 15 2013 16:33 GMT

#12

On June 16 2013 00:43 docvoc wrote:
What kind of a teacher are you DPB? How did you realize you wanted to be one?

EDIT: I realize it's math or science related, but I'm kinda curious as to the subject haha.

(EDIT: Just to be clear, these are my intentions at a future job. Currently I'm not an employed teacher because I'm a full-time student and working as a math tutor on the side.)

A math teacher- either starting off as a high school math teacher and ending my career as a college professor, or just sticking with being a college professor all the way through (which I'm leaning more towards, as there are less politics, bullshit, and immaturity at the college level than in secondary school, and I'd get burnt out less quickly and possibly make more money). Also, the ability to do research on the side is appealing to me, although my first priority is educating others.

There are surely pros and cons to being an educator at each level (primary/ elementary, secondary, etc.). At the youngest levels, the students are still excited about everything. Any task you give them can be the most interesting thing they've ever done, especially if you show emotion and passion. Playing with blocks at the kindergarten level? What a coincidence; they fucking love playing with blocks.

Unfortunately, teaching the youngest kids can be tough to do when you can't really have related tangents because they're only six or eight or ten years old. You get to mold them into great learners, but often you're seen as more of a babysitter than anything else. Also, the basic mathematics at that level doesn't truly interest me, although I tutor it (and most other maths that most people need to take in school, including standardized testing).

At the secondary level, you can actually have more constructive conversations with students in general, but only if you're a teacher they respect. Plenty of them may act like jerks, and some of them are already tired of a subject (input "I hate math/ I'm good at math" whining here). They're already jaded from having *that one bad teacher* that ruined an entire subject for them, and that's a pity. One can work to reform those students, of course, but it's much harder when dealing with those who already think they have enough experience to draw conclusions on what your course is going to be like, before it even really starts. I'm a big fan of teaching secondary level mathematics though- especially the algebras and geometries that all students will take, and act as the building blocks of higher mathematics. Having a strong foundation in algebra is imperative to being successful in high school (and college) mathematics courses. I often say that the hardest part about calculus is the algebra involved, as consistently reformatting and manipulating your equations can be the difference between a straightforward, successful derivation, and being completely lost.

Of course, at both the primary and secondary levels, a teacher has to be prepared for not only ignorant students, but ignorant parents as well. They (possibly even moreso than the faculty), can be the bane of any teacher's existence. ("You gave my child detention? But he can do no wrong!) Ideally, the teachers and parents will work closely together, with the teacher communicating effectively with the parent, and the parent staying on top of her kid's homework and after-school education. But many times, a lack of respect for the teacher or an indifference to their child's education is garnered by the parent (or vice-versa), causing an unfortunate downward spiral at the student's expense. Many cultures (especially the countries that are more successful from an education perspective) often treat their teachers with respect, and that is something that educators generally do not have in the United States.

But that was slightly tangential and a bit of a rant; I only wish to contrast that with what happens at the tertiary/ undergraduate/ college/ university level, where students are actually held accountable and responsible for their actions, and an angry e-mail from mommy means next to nothing. If I could teach basic mathematics (e.g., geometry or precalculus or algebra) to college students, I almost certainly would. Although I might not have as much of an effect as the prior teachers who are first introducing the subject, I've found from working with college students that they still can be impressionable. That's not to naively say that I'll be able to turn every student into a mathematician... but if I could make them more math-literate, then that would be fantastic.

As far as realizing my career path is concerned, I was fortunate enough to essentially always know what I wanted to do in life. I always enjoyed teaching and providing instruction, and I was very successful with- and actually enjoyed- mathematics throughout my career as a student. I had my fair share of useless teachers, but I was raised on fun brain teasers and logic puzzles, and frequently connected them to thinking mathematically. My parents were also high school teachers (my mom is a chemistry teacher, and my dad is a retired Spanish and Italian teacher), so being able to see (or hear) what they experienced shaped my path too.

Chairman Ray

United States11903 Posts

June 15 2013 17:19 GMT

#13

lol, I loved the Nestea picture!

DarkPlasmaBall

United States46561 Posts

June 15 2013 17:24 GMT

#14

On June 16 2013 02:19 Chairman Ray wrote:
lol, I loved the Nestea picture!

Thanks

I brought the Nestea from home to give to him... so in retrospect, the four hour drive may have made it warm

Chairman Ray

United States11903 Posts

June 15 2013 17:37 GMT

#15

On June 16 2013 02:24 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:

Show nested quote +

Thanks

I brought the Nestea from home to give to him... so in retrospect, the four hour drive may have made it warm

Next time, I think you should give Startale Life a bag of lemons.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States46561 Posts

June 15 2013 17:42 GMT

#16

On June 16 2013 02:37 Chairman Ray wrote:

Show nested quote +

Next time, I think you should give Startale Life a bag of lemons.

Hahahaha that's awesome! If I ever go to a tournament where Life is attending, I definitely will ^^

BLinD-RawR

ALLEYCAT BLUES51702 Posts

June 15 2013 17:47 GMT

#17

more like he should give it to you...when life give you lemons.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States46561 Posts

June 15 2013 17:52 GMT

#18

On June 16 2013 02:47 BLinD-RawR wrote:
more like he should give it to you...when life give you lemons.

Very true, although I doubt he gives them out...

unless he's the reincarnation of Fruit Dealer? O.O

Kasaraki

Denmark7115 Posts

June 15 2013 19:57 GMT

#19

Can you share any juicy details of Neoghaleon's future relationship with DRG?

Also, great gallery! I love these collections of pictures taken with various e-sports characters.

And awesome videos too. :o This post has everything, doesn't it!

KristofferAG

Norway25712 Posts

June 15 2013 22:13 GMT

#20

Unfair, I've never met a single pro.

Grats on the 20k dood!

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