i am the AWESOMO 5000

after a shaky start on my quizzes i am in the groove

a 68% and a 53% on my qizzes left me pretty anxious. i suck at exams. the time limit kills me.

i have the groove on this prof's marking structure now and have come back with an 80% on my mid-term. 10 more minutes would have netted me over 90%.

rejiggering my time allocations on the second quiz would have put me at an 80% too...

my only assignment back so far received a 90.9%. i expect that mark or better on the second assignment.

this is working for me

i still feel like it takes me too long to program, but that is the discipline (and remembered pain) of having to put production software out for public use - not just assignments

by being the brutal keener that i am in this class (i'm really quite honestly excited by it) i'm hoping to get the whole 5% subjective marking room the prof leaves herself in addition to my regular marks

----

i'm still trying to find how to get around some of the bullshit i now have to go through to deal with the math upgrade

[complain]
why can't i just work hoard? why does there have to be the crap and the hurdles? why can't the path be clear and i just do it by putting in the time and the effort?

it is this shitty little stuff that saps my spirit

it's bad enough that i have to do my high school math over again - but there has to be a bunch of bullshit in regard to scheduling and getting into it? doesn't seem fair.

why can't i just do the work
[/complain]

hrrumph!

well, now that that's off my chest...

i've decided that unless there is some additional obscure fucking rule that will stop me, i'm going to take the math courses by correspondence (actually - technology assisted learning [internet]). that way they won't interfere with my university classes.

so i went down to the department of education to sign up (the province runs a province-wide correspondence school directly from the department) and all the people who actually know what's going on were on vacation. the only person on the entire floor was a summer student - who was asian (i think chinese) and couldn't speak very good english. he wants me to wait until the 18th of august to figure this shit out (when the people are back).

fuck!

did i mention that the reason i went down in person was because when i phoned i got an unintelligible chinese person on the phone? surprise!!! guess who it was? the only person in the office...

it was almost impossible to understand him - especially when he was unsure of what he was talking about... but i persevered (just for the record, i am not one of those "speak english in MY country" assholes - i have volunteered and worked with many immigrant groups and have taught english as a second language [and literacy] as a volunteer). the language barrier just made it difficult. after we talked a bit and i was able to explain things more, he understood my needs. it turns out he is their summer computer science student... he gave me tips on classes and profs to avoid - that was kind of funny. and both his english improved, and i started to pick up the nuances of his accent.

but...

i'm still having to confirm that my plan will be acceptable to the department of mathematics to get into calculus - it should be - but i don't want to make assumptions

blah, blah, blah

the chinese guy said he would do his best to find out the answer to the questions i am asking as soon as possible. naively, i believe him...

i have to go up to the department and abase myself there to make sure i'm good to go as well

we'll see