Examinations August 2009-part 1

Why do I keep thinking that it's only February? On Monday, I woke up thinking it was the 24th of February. Even when I sat down to fill in my particulars onto the answeer booklet, I wrote on the date, "Monday, 24Th February' 2009". I din't notice it until I looked at my watch. It's arms read "1.45pm", and the date read "8-24 MO". Oh, how silly. It's August.

This semester, although I did study hard, I did not study as intensely as I did for the past semester, though I burnt the most fuel and time this semester compared to the past 2 semesters on revision.

Last Monday, Industrial Automation(IA). Slightly easier than the previous semester, but it's more tricky, especially in the case where you have to draw in additional stuff to answer the question. Expecting an A Grade for this paper. Hopefully a miracle would give me the AD Grade for the overall.

Monday, Engineering Mathematics 3B(EM3B). More difficult than the past year papers we tried, but still do-able. A confirmed B+ grade is expected, at least without any moderation. Hold on, do they even moderate the grades of candidates whose grades range from a low C to A+? I only know that the top 5% would get to have an extra "D" printed next to their A grade.

Today, Applied Mechanics(AM). I went to the wrong room for the first time, and thankfully, I wasn't late. On first look, I feared for the worst. I might not be able to complete the paper in time. 5 questions, 120 minutes. It wasn't a killer paper. It's the small font of the diagram on the first question which killed many candidates who sat for the paper today. If the markers are lenient, I'll get a possible 8 marks out of 12 for that first question. If they are strict, I'll get not more than 6 marks. The second question. When I received the paper to read during the first 5 minutes, I stared blankly at that question. Was I dreaming? I can't be dreaming after I drant a can of coffee, right?

The night before, I went to bed 4 hours early at 9.30pm. I dreamt of a classroom with an examination going on. Somehow I could just enter the class, and the invigilator simply smiled, and continued with her rounds. Third row, fifth column. there you were, sitting at the table, right arm supporting your head as you stared blankly at the paper. I stood behind, and I was stunned when I saw your question. Since when were you able to do a question that's not even tested at that level? I wanted so much to tell you how you would do it, but, she stared at me, with that look of suspicion that something might be up. I looked at her and smiled, before she said,"Ok, time's up!" Oh, that's my phone alarm ringing. It's 6.30am. Weird dream, huh.

That question. It was exactly the same as what I saw in that dream. The very first topic I learnt in AM. It's that question on Trusses. The shape of the structure I dreamt of was exactly the same. So were the values of the given external forces. I guess, to dream of a question that's being tested in an examination the next day isn't considered a cheating case right?Oh by the way, that was the first time I dreamt of a deja vu about an examination question, and also the first time I dreamt of seeing a deja vu through a second person.

This paper. I'm disappointed in myself. I allowed over 20 marks to fly out the window. Confirmed B+grade if the markers were strict, and a borderline A Grade if they were lenient. Overall, I'm expecting yet another B+ grade without moderation. If there's even any moderation that's done upward, I'll be able to get an A Grade.

Tomorrow's paper, Thermodynamics(TH). I did the bare minimum for this paper. Tomorrow, you'll see me playing around with the formulae to find the answers. As long as I can understand the questions, I would not have any problems answering the questions wrongly, unless, I did make some careless mistakes along the way. To get an overall A grade, I'll need to get at lest 85 marks for the paper tomorrow. Chances of a moderation for this module are slim, given how well the students did the past few tests and common test.

Hoping for the best for tomorrow!

11th Week

This week was full of ups and downs. This week was filled with miracles. This week was great. This week is past.

I did little this week, getting back papers, reading through notes, understanding new material, chatting with friends, CCAs, slacking off. Next Monday, is when the action begins. I'll cut down on computer activities, and catch up more on all modules.

Today I overslept after dreaming a dream that seemed too good to be true. I woke up, got changed, packed my bag in 5 minutes and left for school. I managed to reach the classroom in just 30 minutes after leaving home. Got back the last paper, did worse than expected, and I started accumulating assignments again today. IA practical left me lost in the first 5 minutes, but somehow, after looking around I managed to connect everything with much ease. After little explanation, I felt as though there was something in me, guiding me through every single step. It was as though a miracle was unfolding in front of us.

