I never did come back with a post about my profs, so I'm going to do it now~
ENGL 200A (Survey of British Lit I)
I had Rebecca Tierney-Hynes as my prof for this course. She honestly made this course a lot of fun. She was extremely enthusiastic about British Lit, the authors, the works, and the history. My favourite class this term. While there was a lot of reading, this course was interesting. Every class kept my attention, and I was interested throughout the term. With Rebecca, there are mandatory tutorials as well, and I had Tommy Mayberry as my TA. Loved him too. Both of them provided interesting perspectives on British Lit, as well as literature analysis. Looked forward to the classes and tutorials throughout the year, and the evaluations were really straight-forward and it wasn't too hard to get a good mark. Because this is a required course for all English majors at UWaterloo, I'd definitely recommend that you try to get into Rebecca's class.
ENGL 251 (Critism I)
I had Paul Kreller again as my prof. Alike to his ENGL101A class, it was pretty straight forward, kind of bland, but fairly easy to do well. We had some group work for this course, but work mainly centered around 4 essays (all fairly short in length, save for the last one), plus attendance, and the exam. As always, he was a fun prof to have. I enjoy his classes, usually, though they can sometimes be a tad bit boring. I do hope to have him again, because I quite like him as a prof, but also in general, he's just genuinely kind. It's always a pleasure to have him as a prof.
PSYCH 230 (Psychology & Law)
I had John Rempel for this course. While it wasn't bad, it also wasn't great. There was A LOT of reading (this is coming from an English major, like honestly), and his classes just couldn't keep my attention. Definitely was not my favorite class. His multiple choice is pretty tricky, and he words things with double negatives and makes you just spin in a circle. His lectures were also just bland. He would have a vague powerpoint, which I'm generally cool with, but then he'd say a point, then repeat 4 or 5 times, with words that are vaguely different but not really, just so you could get bored really really fast. His voice also wasn't the most interesting or enthusiastic voice either, but that's besides the point. There are a lot of people who loved him, but I just couldn't.
ENGL 292 (Contemporary Issues in Language, Writing, and Rhetoric)
I had Nadine Gingrich for this class. I can honestly say, I didn't enjoy it that much. Maybe I'm bitter 'cause I didn't do that well throughout the term, but I just couldn't love this class. She was a very opinionated prof, and while that's not a bad thing, per say, she often didn't appreciate opinions that opposed her own, which I thouht was pretty closed minded, but moving on. Her tests and assignments are extremely vague, and she doesn't really give you any expectations. For the first test, we were told to analyze a quote using things we learned in class. She didn't tell us how she wanted us to analyze it, or how much she wanted us to go into it (it was an hour and twenty minute class). When I got the test back, she told me that I didn't meet the expectations she had for the midterm. But she didn't give us any. And then with the next midterm, she had us mark up an article beforehand, and then she was going to give us questions about the article and we had to use our notes and such to answer them. Instead of asking about the larger concepts, though, she touched ones that we barely talked about in class, and that the textbook touches on for maybe a paragraph. Everyone walked out of the room not really knowing what on earth we were asked. All in all, definitely not my favourite prof. While I didn't do bad in her class, I just wasn't happy with her method of teaching, nor her methods of evaluation.
CS 100 (Intro to Computer Applications)
I had Janice Brown (?) for this class, I think. Don't hurt me! I didn't skip! It was an online course and it was extremely simple when it came down to it. I actually did surprisingly well in it, and I enjoyed learning about HTML coding, Wikis, and Excel. A fairly elementary course, and I would recommend it to people who don't know much about the aforementioned programs, or even computers in general. The course also teaches you how to navigate through the computer (not that I needed that part, I mean I live on here, I definitely know how to open My Documents and make a folder). Interesting, not too labour intensive, and definitely applicable in the working world.
Those were all my courses for last term. Well, I had PD1 too, but that was boring, mandatory, and online. If you do co-op at UWaterloo, then you'll be forced to do PD1, and nothing I say or do will save you from that monotony. Anyways, choose your courses (and your profs) wisely, that's all I can say.
I shall post again soon about my first work term ~
-Alikiya
Showing posts with label uWaterloo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uWaterloo. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Friday, 13 December 2013
It Is The End
Stars, this term went by extremely fast. Sorry we haven't been updating much... Well... I haven't been updating much. I meant to post like 45 times this term but I never did. Sorry !
Let's start from the beginning ! I was an o-week leader this year. It was honestly one of the best experiences of my life. If you don't know already, I'm in the Arts faculty at the University of Waterloo. I was a front-line leader, and by gods, I was raving about o-week last year, yet somehow this year was better.
As leaders, we helped with first-year move in. That was a crazy workout, and this year I'm planning on going to the gym everyday in the summer just so I can be less tired next year (but seriously, maybe like a sit up here and there (I'll never actually go to our gym 'cause it's far and summer term will be hot)). However, it was a lot of fun helping the first years get settled and move it, and it was great getting to see some of the people who were on our team too.
Throughout the week, we took shifts and we accompanied the first years for a bunch of activities (one of which got rained out to our dismay). There were giant jigsaw puzzles (which were a lot harder than they sound), capture the beanbag (which was a kind of unfair game in all honesty, but fun nonetheless), campus confessions, and learning the Arts dance. It was a tonne of fun. We also watch Single and Sexy, a campus created play that talks about issues students can have and the places they can go to help them with said problems, as well as a campus amazing race (which, again, got a little confusing here and there but was a lot of fun). We also took an aerial photo that did not turn out well (sorry guys, but it was really bad...) and I was a blackjack dealer during Monte Carlo (the people who sat at my table can attest to the fact that I suck at addition) and it was ... and interesting experience (read: I will be doing it again, but I might add addition drills to those supposed gym visits).
Aside from hanging with the first years and joining them for all the activities I met a lot of awesome people during o-week who made the experience all the more awesome. It's extremely cool to just be walking around campus and then suddenly see people you know. In the past four month, I've become really close with a group of people and I am so happy I met them ~
Since O-Week, I've mainly been in classes, doing work, derping on tumblr, or hanging out with my awesometastic roommates, Dee and G. Lee ~ I definitely liked living with these two this past term than I did with G. Lee and our other roommate last year. There are some people you can be friends with and live with and there are some people who are best left as friends. It's been a blast living with these two this year and I've love that I got to know these two better this year ~
Anways, I'll be back next week to talk about my awesome (and not so awesome) classes this term ~
-Alikiya
Sunday, 28 April 2013
20 Things I Learned at University: First Year
Hi all ~ Dee did her 20 things without me so I thought I'd put mine up, as well. Before I start, I'd just like to reiterate a few things:
1. A meal plan does not mean unlimited spending. Although meal plan cards may be filled with what looks like lots of money, that stuff needs to last you the year. Some of my friends learned this the hard way, and by winter break they had nothing left. After some parental butt whooping, they got some money back on their card and had to basically ration it throughout second semester.'
2. This leads to my second point: Freshmen 15. Personally, I didn't gain or lose weight. Throughout my first year I did what I always do - I moved when I had to, but aside from that, I ate often and sat in front of the computer for hours. This wasn't the same for everyone though. The girl who lived about us said that she found that she did gain some weight 'cause she didn't move much, and she found that she bought a lot of chocolate and snacks with her meal plan card. Then there were people like my suite-mate who exercised 4 hours a day and barely ever ate... It all depends on what you do with what your given.
3. Again, this rolls right into my next point: you paid for the gym, so you should use the gym. Technically, part of your tuition gives you access to the university gym. I didn't utilize this, and I regret it (which is why next year, I shall find this gym that everyone speaks of and actually go there to workout). Don't waste the opportunity. It's a great way to keep off the freshman fifteen, as well as get your butt in motion, 'cause we all know that most of us spend wayyyyyy too much time in front of the computer.
4. Communication is key. This point applies more to people who decide to live in residence with a room or suite mate. But this can also apply to friendships and even teachers. Even though I didn't practice this, I will preach it 'cause I regret not practising it. If something that your friend/suitemate/roommate does bothers you, tell them. Don't complain about it rudely (or in front of people :$), don't rant about it or tell them in the rudest possible way, pull them aside and tell them what is ticking you off. They might not even know what they're doing, even though it's driving you insane. This could also make them hate you, especially if you're a hypocrite about it. But honestly, it's the only way to get them to stop, or at least open their eyes to the problem 'cause hinting at stuff doesn't really work.
5. Sleep is important. Don't let your friends tempt you into staying up 'til 4am in the morning the day you have a test to keep them company as they write and essay or do an assignment. Your body requires sleep to sort out all the junk you've crammed into your head throughout the day. I don't care if you've never pulled an all-nighter. If you don't have to, don't do it.
The last thing you want is to look like a zombie the next day. Ain't nothing attractive 'bout that.
Value your sleep while your sleep cycle is still relatively normal.
6. Numbers ≠ Passion. There was this kid in my class, a fourth-year systems engineer, who was taking Intro to Rhetoric Theory with me. Every concept our prof threw at us he would understand immediately. He would then create amazing examples and be able to apply the things we learned immediately. But when it came down to it, he wasn't in love with English, as I am, instead his heart lay with engineering and computers. It's not always easy to see past all that in the moment, maybe your marks aren't the highest in the class, maybe that one random kid is doing better, but you must remember that in the end your passion and love for the things you do will be what will get you through university and what will get you that diploma in the end.
7. Be active within your university community. Joining clubs, volunteering for things, and taking part in study groups are great ways to make friends, 'cause honestly, it's hard to do that in classes of five hundred people. All in all, most of my newest friends were met through my 15 people French classes, my club activities and meetings, as well as through o-week (both as a first year and during leader training). Don't be afraid to put yourself out there.
8. Paperwork > Homework. The number of issues I had with that darned Plan Modification Form, ugh. Add in the dental/health refund, as well as OSAP paperwork, and then some course override forms, you will get used to filling out forms. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but man was it a pain.
9. Reading for fun is hard to do. This irked me, mainly 'cause I'm one of those readers who are just like -opens book in the morning- -finishes book that same night- This is still possible to do, but not without immediately falling behind in your textbook readings, or your note-making. Tip for all you readers out there? Whenever you can snatch a bit of time during university terms, grabs your book and read 'cause you won't get that many chances.
10. Stupid questions exist. Don't believe what your teachers say, they are just saying it to be nice, 'cause honestly, they exist and they will make the people in your class hate you. It's not even questions like, "What's the chemical formula for holy water?" that will bother you. At least those questions are weird enough to make you laugh and remember it. It's questions like, "How does this pertain to that?" "It doesn't, this is totally irrelevant to that" "But..." -insert a twenty minute argument as to how this piece of information relates to that issue that was discussed weeks ago, when neither is at all relevant to one another and you feel like your life is wasting away before you as you sit in class and listen to this imbecile argue with the teacher when they are clearly wrong- multiplied times every class.
