The Cover Letter - Davenport University: Fill & Download for Free

My mother donated her brain for nothing. She had Parkinson's Disease and in her later years became immobilized and felt so useless, she felt if her brain could be of use in research, she'd like to make that contribution, since she couldn't make any other contribution to the world in her impaired condition while she was alive.The University Medical school was glad to accept her brain for its research program, and asked me if I would like a copy of the report after they had examined it. I said yes, since I have colleagues in the medical field who I knew could explain technical terminology to me. The report came at some point, accompanied by a letter calling what they had done an "autopsy," and stating the completely obvious, which was that she had late stage Parkinson's. Then they asked for a monetary donation to cover the costs of the "autopsy."Since the brain, in fact, was the donation, I was taken aback. I called to explain and was told that it is very expensive to do that kind of research, and the "autopsy" meant I had an ethical obligation to donate money to help defray the costs. I told them no, they had it wrong; we donated the brain to their research program, and without donations of brains, they had no program anyway.There ensued a correspondence of a couple of backs and forths and finally I gave up trying to get them to see my point of view. I gave them a brain to study! If they couldn't afford to study brains, they had no business accepting them from people like my mother who, if she knew how little they respected her donation, would have taken it back herself, if she could have. But no, they kept saying they realized I was distraught over the recent death of my mother, but blah blah blah...I was not distraught over her death, having grieved her loss long before. I was distraught over their sheer stupidity and the gall they had to ask me to pay for the research we had donated a brain to enable them to conduct. Bizarre in the extreme.

I am not a mathematician or a physicist, but I hear your passion. Have you considered asking your high school teachers for advice? They may have some very good ideas but may not know about your interest. You may also consider contacting a physicist who works in the area you're most interested in, whether at a nearby post-secondary institution (university) or maybe an author of a physics book that sparked your interest. When I was your age I wrote a letter to Carl Sagan, and his secretary sent me a nice article about black holes and information on the Planetary Society. Just last year I heard Neil Tyson de Grasse (not sure exactly where) say that he had written to Carl Sagan as well, and Prof. Sagan helped introduce him to some opportunities in astrophysics (if I'm recalling correctly). You may find that people will answer you more often than you'd think; it's worth a try!Also, you've found your way to Quora - I bet there's a section here you'd be interested in! Some areas of science and math allow for independent pursuit quite naturally, but teaming up with others can lead to great things.If none of that suits you, you could always start the university curriculum. Have you covered Feynman's lectures on physics? Have you delved into Leo Susskind's books? Are you interested in quantum computing? There are areas you may not have explored yet, so I'm hoping you'll keep working at it! Good luck!

I had a tear in my eye at the end of these novels. Here are three books about academic life that are quite beautiful and poignant:Prof. Mule — A workaday adjunct instructor is trying to get a full-time teaching gig at any college who will have him. He needs the health benefits, to help his mentally troubled wife, who is sinking. He reluctantly starts muling drugs between the campus towns he teaches in for extra cash. It’s ultimately a tragic love story, and also a crime story. You can find it here: Prof. Mule.Stoner — This isn’t about a guy who smokes pot. He’s a Midwestern farmboy with a talent for studying Letters who comes of age at the turn of the 20th century, lives a boring, prescribed life — except for a brief affair, which is quelled by university politics — and dies, never really saying what he needed to say. Here it is: Stoner.Good-Bye, Mr. Chips — Here’s the English school master version of Stoner. They both have silly names, huh? In any case, this is a quick read and covers Mr. Chips’ whole professional life in one school — he eventually becomes the school. He goes through many professional ups and downs — and had a brief marriage — but realizes his work really did matter. Here it is: Goodbye, Mr. Chips.