Let's see. Results. I underperformed last term, scoring 3As and 2 Ds. All the A grades I scored were A+ grades, while I had 1D and 1 D+. A+ for Industrial Automation, Engineering Mathematics 3B and Applied Mechanics. D for Introduction to Advanced Mathematics. D+ for Thermodynamics. Clinched top few positions for IA and EM3B. Introduction to Advanced Mathematics was supposed to carry a failure grade at 45points. I was given 50 after some changes were made. Thermodynamics, I did all I could, though it was last minute. On my part I did not practice enough. However, our tutor did little to help us during the tutorial period. Is he not allowed to at least show us the important stuff to note in each chapter when we are doing the tutorials? We enter class to complete the questions, submit and go off. It's almost similar to having a class test, except that discussion is allowed. So, when everyone does not know the ful solution to a problem, and the tutor does not help remedy the problem, all we could do was to be sitting ducks waiting to get bullets punched into our heads in the examination hall.

Alright then, I have decided. Anything that I do not know, I'll just shoot it at the lecturer, especially for the weaker modules. This is my last chance for the semester. I'll grab it, and let my grades to rise back up to 4.0.

These days, I feel it growing. It's no longer what we feared it would be. I am sure this time, it's for real. It would not fade like before. The time hasn't arrived although it's ready for take off. I'll wait for the winds to be in our favour, and I'll wait for the day you decide to enter the cockpit with me.

Retrace

So far this week, things have been going fine, and a miracle occured today. And, after Monday's training, I have been limping around as I have not been attending regular trainings due to my health and commitment problems caused by my 2 core CCAs. Honestly, I never joined the school's Taekwondo club for the belt ranks, nor did I join the club to take part in competitions. Ultimately, I did not join for the sake of CCA points. I joined it to maintain my fitness(very effective but tough training schedule which I'm afraid I might not be able to cope with as time passes) and also to gain some self confidence. I have promised a member of the alumni I would train hard as it is not cheap to convert from a federation to another. So, chances are, I might leave after the inter varsity-polytechnic championships next year, and return for ad-hoc trainings once in a while to keep fit.

There was no school on Tuesday, so I took the time to relax for the whole day, to get out of the holiday mood I had been having for a long time since April. I did nothing, other than sleeping and reading up on notes.

Yesterday, I got back my paper for EM3B. I finally managed to find myself at the same wavelength as my lecturer during the 10TH lecture. I'm so going to stay at that frequency until when the holidays arrive. Went home at 4.20 instead of 5pm as the chapter was very straightforward. I was involved in a phone conversation with 3 others which lasted for 2 hours. Wow. That's really a record for me. At least I managed to understand why some people are able to stay on the phone for such a long period of time.

Today was a great day. The start wasn't that great though. The lecturer for 13TH was really generous on her break time today. We were granted a 20-minute break from 9.30 till 9.50 this morning, shortly after we got back our papers for checking. 10TH lecture again at 11, but it ended just 20 minutes after we started at 11.15. Went with the class for lunch, before rushing off at 12 for IAM tutorial. Got back my papers as well. Went for a break from 1 to 2 before continuing with the lecture till 4. I thoroughly enjoy the lecturer's lessons. I am never able to find a chance to fall asleep during her lectures, which I do not find to be boring at all. In fact, I'm always looking forward to the next time I would be attending the class! Went home, took a short break, before heading back to school for Videography once again. Today, was a day of miracles.

Tomorrow, I would be getting back my last paper to check. Tomorrow, it would be a long day with many things waiting to happen. Tomorrow, might be the day I get to chat with everyone again. Tomorrow, is the last day of the week. Tomorrow, is the end of week 11.

Indeed, I guess it's time we should retrace our steps.Hoping for a miracle always.

Day One, Week 11, Semester 1, 2009

Today, was supposed to be a good start to the new term. At least the lessons of the day were. Managed to grasp everything that was taught from start to end, and as expected, things would start to get messy once again. Had AM, TH and IA. For TH, the tutor was the best. He sent us on a tour, before getting involved in it as well and we got down to business 20 minutes later. As or IA, well, I did better than what I had expected(grades would be discussed at the end of the week).

