Radical.

Yesterday was our final Machiavelli class, and I surprised myself by taking on a ridiculously idealistic girl in an emotionally charged argument about human nature. Usually, I sit back and let people believe whatever they want to believe, but this time, I really stepped it up (and in a BYU class; go figure). She insisted that people are inherently benevolent and kind, and I argued that they are primarily unpredictable and self-motivated. I destroyed her, with cold empiricism and genetically predisposed survival instinct as my key witnesses. My teacher approved, but I saw the self-righteous anger in my antithesis' eyes as she condemned me silently from her corner. I took an extreme position, maybe more so than I believe, and I won. She was honestly disgusted at my opinions, and I felt radical for the first time in my life.

In other news, I was complimented on my words today. Those are always the best sort of compliments--the ones that highlight an area in which you've been working to improve. I interviewed for a position in a research lab, and the junior I talked with told me I "sounded smart." I got to use my medical vocabulary as I discussed the indicative pathology of osteoarthritis, explicating everything from the components of the extracellular matrix in articular cartilage to symptoms and risk factors for the disease. I need to remember to speak more slowly, though, and to get less excited when he mentions medical things; I think it gives away my age and lab-oriented naivete, which are my main obstacles to getting this position. Everyone in the lab is much older than me; at BYU, sophomore boys are 21 (LDS mission), so accepting a barely-18-year-old, inexperienced freshman is kind of a long shot. I really hope it works out, though; I'd be incredibly enthusiastic about having lab research experience this early on, and the subject matter is fascinating.