11. The geese can and will attack you if approached, disturbed, or even looked at funny.
12. Your bad habits get worse and your good habits disappear. I found this especially true, as I lived on my own. I didn't have my mom to breathe down my neck and snap at me every time I would start twirling my hair around my finger, or pick at my nails. Procrastinating also went to a whole new level when I got to Waterloo 'cause I had never had unlimited internet before. Boy, did that kill my work ethic. I also found that any attempts to exercise were thwarted by my need to watch t.v. and organization was not at the top of my list of things to maintain...
13. Your professors and TAs are your friends. They will not murder you in your sleep if you visit them during their office hours. They provide an easy and great way to network and get help in not only the subject they're teaching/TA-ing for, but other things in life as well. I learned that my French TA turned French professor loves French rap music, and could probably make a religion worshipping beer and bacon. One of my friends once missed a class 'cause they were sick, and my TA-prof brought him to the classroom and went through the entire lesson just for him, and assisted him with the exercises. Office hours are there for a reason, you should take advantage of them. Profs don't ever want their students to fail, but they can't give you marks that you aren't willing to work for.
14. Keeping in touch with your family via email doesn't really work. (Again, applies mainly to those living in a difference city/areacode) Unfortunately, my cellphone plan doesn't allow changes such as long-distance calling for free after this time, so every night, I'd email my dad, mom, or sister and hope that one of them sees it before they have a panic attack and begin worrying ('cause once that starts, it leads to a giant hole of darkness where I'm either dead or dying in an alley somewhere). If you can, try to get long-distance for free from your cell company. If you can't, well then, it's either email or telegraphs.
15. Seven year old laptops are not optimal for university use. When your computer starts shutting down for fun, you know it's time to get a new one. Unfortunately, they're expensive, and getting a new one is
easier said than done. Let me just tell you that installing Windows 8 on said ancient computer is not a great idea either, even though the world wide web claims that it is compatible. It probably isn't really.
16. Real v.s. Fake. At a university, away from my friends, I found that I could see all my friendships from afar and pick out which ones I would actually work for and which ones were lost a while ago, but I never really faced it. Although I mended some friendships while I was away, I found that I lost many. As much as that saddens me, it also helped me realize that some of them were not what I remembered, and some were just not worth saving.
17. It is okay to miss a class every now and then. I always get this panicky feeling whenever I think about skipping class. However, I also learned this year that sometimes, missing class is okay. Yes, it took fifteen years and $10,000 to figure this out. Admittedly, I still don't like skipping, but I can live with it now. It is also okay to be late for class, 'cause now, you don't have to drag your butt to the attendance office as hall monitors and teachers glare at you. Although I wouldn't encourage it, I also know the feeling of not wanting to go, or not being able to go, to a class. That's life.
18. Bunk beds are not as fun as they were when you were six. Try to get a room with a single bed, if you're going into residence. Bunk beds aren't necessarily bad, but there's something about hitting your head on the ceiling that really turns you off from them.
19. Don't know what on earth you're doing, that's okay. You don't have to have your life figured out when university rolls around. It's okay to be sitting on the fence about something, or even totally clueless. Take a range of courses and see which ones appeal to you and allow you to work at the best of your abilities. I took psychology for the first time this year and loved it, and then hated it, and then loved it again. I also went into this year thinking that I would be an English Lit major, and now I'm including Rhetoric into my major 'cause I loved the course. It's okay to change your mind, and it's okay to be confused. There's always room to change majors, programs, and even faculties.
20. Appreciate your family and friends. No matter how shit life is, or how stressed you are, both your family and friends will always be there to support you. When you're out of your foggy cloud of panic/stress/anxiety, take the time to thank them for being behind you one hundred percent (even 22% is alright). 'Cause in the end, it doesn't matter how much money you have, or how much you know, it's a lonely road if you don't have people with you to enjoy it with.
University has been a great learning experience, and I hope next year will be even better ~
Also, note that all images were taken from Google, 'cause I neither have the time nor the abilities or resources to take/make such photos.
-Alikiya
- You will get tired of Instant Noodles. Honestly, I can't even smell it without my stomach churning. If I eat it again in this lifetime it will be too soon.
- Facebook is definitely important. It's a great way to keep up with old friends, as well as keep up with whatever clubs or activities, sometimes even classes, you're a part of.
- No one goes to university "more mature". I don't care what people say,
AHEM RD COUGH COUGHuniversity does not automatically result in sophisticated, non-idiotic people. Granted, there are more who are, but don't expect it to be the Elizabethan level of maturity and sophistication, 'cause it ain't. - Also, free stuff? If they're giving it away, take it, and thank that person for the blessed gift. Never refuse free stuff.
1. A meal plan does not mean unlimited spending. Although meal plan cards may be filled with what looks like lots of money, that stuff needs to last you the year. Some of my friends learned this the hard way, and by winter break they had nothing left. After some parental butt whooping, they got some money back on their card and had to basically ration it throughout second semester.'
 |
| That was my first reaction when I saw the balance on my MP card and the stack of Aero bars beside the cash register |
3. Again, this rolls right into my next point: you paid for the gym, so you should use the gym. Technically, part of your tuition gives you access to the university gym. I didn't utilize this, and I regret it (which is why next year, I shall find this gym that everyone speaks of and actually go there to workout). Don't waste the opportunity. It's a great way to keep off the freshman fifteen, as well as get your butt in motion, 'cause we all know that most of us spend wayyyyyy too much time in front of the computer.
 |
| 'cause danisnotonfire. |
 |
| Unfortunately, though, this was me by the end of the year. |
6. Numbers ≠ Passion. There was this kid in my class, a fourth-year systems engineer, who was taking Intro to Rhetoric Theory with me. Every concept our prof threw at us he would understand immediately. He would then create amazing examples and be able to apply the things we learned immediately. But when it came down to it, he wasn't in love with English, as I am, instead his heart lay with engineering and computers. It's not always easy to see past all that in the moment, maybe your marks aren't the highest in the class, maybe that one random kid is doing better, but you must remember that in the end your passion and love for the things you do will be what will get you through university and what will get you that diploma in the end.
7. Be active within your university community. Joining clubs, volunteering for things, and taking part in study groups are great ways to make friends, 'cause honestly, it's hard to do that in classes of five hundred people. All in all, most of my newest friends were met through my 15 people French classes, my club activities and meetings, as well as through o-week (both as a first year and during leader training). Don't be afraid to put yourself out there.
8. Paperwork > Homework. The number of issues I had with that darned Plan Modification Form, ugh. Add in the dental/health refund, as well as OSAP paperwork, and then some course override forms, you will get used to filling out forms. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but man was it a pain.
9. Reading for fun is hard to do. This irked me, mainly 'cause I'm one of those readers who are just like -opens book in the morning- -finishes book that same night- This is still possible to do, but not without immediately falling behind in your textbook readings, or your note-making. Tip for all you readers out there? Whenever you can snatch a bit of time during university terms, grabs your book and read 'cause you won't get that many chances.
10. Stupid questions exist. Don't believe what your teachers say, they are just saying it to be nice, 'cause honestly, they exist and they will make the people in your class hate you. It's not even questions like, "What's the chemical formula for holy water?" that will bother you. At least those questions are weird enough to make you laugh and remember it. It's questions like, "How does this pertain to that?" "It doesn't, this is totally irrelevant to that" "But..." -insert a twenty minute argument as to how this piece of information relates to that issue that was discussed weeks ago, when neither is at all relevant to one another and you feel like your life is wasting away before you as you sit in class and listen to this imbecile argue with the teacher when they are clearly wrong- multiplied times every class.
 |
| "What'chu lookin' at punk?" (I love the fact that the bus says uwaterloo, haha) |
13. Your professors and TAs are your friends. They will not murder you in your sleep if you visit them during their office hours. They provide an easy and great way to network and get help in not only the subject they're teaching/TA-ing for, but other things in life as well. I learned that my French TA turned French professor loves French rap music, and could probably make a religion worshipping beer and bacon. One of my friends once missed a class 'cause they were sick, and my TA-prof brought him to the classroom and went through the entire lesson just for him, and assisted him with the exercises. Office hours are there for a reason, you should take advantage of them. Profs don't ever want their students to fail, but they can't give you marks that you aren't willing to work for.
14. Keeping in touch with your family via email doesn't really work. (Again, applies mainly to those living in a difference city/areacode) Unfortunately, my cellphone plan doesn't allow changes such as long-distance calling for free after this time, so every night, I'd email my dad, mom, or sister and hope that one of them sees it before they have a panic attack and begin worrying ('cause once that starts, it leads to a giant hole of darkness where I'm either dead or dying in an alley somewhere). If you can, try to get long-distance for free from your cell company. If you can't, well then, it's either email or telegraphs.
15. Seven year old laptops are not optimal for university use. When your computer starts shutting down for fun, you know it's time to get a new one. Unfortunately, they're expensive, and getting a new one is
easier said than done. Let me just tell you that installing Windows 8 on said ancient computer is not a great idea either, even though the world wide web claims that it is compatible. It probably isn't really.
16. Real v.s. Fake. At a university, away from my friends, I found that I could see all my friendships from afar and pick out which ones I would actually work for and which ones were lost a while ago, but I never really faced it. Although I mended some friendships while I was away, I found that I lost many. As much as that saddens me, it also helped me realize that some of them were not what I remembered, and some were just not worth saving.
17. It is okay to miss a class every now and then. I always get this panicky feeling whenever I think about skipping class. However, I also learned this year that sometimes, missing class is okay. Yes, it took fifteen years and $10,000 to figure this out. Admittedly, I still don't like skipping, but I can live with it now. It is also okay to be late for class, 'cause now, you don't have to drag your butt to the attendance office as hall monitors and teachers glare at you. Although I wouldn't encourage it, I also know the feeling of not wanting to go, or not being able to go, to a class. That's life.
18. Bunk beds are not as fun as they were when you were six. Try to get a room with a single bed, if you're going into residence. Bunk beds aren't necessarily bad, but there's something about hitting your head on the ceiling that really turns you off from them.
19. Don't know what on earth you're doing, that's okay. You don't have to have your life figured out when university rolls around. It's okay to be sitting on the fence about something, or even totally clueless. Take a range of courses and see which ones appeal to you and allow you to work at the best of your abilities. I took psychology for the first time this year and loved it, and then hated it, and then loved it again. I also went into this year thinking that I would be an English Lit major, and now I'm including Rhetoric into my major 'cause I loved the course. It's okay to change your mind, and it's okay to be confused. There's always room to change majors, programs, and even faculties.
