penguin-ghost

[penguin-ghost]

2 Weeks to Go

It’s hard to believe that uni is starting again in about 2 weeks and I will be off to London in just a few days (I thought this may be the right time to restart my weekly updates). Things feel exciting and - at the same time — I am probably not ready yet 🥲 but it’s ok.

There has been several online welcome events to prep us for the move and uni in general — I am glad to see that there are many different layers of support available for every aspect of life, it makes me feel a little more relaxed about the whole thing.

Academic-Related

I stumbled across a set of notes on Classical Mechanics from an older student. It’s quite detailed, covering a whole range of topics in maths, dynamics, simple harmonic motion etc. I have been slowly working through them over the past couple of weeks albeit with pathetic progress 🤦🏻‍♀️. But I didn’t really expect myself to get super familiar with the content anyway, it was just a way of getting back into the study mode - which is rather necessary as I realised that I had forgotten some basic operation with logarithms (big oops).

In terms of the modules that I will be taking, all of the first year ones are compulsory and I’ll be studying the following this term:

Mathematical Methods I

Atoms, Stars and the Universe

Practical Physics and Computing 1

PHAS0010 Classical Mechanics

PHAS0017 Developing Effective Communication 1

They are all fairly standard first year physics stuff and I think I’ll handle them quite well having done some uni physics already.

Life-Related

I spent the majority of today packing, and realising how much of a trek it is to move to a new country. I had to keep reminding myself that I will be staying in London, not some country town and will have access to almost everything. And once I arrive, there’ll be a bunch of admin things to do, then I’ll get a haircut! Sydney is in its third month of lockdown, and I have been looking forward to a haricot ever since the beginning of this lockdown. There are also many fresher events that I can attend, but I’ll figure those out once I’m actually there.

The next update will be from London 🇬🇧, fingers crossed everything goes smoothly.

[penguin-ghost]

Week 13 - The end is here

Can't believe this semester just like... finished. It finished. It simultaneously felt like yesterday and a century ago that I had my very first day of lectures.

Physics

We spent the last week learning about sound waves, and it's been less maths heavy with a lot of revision from high school. Also learnt about shock waves which was quite cool.

I also managed to finish my lab report, and there were definitely some struggles figuring out latex but it turned out looking pretty legit. 👀

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

We wrapped up the course discussing Triumph of the Will - a Nazi propaganda film, and talking about the relationship between beauty and evil. As someone who once thought about majoring in history, this lecture was absolutely amazing. The conclusion Devereaux came to was that the film was a piece of flawed art because we can't simply comment on an art's form but must consider its content too. For Triumph of the Will, we recognise that its artistic value is inseparable from its evil content, and that this evil content should not be there, hence its beauty is deeply flawed.

Linear Algebra & Calculus of One Variable

I will be catching on all the lectures before suspending my studies, basically haven't touched these courses at all.

Holiday Plan

I plan to self-learn python (ambitious I know) and just go over all the physics contents again. Plus I will try to enjoy the break as much as possible obviously.

[penguin-ghost]

Week 12 - Almost there

So this week is the second last week of the semester, and I don't think I've attended any of my lectures 🤦🏻‍♀️ but that's ok (I will catch up in the holidays).

Physics

I think we have moved onto waves now and it is A LOT OF MATH LIKE A LOT LOT. Mostly partial derivatives though. The most interesting thing that happened this week was my project presentation which was well received (I presume).

So my project (since I have to do it at home) involves the simple pendulum. I know it sounds very simple but things get complex very fast. For determining the acceleration due to gravity, I used the small angle assumption, and then I explored the error related with this assumption. Through my research (which took longer than I thought because the pendulum is one big rabbit hole), I realised that we can only approximate the exact period of a pendulum. And there are so many different ways of doing so. I chose one that involved the power expansion of elliptic integrals that are solutions to the differential equation that described the pendulum. Anyway, the project turned out to be much more fun and deeper than I expected.

But now I have to write a lab report and this is nowhere as enjoyable as making the presentation.

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

This course just keeps on getting better, and the discussion of beauty is particularly enjoyable because it's so broad. This week we talked about Shakespeare (I thought I'd never encounter him in an academic context ever again, not that I don't like Shakespeare, but I just thought he was something I left in high school). It was pretty surprisingly to find out that the French despised him a lot.

Then we moved onto something more modern and discussed Danto's claim that theory makes art, art. To be honest, my first impression to this claim was "???" but he does make some good points in "The Artworld" and I think I'm onboard now.

Linear Algebra

I spent the week just revising on everything up to diagonalisation in preparation for our last quiz. I must say that I like linear algebra a lot a lot. It is a very fun subject.

Calculus of One Variable

I managed to pass the quiz without revision (woohoo). And I am now officially 2 weeks behind on lectures 👀 at least I have something to look forward to in the holidays.

