I've been coming up with new ways of ending letters recently. It started because I have several friends overseas for the summer, of whom I keep in contact with via emails. I'm actually going to start writing out letters and snail-mailing them over soon.
In any case, I never really liked ending my letters with 'Sincerely,'... mostly because it was used in the past to denote that it was truly from whoever it said it was from... but really anyone can lie about that. Luckily, today we use something a bit more casual when ending letters between friends. Usually, "Cheers," and "Best wishes", etc. Cheers is always nice, but I'm not always holding onto a cheery drink whenever I read my letters.
For a time I started using "Shine on!" and other motivating statements. But sometimes it's awkward to end a casual "this is how my week went" letter with something like that.
So I thought, what would be the best way to end off a letter with a cheerful and optimistic tone? And my conclusion, was food.
See, the thought of good food always makes me smile. And depending on the tone of my letter, an ending like, "Cheesecake and butterscotch" can either mean, "sugar and sweets and joy!" or "Help me I need comfort food." Also, depending on the type of food chosen, you can end off with a tea time feel (cookies, biscuits, etc) or a fancy flair feel (Lobster, Wines, etc) or a casual friendly feed (pizza, sushi, etc).
It also helps me search my brain for interesting things I'd like to make, and somehow ends up inspiring me; not necessarily to make food . It's more like, "I should make cheesecake sometime... but I don't have the ingredients... but I want make something sweet and cute... maybe I should get productive and do that... being productive always feels nice... maybe I should finish that application I should be doing. Ya, that doesn't require buying of ingredients but it'll make me feel productive, let's do it!"
And I realize not everyone's thought process works in that manner, but whenever I feel like doing something that requires a lot of work (like going to the store and buying ingredients, I need to find a less physically extraneous placeholder. So as long as I feel like being productive, I will produce, and being lazily inspired usually ends up making me produce things on the computer.
In actuality, I'm writing this blog after sending off an email.
Vanilla and Macarons,
Sprouts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Monday, July 02, 2012
Monday, October 10, 2011
Key to Productivity?
I just deactivated my facebook.
Why you might ask? I think you know why, it's because of this: http://www.facebook.com/about/timeline
Am I being paranoid? Probably. But that's not the only reason I deactivated. You see, I got facebook only 2 years ago and I have recently begun the pondering of why that is. In fact for most of high school I've refused all facebook invites with a strict belief that if peope really wanted to keep in contact with me, there are countless other ways of doing so. But now it seems few people are very fond of the idea of sending nice emails or a simple text. In fact, thinking about it nowadays, I don't often talk on the PHONE much either!
So I decided that I shall return to that former mentality and just start emailing people instead of posting on their wall. After all, that is the point of a wall post... in a way. Actually a wall post is a lot more public, it's basically screaming for people to see your conversation with a friend.
I would continue my rant on facebook, but really it's all common sense. Instead I shall list how productive I've been without it!
Why you might ask? I think you know why, it's because of this: http://www.facebook.com/about/timeline
Am I being paranoid? Probably. But that's not the only reason I deactivated. You see, I got facebook only 2 years ago and I have recently begun the pondering of why that is. In fact for most of high school I've refused all facebook invites with a strict belief that if peope really wanted to keep in contact with me, there are countless other ways of doing so. But now it seems few people are very fond of the idea of sending nice emails or a simple text. In fact, thinking about it nowadays, I don't often talk on the PHONE much either!
So I decided that I shall return to that former mentality and just start emailing people instead of posting on their wall. After all, that is the point of a wall post... in a way. Actually a wall post is a lot more public, it's basically screaming for people to see your conversation with a friend.
I would continue my rant on facebook, but really it's all common sense. Instead I shall list how productive I've been without it!
- Biochem giant study sheet completed
- Physio study sheet started
- Bio study sheet started
- Wrote this blog post
- Finished anthro chapter
- Checked Google+ every 10min instead of facebook
- Found nothing really happens on G+ which forced me to be productive
- Cleaned out gmail (I'm trying to get my memory usage down to 1337MB)
- BAKED AN APPLE CRUMBLE
Also I was so relaxed that I decided to take a nice hot bath. Sadly I got a slight case of heat stroke from being in the bath too long and forgetting that the water was extremely hot. Yes, this stuff does happen.
-update-
Reactivated it... with the intention of using it for networking purposes ONLY! Realized I needed to get this one person's email; but didn't have it... it's on their facebook. Darned publicity...
-update-
Reactivated it... with the intention of using it for networking purposes ONLY! Realized I needed to get this one person's email; but didn't have it... it's on their facebook. Darned publicity...
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Getting sick pre-flu season
Every winter I generally go through 3 sicknesses. 2 minor, and 1 extremely major.
Looking back at high school I recall once my major sickness happened during December exams. I OD'd on advil and scraped a decent mark by my standards.
First year university my stommy randomly one night decided to make me vomit mid way through my peaceful slumber. I was out for another day or so.
This year I'm hoping that my current flu/cough/cold/w/e is going to be my major sickness of the winter. I've fallen at least a week behind, if not more. In fact I was burning up a fever one night in my apartment when my roommate went home for the night. Alone and without medication, I then proceeded to make some lamb soup and pitifully forced myself to drink it hot while bundled in my blanket to try to break the fever.
Luckily it worked, sadly I was left with terrible aches on my body and head. And so this weekend has been rather unproductive as well.
Anyways I don't really have any particular point to make with this entry since I really just wanted to complain. But today my headache isn't so strong anymore so hopefully I can get my biology pre-lab done...
-Update-
WHEEE! JUST GOT THE ASUS EEE PAD TRANSFORMER WITH DOCK! (http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/) Life is good again.
