Persistent Illumination

There are few people in my life who have been as under-appreciated (by me) as my own brother, Phil. Whether he knows it or not, he's the one who most made my university life bearable during my years at UW. He's the one who kicked butt on his SAT scores so many years ago, and in doing so encouraged me to step up to the post-secondary academic plate. It is he who opened the doorway to the Brothel, and in doing so changed my perspective on brilliant students forever.

It is with no small excitement, then, that I announce that my brother will soon be going on to grad school. Yes, my own little brother has recently been accepted to the University of Alberta's Department of Linguistics for a MSc program.

Now, he's not there yet - his acceptance is contidional on his successfully completion of a summer school program by the Linguistics Society of America at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Oh, darn, summer school at one of the most prestigious technical institutes in the world. Summer in wonderful, international, cosmopolitan Cambridge, Massachusetts. You suck, Phil.

His girlfriend must also be happy - a Victoria, BC native (I believe) but currently doing post-grad work at UA as well.

And, of course, I guess this means that a) I now have to step up to the plate and head towards further education, and b) Phil will get the "I did it first, again" bragging rights. If you want to e-mail him congratulations, I recommend pcdilts ^at^ uwaterloo ^dot^ ca.

Way to go, Phil! Hope you have a great time in Cambridge and Calgary!