Sunday, November 06, 2005
The Fudge and the Furious
Well, I suppose I won't be putting up any socio-political essays for the next three weeks. It's not easy to be writing 1000-word articles on social issues when I'm in the thick of Ops Intimidation Game and am furiously trying to prepare for six modules all at one go. At least the very first objective of Intimidation Game will be tomorrow. By this time tomorrow, it will be one down, and five to go.
The ME 2103 module quiz will be held tomorrow at 12 noon. Concept-wise, Visualization isn't actually a difficult module. So far the only work I've actually been doing where this module is concerned is playing around with the Solidworks software. Heck, I neglect it even more than my Changing Landscapes module, which I've already declared S/U.
The hard part is the actual final quiz tomorrow. It's an online MCQ quiz consisting of fifty questions. You may be thinking, 'MCQ? Bah! Relax lah, brudder!' Well, dig this: I have to do the 50 MCQs within 25 minutes. That translates to 30 seconds per question. That's not exactly a lot of time, is it? I've decided that if I can't answer a question within 15 seconds, I'll simply move on to the next one. Sure, the test is open-book, but you don't really have 30 seconds to spare just to flip through the lecture notes.
If that wasn't already enough of a challenge, the test itself carries a weightage of 50% to my final grade. In short, if I mess this paper up, I'm screwed. And this is the one paper which I can't afford to screw up since most people are expected to do well for this paper. What's more, I'm going to have to depend on this module as well as on MOM for my grades and to pull up my CAP score. I may be able to do well enough for the four critical modules (Mechanics of Materials, Fluid Mechanics, Sensors and Actuators, Thermodynamics), but then again, I may not do well either.
The ME 2103 module quiz will be held tomorrow at 12 noon. Concept-wise, Visualization isn't actually a difficult module. So far the only work I've actually been doing where this module is concerned is playing around with the Solidworks software. Heck, I neglect it even more than my Changing Landscapes module, which I've already declared S/U.
The hard part is the actual final quiz tomorrow. It's an online MCQ quiz consisting of fifty questions. You may be thinking, 'MCQ? Bah! Relax lah, brudder!' Well, dig this: I have to do the 50 MCQs within 25 minutes. That translates to 30 seconds per question. That's not exactly a lot of time, is it? I've decided that if I can't answer a question within 15 seconds, I'll simply move on to the next one. Sure, the test is open-book, but you don't really have 30 seconds to spare just to flip through the lecture notes.
If that wasn't already enough of a challenge, the test itself carries a weightage of 50% to my final grade. In short, if I mess this paper up, I'm screwed. And this is the one paper which I can't afford to screw up since most people are expected to do well for this paper. What's more, I'm going to have to depend on this module as well as on MOM for my grades and to pull up my CAP score. I may be able to do well enough for the four critical modules (Mechanics of Materials, Fluid Mechanics, Sensors and Actuators, Thermodynamics), but then again, I may not do well either.
Anyway, I think my preparations for Intimidation Game have been going on a bit too well. I feel that I've been pretty much rushing through my revision in the belief that I don't have a lot of time to spare. The truth is, perhaps I do have quite a bit of time to spare. I started revising about four weeks before the first paper (Fluid Mechanics). Now, the first paper is in fifteen days' time, and I've completed about 75% of my revision. By the Year 1 standards, that's not so bad. Back in Yr 1 Semester 1 I started all-out revision just 2 1/2 weeks before the first paper. Even during Ops Lightning Storm last year I started about three weeks before the first paper.
Sure, by my old O Level and A Level standards, that's not so good. For those two pivotal papers (as well as their respective Prelim examinations), I started six weeks prior to the first paper. I was an extremely firm advocate of a slow and steady approach to revision. The problem is, when you're too used to being slow and steady, you end up in suffering when you're forced to adopt a fast and furious pace. And in my case, I may end up being too fast, too furious.
Sure, by my old O Level and A Level standards, that's not so good. For those two pivotal papers (as well as their respective Prelim examinations), I started six weeks prior to the first paper. I was an extremely firm advocate of a slow and steady approach to revision. The problem is, when you're too used to being slow and steady, you end up in suffering when you're forced to adopt a fast and furious pace. And in my case, I may end up being too fast, too furious.
I know I'm being too fast and too furious when I end up feeling burnt out. Last night and this morning I simply didn't have any mood to study. I stared at my Thermodynamics notes with hardly anything registering in my mind. I guess my brain's protesting at the extreme stresses I've been subjecting it to.
What can I say? I guess I'll slow down a bit, but by just a bit. I have to recover from my burnt-out state, but I can't exactly slacken off entirely.
What can I say? I guess I'll slow down a bit, but by just a bit. I have to recover from my burnt-out state, but I can't exactly slacken off entirely.
As I always like to say.... it takes an idiot to join NUS Faculty of Engineering, and it takes a crazy person to survive it.
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 11:24 pm
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