Megan Stoupa criminal justice and administration freshman

Freshman can explain the difference between 'vortex' and 'vertex,' prays for English-speaking TAs

Wildcat: So my name's Nathan and you're On the Spot. Welcome back to school.

Stoupa: Thanks.

Wildcat: How was your first day?

Stoupa: It actually hasn't started yet.

Wildcat: Oh, you're serious?

Stoupa: Yeah. Six o'clock is my first class, but I'm in class all day tomorrow and all day Thursday.

Wildcat: So - what's life like being back on campus?

Stoupa: It's nice. I like being back on a set schedule.

Wildcat: So those black glasses, are they - what are those? They fade in and out, dark and with the light? Are those glasses or sunglasses?

Stoupa: Oh, they're sunglasses. They're cheap, but they do their job.

Wildcat: You're by the physics building. Are you a physics major?

Stoupa: Oh, no. I'm a business major, but my math class is in there. College algebra.

Wildcat: When I was a freshman taking calculus, this dude, he didn't really know how to speak English. I don't know how I learned. I think I passed with a 'B'. I didn't understand a thing he said.

Stoupa: Yeah.

Wildcat: It started off with like 40 people. By the end of the school year, there were like 20 left.

Stoupa: Wow. Yeah.

Wildcat: That's the way it goes.

Stoupa: I keep praying I'll get someone that speaks English.

Wildcat: So you got an extra night to sleep in, right?

Stoupa: Yeah. I have a busy day tomorrow. Tomorrow should be exciting.

Wildcat: All right. Math. Do you know what a vortex is?

Stoupa: Uh, a vertex?

Wildcat: Is it a vertex? A vortex is for water, isn't it? It's a point of suction. But somebody told me, and I trust him because he had a beard and a bald head, that "vortex" is also a mathematical term. What's a vertex?

Stoupa: A vertex is like, whenever the line crosses the x-axis.

Wildcat: I forgot about the whole vertices thing. X and Y. Fantastic letters of the alphabet.