20. Appreciate your family and friends. No matter how shit life is, or how stressed you are, both your family and friends will always be there to support you. When you're out of your foggy cloud of panic/stress/anxiety, take the time to thank them for being behind you one hundred percent (even 22% is alright). 'Cause in the end, it doesn't matter how much money you have, or how much you know, it's a lonely road if you don't have people with you to enjoy it with.
University has been a great learning experience, and I hope next year will be even better ~
Also, note that all images were taken from Google, 'cause I neither have the time nor the abilities or resources to take/make such photos.
-Alikiya
Sunday, 21 April 2013
20 Things I Learned: First-Year of University
If you haven't already guessed by the title of this post, I'm officially done my first year of university! I'd talk more about it, but I'm too lazy to upload photos so maybe in another post...
But as my friend said, "Summer doesn't truly begin until we find out our marks." Sigh.
But anyways, I was recently inspired by this post to talk about what I learned first year, so here we go...
1. First and foremost, you will get tired of instant noodles. I know people think they can survive the whole eight months on instant noodles and it'll be good. You'll have 10 different flavours and everything. No. It gets annoying and it's just repulsive after a while. I've been on an instant-noodle detox for the last month and I plan on doing so for the rest of this summer.
2. Do you really want your "best friend" as a roommate? I guess this only applies to those who will live away from home and on campus. But, think about this before you make those roommate choices. As much as I love my best friend, we've spent all of high-school at different schools (we met in middle school). Even though we definitely click, her values have changed throughout high school and so have mines. It caused a lot of fights, tears, and so much drama. As much as I'll miss her after moving out, and even though I still love her, I don't think I can handle living with her. So, think about it.
3. You think you'll stop procrastinating after high school? Nope, so wrong. Well... it depends on the person and their willpower. Me? I might just have gotten even worse. In high school, people were always astonished by how I can study the night before, or finish my final project 3 hours before class and still managed to get a 95%. Now? I can stay up until 4AM and if I'm lucky, I'll get a 70%. Plus, my horrible "I-won't-do-the-readings-until-the-night-before-the-exam"? Yeah... let's all pray I passed accounting.
4. Going back to #1, let's talk about the "Freshman 15". Again, totally depends on the person's willpower. For me, I ended up losing 15 pounds in the first month of school. There was no one to make yummy food for me, so I had smaller portions and the stress about being away from home made me lose weight. Unfortunately, I gained all that crap back during midterms and exams when I pig out. In the end, I came back at the end of the year... the same as I went in.
5. Don't be afraid to actually choose the courses you like. I know it sounds stupid, but I know some people choose courses solely based on whether or not they'll have friends with them, or it was required. I mean, of course you need to take those mandatory courses but for electives, depending on the program, you should get some choice. Choose the ones that interest you, because if you're interested, you'll do well in the class. If you choose something because your friend's there, and you have zero interest in the class (like me and accounting), you will do poorly.
6. It's okay to be alone going into your classes. Stemming off from the last point... it's totally okay to be alone going into a class! BUT, make friends. I have friends who have such anxiety trying to talk to others, and they end up making no friends. It seems all cool and mysterious of you, but when you have no one to ask for assignment help but the professor (and he takes 3 days to reply to his e-mail!), you're so screwed. That's why, I'm so glad I met one of my coolest friends in Sociology class this year!
7. Suddenly, Facebook isn't just a distraction anymore. Facebook, for me, has never really been a distraction as it is for a lot of people.Probably because I have no friends on it anyways. But, the point is, I've joined so much school-related and clubs-related groups on Facebook, and it really helps! People share notes, help answer questions, and just joke and socialize with others in their program/class and it helps to keep you up-to-date with everything.
8. So... professors don't mark your work, TAs do. Remember in high school when people sucked up to teachers for higher marks? Well, get ready to suck up to your TAs! I mean, it might not work, BUT I'm pretty damn sure some TAs give pretty girls higher marks. So annoying. But no seriously, maybe I should start putting some effort into how I look.
9. Unfair, biased, shithole TAs aside, there will be TAs you fall in love with. Hasn't happened to me yet, considering I have bad experiences with TAs this year, but I've seen/heard my friends fangirling over their TAs. My roommate was pretty much in love with our French TA. I didn't really like him but I will agree that he was better-looking than a lot of other TAs I've seen this year. Alikiya's roommate apparently also has a big crush on her TA as well. It would be pretty cool to be dating one though.Hello, easy marks!
10. Even though your TAs grade you, get to know your professor. One of my biggest regrets this year was not getting to know my professors. Especially my legal studies and economics professors! They were so cool, funny, and amazing profs. Plus, getting to know your profs also puts yourself in their favour which is good for not only grades but future opportunities. Maybe you can be their TA or get their reference letter to be a proctor.
11. Naps are good for memory? According to my roommate and my psychology textbook, memorizing and studying something right before bed will help you remember it better. So, maybe try studying and taking 30 minute naps. I can't guarantee anything but I mean... why not try and test it out?
12. Old edition vs. New edition textbooks. A lot of the times, professors will tell you to get the latest edition of the textbook, "but the old edition is fine too, I guess". For me, I felt uncomfortable getting the older one because you just never know what you miss might out even though the difference in the two editions is probably nothing you'd even notice. But take in many different factors. Would the newer edition be easier to sell off when you're done with it? Is the lower price of the old edition worth possibly missing out on even the smallest of details? What are the conditions of the books; brand new or used?
13. Individuality and self-worth suddenly become so damn important. Maybe it's just my friends or some of the people I see in my program and around campus, but showing off what you know/can do, and proving you are unique suddenly becomes such a popular concept. Maybe it's because you're at a new place, and there's thousands of people, that everyone just feels the need to prove themselves worthy of being a student here, and that they're all different and don't just want to blend into the crowd. The people I'm around can't seem to stop declaring things about themselves, and quite frankly, it's rubbing off on me. Everyone's, "I'm an artist!", "I made two videos and uploaded it on Youtube", "I'm rich and drive a BMW to school". It's just ridiculous some of the things that people will shit out to separate themselves from the crowd, but still want to fit into certain groups. Hey, by the way, guys... I speak 3 languages, my typing speed is 90WPM, and I've watched all the episodes of FRIENDS over 20 times. That's right. Haters gonna hate.
14. A bit random, but when you go to school with someone kind of Youtube-famous, and you haven't bumped into them yet, it is extremely frustrating. Why is everyone bumping into, taking pictures with, and have spoken with shimmycocopuffsss? I so regret not going to see Chengman when he came to our school and Shimmy performed with him. Damn it all.
15. Somehow your parents get so much more annoying about everything. Maybe it's the whole teenage rebellion bullshit, but dear God, how my parents have gotten annoying. I mean, they nagged a lot before but these last 8 months have been torturous. Nagging about school-work and focusing, my responsibilities, the fact that they paid for this education now, etc. I mean, never once have I missed a deadline for school-work or other paperwork. I would actually consider myself a fairly responsible teenager. And as if I don't already know we're throwing a shitton of money into this. NO PRESSURE GUYS.
16. Taxes, taxes, taxes, and more paperwork. One year in and I'm already ripping my hair out from all this damn paperwork and taxes bullshit. The amount of times I had to visit all those student services centers to drop off paperwork, ask about paperwork, fill out paperwork... I am so done. I mean, why can't we all just pay the school $20,000 per year, and we get our education, and just be done with it all?
17. If you think people are more mature in university... no. I guess old habits are just hard to ditch. You'd think with all the independence and crap, people would want to use that to their advantage, but there will be those girls you hated in high-school who form a group and think they're all mighty and amazing and flawless and so dskjfsdhkf. Some girl in one of my French tutorials gave my friend the cut-eye and kissed her teeth when my friend asked a question. I mean, really? Grow up. So maybe her question was kind of stupid but if you were any better, you wouldn't even be affected by it. Plus, there's still those douchebag guys from high-school who think that being mean will get them far in life. Alright home skillet, move along.
18. Free stuff is best stuff. Maybe it's the fact that we're all broke university students who have a ton of loans on our asses... suddenly, you begin to appreciate the little things in life. Little things being cheap stuff and/or free stuff. So, free pens and notebooks, free food, giveaways and contests, are all so damn appealing.
19. If you think the Internet's the most distracting thing... it isn't. Your roommate is. Late night/early morning talks become so frequent that sleeping for 5 hours or less becomes so common. I don't know how but my roommates and I have managed to chat until 4AM in the morning and somehow we don't ever run out of things to talk about. To be honest, I love it way more than I love the Internet. It's cool to talk about serious stuff on the news, the funny videos we see online, the latest music/TV shows, little gossips about others, our own feels, and it's just... for lack of better words, nice.
20. Despite #15, you grow to appreciate your parents and home so much more. I appreciate them for putting up with my constant sighing when I do bad, for them buying me a bunch of stuff I want when I'm upset over school, for driving me back to school every Monday for classes because I love coming home every weekend, and so on. Your bed at home feels so damn good, and... yep. "Home is where the heart is."
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Anyways, I have to go unpack everything I own now. Sigh.
I'll be back when my grades are posted online because I'm pretty damn sure I'll have something to rant about then.
Have a good day, everyone!
- Dee
But as my friend said, "Summer doesn't truly begin until we find out our marks." Sigh.
But anyways, I was recently inspired by this post to talk about what I learned first year, so here we go...
1. First and foremost, you will get tired of instant noodles. I know people think they can survive the whole eight months on instant noodles and it'll be good. You'll have 10 different flavours and everything. No. It gets annoying and it's just repulsive after a while. I've been on an instant-noodle detox for the last month and I plan on doing so for the rest of this summer.
2. Do you really want your "best friend" as a roommate? I guess this only applies to those who will live away from home and on campus. But, think about this before you make those roommate choices. As much as I love my best friend, we've spent all of high-school at different schools (we met in middle school). Even though we definitely click, her values have changed throughout high school and so have mines. It caused a lot of fights, tears, and so much drama. As much as I'll miss her after moving out, and even though I still love her, I don't think I can handle living with her. So, think about it.
3. You think you'll stop procrastinating after high school? Nope, so wrong. Well... it depends on the person and their willpower. Me? I might just have gotten even worse. In high school, people were always astonished by how I can study the night before, or finish my final project 3 hours before class and still managed to get a 95%. Now? I can stay up until 4AM and if I'm lucky, I'll get a 70%. Plus, my horrible "I-won't-do-the-readings-until-the-night-before-the-exam"? Yeah... let's all pray I passed accounting.
