So much happened in 2014, zero updates on this blog. Overall, things went pretty swell, but I wished I had handled things better during that particular half-year period during the year, then maybe things might have worked out. Maybe I’ll write a better post about 2014 one day, but meanwhile we should all thank my midterm mugging procrastination for the existence of this revival post.
Soaking in onsen is probably one of the best times for soul-searching. And I’ve indeed come a (rather) long way since my last blog post / rant more than a year ago. I think I’ve reached that stage where I no longer give a fuck about what others think about me and just do whatever the fuck I want to do.
I also make it a point to re-read all my blog posts, public or unpublished or otherwise, once in a while, and every time, I look back and wonder: ‘what the fuck was I high on’. That last blog post was probably the pinnacle of all what-the-fucks.
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I blame the convenience of micro-blogging for this obscene lack of blog updates. I really wanted to make at least one summary post for each semester in university, but evidently I failed terribly.
I miss the days when I write a proper blog post to express myself. Nowadays, I tend to write one-liners that probably wouldn’t be able to fully reflect my thoughts on Facebook. I want to fix that. I’ll probably try to write at least one post per fortnight.
Okay so, it’s been 6 months since my last post, which described my thoughts on my friends from secondary school and junior college leaving for universities overseas. Ironically, this is where Facebook comes in handy. It has become a very powerful tool in connecting people, no matter where they are on this planet. (Actually, that is describing the Internet in general, but you get my point.)
Also, it’s nice to be able to meet up with other secondary school friends who are studying in local universities, including the one I’m in right now. It’s hard to meet up, especially with clashing timetables, lots of homework, and other commitments to tend to. It was nice to be able to meet with Mervyn, Roger and Yuan Kang for lunch yesterday.
My study area. Might be unconducive to most others.
About school:
Results from previous semester:
1. CS1101S: B+
I was expecting to get this grade, and I got it. It was one of the tougher mods considering that I was (almost) completely new to programming, and this mod was the tougher basic programming mod compared to CS1010. I relished the challenge, though. It was also the last semester that this mod will ever be taught, which means I was part of the final batch of students for this class. There were many brilliant students taking this mod, as well as tutors, not to mention Prof Ben. It was indeed a privilege for me to work with them while building on my foundations of programming. It’s a pity, though, that I was unable to do better to get that A- that would allow me to take CS2020 this semester.
I mean, where else can you find such an awesome lecturer?
2. CS1231: B+
In all honesty, I’ve no idea what was going on for the first half of this module, as per at least half of those taking this module together with me. I’m also pretty sure that I bombed the final exam. However, I have to be grateful to have an awesome project team that included Ryan, Davin (a long-lost classmate from primary school) and 2 others.
At first, the grader gave us the lowest score for the entire batch. We appealed, considering that we got full marks for our pre-video storyboard submission and followed it closely in our video. And then we got another tutor to grade the video and we got the highest score for the entire batch. Awesome. How the hell did that happen? If not for that, I’m pretty sure I would have got a much worse grade for this module.
3. GEK1505: B+
Took this module with Kah Hou to fulfill university requirements. Honestly, I really deserve better, but I’ve only myself to blame for making too many careless mistakes in the midterms and final exams.
Yeah, he looks way younger on his profile photo in IVLE.
4. MA1521: B
I can safely say that I totally bombed the final exams for this one. But thanks to the bell curve god, I escaped a B-. I must say that Wang Fei was a good lecturer, though sometimes his magic tricks with Calculus can be really… magical. You don’t even know what hit you and where he pulls his methods from, and *poof*, you get Koko Krunch the answer is right there. It’s damn imba.
Your typical magic show.
5. LAJ2202: B-
A university language module is no joke. You’d think that just because you are already JLPT N4 certified, and have spent half a year studying for N2, the Japanese 3 module, covering Minna no Nihongo Lesson 26-38, will be a piece of cake. It really isn’t, because studying for the JLPT does not prepare you for writing and conversational skills at all, or at the very least, hardly ever. It’s a really awful feeling when you try to express what you want to say in Japanese, but fail horribly. I entered the semester confident of getting at least an A-, and ended with a grade which was 3 levels lower than my expectations.
Nevertheless, I’m planning to strive on to Japanese 6 one semester at a time, and subsequently take the Japanese Translation module.
Also, I’ve never seen a teacher that puts in more effort in their teaching and more time towards her students than Chiba-sensei, the module coordinator and lecturer. I can’t remember exactly how many students there are in this module, but it could easily be about a hundred, but she takes the time to personally go through the work of every single student prior to the exams, as well as do 1-to-1 consultation with each student. She’ll also make time for such consultations when you miss lectures (once for me, due to CS1101S practical exam).
When was the last time you saw a teacher work this hard for their students?
SAP: 3.71
I had the option of S/U-ing the B- in LAJ2202 and get 3.88, but decided that I would most likely get a C grade in some modules that are compulsory and require me to write essays.
