As I begin to slowly settle back into school, I'm both excited and apprehensive. Excited because there are lots of interesting courses that I'm doing, and yet apprehensive because all of the courses I'm enrolled in require lots of work. There are no public holidays this school term, not a single one, and so we have a one week "spring" "break" in February, "spring" because spring in Montreal isn't really spring - January and February are the coldest months in a year, and "break" because, well, there are no classes. But not having classes doesn't mean that you don't have loads of readings, assignments, papers due and midterms right after.
It is only the 2nd day of school, and I already have deadlines for 3 assignments, 3 papers, an oral presentation and a group project. Not to mention the labs, tutorials and reading for class. And most of the profs in my classes have decided that posting new assignments every week or so is the "in" thing, and have decided they want to be cool and funky too. And who could forget the final examinations. Whoo-hoo.
On the other hand, part of me is, for reasons not very apparent to me, quitely confident that I will manage all of this somehow. Maybe it's because with almost all my first sem grades in, I'm doing alright. Not fantastic, but not too shoddy either. So if I've done it once before, I probably could do it again. But just because I've done something before, doesn't necessarily mean that I'd like or want to do it again. Then again, I don't have all that much of a choice.
I'm probably just over thinking things, but that's what this place is for. Catharsis. I just need to vent.
I'm not all that coherent today, and if you're confused by me, well, that's the point. That's exactly how I feel. Confused.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Sunday, January 01, 2006
2006
Happy New Year Everyone!
I haven't blogged in the last 3 weeks or so of December 2005 mainly because my brain just shut down after the madness that is McGill final exams. Anyway, just to update, I went to Quebec City and Ottawa to relax after exams. Quebec City was really pretty and really cold, pictures are up on the flickr account. Ottawa was boring, and had a rather British feel to it. Not many interesting photos from that trip, so I didn't post them on my account.
Christmas was spent in Montreal, went to St Patrick's Basilica for mass on Christmas Eve, and it was the nicest Christmas mass I've been to. Christmas dinner was beef rendang, grilled salmon and some nice rose wine. Not quite the traditional Christmas eve dinner with Grandma's cooking, but close enough. Snow on Christmas night made it really beautiful, and a white Christmas to remember.
Laksa for dinner on New Year's Eve, and went to Old Montreal to catch fireworks to usher in the new year. The fireworks display was really nice, and it was pretty cold too, so didn't hang around too long to indulge in the revelry.
So 2005 has come and gone and it has been a pretty good year. ORD'ed in May (ahhh, the smell of freedom is oh-so-sweet), went over to McGill at the end of August, and now have completed my first term of University. Not all my grades for the term are in yet, but I'm doing alright.
Hopefully, as school picks up again my brain will too, and I'll blog a little more frequently. But then again, my course load is a little heavier next sem, so I will have to see how things go. I will try. I promise. I know some of you come here quite frequently, so I'll try my best to keep this blog updated.
I haven't blogged in the last 3 weeks or so of December 2005 mainly because my brain just shut down after the madness that is McGill final exams. Anyway, just to update, I went to Quebec City and Ottawa to relax after exams. Quebec City was really pretty and really cold, pictures are up on the flickr account. Ottawa was boring, and had a rather British feel to it. Not many interesting photos from that trip, so I didn't post them on my account.
Christmas was spent in Montreal, went to St Patrick's Basilica for mass on Christmas Eve, and it was the nicest Christmas mass I've been to. Christmas dinner was beef rendang, grilled salmon and some nice rose wine. Not quite the traditional Christmas eve dinner with Grandma's cooking, but close enough. Snow on Christmas night made it really beautiful, and a white Christmas to remember.
Laksa for dinner on New Year's Eve, and went to Old Montreal to catch fireworks to usher in the new year. The fireworks display was really nice, and it was pretty cold too, so didn't hang around too long to indulge in the revelry.
So 2005 has come and gone and it has been a pretty good year. ORD'ed in May (ahhh, the smell of freedom is oh-so-sweet), went over to McGill at the end of August, and now have completed my first term of University. Not all my grades for the term are in yet, but I'm doing alright.
Hopefully, as school picks up again my brain will too, and I'll blog a little more frequently. But then again, my course load is a little heavier next sem, so I will have to see how things go. I will try. I promise. I know some of you come here quite frequently, so I'll try my best to keep this blog updated.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Breather
And so it is almost over. 3 papers in 4 days, and a 12 day break before my last final exam to write. After more than a week of endless revision, it feels nice to be able to take my time to prepare for my last final exam.
What really got to me about having 3 finals to write in the 1st 4 days of the examination period, which started the weekend after the term ended, was that there was no time at all to review my material. Despite me being consistent in my work, I still felt unprepared for the finals I had to write. Of course, profs doing a half-baked job of explaining new concepts in class on Friday, just before the final on Monday did not help.
For now, I am just glad it is almost over. And also a little impatient to get my results. I don't want to wait to find out where I stand. The university's grading system makes getting an A really quite demanding in my opinion, but then again, I might just be saying that because I'm still new to everything, and in the process of adapting to a new system. And yet, I do not think that getting that A is beyond my ability, or at least I don't think so now. I want to know if I'm good enough currently, and if I'm not, I want an indication of how much more it's going to take.
And to all those people who've told me that JC and the A levels are the toughest time of your academic life, I have to say I'll reserve my judgement for now. I need to have an indication of where I stand before I can say whether that is true or not. Having been out of school for so long, I have no idea how to gauge my academic abililty anymore.
But enough about school for now. There is now breathing space, and a trip to Quebec City might be in the works. I know I said I'd post photos of winter and snow up, and I'm a little behind on that. Photos should be up in another day or 2. If I do go to Quebec City, I'll try to take photos in the -15 degree cold.
What really got to me about having 3 finals to write in the 1st 4 days of the examination period, which started the weekend after the term ended, was that there was no time at all to review my material. Despite me being consistent in my work, I still felt unprepared for the finals I had to write. Of course, profs doing a half-baked job of explaining new concepts in class on Friday, just before the final on Monday did not help.
For now, I am just glad it is almost over. And also a little impatient to get my results. I don't want to wait to find out where I stand. The university's grading system makes getting an A really quite demanding in my opinion, but then again, I might just be saying that because I'm still new to everything, and in the process of adapting to a new system. And yet, I do not think that getting that A is beyond my ability, or at least I don't think so now. I want to know if I'm good enough currently, and if I'm not, I want an indication of how much more it's going to take.
And to all those people who've told me that JC and the A levels are the toughest time of your academic life, I have to say I'll reserve my judgement for now. I need to have an indication of where I stand before I can say whether that is true or not. Having been out of school for so long, I have no idea how to gauge my academic abililty anymore.
But enough about school for now. There is now breathing space, and a trip to Quebec City might be in the works. I know I said I'd post photos of winter and snow up, and I'm a little behind on that. Photos should be up in another day or 2. If I do go to Quebec City, I'll try to take photos in the -15 degree cold.
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