4. Going back to #1, let's talk about the "Freshman 15". Again, totally depends on the person's willpower. For me, I ended up losing 15 pounds in the first month of school. There was no one to make yummy food for me, so I had smaller portions and the stress about being away from home made me lose weight. Unfortunately, I gained all that crap back during midterms and exams when I pig out. In the end, I came back at the end of the year... the same as I went in.
5. Don't be afraid to actually choose the courses you like. I know it sounds stupid, but I know some people choose courses solely based on whether or not they'll have friends with them, or it was required. I mean, of course you need to take those mandatory courses but for electives, depending on the program, you should get some choice. Choose the ones that interest you, because if you're interested, you'll do well in the class. If you choose something because your friend's there, and you have zero interest in the class (like me and accounting), you will do poorly.
6. It's okay to be alone going into your classes. Stemming off from the last point... it's totally okay to be alone going into a class! BUT, make friends. I have friends who have such anxiety trying to talk to others, and they end up making no friends. It seems all cool and mysterious of you, but when you have no one to ask for assignment help but the professor (and he takes 3 days to reply to his e-mail!), you're so screwed. That's why, I'm so glad I met one of my coolest friends in Sociology class this year!
7. Suddenly, Facebook isn't just a distraction anymore. Facebook, for me, has never really been a distraction as it is for a lot of people.
9. Unfair, biased, shithole TAs aside, there will be TAs you fall in love with. Hasn't happened to me yet, considering I have bad experiences with TAs this year, but I've seen/heard my friends fangirling over their TAs. My roommate was pretty much in love with our French TA. I didn't really like him but I will agree that he was better-looking than a lot of other TAs I've seen this year. Alikiya's roommate apparently also has a big crush on her TA as well. It would be pretty cool to be dating one though.
10. Even though your TAs grade you, get to know your professor. One of my biggest regrets this year was not getting to know my professors. Especially my legal studies and economics professors! They were so cool, funny, and amazing profs. Plus, getting to know your profs also puts yourself in their favour which is good for not only grades but future opportunities. Maybe you can be their TA or get their reference letter to be a proctor.
11. Naps are good for memory? According to my roommate and my psychology textbook, memorizing and studying something right before bed will help you remember it better. So, maybe try studying and taking 30 minute naps. I can't guarantee anything but I mean... why not try and test it out?
12. Old edition vs. New edition textbooks. A lot of the times, professors will tell you to get the latest edition of the textbook, "but the old edition is fine too, I guess". For me, I felt uncomfortable getting the older one because you just never know what you miss might out even though the difference in the two editions is probably nothing you'd even notice. But take in many different factors. Would the newer edition be easier to sell off when you're done with it? Is the lower price of the old edition worth possibly missing out on even the smallest of details? What are the conditions of the books; brand new or used?
14. A bit random, but when you go to school with someone kind of Youtube-famous, and you haven't bumped into them yet, it is extremely frustrating. Why is everyone bumping into, taking pictures with, and have spoken with shimmycocopuffsss? I so regret not going to see Chengman when he came to our school and Shimmy performed with him. Damn it all.
15. Somehow your parents get so much more annoying about everything. Maybe it's the whole teenage rebellion bullshit, but dear God, how my parents have gotten annoying. I mean, they nagged a lot before but these last 8 months have been torturous. Nagging about school-work and focusing, my responsibilities, the fact that they paid for this education now, etc. I mean, never once have I missed a deadline for school-work or other paperwork. I would actually consider myself a fairly responsible teenager. And as if I don't already know we're throwing a shitton of money into this. NO PRESSURE GUYS.
16. Taxes, taxes, taxes, and more paperwork. One year in and I'm already ripping my hair out from all this damn paperwork and taxes bullshit. The amount of times I had to visit all those student services centers to drop off paperwork, ask about paperwork, fill out paperwork... I am so done. I mean, why can't we all just pay the school $20,000 per year, and we get our education, and just be done with it all?
17. If you think people are more mature in university... no. I guess old habits are just hard to ditch. You'd think with all the independence and crap, people would want to use that to their advantage, but there will be those girls you hated in high-school who form a group and think they're all mighty and amazing and flawless and so dskjfsdhkf. Some girl in one of my French tutorials gave my friend the cut-eye and kissed her teeth when my friend asked a question. I mean, really? Grow up. So maybe her question was kind of stupid but if you were any better, you wouldn't even be affected by it. Plus, there's still those douchebag guys from high-school who think that being mean will get them far in life. Alright home skillet, move along.
18. Free stuff is best stuff. Maybe it's the fact that we're all broke university students who have a ton of loans on our asses... suddenly, you begin to appreciate the little things in life. Little things being cheap stuff and/or free stuff. So, free pens and notebooks, free food, giveaways and contests, are all so damn appealing.
19. If you think the Internet's the most distracting thing... it isn't. Your roommate is. Late night/early morning talks become so frequent that sleeping for 5 hours or less becomes so common. I don't know how but my roommates and I have managed to chat until 4AM in the morning and somehow we don't ever run out of things to talk about. To be honest, I love it way more than I love the Internet. It's cool to talk about serious stuff on the news, the funny videos we see online, the latest music/TV shows, little gossips about others, our own feels, and it's just... for lack of better words, nice.
| Totally irrelevant to the point but it came up when I searched "roommate love" on Google images LOL. |
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Anyways, I have to go unpack everything I own now. Sigh.
I'll be back when my grades are posted online because I'm pretty damn sure I'll have something to rant about then.
Have a good day, everyone!
- Dee
Friday, 19 April 2013
University Y01W.... YEAH I AIN'T COUNTING THAT
I'd say that the past few weeks have been hectic and full of studying, but in all honesty, this was life:
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| A little bit of studying at my desk |
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| Some studying at the mall |
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| All of Ouran High School Host Club (the anime) |
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| Every episode of Smiling Pasta |
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| Half of One Litre of Tears (I kinda RAN OUT OF TISSUE) /TooPoorToCryOneLitreOfTears. |
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| Brave (which was a fairly good movie) |
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| And Rise of the Guardians (which was, like, one of the best animated movies I've seen in a long time) |
As with last semester, I kind of feel obligated to make a teacher evaluation, so ... LGI LET'S GET IT, LET'S GO (I've also been on YouTube WAY too much...)
This semester, I had ENGL 101B, PSCI 110, FR 152, PSYCH 207, and CLAS 104 (Online). ENGL 101B, also known as Intro to Rhetoric, was my favourite class this semester. My professor, Kathy Acheson, was awesome. Her lessons were short, succinct, and often times funny in one way or another. She has no qualms about joking around, and I loved that after each lesson, she would get us to work through what we just learned and apply it to analysis and rhetoric activities. Unfortunately, she's going on sabbatical until Fall 2014, but if you have the chance, take her class, you won't regret it~
Next we have PSCI 110, Introduction to Politics in the Contemporary World. My professor, Jingjing Huo, was... interesting. At times he was hilarious, but somehow managed to maintain an eerily straight face that killed me more than his jokes. I just didn't understand how he managed it. Overall, he was a good prof, though his class just wasn't my thing. I'm into politics, but more of the actual issues more than the theoretical side of it all. Also, sometimes his accent got in the way of my learning, though it also didn't help that Dee kept mishearing stuff he said. However, if we're rating the teachers, I'd give him a nice 4 out of 5.
Alright, for FR 152, i.e. Gr 12 French, the expensive version, I had Aurelio Ayala as my prof. Unfortunately, in the future, he'll be teaching History (which I'm not that interested in) at Waterloo or French over at York U. I absolutely loved him as a teacher. He was always enthusiastic about teaching us, and actually listened when we asked him to change something about the way he was trying to get the information across. He was really fun, and always talked about beer, bacon, South Park, and the Simpsons in his examples. Honestly, one of my favourite profs of the year (and TAs, as he was my lab and tutorial TA last semester). I loved that he was relatable and didn't seem... teacher-ish, like my English prof. Neither had issues with joking around with the class and sometimes just fooling around or doing funny things. Best prof, imo. If any of you find him in the future, let me know, 'cause I'd seriously like to keep up with him~
Next, we have cognitive psychology, PSYCH 207. I was not pleased with this class. The textbook was expensive, the class was boring, and I gained nothing from waking up at 7am in the morning and dragging my butt to AL 116 every Tuesday and Thursday morning. So halfway through the year, I didn't. My mark went up ten percent. Normally, I wouldn't condone this, 'cause honestly, going to class is really important, and you're paying for that seat that your butt warms for an hour and twenty minutes every Tuesday and Thursday. However, I fell asleep more in this class more than I learned, so I figured I might as well just stay in bed for that extra hour and half. I didn't hate my prof, Jonathan Fugelsang (though spelling his name is a feat). There was nothing really wrong with him. He was funny, his voice was loud and clear, blah, blah, he was fine. There was just something about the WAY he taught that bothered me. I think it was his PowerPoints. They were virtually useless, and he'd also ramble a lot so I'd sit there, take a nap, and then miss the actually information I needed, and catch his stories about other professors or people that are semi-relevant to whatever we were learning. This bothered me a lot, and I ended up not learning much in class at all.
Lastly, there was Classical Mythology, aka CLAS 104. This was my first online course ever and honestly, I liked it and hated it at the same time. Each online course is unique and you really have to get the syllabus to know whether you'll be able to handle it or not, but this course, when I saw the syllabus, I died. Basically, there was a quiz every week, plus five discussion weeks, plus two midterm projects, as well as an analysis, AND a final exam. I had my work cut out for me, but I took it in stride, and I learned a lot from my professor's "lectures" (which were like typed up version of what he'd say) and he was really active on the discussion boards, getting back to students really fast. My prof, Andrew Faulkner, worked hard to make sure that we managed to finish all of our work on time, and helped out as much as possible. Though some of his assignments were quite vague, I really enjoyed having him as my invisible prof. Albeit, not all courses are as well spread as mine, nor are all profs as helpful as mine. My suite-mate had one course that had a final exam worth 100% of the course mark, while her other online course had 2 tests worth 25% and a final exam making up the rest of the mark. With online courses, check out the syllabus first, and make sure that you can handle whatever it's throwing your way. Sometimes, it'd benefit you to wait until you can take the class in the actual classroom. My overall experience with online courses was good and it was fairly enjoyable, though Learn ticked me off A LOT... but that's a different story for another day.
This semester, though a lot more work in comparison to my first semester, was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed something about each one of my classes (including psych), which I thought was awesome, hehe ~
But yeah, overall, uni life has been good ~ I actually can't wait 'til next year (after a beautiful summer off) (:
-Alikiya
Friday, 12 April 2013
Update + Rant on ELPE
WARNING: Slightly long post with no visuals follows. Readers discretion is advised.