Looking back at high school I recall once my major sickness happened during December exams. I OD'd on advil and scraped a decent mark by my standards.
First year university my stommy randomly one night decided to make me vomit mid way through my peaceful slumber. I was out for another day or so.
This year I'm hoping that my current flu/cough/cold/w/e is going to be my major sickness of the winter. I've fallen at least a week behind, if not more. In fact I was burning up a fever one night in my apartment when my roommate went home for the night. Alone and without medication, I then proceeded to make some lamb soup and pitifully forced myself to drink it hot while bundled in my blanket to try to break the fever.
Luckily it worked, sadly I was left with terrible aches on my body and head. And so this weekend has been rather unproductive as well.
Anyways I don't really have any particular point to make with this entry since I really just wanted to complain. But today my headache isn't so strong anymore so hopefully I can get my biology pre-lab done...
-Update-
WHEEE! JUST GOT THE ASUS EEE PAD TRANSFORMER WITH DOCK! (http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/) Life is good again.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
I should have gone to York
I live in Vaughan. It is in the GTA. It is however far away from downtown. UOT is downtown. I go to UOT. I should have gone to York.
So I've been looking over my possibilities of getting to campus next year. 5 possible ideas so far and each one less appealing than the other 4. This paradox causes much dis-appeasement in my current life.
4 out of these 5 ideas involves the ttc... basically:
For the longest time the plan was to simply take the 105 bus to downsview station and then subway to campus. Simple, and lots of people commuting this year seem to be fine w/it (by fine I mean still somewhat alive). However having taken this route to go home on all occasions, I have decided it is totally a waste of my time. And time is very important for me right now.
So since the bus idea would not work, the next plan was the go-train. Basically I would go be dropped off at the go-train station each morning, take that to Union station, and then TTC back up to St. George station. However go-train is expensive, $4.63 per ride plus I'll have to get the TTC monthly pass on top of that since I'll need to be subwaying from Union. This means the pre-TTC cost is around $9 per day, significantly more than taking the 105 (~$6 per day). However they say this is the fastest route to campus, and the most comfortable. Yay.
So those are 3 plans so far, the next one is my currently preferred one. It involves getting a car. It also involves driving to Wilson station in the mornings and then TTCing. Wilson park fee is only $3 per day, this is by far the cheapest and most convenient plan. And if I carpool with a friend gas and parking can be split somewhat to make it even cheaper. The problem there is just the insurance. Right now with just my name added to insurance it's ~$100 a month, that's little over $3 a day. So in reality this plan costs over $6 a day for the pre-TTC cost. Oh... plus gas... darned gas... let's say we use 5L a day... that's around $11 or more a day (pre-TTC) for this idea... Still, very tempting... I mean... car... tempting....
Of course if all else fails, the last plan is an apartment. Looking around, and downtown apartments are either too sketch or too expensive. If I can find a roommate to pitch in for an apartment somewhere along the subway line thing would work too. If the rent can be maybe $400 per month (per person) max, that's around $13 a day. Slightly more expensive than the car, but for the car I'd have to first buy the car. Also being away from home allows me to be out past my 10PM curfew, always a plus side. This would allow me to take night classes and possibly have more social contact. Still, car is more tempting just for the freedom.
So in the end I have concluded that commuting is a pain. And depending on which POSt I enroll in, I'll decide my method of transportation for next year after that. Meanwhile it's off to research everything I can for all the ideas since I have nothing better to do!
So I've been looking over my possibilities of getting to campus next year. 5 possible ideas so far and each one less appealing than the other 4. This paradox causes much dis-appeasement in my current life.
4 out of these 5 ideas involves the ttc... basically:
Rights, so one of the plans is of course to just drive all the way downtown from Vaughan. Obviously this plan is laughable due to the intensive parking fees downtown. So let us not even linger on this idea.
For the longest time the plan was to simply take the 105 bus to downsview station and then subway to campus. Simple, and lots of people commuting this year seem to be fine w/it (by fine I mean still somewhat alive). However having taken this route to go home on all occasions, I have decided it is totally a waste of my time. And time is very important for me right now.
So since the bus idea would not work, the next plan was the go-train. Basically I would go be dropped off at the go-train station each morning, take that to Union station, and then TTC back up to St. George station. However go-train is expensive, $4.63 per ride plus I'll have to get the TTC monthly pass on top of that since I'll need to be subwaying from Union. This means the pre-TTC cost is around $9 per day, significantly more than taking the 105 (~$6 per day). However they say this is the fastest route to campus, and the most comfortable. Yay.
So those are 3 plans so far, the next one is my currently preferred one. It involves getting a car. It also involves driving to Wilson station in the mornings and then TTCing. Wilson park fee is only $3 per day, this is by far the cheapest and most convenient plan. And if I carpool with a friend gas and parking can be split somewhat to make it even cheaper. The problem there is just the insurance. Right now with just my name added to insurance it's ~$100 a month, that's little over $3 a day. So in reality this plan costs over $6 a day for the pre-TTC cost. Oh... plus gas... darned gas... let's say we use 5L a day... that's around $11 or more a day (pre-TTC) for this idea... Still, very tempting... I mean... car... tempting....
Of course if all else fails, the last plan is an apartment. Looking around, and downtown apartments are either too sketch or too expensive. If I can find a roommate to pitch in for an apartment somewhere along the subway line thing would work too. If the rent can be maybe $400 per month (per person) max, that's around $13 a day. Slightly more expensive than the car, but for the car I'd have to first buy the car. Also being away from home allows me to be out past my 10PM curfew, always a plus side. This would allow me to take night classes and possibly have more social contact. Still, car is more tempting just for the freedom.
