After a couple busy weeks of cramming, I had my first Infi test yesterday. I aimed for the highest goal I could think of that was still somewhat realistic - namely, to fail with dignity. I managed the "fail" part, at least.
So now it's back to two more months of cramming.
Here's how you can tell you've been trying too hard in your math/science courses: when you get your books for your other courses, and find yourself actually getting angry at how easy they are.
I was reading my first assignment for political science, and thinking, "Is this a joke? What is this, seventh grade? So all I have to do is read the book, understand it, and demonstrate my understanding of the material by answering a series of questions - that's it??? I can't believe they call that a college course."
I mean, the terms we have to define in the first paper were even mentioned in the book!
I remember when I worked up the courage to ask one of my math teachers why the problems in our assignments looked nothing, but nothing, like anything in the book. He reacted with the kind of horror that most people reserve for finding that their family pet has been ritually slaughtered in a sacrifice to Apophis, god of Chaos.
If the questions were like what was in the book, he explained, then how could teachers tell that we really understood the material? Students could conceivably figure out how to find one integral simply by looking at other, similar integrals, rather than by doing things the real way and figuring out advanced problems through a combination of deep understanding of the underlying principles, deductive reasoning, non-prescribed ritalin and cheating.
OK, he didn't mention those last two. I added them based on my own observations.
Anyway. I do not cheat (I admit to once collaborating on a homework assignment, but as mentioned here, we got a combined score of 40, so it doesn't count). I also do not do what any sane person would do and give up and accept a major more suited to my intellectual abilities (is there even a degree in professional drooling?).
I simply persevere. And whine. OK, I mostly whine, and maybe 10% persevere.
I admit that I'm looking forward to a class where reading the book, remembering the things it says, and doing the homework is almost certainly going to be enough to earn a decent grade. As one of you warned, all I have to do now is not get confused between the real history and the Game of Thrones.
(pictured above: the actual face I make when attempting to concentrate. Also, I apparently think with my kidney, which my math TA would probably say explains a lot.)
And now, to bed. My apologies for slacking recently on the valuable parenting advice I usually try to dispense. I've been parenting up a storm lately, though, so hopefully soon I'll have something to share.
So now it's back to two more months of cramming.
Here's how you can tell you've been trying too hard in your math/science courses: when you get your books for your other courses, and find yourself actually getting angry at how easy they are.
I was reading my first assignment for political science, and thinking, "Is this a joke? What is this, seventh grade? So all I have to do is read the book, understand it, and demonstrate my understanding of the material by answering a series of questions - that's it??? I can't believe they call that a college course."
I mean, the terms we have to define in the first paper were even mentioned in the book!
I remember when I worked up the courage to ask one of my math teachers why the problems in our assignments looked nothing, but nothing, like anything in the book. He reacted with the kind of horror that most people reserve for finding that their family pet has been ritually slaughtered in a sacrifice to Apophis, god of Chaos.
If the questions were like what was in the book, he explained, then how could teachers tell that we really understood the material? Students could conceivably figure out how to find one integral simply by looking at other, similar integrals, rather than by doing things the real way and figuring out advanced problems through a combination of deep understanding of the underlying principles, deductive reasoning, non-prescribed ritalin and cheating.
OK, he didn't mention those last two. I added them based on my own observations.
Anyway. I do not cheat (I admit to once collaborating on a homework assignment, but as mentioned here, we got a combined score of 40, so it doesn't count). I also do not do what any sane person would do and give up and accept a major more suited to my intellectual abilities (is there even a degree in professional drooling?).
I simply persevere. And whine. OK, I mostly whine, and maybe 10% persevere.
I admit that I'm looking forward to a class where reading the book, remembering the things it says, and doing the homework is almost certainly going to be enough to earn a decent grade. As one of you warned, all I have to do now is not get confused between the real history and the Game of Thrones.
(pictured above: the actual face I make when attempting to concentrate. Also, I apparently think with my kidney, which my math TA would probably say explains a lot.)
And now, to bed. My apologies for slacking recently on the valuable parenting advice I usually try to dispense. I've been parenting up a storm lately, though, so hopefully soon I'll have something to share.
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