Nerd Camp

My cousin Kim is working at a summer school for gifted students. She is teaching art history, but there are also a lot of other types of classes offered. The following is a list she has compiled of "nerd moments."

Here are the highlights:

#2: 3 kids walking across campus. This was the conversation:
A: "So wait, is it ge-NOME-ics or is it ge-NOM-ics?" (genomics=a more advanced study of genetics)
B: "Dude, it's ge-NOME-ics."
C: "Yeah, it's ge-NOME-ics."
A: "Oh, I thought it was ge-NOM-ics."
C: "No, it's definitely ge-KNOME-ics. Like, if you have like, vowel after a hard consonant and a soft g, it's like, long."
A: "Oh yeah, I guess that's right. But it sounds like, so much cooler if it was ge-NOM-ics."

#11: An Instructor walking across campus with his class, shouting:
Instructor: "When I say HYPO, you say THALAMUS! HYPO--"
"THALAMUS!""HYPO-""THALAMUS!"
"When I say ALPHA, you say HELIX! ALPHA--"
"HELIX!"
"ALPHA--"
HELIX!"

#14: Two instructors eating at the cafeteria:
A: "Whoa--is that the newest TI-89? Can I check that out?"

#12: One of my students from last session was in the camp talent show. Her talent was reciting Pi to the 100th number after the decimal point.

#18: A Genetics student in my friend's class last session:
"If I finish this problem set in the next 10 minutes, can I sequence more DNA?"

#22: A math student brought his iPod speakers to class. The class went outside for their break, where unfortunately, there are no power outlets for iPod speakers. But apparently not a problem to the gifted and talented set. The TA turned around and saw that the kid had unscrewed the bolts to a metal panel of one of the campus pathlights (those big lights that illuminate the campus at night) and was starting to take apart the wiring inside the lampost so he could hardwire to his iPod speakers. Which seems to truly encapsulate the gifted and talented student population as those who have excellent intelligence and absolutely no common sense.

#23: In the genetics class, they have an activity where they put together a puzzle I think of some sort of molecule or DNA sequence or something. Anyway, there are two ways to do it--one way reveals enriching facts about biology and genetics as you do it, but it takes longer to put it together. The other will yield a cohesive picture, but you won't do the learning part (I'm not exactly clear on how that works, but just go with it). Anyway, the TA was doing it with her class as a group. All of the class was interested in learning and doing the puzzle the "enrichment" way except one kid, who didn't care and kept arguing for the class to just get it done as quickly as possible. So one kid turns around to this kid and says,

"I'm so glad you're not my enzymes."