So in the end I have concluded that commuting is a pain. And depending on which POSt I enroll in, I'll decide my method of transportation for next year after that. Meanwhile it's off to research everything I can for all the ideas since I have nothing better to do!
Friday, April 08, 2011
In hopes of a relaxing summer
So, reconsidering former decision to get a job this summer... not sure if that'd be the best idea. Apparently there's a new Sims game coming out. http://www.ea.com/the-sims-medieval
A friend of mine has it and says it's amazing. We're both big Sims fans.
But Sims isn't the only thing making me reconsider my previous wish for a job. I realized I also have a large book list. And I found that I do have enough funds for spending for the time being. But I suppose I can't rely on my parents forever... still... might as well as take advantage of being young while I still can.
Just took a break from this future planning to study some biology, a bit discouraged now. As I looked to my most beautiful notes, I was then confronted by two awful facts. A: I take horrid notes. B: There's too much to memorize. This is bad. From the looks of things so far I need a minimum of 80% to maintain my 4.0 in this course... most people would take this time to completely slack, but I don't want just an 85% in biology. This is biology, it's my course! I want a 90! Wait... redid calculation... only need a 91% to end with a 90% in the course... *hopes up! However getting 91% for biology isn't that easy, I probably forgot a few details from first half of lectures and I still have half the second half to go over in detail... So far I at least know I have half the course down solid. Time to get back to studying about the cytoskeleton...
Just took a break from this future planning to study some biology, a bit discouraged now. As I looked to my most beautiful notes, I was then confronted by two awful facts. A: I take horrid notes. B: There's too much to memorize. This is bad. From the looks of things so far I need a minimum of 80% to maintain my 4.0 in this course... most people would take this time to completely slack, but I don't want just an 85% in biology. This is biology, it's my course! I want a 90! Wait... redid calculation... only need a 91% to end with a 90% in the course... *hopes up! However getting 91% for biology isn't that easy, I probably forgot a few details from first half of lectures and I still have half the second half to go over in detail... So far I at least know I have half the course down solid. Time to get back to studying about the cytoskeleton...
Saturday, April 02, 2011
My Future... is decided(ish)
I'm really hoping that by typing this blog out really quickly without much pause will allow me to understand exactly what I really want to do for next year in terms of a POSt...
So the choices go:
For sure though I know LMP is first choice. I mean it's the one that had an entrance GPA of 3.86 last year... oh gosh this is so close to impossible... but somewhat possible... I don't mind being at the bottom of the class I suppose... and I do have the summer research that might help me get in... still... pretty tricky stuff.
And the worst part is apparently the Immunology specialist program may or may not be biased... I have 2 sources that are contradictory. One source, tells me that if Immunology is ranked as my second choice when I apply, they might automatically reject me. Other source says that it's ok if I rank it second... but I am still in fear...
Also, upon reading much more about the programs, I realized that immunology (obviously) is stronger on the study of the immune system, and I realized what I really cared about was the pathology of diseases! So obviously pathobiology would be the first choice. But since that's only a possibility, I looked more into molecular genetics and microbiology.
It seems like a fun subject, dealing with both viruses/bacteria AND with genetics. It's like my 2 favourite things combined! Practically of course, pathobiology's much better for future research opportunities, they cover some of the stipend for summer research. But I suppose I'm fearing for if I can get it or not and if I can do well or not. Mostly it's if I'll enjoy it or not.
However I have decided that I seem to want to do molecular genetics more than immunology. So that'll be number 2 choice for now.
~Some time later~
Ok, so I just applied in this order:
So the choices go:
- Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (LMP)
- Immunology
- Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
For sure though I know LMP is first choice. I mean it's the one that had an entrance GPA of 3.86 last year... oh gosh this is so close to impossible... but somewhat possible... I don't mind being at the bottom of the class I suppose... and I do have the summer research that might help me get in... still... pretty tricky stuff.
And the worst part is apparently the Immunology specialist program may or may not be biased... I have 2 sources that are contradictory. One source, tells me that if Immunology is ranked as my second choice when I apply, they might automatically reject me. Other source says that it's ok if I rank it second... but I am still in fear...
Also, upon reading much more about the programs, I realized that immunology (obviously) is stronger on the study of the immune system, and I realized what I really cared about was the pathology of diseases! So obviously pathobiology would be the first choice. But since that's only a possibility, I looked more into molecular genetics and microbiology.
It seems like a fun subject, dealing with both viruses/bacteria AND with genetics. It's like my 2 favourite things combined! Practically of course, pathobiology's much better for future research opportunities, they cover some of the stipend for summer research. But I suppose I'm fearing for if I can get it or not and if I can do well or not. Mostly it's if I'll enjoy it or not.
However I have decided that I seem to want to do molecular genetics more than immunology. So that'll be number 2 choice for now.
~Some time later~
Ok, so I just applied in this order:
- LMP
- Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
- Immunology
- Biochemistry
Biochem is the last resort, I'm not extremely interested in it but I figured it has a low entrance as far as type 3s go right? Regardless, if both LMP and molecular genetics rejects me (somewhat unlikely) I might just go into cell and systems biology.
Now it's just going to be a bitter wait until July 4th to find out if I got accepted! And if not I figured I'll just ask the faculty and such, and if anything I figured I'll be able to score quite a few 4.0s in molecular genetics, so I might just decide to transfer into LMP if I decide I don't really like genetics. Though that's unlikely... regardless it's too early to say.
Meanwhile I study.