Rushed home, accessed the internet to see what events there were for the Asian Youth Games, before leaving for school again, forgetting to turn the computer off.

CCA was still alright, except that, I seriously doubt my readiness to participate in the PA competition next Saturday. At the moment, I am definitely not ready. Even the instructors think so through their comments. Perhaps, I'll give it one last shot next Monday during training, and decide if I really want to take part, or wait till the next competition in March next year. While I noticed the seriousness of only training on Mondays, I'm losing out in many things as well. I have too many commitments that I hardly have time to study. Perhaps, the time to really sit down and decide what to keep and what not to keep, is drawing closer with every passing day.

That aside, I realised that after I recovered from a virus which made me run a fever and flu(don't worry, it's the seasonal flu), my stamina has been decreasing slowly. I go on my usual evening run every weekend, but I noticed, each time I went for the run, the distance I could cover without walking was decreasing. Come Saturday, I'll start from scratch again, with the 3km route, slowly increasing it to 4km, 6km, 9km and finally, 14km. There's about less than 6 months before the 42km marathon in December. Good thing I have the usual trainings on Monday, free time on Tuesdays and Saturdays to prepare for it. I have decided. Once I enter my final year, I'll commit to only 2 CCAs(the first and last I ever joined). I have thoughts of joining Badminton in the second semester of the final year, but I'll put that aside till we're closer to that period of time.

Once we enter the weekends, It's time to get down to business to make that final 7-week sprint for the FINAL.

Common Test June'09

This week has been one of the most physcially and mentally challenging week of the semester. 5 papers spread over 4 days, lots of last minute work, accompanied with other stuff that I could have totally ignored.

Monday was AM, and this was one of 3 papers that was purely last minute effort. 100% do-able, would get at least a B grade.

Tuesday morning, was purely suicide. I entered the hall with only 3 hours spent on revision the night before. If I could even pass, it would be a miracle. The afternoon, was more like a stress-reliver for me. Unlike the morning IAM paper, the EM3B paper was a breeze. I finished it in a record time of 50 minutes(the fastest of all my papers for common test this semester). Definitely an A+ grade.

Wednesday, I went in with lots of mixed feelings. TH was the only paper which I did not drink any coffee 30 minutes before entering the examination venue. 30minutes is the time taken for the coffee to take effect. This was the third paper which I did some last minute revision. I did the paper as with little difficulty, but came out with lots and lots of different answers from my friends. A definite pass, but the grade I'll be getting for it would not look good. Went out for a run while getting some fresh air, and helping a friend think of a solution to her problems at the same time that evening. Met Xing Dan on the way, and she showed me a new route that was more challenging than my current route. Would be trying that out tomorrow evening if there is time.

Thursday. Nothing happened, except for a revision class for IA, which cleared up lots of my doubts.

Today. Woke up full of energy at 10, but within an hour, the brightness of the day faded away. I became extremely moody after that. At 12pm, I left for school. Studied for 2 hours before going to the classroom for the IA common test. I'm confident of a B+ grade, but if the marking scheme is lenient for question 3, I would not have much of a problem scoring an A. After the paper ended, went to the market with friends, and went to the Alumni Club House for an urgent meeting which went really well, and I enjoyed the dinner.

Estimated grade tally: 1A, 2Bs, 1C, 1F.

All right then, that's all for today. I doubt many things would be happening over the weekend.

060609

I can't think of a title for tonight's post, and decided to use the date instead. Come to think of it, why not use the day's date when I'm unable to come up with a nice title for the post? This is the first post which uses the date as a title. 

Today felt somewhat refreshing. I stayed up to study from 2, and I spent so much time trying to figure out one question I feel asleep while thinking of what to do. I woke up at 8.10, and scrambled to prepare for school. The day started badly, but as it progressed, things got better. 

Had Engineering Mathematics 3B lecture for the first two hours, where I managed to solve almost every question for the past 2 common test papers. I can be sure of scoring at least 90 for the common test this Tuesday. Next was thermodynamics. We had a test to prepare us for the common test, and the quiz was rather easy, even though the questions were once problems I did not even know how to solve. I got the feeling that I would be able to get an A grade for this as well. IA. I did improve somewhat, and at least right now I got a better understanding of the module. With that, I declare that I am left with 3 modules to revise. AM(online exercises), IA and IAM are left to revise before I'm confident of getting straight As for this common test.