So, how long has it been since the last update from me? Probably not long, right? My buddy did make a post about SMASH just a couple days ago and I think that managed to bring in quite a bit of readers LOL. Anyways, if she's been slow it's mainly because school is annoying and she's been really into "Smiling Pasta" and "Ouran High School" lately, but I'm sure she'll tell you more about that some other time.
Me? I've been schooling and lazing around, as per usual. It's currently the exam period and I already finished two final exams which I think I did okay on. I have three more and those three are probably going to be the death of me. I should probably get back to studying but I just need a moment to rant to the World about why the ELPE is stupid.
The following is what happened:
So basically, the ELPE is the English Language Proficiency Exam administrated by the University of Waterloo every year. All first year students must write it and pass, with passing grades being 60% or 65% depending on your program. For this last week, I've been focusing all my energy into studying for my French final exam and I pretty much did nothing else. The ELPE was scheduled to be written the day before my final for French. Since I figured an English exam can't be anything too bad, I didn't "prepare" for it as it was suggested many times by the university. Plus, I figure my English skills, albeit not the best, was still good enough for me to get a 65% on the ELPE. I mean, I did the Literacy Test that was administrated by the damn government back in grade 10, and I killed that with a 98%. This? This ain't got nothin' on me bro.
Go into exam. Write the exam. Finished the exam feeling slightly less confident but still sure I passed. Then, it clicked.
"Oh shit, they asked for two body paragraphs. I wrote four because I split up my two arguments. Each paragraph needs 5-8 sentences and I don't know if some of mines had 5 sentences considering I split up my arguments. Oh crap. There goes a bunch of marks. Plus, it's not like the quality of my work is the best either. Damn it all. I failed."
And so I've begun the terrible phase after my tests/exams where I feel like absolute crap because I'm convince I failed.
Now, ELPE, you want an essay, right? Here you go. The way you want it.
A (slightly informal) essay on why the ELPE needs to be abolished:
Every year for as long as I can remember, I've heard people tell me the value of time, the value of planet Earth and the conservation of trees, and that tests scores are not an effective way of measuring one's true abilities. With that in mind, I wish to inform all readers that the ELPE test contradicts all those principles that I have been told for a very long time. This exam wastes not only my time, but the creator's time. It also destroys innocent trees that could have been used for better and more effective purposes that will further benefit our livelihood. Lastly, the way in which it measures my proficiency in English is not accurate and in no way indicates my true potential. Therefore, the ELPE needs to be eliminated by the administration.
The first reason, and probably one of the most important reason, as to why the ELPE is ridiculous is because it is a waste of time. It is a waste of time for all participants to this exam, whether they created it or they wrote it. First, let's focus on why it is a waste of my time. For me, a native English speaker, to be tested on her English proficiency is just plain silly. One of the main requirements for me to become an Arts student at the University of Waterloo is to have a grade 12 English mark of above 80%. An 80%, as known by all students, parents, and administration, indicates that a student is at an above average level for that particular course. If that was the case, and was one of the basic requirements for me to attend classes at this university, then I feel like my English skills should not be doubted by the administrators of this exam. Although the time used to write this exam was not long, that one hour that it took could have been dedicated to me doing something I either enjoyed or studying for my important final exam the following day. Secondly, it is also a waste of the administrators of this exam's time. The time wasted on creating topic questions for students to answer, the time wasted on printing out thousands of sheets of paper for each student, the time to set up the exam are just a few examples of the large quantities of time wasted on overseeing an overly-elaborate exam that can only be described as "useless". This whole exam, as known by almost every student, is basically directed at the large amount of international students who are at this university. If it is them that the ELPE is targeting, why not waste less time selecting the international students and only presenting them with the exam? However, even then, I strongly believe that the completion and passing of the ELPE for international students is a waste of time. From my understanding, the international students that come here must pass some sort of English proficiency test to be admitted into the school. I don't know too much about it, but I believe the exam is called a TOEFL test or something along those lines. Now, let's assume you failed the ELPE. If this was to happen, you have to make an appointment with a tutor who will review the exam with you and then you'd have to rewrite it, take writing sessions, or complete an entire course on writing. If that's not a waste of time, then I don't know what is. Thus, this concludes my argument as to why the ELPE is a waste of time for native-English speakers, for international students, and for the creators of this exam and in consequence, should be eliminated.
Oh, was that over 5-8 sentences? Oh well.
The second reason as to why the ELPE should be terminated is because it is a waste of trees. Each student is presented with one sheet of paper which indicate the instructions and the topic questions they can choose from. On top of that, each student is presented with an exam booklet that contains blank lined-paper inside. Each booklet has approximately eight pages. There were supposedly over nine hundred Arts students writing the exam at the same time I was. Now, I'll assume there are five other faculties. If there are six faculties in total, and each faculty had an average of seven hundred and fifty students, that would mean that there are approximately four thousand five hundred students annually who write this exam. Each student has a booklet with eight pages, so that's thirty six thousand sheets of paper. Let's throw on the instruction sheet which is another forty-five hundred sheets of paper. I'll drop 10,000 in the number, and say that the final number comes to about 30,000 pieces of paper. Now, I don't work with the paper mill, but I do know that 30,000 pieces of paper is quite a bit considering it's used for an exam that is of no worth. How many rolls of toilet paper is that? How many books can be made from that? How many useful notices can be placed on bulletin boards from that? How many times can I wipe my nose with napkins from those thirty thousand sheets of paper? The answer is simply, "too many". Hence, because the ELPE goes against a very big issue in today's society, the idea of conserving the environment, we must exclude this exam from existing in the future.
Sorry, that was probably over 8 sentences as well. Should I split that up? Probably not.
Lastly, I feel that the way in which this exam measures my abilities in English is not a true indication of my real potential. This informal essay I am currently writing is also not a good representation of my true potential and this is already ten times better than my work that I presented to the university for further judgement. When I'm assigned essays to be written in school, I often have over two weeks to complete the work. By that time, I would have time to properly present my ideas in a respectable and coherent manner. I will have the time to edit my work and get it proof-read by many reliable people and be able to present it to the teacher or professor with my best foot forward. However, even in those circumstances, I may still not be able to achieve an amazing grade. If I can have all the time in the world, I may still not be capable of writing the "World's best essay", so who actually thinks that I can produce something of good quality in an hour or less? In this day and age, everything can be done on the computer. With the amount of time I dedicate to Skyping with my friends everyday and blogging, I can now achieve a typing speed of over 80 WPM, if I really focus. Writing though, I can't say I'm as skilled. Perhaps it's because I don't write often, or maybe my overweight hand can't seem to go as fast as I would want it to. What I'm really trying to say though is: Given one hour to write about a topic I don't feel passionate about, with no aid from a keyboard, I'm just bound to not produce quality work. Therefore, I don't feel like I should be judged on something that I didn't put my 100% into. As a result, the ELPE should be made invalid because it does not show one's true potential.
For the reasons stated above, it is apparent that the ELPE should be abolished. It is not a good representation of my true capabilities as I am limited in time and resources. Furthermore, it goes against important environment conservation principles that our World is strongly promoting in recent years. Lastly, it is a waste of time for all exam creators and takers as it unnecessary for administrators to create these exams, and for writers to participate in an exam that we do not need to prove ourselves for. As students who barely have time to eat, as protectors of our planet, and as competent and literate pupils, we should not stand by and let the school determine whether we are capable of handling the English language.
Thank you.
And there you have it. An essay by me written in one hour (on the computer).
See, the thing is...
Results aren't up yet so me failing is all just the hypothesis of a overly-paranoid student who thinks she's horrible at everything she does. However, whatever the outcome, I stand by my words. I don't believe in the ELPE and I think that even if I had to go through it, I don't want future students to have to endure it as well.
Maybe I might have been a bit aggressive with the things I said but if there's one thing you take from this long-ass post... "The ELPE is annoying and should be abolished."
"Abolish the orgasm!" - George Orwell, 1984
...
Wait, that's not right, is it?
Anyways, here's a reward for reading that long rant/essay:
So, how long has it been since the last update from me? Probably not long, right? My buddy did make a post about SMASH just a couple days ago and I think that managed to bring in quite a bit of readers LOL. Anyways, if she's been slow it's mainly because school is annoying and she's been really into "Smiling Pasta" and "Ouran High School" lately, but I'm sure she'll tell you more about that some other time.
Me? I've been schooling and lazing around, as per usual. It's currently the exam period and I already finished two final exams which I think I did okay on. I have three more and those three are probably going to be the death of me. I should probably get back to studying but I just need a moment to rant to the World about why the ELPE is stupid.
The following is what happened:
So basically, the ELPE is the English Language Proficiency Exam administrated by the University of Waterloo every year. All first year students must write it and pass, with passing grades being 60% or 65% depending on your program. For this last week, I've been focusing all my energy into studying for my French final exam and I pretty much did nothing else. The ELPE was scheduled to be written the day before my final for French. Since I figured an English exam can't be anything too bad, I didn't "prepare" for it as it was suggested many times by the university. Plus, I figure my English skills, albeit not the best, was still good enough for me to get a 65% on the ELPE. I mean, I did the Literacy Test that was administrated by the damn government back in grade 10, and I killed that with a 98%. This? This ain't got nothin' on me bro.
Go into exam. Write the exam. Finished the exam feeling slightly less confident but still sure I passed. Then, it clicked.
"Oh shit, they asked for two body paragraphs. I wrote four because I split up my two arguments. Each paragraph needs 5-8 sentences and I don't know if some of mines had 5 sentences considering I split up my arguments. Oh crap. There goes a bunch of marks. Plus, it's not like the quality of my work is the best either. Damn it all. I failed."
And so I've begun the terrible phase after my tests/exams where I feel like absolute crap because I'm convince I failed.
Now, ELPE, you want an essay, right? Here you go. The way you want it.
A (slightly informal) essay on why the ELPE needs to be abolished:
Every year for as long as I can remember, I've heard people tell me the value of time, the value of planet Earth and the conservation of trees, and that tests scores are not an effective way of measuring one's true abilities. With that in mind, I wish to inform all readers that the ELPE test contradicts all those principles that I have been told for a very long time. This exam wastes not only my time, but the creator's time. It also destroys innocent trees that could have been used for better and more effective purposes that will further benefit our livelihood. Lastly, the way in which it measures my proficiency in English is not accurate and in no way indicates my true potential. Therefore, the ELPE needs to be eliminated by the administration.