Friday, April 01, 2011
It's not good to have lots of potential
So it seems to contrary to my beliefs, my father still has higher expectations than I do for myself. This is extremely depressing, I'd much rather him give up on me than continue with the hope that I'm somehow going to magically pull straight 4.0s out from nowhere.
The Story:
I went to a seminar about applying to the type 3 specialist POSt LMP. They say I should be in the safe range with a 3.7. Wonderful. Problem is that due to my idiotic and fail mistake on my last physics midterm (when I assumed a proton had a charge of +1 and forgot to convert to the fundamental charge), my 3.7 in physics may not exist anymore. Not so wonderful.
I was going to actually do a long winded rant but I decided that it would not be interweb appropriate.
I think the big problem with things right now is that both my parents know that I can do very well. I think I'm like a proton in a parallel plane capacitor. I have a certain potential due to my charge (which is not +1C) and so I have the ability to do work, which sucks since no one likes doing work. No. This is a bad example. It brings back terrible memories...
Actually I'm pretty sure I don't have as large a potential as many people think I do. To be perfectly honest I don't think I've got extreme intelligence at all. Never in my life have I done an assignment last minute, but then I suppose that means I never tested out my ability to do an assignment last minute. Oh wait, there was that chem lab!
Yes the chem lab... electrochemistry due the day after the experiment. On the same day as high table... That was not fun. And I know my lab report was not nearly as great as it could have been, but hey, I had no time to add the awesome touches.
I don't even know what I wanted to write about now since it's the day after I started writing this.. so I'll just publish it.
I was going to actually do a long winded rant but I decided that it would not be interweb appropriate.
I think the big problem with things right now is that both my parents know that I can do very well. I think I'm like a proton in a parallel plane capacitor. I have a certain potential due to my charge (which is not +1C) and so I have the ability to do work, which sucks since no one likes doing work. No. This is a bad example. It brings back terrible memories...
Actually I'm pretty sure I don't have as large a potential as many people think I do. To be perfectly honest I don't think I've got extreme intelligence at all. Never in my life have I done an assignment last minute, but then I suppose that means I never tested out my ability to do an assignment last minute. Oh wait, there was that chem lab!
Yes the chem lab... electrochemistry due the day after the experiment. On the same day as high table... That was not fun. And I know my lab report was not nearly as great as it could have been, but hey, I had no time to add the awesome touches.
I don't even know what I wanted to write about now since it's the day after I started writing this.. so I'll just publish it.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Exam Kitten
So I have to say, I love Notewagon. They are wonderful. Mostly because they send me very interesting updates to their site. Not the usual boring ones, but actually pretty entertaining ones. See early this morning, I checked my inbox, I had a new email from "Hi (hi@notewagon.com)" with the subject line "'Friday, Friday, Studying on Friday". The amusement start immediately, and continued upon opening the email, revealing this:
The adorableness!
And yes, I now realize that it's time to start the cram session. This kitty has served its purpose in reminding me of my awaiting textbooks. So plans set down:
The adorableness!
And yes, I now realize that it's time to start the cram session. This kitty has served its purpose in reminding me of my awaiting textbooks. So plans set down:
- Create giant biology study guide/sheet
- Create a giant math study sheet with all important equations and such
- Use unit analysis on everything we've learned in Physics
- Generally review some chemistry; not sure if I want to make a study sheet for this too
- Find some time in the midst of all this to write my history essay
Also discovered that my one possible good physics marks hope went down the drain. This means I'll have to score at least a 90 on the exam to maintain my average. ... so be it. I'm considering deactivating my facebook to make sure the only things to distract me will be blogging and msn. Will consider this idea more once the cram session fully kicks in.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Electron flow allows me to do my chemistry
I sometimes feel like my reliance on technology will be my ultimate doom... after spending a night on Wolfram|Alpha plotting different graphs to check my chemistry lab...
Also, google and wiki were used many times to check laws, theories and equations for further explanations than the textbook. Is it bad that the internet teaches me more than a textbook sometimes? Seriously, my entire lab consists of technology! From the research (on wiki) to the error checking (on google) to the graphs (on excel)!
I then proceeded to do my actual calculations... WITH A CALCULATOR!
It's really amazing how much somesimple complex arrangements of electron flow can allow for such wonderful tools that can do simple math that even I cannot do. We've come a long way from the first galvanic cell, speaking of which happens to be my insane-monstrous lab on Tuesday!
Aside from the fact that I have never covered electro-chemistry before (hence the insane wiki and google sprees), the formal lab write up is due the day after the lab. Normally I get a week to keen, but only 1 night and half a day? Not to mention I have a dinner to attend Tuesday night that I simply refuse to back out of. Looks like I'll be up a tad bit later than predicted.
Hopefully I'll be able to finish everything for the prelab before heading back to the dorm, then I'll spend the rest of the night writing up the introduction and non-result based parts of the formal report. All shall be good.
This lab is actually pretty interesting, comparing different voltages of galvanic cells may seem like a bore, but I just realized that electrons flow so willingly from one place to another!
My only confusion here is over the fact that throughout all of chemistry, we've been taught that reactions only occur when 2 substances are close together. After all, I don't see random electrons bouncing off of just any metal... or do they?
I would have had more time to do this lab if not for Earth hour last night. At first I tried to work in the candle light..
(totally serious here, did not get that photo from google, that's actually my lab book...)
It worked for a small while, but then the candle on the right kept flickering and I got annoyed. So I proceeded to fold paper. That didn't last too long since origami requires a good amount of light and attention, which I was unable to achieve with mere candles. Still, with the help of a lovely basket of pretty pebbles I have, I managed to make a somewhat appealing display that I plan on adding to in the future.