[penguin-ghost]

Week 11 - Already on holidays (almost)

So after some thoughts and discussions, I think I will suspend my studies after the semester but before my finals. I guess I am just lazy and ... also don't want to risk burning myself out due to something that is not going to count. As a result, I have REALLY been slacking off with my studies. Like really. Slacking. Off

Physics

Everything is moving so fast. We went through some basics of chaos theory which is a fascinating field. There are a lot of fancy terms like Lyapunov Exponent, Lorentz Attractor, Poincare section which all sound cooler than what they really are 😂 The next topic is waves, and I must say this was my least favourite topic back in high school because there was so much theory and writing (which won't be the case now). So fingers crossed it's more interesting in uni.

Regarding my project, I performed the experiment, got really decent data and now it's all a matter of putting together the presentation and lab report. The tutor said that a big part of the presentation is the storytelling, so I think I'm going to brainstorm something somewhat creative, and pray that the presentation comes out the way that I envision it to be.

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

This is getting more and more interesting every lecture, I think I am just a Romantic at heart. We talked about E.T.A Hoffman's review on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and I'm not quite sure I agree with his claim that instrumental is the most, (or the only) Romantic art. But I guess when I think about it, it is indeed the only art where form is content. Then we went on to discuss the Sublime and focused on Kant's formation of the dynamical sublime and the human vocation.

Linear Algebra

I am very very behind. And haven't even gotten to watch the pre-lecture videos on diagonalisation.

Calculus of One Variable

Even more behind 🤦🏻‍♀️ but have been semi-preparing for an upcoming quiz on Monday. But honestly... I couldn't care less about what I'll get.

[penguin-ghost]

Week 10 - Revision begins

Damn... Only 3 weeks of actual content learning left 😱 Also received my exam timetable and it's a bit crammed, but on the positive note, I get to enjoy the holidays sooner.

Physics

So the professor for our third module "Oscillations, Chaos and Waves" is a pretty famous (?) cosmologist, but I don't think anyone can keep up with the lectures without previewing the content, it's a bit fast and the style is like "bang here are all the equations". So far we've covered simple harmonic motion, damped and forced oscillations as well as a lecture on complex methods to solve differential equations (which I still haven't watched yet, big oops). Very excited to start chaos theory next week though.

Also good news, my lab proposal got approved! Will be doing something on determining acceleration due to gravity with a simple pendulum, as well as evaluating the relative error in using the small angle approximation. I am going to try to write up my lab report in Latex like a real scientist, and to be honest, this part of the project makes me the most excited 🙈

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

The concept of beauty is more relevant to philosophy than I had ever imaged. This week we looked at Friedrich Hölderlin's Hyperion (which sounds like a fascinating novel that I will never get around to read). And I love his definition of beauty as unity that emerges through diversity. It also made me reflect on the value of aesthetic education. I have come to realise that, as all I study is maths, physics and philosophy, I have some sort of arts deprivation if I don't read a bit of fiction everyday. Art engages both the sensuous and intellectual, and it is the only thing capable of bring out this unexpected harmony within ourselves.

Compared to Hölderlin, Kant's approach is a lot more (hardcore?) philosophical. I am still wrapping my head around his claim that judgments of taste are subjective and universal.

Linear Algebra

I am enjoying this class much more than I really should hahahaha. Currently working on assignment 3 and I think it is the right level of difficulty for me.

Watching 3Blue1Brown's video really makes me appreciate the elegance of this subject.

Calculus of One Variable

I am still very behind 🤦🏻‍♀️, haven't watched this week's lectures and there is a quiz coming up in a week. I really want to just pass... Have to go through all the theorems and Taylor stuff all over again.

Other Comments

Attended an event organised by an entrepreneurship program and got to know some alumnus of the uni. This really made me recognise the value and power of networking.

[penguin-ghost]

Week 9 - The end in sight

There is less than a month left for this semester (not including exam period), damn how time flies... This week was very very busy for me and I am still struggling to keep up with all the contents.

Physics

We wrapped up Thermal physics!!! I must admit that the unfamiliarity with the content got a little better, and when it comes to actual problem solving, I feel like there is less to consider compared to mechanics. It's almost like "adiabatic? Plug this equation. Isothermal? use that equation".

And we touched on entropy! Quantitatively defined it actually, this is something that's fascinated me for a while and it feels really good to finally know exactly what it is.

We also began the new module on oscillations, chaos and waves. Needless to say, the most fascinating topic is chaos and I can't wait to learn it.

Also... I have to come up with an experiment to do at home that's worth a 10 minute presentation. Might do something with pendulums I think.

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

Finished my metaphysics essay, and it's actually really really fun to have an essay-based subject. I think I craved some writing.

We also started the "Beauty" module. Our first lecture was based on Plato's Symposium (which means "drinking party", very fun!), in particular, we looked at Socrates' speech regarding a conversation he had with Diotima about Eros and just the nature of beauty in general. Absolutely fascinating. The Ladder of Love doesn't seem like "serious philosophy" but I think it is such an insightful idea even for readers in our era. We need to see beyond the physical and look for spiritual beauty.

Linear Algebra

I absolutely love this class and the professor. I finally learnt what eigenvalues are and that made me feel like I was learning real maths (??) I also enjoyed doing the assignment which is rather surprising hahaha.

