Yesterday, I returned to my online life. I’m going to try and limit it a bit, though. I had the realization that rather than sit at my computer and complain that I didn’t have any real friends, and that there was nothing to do, I should try and spend more time out of my room, making new friends. Or making better friends out of my acquaintances. I’m still not very good at making new friends, but I can try.
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It’s looking like I’m attending the Villa Retreat on the weekend of the 30. It sounds like it should be a rather neat experience. It takes place on the coast, as good place for a retreat. I just need to remember to get my homework in shape before the weekend.
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Classes are looking decent this semester. 17 credits. I have Calc 2 and Physics 2, which look to be difficult, but Intro to CS (Java Programming) looks like it could be rather fun. We’ll see if I like programming for people other than myself.
Intro to Engineering Lab is entirely programming with another piece of software called MatLab, we’ll see how that goes. The professor underscores his key points by shouting them, and is prone to other fluctuations in volume, so class could be interesting.
That leaves Intro to Lit. Another class that looks to be a bit difficult. The professor I have is supposed to be pretty good. He tends to talk a bit quietly, though. On the first day of class, he told us he is getting professional help for a problem with muttering. Actually, with the engineering teacher and the CS teacher, who has Turrets, I have a fairly interesting bunch of teachers this semester.
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I still have Calc homework that’s due tomorrow, but it’s my first class, and it’s at 12:55. Then I have CS lab, and am done by 6. Not a bad day, really. I think I’ll go to bed now and finish the homework in the morning.
–Nathan
Welcome back to the dark side – but good luck on the bright side too. University is definitely the place to make new friends. Besides, everyone has to have some “what was I thinking?!” moments from their university years, and sitting in front of a computer just doesn’t lead to those at all.
A mutterer, a yeller, and a … well, someone who has Tourettes. Sounds like quite the exciting group of profs! Not sure what world you live in though – Intro to Lit gets a comment about being “a bit difficult” yet you barely bat an eye at engineering lab? whoa.
I would much rather write a computer program than write an essay. And when I read, I tend to read for comprehesion, but not for deep understanding. So when the prof comments on the symbolism of having the word “free” appear 3 times in three paragraphs, I have blown right past it to get to the next part of the story. When I’m writing papers, I have a hard time choosing a theme and writing on it. In programming, they tend to say “Here’s the input the user will type in, here’s what should come out, go to it.” The structure makes it a bit easier for me. Same with math or science, where there’s a correct answer. Although I tend to get a bit annoyed when they specify the method to use to arrive at the answer.
Spoken like a true science major. Stick with it, when it comes to the lit stuff — it can be learned. I used to be one of those folks who needed a right answer – it was either black or white, right or wrong. Then I started an arts program, and now I can write papers on the meaning of tv shows, the significance of movies or recurring themes in a text (which could be music, visual art (eg advertising), literary, film, etc). Hell, I even survived an essay question on hockey as a cultural phenomenon.
Trust me. You’re bright, you’ll get through it (hint: reading things more than once – first for the general gist and what happens, the second to pick it apart for stuff like repetition – really helps). And if I can help, lemme know
Yeah–reading again does help. I just have to budget my time so that I can get a second reading in.
I suppose I’ll get better at the lit stuff. I’m really not as bad as I claim I am, but I’m not very creative. I tend to finish a paper at the last minute, and then hand it in with few revisions. That leads to a few weak spots in my papers, but my teachers tend to like them more than I do. My Philosophy prof last semester even gave me an A, and made a comment like “I’ve never put much stock in that arguement, but a nice peice of work nonetheless.” I think that paper was ok, but if I’d had time for revisions, it could’ve been better.
But enough rambling for this comment.
The beautiful thing about writing about literature is that you don’t have to really know what you’re talking about. Well, you do to an extent, but it’s not the same as needing to know an engineering concept inside and out in order to get it right. But worry not–BSing skill comes with practice. It gets to be kind of fun (I just wrote a really biting essay on Walden when I doubt I read more than ten pages aside from scanning for quotes). Good times.