Also, google and wiki were used many times to check laws, theories and equations for further explanations than the textbook. Is it bad that the internet teaches me more than a textbook sometimes? Seriously, my entire lab consists of technology! From the research (on wiki) to the error checking (on google) to the graphs (on excel)!
I then proceeded to do my actual calculations... WITH A CALCULATOR!
It's really amazing how much some
Aside from the fact that I have never covered electro-chemistry before (hence the insane wiki and google sprees), the formal lab write up is due the day after the lab. Normally I get a week to keen, but only 1 night and half a day? Not to mention I have a dinner to attend Tuesday night that I simply refuse to back out of. Looks like I'll be up a tad bit later than predicted.
Hopefully I'll be able to finish everything for the prelab before heading back to the dorm, then I'll spend the rest of the night writing up the introduction and non-result based parts of the formal report. All shall be good.
This lab is actually pretty interesting, comparing different voltages of galvanic cells may seem like a bore, but I just realized that electrons flow so willingly from one place to another!
I would have had more time to do this lab if not for Earth hour last night. At first I tried to work in the candle light..
(totally serious here, did not get that photo from google, that's actually my lab book...)
It worked for a small while, but then the candle on the right kept flickering and I got annoyed. So I proceeded to fold paper. That didn't last too long since origami requires a good amount of light and attention, which I was unable to achieve with mere candles. Still, with the help of a lovely basket of pretty pebbles I have, I managed to make a somewhat appealing display that I plan on adding to in the future.
It would seem that many of the stars got lost to the pebbles... oh well!
So finally when earth hour ended, I was ready to sit down and do my chemistry... however by then my parents had already gone to sleep since my father was ill, meaning I was not able to type since my typing is loud.
With no other choice, I moved my chemistry stuff over to my room and did the pre-lab on my bed instead of reading a book to sleep. I then realized how important electricity was to my survival, and so I grew extremely fond of this electro-chemistry lab.
Electrons are exciting.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
School Subjects as Friends
Peer pressured to do this… twisted it to make it my own story. The original idea was to write about the school subjects as if they were your friends. So here goes something.
Back in Kindergarten, I met Math, she terrified me. I was forced for days and nights to be stuck with her. She was not interesting. She was a whole massive bunch of repetition after repetition. At the same time I was introduced to English, who was also full of repetitions… in fact in Kindergarten everyone seemed to lack flare. Everyone except for Art. Art was bright and kind, and you always knew how to make her happy. My parents would always encourage me to play new games with Art, even though I didn't like them telling me what to do. It was also through art that I met Music, but I never saw music much and though I really wanted to be friends with her I was already so busy with everyone else!
Then I entered grade school. Math was as dull as she always was, but it seemed no one else really liked her, and since I already understood her so well I somewhat pitied those who couldn't. Math and I became closer friends. It was here too where I was forced to spend every waking moment of my life with English. It was annoying, and challenging for me refrain from pushing him away, but my parents demanded that I become fast friends with him, so I pretended to.
It was in grade school that I met Science, he was an interesting fellow, and I would always respect him. The things he said made perfect sense, and yet was not so simple as to be as boring as Math was.
Once again I met Music, and this time we became friends. My parents thought it was a good lasting friendship between us, especially since I didn't see Art a lot anymore. Even today, I still keep in contact with Music though Art and I have long since lost touch.
In grade four I met French, she reminded me of when I first met English, but since I had already met English I knew how to approach her, and so we became friends.
All these friends I kept with me as I moved again. Science remained my closest friend, math was still boring but we got along, English and I had a terrible disagreement in grade 4 and so we were sworn enemies. I sometimes kept in touch with Art, but it was never the same as it was before. French stayed with me, but we were never too close.
After some time I realized the existence of Gym and Health, they were always there I just never really noticed them. But now all the other kids in my class loved Gym, and he was very mean to me so I never liked him. Health was dating Gym at the time, but she was kind to me and we talked readily. We didn't really keep in contact much afterwards.
As time went on, Math learned quite a lot more and ceased to be boring. She and Science were also becoming very close. In fact in a few years they married and had four children; Algebra, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
Math died in childbirth, but the things she taught me I used to help Science raise their children for a bit. Soon after English and I got over our previous disagreements and I found that we had both changed a lot. I became closer to him and started developing an attraction. But on the day Science died, I felt obligated to look after his children rather than pursue what my emotions said.
Biology was always nice, simple to get along with easy to relate to. We shared good times with Chemistry. After a while Chemistry started to become very much like his mother, Math, and so I grew a bit bored with him.
Physics was always a fun one, a wonderful mix of both his parents. Practical and understandable like his mother, yet interesting and intriguing like his father. No matter how much time went, or how many arguments we had, I was always fond of Physics.
My favorite was always Algebra, and I was disappointed when she became such a rebel, going as far as to change her name to Calculus. She never seemed to grow out of her rebel stage, but she did get very close to Physics, and eventually I decided her new self wasn't so bad.
During all this time, English and I became even closer, and he introduced me to his friend Philosophy. It was an instant attraction. We talked about everything, thought about everything, even when I was talking to other people he was the only thing on my mind.
But soon came the time when I realized my obligations to Math and Science to look after their children was more important. I had stopped caring much about Calculus and we started having misunderstandings. And Chemistry and I continued with our falling out. I realized that Philosophy and I had to go our separate ways.
I soon cleared things up with Calculus, and Chemistry grew to be kinder to me as well. Physics really grew up and it's gotten harder to connect with him, but we still get along. Biology learned a lot, and we share a common fondness of life. She also reminds me of things Philosophy and I discussed.
I still keep in contact with Philosophy and English, although we're farther apart now. Our conversations always open me up to new things to talk to the family about.