The first reason, and probably one of the most important reason, as to why the ELPE is ridiculous is because it is a waste of time. It is a waste of time for all participants to this exam, whether they created it or they wrote it. First, let's focus on why it is a waste of my time. For me, a native English speaker, to be tested on her English proficiency is just plain silly. One of the main requirements for me to become an Arts student at the University of Waterloo is to have a grade 12 English mark of above 80%. An 80%, as known by all students, parents, and administration, indicates that a student is at an above average level for that particular course. If that was the case, and was one of the basic requirements for me to attend classes at this university, then I feel like my English skills should not be doubted by the administrators of this exam. Although the time used to write this exam was not long, that one hour that it took could have been dedicated to me doing something I either enjoyed or studying for my important final exam the following day. Secondly, it is also a waste of the administrators of this exam's time. The time wasted on creating topic questions for students to answer, the time wasted on printing out thousands of sheets of paper for each student, the time to set up the exam are just a few examples of the large quantities of time wasted on overseeing an overly-elaborate exam that can only be described as "useless". This whole exam, as known by almost every student, is basically directed at the large amount of international students who are at this university. If it is them that the ELPE is targeting, why not waste less time selecting the international students and only presenting them with the exam? However, even then, I strongly believe that the completion and passing of the ELPE for international students is a waste of time. From my understanding, the international students that come here must pass some sort of English proficiency test to be admitted into the school. I don't know too much about it, but I believe the exam is called a TOEFL test or something along those lines. Now, let's assume you failed the ELPE. If this was to happen, you have to make an appointment with a tutor who will review the exam with you and then you'd have to rewrite it, take writing sessions, or complete an entire course on writing. If that's not a waste of time, then I don't know what is. Thus, this concludes my argument as to why the ELPE is a waste of time for native-English speakers, for international students, and for the creators of this exam and in consequence, should be eliminated.
Oh, was that over 5-8 sentences? Oh well.
The second reason as to why the ELPE should be terminated is because it is a waste of trees. Each student is presented with one sheet of paper which indicate the instructions and the topic questions they can choose from. On top of that, each student is presented with an exam booklet that contains blank lined-paper inside. Each booklet has approximately eight pages. There were supposedly over nine hundred Arts students writing the exam at the same time I was. Now, I'll assume there are five other faculties. If there are six faculties in total, and each faculty had an average of seven hundred and fifty students, that would mean that there are approximately four thousand five hundred students annually who write this exam. Each student has a booklet with eight pages, so that's thirty six thousand sheets of paper. Let's throw on the instruction sheet which is another forty-five hundred sheets of paper. I'll drop 10,000 in the number, and say that the final number comes to about 30,000 pieces of paper. Now, I don't work with the paper mill, but I do know that 30,000 pieces of paper is quite a bit considering it's used for an exam that is of no worth. How many rolls of toilet paper is that? How many books can be made from that? How many useful notices can be placed on bulletin boards from that? How many times can I wipe my nose with napkins from those thirty thousand sheets of paper? The answer is simply, "too many". Hence, because the ELPE goes against a very big issue in today's society, the idea of conserving the environment, we must exclude this exam from existing in the future.
Sorry, that was probably over 8 sentences as well. Should I split that up? Probably not.
Lastly, I feel that the way in which this exam measures my abilities in English is not a true indication of my real potential. This informal essay I am currently writing is also not a good representation of my true potential and this is already ten times better than my work that I presented to the university for further judgement. When I'm assigned essays to be written in school, I often have over two weeks to complete the work. By that time, I would have time to properly present my ideas in a respectable and coherent manner. I will have the time to edit my work and get it proof-read by many reliable people and be able to present it to the teacher or professor with my best foot forward. However, even in those circumstances, I may still not be able to achieve an amazing grade. If I can have all the time in the world, I may still not be capable of writing the "World's best essay", so who actually thinks that I can produce something of good quality in an hour or less? In this day and age, everything can be done on the computer. With the amount of time I dedicate to Skyping with my friends everyday and blogging, I can now achieve a typing speed of over 80 WPM, if I really focus. Writing though, I can't say I'm as skilled. Perhaps it's because I don't write often, or maybe my overweight hand can't seem to go as fast as I would want it to. What I'm really trying to say though is: Given one hour to write about a topic I don't feel passionate about, with no aid from a keyboard, I'm just bound to not produce quality work. Therefore, I don't feel like I should be judged on something that I didn't put my 100% into. As a result, the ELPE should be made invalid because it does not show one's true potential.
For the reasons stated above, it is apparent that the ELPE should be abolished. It is not a good representation of my true capabilities as I am limited in time and resources. Furthermore, it goes against important environment conservation principles that our World is strongly promoting in recent years. Lastly, it is a waste of time for all exam creators and takers as it unnecessary for administrators to create these exams, and for writers to participate in an exam that we do not need to prove ourselves for. As students who barely have time to eat, as protectors of our planet, and as competent and literate pupils, we should not stand by and let the school determine whether we are capable of handling the English language.
Thank you.
And there you have it. An essay by me written in one hour (on the computer).
See, the thing is...
Results aren't up yet so me failing is all just the hypothesis of a overly-paranoid student who thinks she's horrible at everything she does. However, whatever the outcome, I stand by my words. I don't believe in the ELPE and I think that even if I had to go through it, I don't want future students to have to endure it as well.
Maybe I might have been a bit aggressive with the things I said but if there's one thing you take from this long-ass post... "The ELPE is annoying and should be abolished."
"Abolish the orgasm!" - George Orwell, 1984
...
Wait, that's not right, is it?
Anyways, here's a reward for reading that long rant/essay:
My hubby's recently been back with his new song, "Joah".
Give it a listen.
Feel good music.
Give it a listen.
Feel good music.
- Dee
P.S: For anyone reading this and wants to challenge me on any points, please do so. I love a good debate. Prepares me for a future in law, ya'know?
Monday, 4 March 2013
Welcome March!
Hey everyone!
I really don't have much to say for this post so I'm warning everyone now that this post is going to be all over the place. Bear with me. Maybe one part will entertain you enough.
Part 1: LINEPLAY
So recently, my roommate has been telling me that a lot of people on her Twitter have been raving about the app LINEPLAY. It's basically a Skype/chatroom/Instagram/Twitter kind of app with cute avatars that you dress up and you can decorate your room and stuff too. It's made in Japan, I believe? So, as expected from the Japanese, the app is amazingly adorable and pretty damn addicting.
I actually met this one person on LINEPLAY from Indonesia and he's really cool and funny. Not that I'm promoting revealing yourself on the internet to strangersalthough so many people already do that, but I think it can be pretty nice to talk to people you don't know. Does anyone feel more comfortable telling them your stories? Sometimes, with strangers, you feel like you don't have much to be ashamed of. But, do be careful of what type of information you're telling people! If you want to, at least get to know these people a bit beforehand!
Anyways, I definitely recommend this app. You'll have to download the LINE app in order to play LINEPLAY but it's worth it. I hope you guys enjoy!
Part 2: Lady-issues!
Warning: If you are a dude, let's just skip this part and move onto Part 3 ~
Anyways, so I've been that girl that's never had regular menstrual cycles and for some reason, it's been getting regular now and I just want to shoot myself. I don't get cramps like other girls so I feel extremely blessed, but it's still annoying nonetheless. I do feel bloated and I get backaches which makes me feel like a pregnant woman. But I have read somewhere that those are the feelings associated with getting your periods cause you're body is all "I'M READY TO GET LAID!"
I bet a lot of people weren't expecting me to be that blunt.
On a side note, I also learned from friends who Google'd these things that during this time period, girls feel really horny? HA. HA. Why am I still talking? Ahem.I'm always turned-on by my Korean men. Seriously, I'm gonna stop now. Basically, to summarize, I hate periods and I'm always excited by my babies.
WAIT, while we're on a topic of being sexually aroused. Let me tell you guys about the story of me on Tumblr. I was scrolling through my dashboard, and I came across this post that got a lot of comments and... actually, the more I go into this, the more I feel like I shouldn't share cause it was too... weird. Let's just leave it at the Japanese people and their AV videos... need to sit their ass down and... well, the Japanese and their weirdness need to stop. I felt so done with Tumblr at that point and you know you got me good when I felt like quitting Tumblr.
Wow, did I actually just spend 5 minutes typing up a section on periods, horniness and Japanese porn? Oh lord.
Part 3: School tingz
School has been a pain in my ass. Recently, my grades have been slipping and I really just want to punch myself in the eyes. Why oh why am I getting 70s when my marks have always been mid 80s to low 90s? JESUS. I think part of the reason is because my iPad is finally working its magic on my marks. Plus, I have 0 interest in the courses I'm taking aside from Psychology and Criminal Law.
I have another accounting midterm coming up this Friday and that just makes me cry. It doesn't help that I have a French test right before it (Thursday) and I need to get my shit together since my last French test scored a 73% and my last accounting midterm scored a 79%. Brb, drowning in a pool of sorrows.
Ugh, I really don't understand accounting. Why do dentists have such high suicide rates but not accountants? Accounting is easily the worst subject to exist on this planet. Right next to that would be Political Science. I took my midterm for that class last Tuesday and I answered all the questions. I know I'm totally wrong for one question, which unfortunately, was 6 marks. The whole midterm was 60 marks so... I'm crossing my fingers right now.
Part 4: Instagraming
Lately, for some reason, I've been a bit more active on Instagram.
I'll just post some of the recent pictures down below:
Part 5: Blog updates
LINEPLAY, periods, school, and fun times aside, fishandchips and I have been making slow changes to our blog. The "About Us" page has been changed so check that out for a better understanding of who we are! Our background will be changed sooner or later and I'll be updating soon with another post after my midterms and tests finish. I think after this week, my schedule will finally be a bit more chill!
- eggtart
I really don't have much to say for this post so I'm warning everyone now that this post is going to be all over the place. Bear with me. Maybe one part will entertain you enough.
Part 1: LINEPLAY
So recently, my roommate has been telling me that a lot of people on her Twitter have been raving about the app LINEPLAY. It's basically a Skype/chatroom/Instagram/Twitter kind of app with cute avatars that you dress up and you can decorate your room and stuff too. It's made in Japan, I believe? So, as expected from the Japanese, the app is amazingly adorable and pretty damn addicting.
I actually met this one person on LINEPLAY from Indonesia and he's really cool and funny. Not that I'm promoting revealing yourself on the internet to strangers
Anyways, I definitely recommend this app. You'll have to download the LINE app in order to play LINEPLAY but it's worth it. I hope you guys enjoy!
Part 2: Lady-issues!
