After my last math test, I was pretty worried for this one. Sure, I actually ended up doing well last time, and all my assignments thus far have been perfect or better, so I’ve done pretty well in the course so far. Unfortunately, I’ve now realized that all that work, all day Tuesdays, that I put into finishing the assignments isn’t going to make me pass the course. The assignments are only worth 35% of my final mark (only!), the rest is the tests and the exam. I’ve got to actually understand this stuff, because I can’t just copy and paste our examples from class during the exam.
I think I’ve figured math out, though. Math teachers at least. No matter what he says about you having to know every example (yes, including the horse one… yes, including the domino one… yes, including the one with cases…), he is not going to put the one that no one understood on the test. And he is not going to make up a new type of question where you have to actually think on the test. It’s not multiple choice, but it’s still memorization.
No matter what your high school teacher that never knew your name and that was grossly uninformed about a certain famous guitarist says, they are not trying to fail you. From what I’ve seen, first year was a baby year. In high school, they were pretty easy on you, grade nine, grade ten, even grade eleven. But grade twelve, sometimes you did have to actually buckle down and work. And now? Year one? It’s like you’re back in grade nine again. Open book tests, drop your worst assignment mark… they’re letting us off pretty darn easy.
I didn’t buy the textbook at the beginning of the year because it was “recommended” and not “required”. I ain’t spending money on some silly old textbook if I don’t have to! Unfortunately, when it came time for the first test, all the assigned practice questions were in the textbook. And so, that for some reason made me think “oh, well I just won’t study then!”. And come test time, well, my paper looked pretty messy. I have no idea how the TA marked it.
Once again, for this test, I was supposed to do the textbook questions. Instead, I redid all of the example questions we did in class. Unfortunately, I got stuck every time and had to look at the answer, thus not really learning how to do it myself. I went through the questions three or four times, but it still wasn’t sticking. I was getting better, but could never get through an entire question without cheating. I knew I wouldn’t just magically understand on the test, but it was time to go, no more studying to be had.
And like an episode of “Big Brother”, I’m trying to throw a curve ball out of you so you’ll be shocked come eviction time; I wouldn’t start out saying how bad I did last time if I honestly thought I did bad again! And while I don’t know for sure how I did yet, at least one of the questions were identical to an example we’d been given — and yes! I did magically know what to do on the test. I had seen every example before, no tricks, just like the teacher said. It was super easy and I was done in less than half an hour.
I suppose since I’m already gloating about how smart I am, I’ll tell you about my linguistics report. Last week during seminar, the TA handed them back at the end of the class as people were leaving. I waited and waited until finally the pile and most of the students were gone. A moment of horror — did I not hand it in? Did she lose it? Oh no!
“Oh, I’ve got yours right here” she said as she went through another pile that I assumed she had set aside for people who were absent. She handed me my report and quietly told me “it was amazing“. And suddenly I understood why, by some strange coincidence, my paper had ended up in the wrong pile.
Needless to say, that was pretty damn cool. For one, it was my very first university paper and it was “amazing”?! (Also “flawless” and “awesome”, so sayeth the marking sheet, but I don’t want to brag…) And again, I’m not a linguistics major, but somehow I just excel at this class. I excel at everything, of course, but I’m feeling the recognition, here! Getting good marks on papers just makes me happy, after all that I went through those first three years of high school English — I certainly didn’t hear a “too superficial” in there anywhere!
I’d love to go on talking about amazing little me, but I must go now, for studying and reports await. I’ve gotta actually work at it sometimes, you know.