I know next year Calculus and Physics will be leaving, they've become so close that they're almost inseparable now. I'm going to miss them, but I know we'll keep in touch. Chemistry and Biology decided to stay by me, they keep telling me about their friend Immunology whom I'm hoping to meet soon.
Life has been full of people who come and go, but I know I have friends and family to count on.
Back in Kindergarten, I met Math, she terrified me. I was forced for days and nights to be stuck with her. She was not interesting. She was a whole massive bunch of repetition after repetition. At the same time I was introduced to English, who was also full of repetitions… in fact in Kindergarten everyone seemed to lack flare. Everyone except for Art. Art was bright and kind, and you always knew how to make her happy. My parents would always encourage me to play new games with Art, even though I didn't like them telling me what to do. It was also through art that I met Music, but I never saw music much and though I really wanted to be friends with her I was already so busy with everyone else!
Then I entered grade school. Math was as dull as she always was, but it seemed no one else really liked her, and since I already understood her so well I somewhat pitied those who couldn't. Math and I became closer friends. It was here too where I was forced to spend every waking moment of my life with English. It was annoying, and challenging for me refrain from pushing him away, but my parents demanded that I become fast friends with him, so I pretended to.
It was in grade school that I met Science, he was an interesting fellow, and I would always respect him. The things he said made perfect sense, and yet was not so simple as to be as boring as Math was.
Once again I met Music, and this time we became friends. My parents thought it was a good lasting friendship between us, especially since I didn't see Art a lot anymore. Even today, I still keep in contact with Music though Art and I have long since lost touch.
In grade four I met French, she reminded me of when I first met English, but since I had already met English I knew how to approach her, and so we became friends.
All these friends I kept with me as I moved again. Science remained my closest friend, math was still boring but we got along, English and I had a terrible disagreement in grade 4 and so we were sworn enemies. I sometimes kept in touch with Art, but it was never the same as it was before. French stayed with me, but we were never too close.
After some time I realized the existence of Gym and Health, they were always there I just never really noticed them. But now all the other kids in my class loved Gym, and he was very mean to me so I never liked him. Health was dating Gym at the time, but she was kind to me and we talked readily. We didn't really keep in contact much afterwards.
As time went on, Math learned quite a lot more and ceased to be boring. She and Science were also becoming very close. In fact in a few years they married and had four children; Algebra, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
Math died in childbirth, but the things she taught me I used to help Science raise their children for a bit. Soon after English and I got over our previous disagreements and I found that we had both changed a lot. I became closer to him and started developing an attraction. But on the day Science died, I felt obligated to look after his children rather than pursue what my emotions said.
Biology was always nice, simple to get along with easy to relate to. We shared good times with Chemistry. After a while Chemistry started to become very much like his mother, Math, and so I grew a bit bored with him.
Physics was always a fun one, a wonderful mix of both his parents. Practical and understandable like his mother, yet interesting and intriguing like his father. No matter how much time went, or how many arguments we had, I was always fond of Physics.
My favorite was always Algebra, and I was disappointed when she became such a rebel, going as far as to change her name to Calculus. She never seemed to grow out of her rebel stage, but she did get very close to Physics, and eventually I decided her new self wasn't so bad.
During all this time, English and I became even closer, and he introduced me to his friend Philosophy. It was an instant attraction. We talked about everything, thought about everything, even when I was talking to other people he was the only thing on my mind.
But soon came the time when I realized my obligations to Math and Science to look after their children was more important. I had stopped caring much about Calculus and we started having misunderstandings. And Chemistry and I continued with our falling out. I realized that Philosophy and I had to go our separate ways.
I soon cleared things up with Calculus, and Chemistry grew to be kinder to me as well. Physics really grew up and it's gotten harder to connect with him, but we still get along. Biology learned a lot, and we share a common fondness of life. She also reminds me of things Philosophy and I discussed.
I still keep in contact with Philosophy and English, although we're farther apart now. Our conversations always open me up to new things to talk to the family about.
I know next year Calculus and Physics will be leaving, they've become so close that they're almost inseparable now. I'm going to miss them, but I know we'll keep in touch. Chemistry and Biology decided to stay by me, they keep telling me about their friend Immunology whom I'm hoping to meet soon.
Life has been full of people who come and go, but I know I have friends and family to count on.
GPA is (almost) EVERYTHING
Not sure about many of you, but I've always been at the top of my class. Cross that, I've been within the top few percents of the class. There were 1 or 2 people who could do better than me, but it took them that much more effort. Nope, throughout high school I got by brilliantly and still had time to do lots of other things (explaining my countless hobbies).
Of course I'm not about to sit here and type out all the reasons I'm awesome, we all already know that ^^. Thing now is I've noticed the differences in people's values of their grades now that I'm in university. I always knew there were people who didn't care much for their marks, as long as it was good enough, but most of the people who were at the top of the class certainly valued their averages. Not once in my life have I heard myself, or many of the people I labelled competition, say, "oh, it's an 75, it's good enough". In fact the joke was always that anything below an 80 didn't exist.
However now, faced with the increasing struggles of first year Life Sciences, I've discovered that sometimes a 75 can be considered pretty fair. In fact many people would be delighted in getting one.
Perhaps for most people, all throughout high school, the marks were just for entrance to university. Now that they're here, a pass is all they need.
For others I think it was their parents who pushed for them to get the high marks, and perhaps that just never became part of their own values.
Some people don't need a high average anymore, they just need to get involved and meet people in order to be set.