Warning: If you are a dude, let's just skip this part and move onto Part 3 ~
Anyways, so I've been that girl that's never had regular menstrual cycles and for some reason, it's been getting regular now and I just want to shoot myself. I don't get cramps like other girls so I feel extremely blessed, but it's still annoying nonetheless. I do feel bloated and I get backaches which makes me feel like a pregnant woman. But I have read somewhere that those are the feelings associated with getting your periods cause you're body is all "I'M READY TO GET LAID!"
On a side note, I also learned from friends who Google'd these things that during this time period, girls feel really horny? HA. HA. Why am I still talking? Ahem.
WAIT, while we're on a topic of being sexually aroused. Let me tell you guys about the story of me on Tumblr. I was scrolling through my dashboard, and I came across this post that got a lot of comments and... actually, the more I go into this, the more I feel like I shouldn't share cause it was too... weird. Let's just leave it at the Japanese people and their AV videos... need to sit their ass down and... well, the Japanese and their weirdness need to stop. I felt so done with Tumblr at that point and you know you got me good when I felt like quitting Tumblr.
Wow, did I actually just spend 5 minutes typing up a section on periods, horniness and Japanese porn? Oh lord.
Part 3: School tingz
School has been a pain in my ass. Recently, my grades have been slipping and I really just want to punch myself in the eyes. Why oh why am I getting 70s when my marks have always been mid 80s to low 90s? JESUS. I think part of the reason is because my iPad is finally working its magic on my marks. Plus, I have 0 interest in the courses I'm taking aside from Psychology and Criminal Law.
I have another accounting midterm coming up this Friday and that just makes me cry. It doesn't help that I have a French test right before it (Thursday) and I need to get my shit together since my last French test scored a 73% and my last accounting midterm scored a 79%. Brb, drowning in a pool of sorrows.
Ugh, I really don't understand accounting. Why do dentists have such high suicide rates but not accountants? Accounting is easily the worst subject to exist on this planet. Right next to that would be Political Science. I took my midterm for that class last Tuesday and I answered all the questions. I know I'm totally wrong for one question, which unfortunately, was 6 marks. The whole midterm was 60 marks so... I'm crossing my fingers right now.
Part 4: Instagraming
Lately, for some reason, I've been a bit more active on Instagram.
I'll just post some of the recent pictures down below:
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| I went to ALDO during my reading week and got this. I was upset that day and I needed a mood-lifter. No regrets. The bracelet was so pretty! |
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| Tang Yuan for Lantern Festival Day! |
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| Picture from the last post we made! fishandchips editing my essay early in the morning! We ended up staying up until 4AM after finishing my essay, going on Tumblr and then talking about celebrity news. Don't deny it, fishandchips, you had fun! :) |
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| 8PM Harvey's run with fishandchips. We spent the day watching "Pitch Perfect", went to eat at Harveys, and then she spent another like 5 hours at my place. |
LINEPLAY, periods, school, and fun times aside, fishandchips and I have been making slow changes to our blog. The "About Us" page has been changed so check that out for a better understanding of who we are! Our background will be changed sooner or later and I'll be updating soon with another post after my midterms and tests finish. I think after this week, my schedule will finally be a bit more chill!
- eggtart
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Tough Love
So first off... Yeah I'm failure with Apple products. Like give me anything that was made by Apple and it's just a bunch of trial and error attempts with some vague sort of success (if there is any at all). I guess this is what happens when you just never buy Apple. Yes. I've never owned anything Apple. I've used Macs, and I've played on iPods and iPads, but yeah I've never actually emptied my pockets to purchase anything from them... 'course this also leaves me with this laptop I'm currently using, which enjoys shutting down whenever it damn well pleases. As annoying as that is, I still like Windows better (note: my laptop's 7 years old. give it a break. I do... not like I really have a choice though... but I still do /poorunistudent).
Anyways, at the moment, I'm at eggtart's place. I was told to come at 8:30pm to supposedly help her edit her law essay. It's 12am now... and she's still not done...
This is what she's been doing all night:
Anyways, while she's been doing that, I've been working on this:
I've also been working on this:
Okay, she's finally done... four hours later... -switches laptops-
- fishandchips
Hi Internal pals!
Fishandchips and I just switched spots. She is currently at my laptop editing my essay while I'm laying in my bed, on her laptop, continuing this post.
And if you were wondering what the tweet was, she was basically recapping our conversation.
Her: What's section 128.a of the Highway Traffic Act?
Me: I dunno? Thou shall not speed?
Anyways, this is the first time since the birth of this blog that fishandchips and I have made a joint post! How long as it been since this blog started? I think we started this blog during prom-season last year. This means that in around 3 months, this blog would have been on the Internet for a year!
I wish we both had the motivation and perseverance to do something special. We have tried to start a Youtube channel where we would write, film, and produce mini skits but that quickly went to hell. We also tried at Nanowrimo a couple years ago, got down a basic sketch of characters and plot, and then gave up.
I wonder if we should do something special for our one-year blog though? But I don't think there's much that can be done when you write blogs that don't get much reads.
Somehow I notice that we seem to be getting readers from areas such as Germany, England, USA, and many other locations but no responses? Seriously, someone... let me know if you're alive? ;_____;
Anyways, our "About Us" page is still being worked on and our background will be changed soon again since fishandchips doesn't seem to like the flowers.
Alright, not much else to add! Talk to you guys in March! Hehe :)
- eggtart
Anyways, at the moment, I'm at eggtart's place. I was told to come at 8:30pm to supposedly help her edit her law essay. It's 12am now... and she's still not done...
This is what she's been doing all night:
 |
| I managed to capture her at a rare moment... she's working... shhhh... |
 |
| Blog posts for my review blog (which I've been kind of neglecting 'cause school...) |
 |
| There once was ten... and now there one... well actually, now there's none 'cause eggtart just ate it |
- fishandchips
Hi Internal pals!
Fishandchips and I just switched spots. She is currently at my laptop editing my essay while I'm laying in my bed, on her laptop, continuing this post.
.JPG) |
| This would be fishandchips going on Twitter when she's supposed to be editing my essay. |
Her: What's section 128.a of the Highway Traffic Act?
Me: I dunno? Thou shall not speed?
.JPG) |
| This shall be my position as I type this post. Don't be hatin' on my Teletubbies bedsheets. H8ERS GUNNA H8. |
Anyways, this is the first time since the birth of this blog that fishandchips and I have made a joint post! How long as it been since this blog started? I think we started this blog during prom-season last year. This means that in around 3 months, this blog would have been on the Internet for a year!
I wish we both had the motivation and perseverance to do something special. We have tried to start a Youtube channel where we would write, film, and produce mini skits but that quickly went to hell. We also tried at Nanowrimo a couple years ago, got down a basic sketch of characters and plot, and then gave up.
I wonder if we should do something special for our one-year blog though? But I don't think there's much that can be done when you write blogs that don't get much reads.
Somehow I notice that we seem to be getting readers from areas such as Germany, England, USA, and many other locations but no responses? Seriously, someone... let me know if you're alive? ;_____;
Anyways, our "About Us" page is still being worked on and our background will be changed soon again since fishandchips doesn't seem to like the flowers.
Alright, not much else to add! Talk to you guys in March! Hehe :)
- eggtart
Saturday, 16 February 2013
Harlem Shake + Other Updates
Let me just jump right into it and ask: WHAT THE HELL IS THE PURPOSE OF THE HARLEM SHAKE?
I am so god damn confused by this dance. Can we even call it a dance? People are calling it the next "Gangnam Style" and while I'm not the biggest fan of Psy or the horse-riding-dance, I just find that offensive. At least that was a dance. What the crap is Harlem Shake supposed to be?
The first time I heard of it was when one of my peers posted this up on a Facebook group:
That itself was weird as hell for me. The first time I watched it, I didn't know that it was the Harlem Shake since the title of the video didn't exactly make that clear for me. Then, people started showing me videos of other universities doing it and I was just flat out confused. Is it... funny? Interesting? I don't know!
Then, you read comments on that video and it's pure Laurier vs. Waterloo pride and well... ok then. Then, there was talk that Laurier was to "retaliate" as if this was actually a war. So they made an "official" Harlem Shake video and this is how it turned out:
As a Waterloo student, I thought this video was pretty darn cool.Oh dear God, if a uWaterloo student is reading this, don't kill me. But uWaterloo's was pretty darn awesome as well. Here's the video:
Random note: The girl doing the splits in the second Harlem Shake was... interesting LOL.
Another random note: While I'm all for uWaterloo pride and spirit, do you think it's too late to change our cheer/chant thing from "Water Water Water Loo Loo Loo" to something else?Seriously, don't kill me.
and while I do think it's awesome that all these students managed to organize such a big thing... I STILL DON'T GET IT. But oh well, another big boom for something "cool" and it'll be sure to fade away soon.Hopefully.
-awkwardly moves onto another topic-
So the past week has been absolute crap for me. I did horrible on my accounting midterm and my French test and I pretty much just want to hid under a pile of clothes and sleep away my sorrows.
Unfortunately, I can't do that since I'm swamped with a pile of crap to be doing this Reading Week. Well, actually... it's not that bad if I manage my time well but ya'know... Youtube, Tumblr, Twitter, watching dramas and all that stuff just sounds so appealing next to that 7-page paper and the 600 pages of readings. brb, crying.
Once I get some of my stuff done though, I think fishandchips and I should do a bit of cleaning-up on this blog. Maybe a better layout, a better "About Us" page and overall... better. That would require me to magically pick up some html skills so... yep.
Anyways, this will be one of my shorter posts since I need to basically do all my readings from the beginning of this semester for Political Science now.A+ student right here.
- eggtart
I am so god damn confused by this dance. Can we even call it a dance? People are calling it the next "Gangnam Style" and while I'm not the biggest fan of Psy or the horse-riding-dance, I just find that offensive. At least that was a dance. What the crap is Harlem Shake supposed to be?
The first time I heard of it was when one of my peers posted this up on a Facebook group:
That itself was weird as hell for me. The first time I watched it, I didn't know that it was the Harlem Shake since the title of the video didn't exactly make that clear for me. Then, people started showing me videos of other universities doing it and I was just flat out confused. Is it... funny? Interesting? I don't know!
Then, you read comments on that video and it's pure Laurier vs. Waterloo pride and well... ok then. Then, there was talk that Laurier was to "retaliate" as if this was actually a war. So they made an "official" Harlem Shake video and this is how it turned out:
As a Waterloo student, I thought this video was pretty darn cool.
Random note: The girl doing the splits in the second Harlem Shake was... interesting LOL.
Another random note: While I'm all for uWaterloo pride and spirit, do you think it's too late to change our cheer/chant thing from "Water Water Water Loo Loo Loo" to something else?
and while I do think it's awesome that all these students managed to organize such a big thing... I STILL DON'T GET IT. But oh well, another big boom for something "cool" and it'll be sure to fade away soon.
