Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Crunching the Numbers
It's Wednesday night, and I'm done with homework...kinda. I had two midterms and a speech on Monday and another midterm on Tuesday, so I think I deserve a break. I've got the room to myself, my music playing, a steaming glass of apple cider (from a powdered mix), and a big blank blog screen in front of me. So in short, life is pretty good...at least for the time being. Hooray.
So I got my comp sci quiz back on Tuesday: 4 out of 9, which is pretty much about what I had expected. I look back at what I didn't know how to do and it all looks so easy now, so that's a little frustrating. But hey, at least I like the subject. I figured out that if I get perfect scores on two quizzes I should be about back up to an A (barely). Right now I have a C, or maybe a little better with the labs I've done factored in. I also talked to my instructor and he says that most people struggle at this point in the course, and that it's certainly possible to come back. So hooray. I have another quiz tomorrow, and we've learned no new material since last week. I would say I'm feeling confident but I don't entirely trust Dr. Pokorny not to bust out some random programming obscurity. But I do plan on doing slightly better than last week.
Here's some more exciting academic news: I got a D on my last chem quiz. 62.5%. At least, that's what was listed as my grade when I checked Sunday night. I was quite upset at this because I had walked away from that quiz feeling very good about it. Generally, you don't get a D when you think you got an A. I went to talk to Dr. Berber to ask her about it, because I had a midterm for that class on Monday, and I figured that if there was something I was doing entirely incorrectly it was to my benefit to figure out what it was before the exam. Long story short, there was an error in the key and I actually got an 85%. Ha! (I missed about 8% on one question because I didn't know that some random composition of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen was a liquid in its natural state, even though the chemical equation I had written down was entirely correct and balanced.) Whatever...I got a 96% on the first quiz and I've since heard from a TA that I did exceptionally well on the midterm. And the class is curved. So I'm feeling quite a bit better about this class then I was on Sunday.
As for my other midterms, speech was fine and IME wasn't so great. I'm over IME...it's a two-unit class and therefore doesn't affect my GPA all that much, and I loathe the material in the textbook. I'll still read the book...but I'm not going to kill myself worrying about the stuff that doesn't stick with me. And let's keep in mind that nobody that I talked to had even picked up the book. Maybe the test will be curved...
Oh, and I was quite proud of my speech. You remember, the one about the house burning down? I felt like I had everyone on the edges of their seats. It was a powerful story...very dramatic and all that...
So, gee...can you tell that I'm busier with school this quarter? Four paragraphs on quizzes, exams, and speeches that took place just in the last three days. Last quarter it was more along the lines of "uh....I was done with class at 10...I had a sandwich...I killed some time...I practiced some piano...and I wrote in my blog for an hour." Man! Oh well...just six more weeks of this junk left....I LOVE the quarter system!
What else have I done? Hmm....oh, I was on TV on Saturday. Well, I wouldn't really classify it as on TV, but I could see myself in the background of the CSU Northridge vs. Cal Poly basketball game, so that was very exciting. But TV aside, that game was so much fun! Northridge is second from the top in our division...and the Mustangs are second from the bottom. So you knew Northridge was going to win. But the lead shifted back and forth for the first three-fourths of the game, and it was never more than a few points' difference. Cal Poly fell apart, though, as they always do in the second half...at least it was later than usual this time. Plus, with Fox Sports Net West 2 present, the timeouts took so much longer due to commercials, so we got to play so much more of our music. We generally only get through the first third song...if we're lucky. But we were finishing songs left and right! It was a blast!
Aside from that, I have not much to report. So I'm sorry that this entry is pretty much just about my grades, but that's pretty much all that's going on around here right now. Studying...homeworking...examing...the works. I'll get back to you when fun stuff happens.
Cheers,
Josh
mood: in a little pocket of stress relief
music: "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard
location: dorm
I would like to insert something here that I hope will become a regular part of Living the SLO Life: random quotes from people that I've heard since the last time I wrote. I always love reading these in other people's blogs, so I wanted to include some in mine. Here it goes:
Quoted Randomness:
[After a speeding car came rushing around the corner as we walked back from Light House] "I totally should've jumped in front of that car. I'd have gotten so much money!"
--Alicia
"Most babies are made with alcohol."
--Dave
"Light House dessert sucked tonight...now I have to go home and eat jelly beans."
--Me
"I know it's marked piano, so play it soft, but firm...like my wife."
--Dave Rackley (MB director)
[In reference to bracelets identifying one with his political party affiliation] "The competition between the [red and the blue] is becoming heated and hopefully the 'Bloods' and 'Crypts' don't mistake these bracelets for gang signs, or else a lot of people are going down."