For for me, and some of the more traditional people I know, it seems the value of marks has been infused into our brain. Logically speaking, I just need 70% in everything to graduate and be able to fine some lab technician job, but that neither pays well nor is very appealing to my nature. In the end now, it's not even about my future. Yes, I need a 3.7 and up to find good research placements and get a good head start, but that's not why I want a 3.7 and that's why I will not settle for only a 3.7.
All those years I may not have been the best, and I don't strive to be perfect, but I know I'm good. Some people have come here without doing a shred of work, some people have come here by studying day and night. I'm a bit of the first, but competitive enough to put some work into the big projects just to make sure I win in the endless competition against my peers. Yes, I'm competitive, but that's what makes things fun, winning is something I believe one ought to be proud of, it's been programmed into our brains. And out of the many competitions in high school I wanted to make sure I wasn't at the bottom of any of them. So I didn't give 100% of my effort into every project or every test, I had a life, I had hobbies, I went out with friends. Because whether I want to admit it or not, in high school having a social life is important, and every teenaged mind wants to have a reputation for something. And so I just used my 'natural talents' to get by easily.
But now in university, having 'natural talent' is no longer enough, and luckily I am one of few to realize that. So I know with a bit of work I can make it back to the top, maybe not the very top (I do still need my hobby time), but at least not just 'above average'. I know a 4.0 is so easily possible, and so I should pursue it. Having a big social life is no longer the most important in my mind, I've easily grew out of that. Social as I can be, I am also easily socially satisfied. And all in all, a simple life can be just as fulfilling as one full of adventure.
So while people still decide to rely on what natural abilities they have, I have decided I will give up a few things here and there to learn more. I finally understand that I don't want to know I can get a 4.0; I want to have a 4.0.
Of course I'm not about to sit here and type out all the reasons I'm awesome, we all already know that ^^. Thing now is I've noticed the differences in people's values of their grades now that I'm in university. I always knew there were people who didn't care much for their marks, as long as it was good enough, but most of the people who were at the top of the class certainly valued their averages. Not once in my life have I heard myself, or many of the people I labelled competition, say, "oh, it's an 75, it's good enough". In fact the joke was always that anything below an 80 didn't exist.
However now, faced with the increasing struggles of first year Life Sciences, I've discovered that sometimes a 75 can be considered pretty fair. In fact many people would be delighted in getting one.
Perhaps for most people, all throughout high school, the marks were just for entrance to university. Now that they're here, a pass is all they need.
For others I think it was their parents who pushed for them to get the high marks, and perhaps that just never became part of their own values.
Some people don't need a high average anymore, they just need to get involved and meet people in order to be set.
For for me, and some of the more traditional people I know, it seems the value of marks has been infused into our brain. Logically speaking, I just need 70% in everything to graduate and be able to fine some lab technician job, but that neither pays well nor is very appealing to my nature. In the end now, it's not even about my future. Yes, I need a 3.7 and up to find good research placements and get a good head start, but that's not why I want a 3.7 and that's why I will not settle for only a 3.7.
All those years I may not have been the best, and I don't strive to be perfect, but I know I'm good. Some people have come here without doing a shred of work, some people have come here by studying day and night. I'm a bit of the first, but competitive enough to put some work into the big projects just to make sure I win in the endless competition against my peers. Yes, I'm competitive, but that's what makes things fun, winning is something I believe one ought to be proud of, it's been programmed into our brains. And out of the many competitions in high school I wanted to make sure I wasn't at the bottom of any of them. So I didn't give 100% of my effort into every project or every test, I had a life, I had hobbies, I went out with friends. Because whether I want to admit it or not, in high school having a social life is important, and every teenaged mind wants to have a reputation for something. And so I just used my 'natural talents' to get by easily.
But now in university, having 'natural talent' is no longer enough, and luckily I am one of few to realize that. So I know with a bit of work I can make it back to the top, maybe not the very top (I do still need my hobby time), but at least not just 'above average'. I know a 4.0 is so easily possible, and so I should pursue it. Having a big social life is no longer the most important in my mind, I've easily grew out of that. Social as I can be, I am also easily socially satisfied. And all in all, a simple life can be just as fulfilling as one full of adventure.
So while people still decide to rely on what natural abilities they have, I have decided I will give up a few things here and there to learn more. I finally understand that I don't want to know I can get a 4.0; I want to have a 4.0.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Microsoft != Terrible
If you don't like Microsoft, I understand, but for someone as lazy as me it works well enough for me too remain too lazy to switch or download anything else.
Today I discovered the wonders of OneNote, a part of Microsoft office that I did not know existed until a friend showed it to me. Out of a rare moment of activeness and general boredom, I decided to play around with it.
It is wonderful.
So I went to my lectures today, and TOOK NOTES. Not that I didn't take notes before, but this time I took notes on my computer, and not in a Word document. The mere fact that Microsoft came up with something like this still makes me laugh. I mean really, it's a great idea, but no doubt there are millions like it .
Note taking was always a bother, I have to bring multiple notebooks to class, or go through the hassle and tree-killing of printing off the lecture slides. Organization of notes would always be a problem, but I'm fairly organized so it wasn't that bad.
Then there was the issue of my hazardous hand writing. I mean I can understand what I wrote, but other people can't, so no one ever wants to borrow my notes. Which can be a good thing as I may be reducing the possible plagiarism.
Of course the real problem came in Chemistry, where much of the lecture slides would consist of images. There was the occasional want to be able to just write on the pdf that were provided for the class, but that would require torrenting buying the full version of adobe reader or something of that sort. In the end I was able to make do with paper notes and drawing the molecules by hand when I needed to.
But now I no longer have to suffer for the inconveniences of my refusal to get good note taking programs because I have found OneNote!