-awkwardly moves onto another topic-
So the past week has been absolute crap for me. I did horrible on my accounting midterm and my French test and I pretty much just want to hid under a pile of clothes and sleep away my sorrows.
Unfortunately, I can't do that since I'm swamped with a pile of crap to be doing this Reading Week. Well, actually... it's not that bad if I manage my time well but ya'know... Youtube, Tumblr, Twitter, watching dramas and all that stuff just sounds so appealing next to that 7-page paper and the 600 pages of readings. brb, crying.
Once I get some of my stuff done though, I think fishandchips and I should do a bit of cleaning-up on this blog. Maybe a better layout, a better "About Us" page and overall... better. That would require me to magically pick up some html skills so... yep.
Anyways, this will be one of my shorter posts since I need to basically do all my readings from the beginning of this semester for Political Science now.
- eggtart
Sunday, 30 December 2012
One Down... Who Knows How Many Left To Go
Semester one is done (and has been for the past two weeks, but that's besides the point (as I have been busy the past couple of weeks)
Semester recap:
Psych 101 (with my friend d.hang) with Richard Ennis. He was a cool prof who made learning pretty fun, for the most part. Granted, it was not an easy course (mainly 'cause the textbook was gigantic and, while being an avid reader, I'm also a professional procrastinator). The course was held bright and early at 8:30am in the Hagey Hall Theater, and my class was made up of about 500-700 some odd students. He taught through overheads but he was really organized and had a lot of fun stories that added to the intrigue of the subject. I think my favourite class was about persuasion. 72!
Music 140 (with d.hang) with Simon Wood. He was my favourite prof this semester. The thing I loved about his class was that it was a mix of history, politics, music, psychology... basically everything, mixed together to create this linear, step-by-step walk through of pop music history. It was a fun class, made up of 197 students, and was held from 8 to 9:50pm. Alike to eggtart's recommendation for her econ teacher, I'd like to recommend Prof. Simon Wood for anyone who's interested in an awesome music class ~ I found out of that he was teaching a second year music class, but by the time I realized it was being taught by him, the class was full (which seriously sucks). Note, his classes fill up in like seconds, so if you want to take it, grab it as fast as you possibly can. How's the course? It's actually really interesting. Basically, you start with the years of African slavery, and get carried through to the years of Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Woodstock, and into present day Rap. This course is quite easy, so long as you go to class, and you take notes, and you listen. There's like a tiny amount of textbook reading, but overall, it's a lecture based class. In all honesty, it was a fantastic course ~
English 101A (I was lonely, though I did make a friend or two) with Paul Kreller. If you ever want a vague picture of him, he looks kinda like Mr. Dressup. It was a simple English class, and it was fairly easy to pass. He gave away a lot of information for the books and really told you what to write in your essays and such. Other than my struggle through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the course was easy (though I'm also thinking of majoring in English, so the fact that English was easy for me could be because I'm actually good at it).
French 151 (with eggtart) with Mikalai Kliashchuk. This was an easy course. Again, this could be because I'm actually good at French, but I found it quite simple, so long as I followed the textbook, and attended the labs and tutorials, I did fine. I had a lot of fun in the tutorial sessions, mainly because I befriended a number of people and we (including my TA) joked around a lot. You basically got the run down of our teacher through eggtart's post, so... yeah that's French. (Note: my TA was different from eggtart's)
Econ 101 (alone again) with Wokia Kumase. Right down to the point. Unlike eggtart, I hated this course. Maybe it was the prof (who knew what he was talking about, but, compared to my others, just wasn't up to par), or maybe it was my utter distaste for microeconomics? I don't know. All I know is, I hated this course. Hated. No words for my hatred. Basically, the lectures were nap time, and the textbook was so dry, I wanted to burn them by the end of the semester (okay, after the first midterm), but I'm selling them, so that wouldn't have worked out. But yeah, hated this course.
How is living on res?
I thoroughly enjoy living on res. It's fun and a lot less stressful living on my own than living with my parents. I'm really glad I decided to leave. My only regret is leaving my brother. He's only six and basically, I'm missing most of his childhood by being away. However, I do think that living on my own really helped me become really self sufficient and independent.
How's the university of Waterloo?
I like the school. The libraries are great for studying, and I like the set ups. The food on campus is really good. If you have a taste for Timmies, you probably won't after a year on campus and a meal plan. The piano rooms are fun, the SLC is always buzzing with sales and interesting events. The clubs are fun, and the people are great. There's not much else to say. It a great school. Is is better than UofT, Laurier, or Ryerson? I honestly couldn't tell you. Why? Because I've never been to the other schools. I love Waterloo. Is it the best? I'll never really know (unless I take a summer semester at one of the others, which I won't, so... yeah, I'll never know).
How is university?
It's basically high school, except you have to learn on your own/you have to teach yourself a lot more than you would have to in HS. You go to class, and then, instead of homework, you have chapters to complete at home. Often, each week is about one or more chapters from the textbook, and teachers expect you to read everything for exams (unless they tell you otherwise, like my music class). So is it harder? I wouldn't say it is, but that might be because I have a fairly concrete work ethic. Do I procrastinate? Hell yeah, but I do know the limitations to my all-nighter abilities. Now-a-days, it's more of a week of work with many breaks.
Advice for first years?
Don't let the amount of free time you have fool you. It's not really free time. Read the assigned stuff before classes, or soon after. Don't wait until a midterm comes around to check the chapter lists and have a heart attack when you see you have 25 chapters to read through in the next day or two (trust me, it's not fun. I'm speaking from personal experience). As an art student, I have a lot of free time, even with all the readings, so don't think that uni's a total fun killer. Granted, engineering's a lot different, as is science, so those programs will result in more work time than free time, but that's expected. So schedule your time wisely, and don't leave readings 'til the day before a midterm/exam.
-fishandchips
Semester recap:
Psych 101 (with my friend d.hang) with Richard Ennis. He was a cool prof who made learning pretty fun, for the most part. Granted, it was not an easy course (mainly 'cause the textbook was gigantic and, while being an avid reader, I'm also a professional procrastinator). The course was held bright and early at 8:30am in the Hagey Hall Theater, and my class was made up of about 500-700 some odd students. He taught through overheads but he was really organized and had a lot of fun stories that added to the intrigue of the subject. I think my favourite class was about persuasion. 72!
Music 140 (with d.hang) with Simon Wood. He was my favourite prof this semester. The thing I loved about his class was that it was a mix of history, politics, music, psychology... basically everything, mixed together to create this linear, step-by-step walk through of pop music history. It was a fun class, made up of 197 students, and was held from 8 to 9:50pm. Alike to eggtart's recommendation for her econ teacher, I'd like to recommend Prof. Simon Wood for anyone who's interested in an awesome music class ~ I found out of that he was teaching a second year music class, but by the time I realized it was being taught by him, the class was full (which seriously sucks). Note, his classes fill up in like seconds, so if you want to take it, grab it as fast as you possibly can. How's the course? It's actually really interesting. Basically, you start with the years of African slavery, and get carried through to the years of Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Woodstock, and into present day Rap. This course is quite easy, so long as you go to class, and you take notes, and you listen. There's like a tiny amount of textbook reading, but overall, it's a lecture based class. In all honesty, it was a fantastic course ~
English 101A (I was lonely, though I did make a friend or two) with Paul Kreller. If you ever want a vague picture of him, he looks kinda like Mr. Dressup. It was a simple English class, and it was fairly easy to pass. He gave away a lot of information for the books and really told you what to write in your essays and such. Other than my struggle through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the course was easy (though I'm also thinking of majoring in English, so the fact that English was easy for me could be because I'm actually good at it).
French 151 (with eggtart) with Mikalai Kliashchuk. This was an easy course. Again, this could be because I'm actually good at French, but I found it quite simple, so long as I followed the textbook, and attended the labs and tutorials, I did fine. I had a lot of fun in the tutorial sessions, mainly because I befriended a number of people and we (including my TA) joked around a lot. You basically got the run down of our teacher through eggtart's post, so... yeah that's French. (Note: my TA was different from eggtart's)
Econ 101 (alone again) with Wokia Kumase. Right down to the point. Unlike eggtart, I hated this course. Maybe it was the prof (who knew what he was talking about, but, compared to my others, just wasn't up to par), or maybe it was my utter distaste for microeconomics? I don't know. All I know is, I hated this course. Hated. No words for my hatred. Basically, the lectures were nap time, and the textbook was so dry, I wanted to burn them by the end of the semester (okay, after the first midterm), but I'm selling them, so that wouldn't have worked out. But yeah, hated this course.
How is living on res?
I thoroughly enjoy living on res. It's fun and a lot less stressful living on my own than living with my parents. I'm really glad I decided to leave. My only regret is leaving my brother. He's only six and basically, I'm missing most of his childhood by being away. However, I do think that living on my own really helped me become really self sufficient and independent.
How's the university of Waterloo?
I like the school. The libraries are great for studying, and I like the set ups. The food on campus is really good. If you have a taste for Timmies, you probably won't after a year on campus and a meal plan. The piano rooms are fun, the SLC is always buzzing with sales and interesting events. The clubs are fun, and the people are great. There's not much else to say. It a great school. Is is better than UofT, Laurier, or Ryerson? I honestly couldn't tell you. Why? Because I've never been to the other schools. I love Waterloo. Is it the best? I'll never really know (unless I take a summer semester at one of the others, which I won't, so... yeah, I'll never know).
How is university?
It's basically high school, except you have to learn on your own/you have to teach yourself a lot more than you would have to in HS. You go to class, and then, instead of homework, you have chapters to complete at home. Often, each week is about one or more chapters from the textbook, and teachers expect you to read everything for exams (unless they tell you otherwise, like my music class). So is it harder? I wouldn't say it is, but that might be because I have a fairly concrete work ethic. Do I procrastinate? Hell yeah, but I do know the limitations to my all-nighter abilities. Now-a-days, it's more of a week of work with many breaks.
Advice for first years?
Don't let the amount of free time you have fool you. It's not really free time. Read the assigned stuff before classes, or soon after. Don't wait until a midterm comes around to check the chapter lists and have a heart attack when you see you have 25 chapters to read through in the next day or two (trust me, it's not fun. I'm speaking from personal experience). As an art student, I have a lot of free time, even with all the readings, so don't think that uni's a total fun killer. Granted, engineering's a lot different, as is science, so those programs will result in more work time than free time, but that's expected. So schedule your time wisely, and don't leave readings 'til the day before a midterm/exam.
-fishandchips
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