Modules that I’m taking this semester:
1. CS1020
2. CS2100
3. ST2334
4. LAJ2203
5. SSA2204
Thankfully, this semester's timetable isn't as packed as the last, though I still have 7 hours of Japanese lessons as per last sem.
It’s already halfway through the semester, midterms having just ended last week. Until all my (potentially demotivating) midterm results come back, I will continue to believe that I am doing just a little better than last semester. Hopefully I will be able to get a SAP of more than 4.1 this semester to pull my CAP to more than 4.
I’ll probably talk more about other stuff, like hall-related activities, but that’s for next time. It’s already 4.30am woah.
It is at this point of time when I remember what Meiyi said about everybody leaving for university at the various countries in the world, caught up with school work and having activity commitments with new groups of people. It feels sort of surreal, recalling all the times we did all the things together – chilling at the piano, playing board games, LANning, mahjong, even mugging – then moving on to meeting every few weekends to take a break from the military and catching up with each other, and even now, still meeting up once in a while to do stuff. And then, for the next few years, we’ll be attending our respective universities, living out the school life that may or may not prepare us for the next stage of our lives as part of the working adults. And then we graduate and start working.
It makes me feel melancholic, just thinking about all these. Where has all the time gone?
(related video)
Time is marching on… and time… is still marching on… DUN DUN.
I know we should always be moving on to face the future, but I really hope we will still be able to meet up in the further future.
(Facebook doesn’t count.)
Another related video (I think):
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Okay, back to calculus. Oh wait, it’s 4am.
…
nope. back to calculus.
August 20 (Sat)
2.20pm: Figuring out Order of Growth
11.30pm: Realizing that CS1101S DG is on Monday and not on Wednesday (Recitations).
August 23
1.20pm: Clueless about lambda.
4pm: Coding in MA1521 Lecture
August 26
3.50am: Sudden realization that Mission 4 is due on Saturday 2359h (27th) and not Sunday 2359h (28th).
4.20am: Also, not sure about the difference between unit-circle and alternative-unit-circle.
4pm: Coding in MA1521 Lecture again, instead of listening to lecture. Finally able to complete Lecture 5 Path.
August 28
7.50pm: Trying to figure out how to merge curves into a single curve in Side Quest 4. 1
9.20pm: Realizing that Ctrl+I should be used in DrRacket and not in the JFDI code window.
11pm: Sudden realization about parametrics.
11.45pm: Submission of SideQuest 4.1 just before deadline.
August 29
3.55am: Can’t remember how rcomp works.
1pm: Submission of Mission 5
2pm: Submission of Sidequest 5
6.10pm: Pon GEK1505 lecture to do coding.
9.35pm: Thankful for deadline extensions. Submission of Mission 6.
August 30
12.25am: Full marks for 2 side quests and 2 missions in a row? Deadline extensions? I know everyone else has been keeping a perfect streak since Mission 1 but for me… :everythingwentbetterthanexpected.jpg;
2.35am: Changing drRacket settings – open new racket files in new tab instead of new window. -_-
3.55am: Still here at UTown coding Mission 7. Task 3 Done!
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I’m really neglecting all my other subjects, am I not? This thing is addictive.
Revival Post なう (Also, finally a blog post posted under the ‘School Life’ category woo~)
So, after 9 months of whiling my time away as a NEET, I’m officially back in school where I can learn to become less of a burden to society.
Modules that I’m taking this semester:
1. CS1101S
2. CS1231
3. MA1521
4. GEK1505
5. LAJ2202
At the same time, as a resident of Raffles Hall, I’m planning to embark on
1. RHMP Technical Crew
2. Board of Photographers
3. ComMotion
4. Softball
assuming that I get accepted into these activities.
Simultaneously, I have registered as an official member of the Japanese Studies Society, as well as indicated an interest in joining the NUS Contract Bridge Club.
Tutorials haven’t even started, not to mention hall activities, and somehow, I’m already foaming really badly. Yet, I chose to torture myself with my module choices – that of choosing to take on Scheme as a non-programmer, as well as Japanese 3 taught by a certain notorious Chiba-sensei. And due to my masochistic love for Mathematics, I’m taking Discrete Structures [To F1 or not to not F1… what is the question??], as well as Calculus (for Computing) [actually, they were pre-allocated, but that’s besides the point].
Year 1 Semester 1 Timetable - I can go kill myself already. (Also, tool for potential stalkers.)
(Oh, I don’t think I mentioned that I’m also taking Japanese classes at Ikoma at the same time.)
So now that I’m done with officially reviving this blog, I can now proceed with posting trivial school-related rages on this blog.
…
I still have not figured out how to manage my non-lecture/tutorial time. Woe.
Well, I see that my very first tutorials as an NUS student will be GEK1505 and CS1101S so I guess I should clear these first?
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Meanwhile, I’ll leave all [redacted]-related stuff to my livejournal, as always.