I can keep all my notes in one little window on my laptop, I can not only lend my notes to people but I can sell them on Note Wagon, and more importantly, I can take screen-shot clippings from pdfs for chemistry! Hell I can screen-shot ANYTHING!
*Epic Screen-shot mood*
*Epic Screen-shot mood*
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Cal-kill-us
Maybe blogging right now is not the best idea considering the amount of work that needs to be done, however I fear not for I am once again almost a week ahead! *keen
So after being tired with my obsessive poetry posting on Tumblr I have followed a dear friend's idea to start another blog via Blogger!
Being me I needed a theme, so I somewhat followed the theme of another dear friend's blog and decided to use this as a more or less commentary blog on the injustice and extreme fairness in the University of Toronto's Life Sciences program.
What should I comment on today? How about the intensity of the official Life Sciences calculus midterms? For those who are in MAT135, am I not wrong in saying that the last question is a hell of a lot of fun? Or pain?
For those who don't know about the class, basically on every midterm, the last question is hell. In fact it even tells you it's hell:
Oh, and yes, if you don't follow the correct procedure you get 0.
So unless you can get the last question perfectly, it's impossible to score above 92% on the test even if you get everything else perfect.
Not to mention after multiple choice number 10 things start to get annoying... I'm talking extremely long polynomials and fractions... very mean fractions. It's not really the solutions that are hard in the end, it's the simple math that most people will screw up on. One sign error here and maybe a miscalculation there (since calculators are not allowed) and it's all over!
By all over I mean each multiple choice question is worth 5 marks (Edit: IT'S ONLY WORTH 4 MARKS! HURRAY!). No marks given for work shown... in fact hell you can just circle any letter you want w/o doing any work and if it's right then you get the 4 marks!
Of course if one little mistake in your work makes you end up with the wrong answer, then that's 4 marks out of the 100 gone!
Though as traumatic as this test can be (I hear the 3rd term test is the worst one), you have to admit it's very cunningly designed. Out of the ~1500 students in first year life sciences, not many are really qualified for the upper level courses, so in a way this calculus course (which is mandatory) is used to weed out the weak. By having each multiple choice question worth 4-5 marks, students who can still manage to score above an 80% must have good attention to detail, check their work efficiently and/or are less susceptible to careless errors. These are all important traits for scientists and doctors alike and thus is deemed important to be tested on.
And for the demon question at the end of the test, it too has a good purpose. The last question(s) usually consist of problems that students have never seen before but should be able to solve given the concepts taught in class and pure hardcore logic. Students who are able to solve these questions, or are able to start on the correct solutions to these problems have the logic and problem solving mentality that makes a good researcher.
So while these tests are brutal to the average life science student, you have to admit; it works. And it works extremely well to make Life Sciences have such a high drop out rate!
But I personally feel attacked by the stress caused by this test; and so my roommate and I have decided that come Tuesday night, if we don't make it out of the test alive it will be due to the following reasons:
So after being tired with my obsessive poetry posting on Tumblr I have followed a dear friend's idea to start another blog via Blogger!
Being me I needed a theme, so I somewhat followed the theme of another dear friend's blog and decided to use this as a more or less commentary blog on the injustice and extreme fairness in the University of Toronto's Life Sciences program.
What should I comment on today? How about the intensity of the official Life Sciences calculus midterms? For those who are in MAT135, am I not wrong in saying that the last question is a hell of a lot of fun? Or pain?
For those who don't know about the class, basically on every midterm, the last question is hell. In fact it even tells you it's hell:
Oh, and yes, if you don't follow the correct procedure you get 0.
So unless you can get the last question perfectly, it's impossible to score above 92% on the test even if you get everything else perfect.
Not to mention after multiple choice number 10 things start to get annoying... I'm talking extremely long polynomials and fractions... very mean fractions. It's not really the solutions that are hard in the end, it's the simple math that most people will screw up on. One sign error here and maybe a miscalculation there (since calculators are not allowed) and it's all over!
By all over I mean each multiple choice question is worth 5 marks (Edit: IT'S ONLY WORTH 4 MARKS! HURRAY!). No marks given for work shown... in fact hell you can just circle any letter you want w/o doing any work and if it's right then you get the 4 marks!
Of course if one little mistake in your work makes you end up with the wrong answer, then that's 4 marks out of the 100 gone!
Though as traumatic as this test can be (I hear the 3rd term test is the worst one), you have to admit it's very cunningly designed. Out of the ~1500 students in first year life sciences, not many are really qualified for the upper level courses, so in a way this calculus course (which is mandatory) is used to weed out the weak. By having each multiple choice question worth 4-5 marks, students who can still manage to score above an 80% must have good attention to detail, check their work efficiently and/or are less susceptible to careless errors. These are all important traits for scientists and doctors alike and thus is deemed important to be tested on.
And for the demon question at the end of the test, it too has a good purpose. The last question(s) usually consist of problems that students have never seen before but should be able to solve given the concepts taught in class and pure hardcore logic. Students who are able to solve these questions, or are able to start on the correct solutions to these problems have the logic and problem solving mentality that makes a good researcher.
So while these tests are brutal to the average life science student, you have to admit; it works. And it works extremely well to make Life Sciences have such a high drop out rate!
But I personally feel attacked by the stress caused by this test; and so my roommate and I have decided that come Tuesday night, if we don't make it out of the test alive it will be due to the following reasons:
- Strangled to death by integral sign
- Cut into infinitely small vertical pieces dx
- Cut into infinitely small horizontal pieces dy
- Lost in a maze of special triangles
- Divided by zero and were thus transported to another dimension where calculus doesn't kill us.
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