--Josh Kob, Daily Mustang columnist
Also, in response to Mom's request for pictures, here is one of Cal Poly's package center:
The package center is actually around the corner, but this picture is hilarious. Now you know where all of the cookies people send me go! :-)
So I got my comp sci quiz back on Tuesday: 4 out of 9, which is pretty much about what I had expected. I look back at what I didn't know how to do and it all looks so easy now, so that's a little frustrating. But hey, at least I like the subject. I figured out that if I get perfect scores on two quizzes I should be about back up to an A (barely). Right now I have a C, or maybe a little better with the labs I've done factored in. I also talked to my instructor and he says that most people struggle at this point in the course, and that it's certainly possible to come back. So hooray. I have another quiz tomorrow, and we've learned no new material since last week. I would say I'm feeling confident but I don't entirely trust Dr. Pokorny not to bust out some random programming obscurity. But I do plan on doing slightly better than last week.
Here's some more exciting academic news: I got a D on my last chem quiz. 62.5%. At least, that's what was listed as my grade when I checked Sunday night. I was quite upset at this because I had walked away from that quiz feeling very good about it. Generally, you don't get a D when you think you got an A. I went to talk to Dr. Berber to ask her about it, because I had a midterm for that class on Monday, and I figured that if there was something I was doing entirely incorrectly it was to my benefit to figure out what it was before the exam. Long story short, there was an error in the key and I actually got an 85%. Ha! (I missed about 8% on one question because I didn't know that some random composition of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen was a liquid in its natural state, even though the chemical equation I had written down was entirely correct and balanced.) Whatever...I got a 96% on the first quiz and I've since heard from a TA that I did exceptionally well on the midterm. And the class is curved. So I'm feeling quite a bit better about this class then I was on Sunday.
As for my other midterms, speech was fine and IME wasn't so great. I'm over IME...it's a two-unit class and therefore doesn't affect my GPA all that much, and I loathe the material in the textbook. I'll still read the book...but I'm not going to kill myself worrying about the stuff that doesn't stick with me. And let's keep in mind that nobody that I talked to had even picked up the book. Maybe the test will be curved...
Oh, and I was quite proud of my speech. You remember, the one about the house burning down? I felt like I had everyone on the edges of their seats. It was a powerful story...very dramatic and all that...
So, gee...can you tell that I'm busier with school this quarter? Four paragraphs on quizzes, exams, and speeches that took place just in the last three days. Last quarter it was more along the lines of "uh....I was done with class at 10...I had a sandwich...I killed some time...I practiced some piano...and I wrote in my blog for an hour." Man! Oh well...just six more weeks of this junk left....I LOVE the quarter system!
What else have I done? Hmm....oh, I was on TV on Saturday. Well, I wouldn't really classify it as on TV, but I could see myself in the background of the CSU Northridge vs. Cal Poly basketball game, so that was very exciting. But TV aside, that game was so much fun! Northridge is second from the top in our division...and the Mustangs are second from the bottom. So you knew Northridge was going to win. But the lead shifted back and forth for the first three-fourths of the game, and it was never more than a few points' difference. Cal Poly fell apart, though, as they always do in the second half...at least it was later than usual this time. Plus, with Fox Sports Net West 2 present, the timeouts took so much longer due to commercials, so we got to play so much more of our music. We generally only get through the first third song...if we're lucky. But we were finishing songs left and right! It was a blast!
Aside from that, I have not much to report. So I'm sorry that this entry is pretty much just about my grades, but that's pretty much all that's going on around here right now. Studying...homeworking...examing...the works. I'll get back to you when fun stuff happens.
Cheers,
Josh
mood: in a little pocket of stress relief
music: "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard
location: dorm
I would like to insert something here that I hope will become a regular part of Living the SLO Life: random quotes from people that I've heard since the last time I wrote. I always love reading these in other people's blogs, so I wanted to include some in mine. Here it goes:
Quoted Randomness:
[After a speeding car came rushing around the corner as we walked back from Light House] "I totally should've jumped in front of that car. I'd have gotten so much money!"
--Alicia
"Most babies are made with alcohol."
--Dave
"Light House dessert sucked tonight...now I have to go home and eat jelly beans."
--Me
"I know it's marked piano, so play it soft, but firm...like my wife."
--Dave Rackley (MB director)
[In reference to bracelets identifying one with his political party affiliation] "The competition between the [red and the blue] is becoming heated and hopefully the 'Bloods' and 'Crypts' don't mistake these bracelets for gang signs, or else a lot of people are going down."
--Josh Kob, Daily Mustang columnist
Also, in response to Mom's request for pictures, here is one of Cal Poly's package center:
The package center is actually around the corner, but this picture is hilarious. Now you know where all of the cookies people send me go! :-)