Somehow this afternoon, I felt high all of a sudden after a group of students entered the lift at the third floor. Apparently We were going up, but they wanted to go down. I couldn't help it but giggle. Oh well, at least they laughed in reply. I was expecting something worse, like a stare. What's more, one of them even said "goodbye" after I left the lift. Wow. 

At the entrance of the classroom, we noticed a group of students from Zhenghua Sec having a buffet outside our classroom. We had our share of the food as well when they left, until a lecturer came out from the staff room and looked at us. We looked back blankly at him for a moment before we walked back into the classroom. He opened the door halfway, stared at us for a moment, before going back to the buffet table. We laughed like there was no tomorrow. Human nature? I guess so. 

I felt sort of 'high' after that, and was not really able to concentrate in class except for the more important parts of the session.Tonight, I have decided not to do any revision unil tomorrow afternoon when I return from the driving centre to book my practicals in advance. I'll be doing AM and IAM tomorrow, but there would not be an all-nighter this time round, as I don't think I'll be needing it tomorrow night. Wednesday night? Let's see how the revision goes till then before I decide to go on with it. 

I have been thinking deeply lately. All sorts of stuff. The more I think about those thoughts, the more child-like I feel of myself. Its happened many times before. How do I control my thoughts? How should I handle myself? Other than saying it to a few trusted friends, would it be fine if I told it to the person of whom my thoughts concerned? If I did, would I end up scaring him or her? If I wanted to let him or her know, was the time and setting right for me to say it? 

Pre-June Common Test All-Niter

Anyone game for it? 2am to 5am later in the morning? i have 2 tutorials due later, and a test as well. I'm prepared for the test, but my tutorials are half complete. For me, I come alive after midnight, and I'm at my best in the evening between 2am and 6am. Since there's going to be school later from 9am to 4pm, I'll have only 3 hours. Whatever that's incomplete, I'll have no choice but to do some copying later on. 

Today things went rather well, and I managed to find out the topics I still required some revision in for IAM. EM3B is going to be rather easy. I'm all set for TH and AM. I'm still very unstable for IA. Right now, of the 5 papers, I'm confident of scoring at least 3 As, 1B and 1 C.

Went for a run in the evening, but gave up halfway after I started feeling unwell. Went on the 3km route, but ended up walking more than 1km. Maybe next time I should either take a bottle of water or buy a can drink from a stall during a route that's 5km or further. 

Over the next 1 week, it's going to be intense. I'll be having an all-nighter from 2am to 6am on Saturday night, and from 1am to 3am on Thursday night. Tomorrow, I'll not be studying in the evening, to prepare for the intense week ahead. 

Compounded Dilemas

Without all that's been happening lately, today would have been rather uneventful, plain, and simple. This might be a bore to some, so if you feel you're going to dose off, why not just head on to another blog which might have a more interesting post? Let's head back to yesterday for a moment. School from 9 to 4.

Reached home, took a short break, and went for another run. This time, I joined nearly all 3 usual run routes together. Toh Tuck to Jalan Jurong Kechil, path to Bukit Batok nature Reserve's carpark, looped at the bus interchange and back home, except that I ran it reversed(so that it would be a downslope run toward the end). A little dangerous with a number of works going on along the route. The last part was really fun, but risky as well as the final bend was sharp at the base of the slope. It was the first time I ran the route, and as expected I walked after exiting after the Shell station. Estimated distance was around 5km. WM wanna join me in the full route some time? I'll be trying out a couple of new routes after the common tests are over.

Next would be today. Slept really late the night before, and woke late this morning. Went to school to study with friends from 1 to 6, before going for dinner till 8. I drank coffee again today, which got me on overdrive. Managed to clear most of the stuff tested for TH and AM today. Very confident of at least a B+ for both so far. I realised that when I enter overdrive, many countless thoughts run through my mind. As a result, it's easy for me to get confused very quickly if I don't keep up with what I'm doing. Just wondering how things would get over the next few days until the common tests are over.