Calculus of One Variable

I am very behind. Something about the lectures taking place towards the end of the week just isn't ideal for learning. We are dealing with Taylor polynomials and Taylor series now, which... I think I'm getting the gist of but I just need some time to really sit down and think it all through.

Managed to attempt all parts of the assignment. Keyword: attempt.

Other Comments

I think the highlight this week was a meet-up event organised by the maths department where first years get to talk to a maths professor and an honours student. Ours was a group of 4 and we had an absolutely amazing conversation over lunch. The professor is a pure mathematician and there is just something so attractive about this career/job title/human being (🙈). We talked about research, imposter syndrome, the beauty of maths, computations and just everything I'm fascinated by. His research is in abstract algebra I believe, which just SOUNDS SO DAMN COOL.

[penguin-ghost]

Week 8 - Drowning.

I was too busy revising and... struggling with some stomach problems last week that I missed the weekly blog :(

But anyway, I'm back today with a short update because I have a lot of assignments to get through.

Physics

I did my lab and mid-semester test. The latter went pretty horribly: there is just something about doing online exams that make me feel less focused, and I also wasted a lot of time typing up answers :(

In terms of content, we are flying through thermal physics at a VERY FAST PACE and I am falling a bit behind at the moment. Part of the reason that I feel less on top of things is that we did so little thermal physics in high school so everything just feels new. Sure rotational motion was new, but it was still mechanics and we did a lot of that back in high school.

We are wrapping up thermal physics next week 😱 it feels like only yesterday that we started. Next up is chaos and oscillations which seem very very fun.

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

After Hume, we did a lot of Kant. Although the categorical imperatives are very stringent, and his evaluation of moral worth is very very strict, I still resonate with Kantian ethics more than the Humean theory. I simply find implausible that only desires motivate.

And after Kant, we briefly touched on Consequentialism which... also isn't a satisfactory ethical theory. I feel like sometimes we are going in loops with ethical theories, and that is rather frustrating. But hey, that is philosophy.

I got a pretty decent mark on my essay plan! Now it's time to add 1000 words and make it a proper essay.

Linear Algebra

This class got really interesting once we were introduced to the concepts of subspaces, span, linear independent etc. And I find our second assignment very fun to do, although I'm not sure how good my proofs are hahaha.

Calculus of One Variable

This class is SO DAMN HARD or I'm just not made to do proofs (or hard maths). I struggled through the first 2 questions of the assignment, and eventually completed them (satisfactory I hope). But I spent so many hours staring at question 3, and every approach that I tried seemed to lead to a dead end 😐

I don't know how many more hours I'll have to spend to finish the assignment *cry*

Other Comments

I found a pattern with uni. Work comes at very expected and regular intervals and it is so so so so crucial to work consistently. Try to never fall behind, because once you do, everything collapses like domino (don't ask how I know this 🤦🏻‍♀️).

[penguin-ghost]

Week 6 - First Week on Campus!

Online and offline learning are completely different things. Although commuting takes absolutely ages, I think it is still worth the trek to go. Sydney has amazing weather, and Usyd has a great campus.

Physics

Everything is new, well, kind of. Thermal and mechanics are very in different in the sense that most of what we are doing now in thermal is content, complemented by occasional formulae where mechanics is the other way round. The lecturer introduced the topic with passing remarks on the arrow of time which was one of my most interested topics in Physics. It reminded me of the book "The Order of Time", and even till this day (a whole year after I finished the book) I still find it mind-blowing to know that heat is actually the only thing in the universe that differentiates the past from the present.

There is also an upcoming lab test... and I feel semi-prepared...? We even get to perform the experiment prior to the test with all the data ready to go. So fingers crossed that goes well.

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

I am beginning to have mixed feelings about the lecture format (pre-lecture podcasts for content learning, and lectures purely as discussions). Sometimes we have a person asking a really good question, and yielding fruitful discussions. But at a lot of the times, I find it kind of easy to drift off but maybe that is my problem.

We touched on cultural relativism, and the Humean theory of motivation. I am deeply bothered by the idea that no desires are more or less rational, better or worse, than any others. I understand his argument but I cannot intuitively agree with the conclusion.

Linear Algebra

I am finding this class more and more interesting now since all the matrix things began. We learnt about span and linear independence this week, and things are about to get even cooler with subspaces, bases and dimension. These aren't concepts that are only found in linear algebra, but also in topological spaces etc. So it makes me feel like I am learning actual maths hahaha

Calculus of One Variable

The content was a little less brutal this week focusing mostly on derivatives. Nevertheless, I still enjoy battling with proofs that seem to come out of nowhere upon first sight.

I have also been revising for our very first quiz tomorrow. I can say that today is the first day that I feel confident about episolon-delta proofs 🤦🏻‍♀️ a little late but at least it's a day before (not after) the quiz.

Other Comments

It sounds ridiculous to say this a week after the Easter Break, but the idea that this semester will only truly wrap up in late June makes me feel a little burnt out 👀 But at least I get to grab lunch with friends on Campus I guess.

[penguin-ghost]

Mid-Semester Break

I did so little studying over the Easter break, and so not much uni things happened at all this week. Will be back next week for more things 👀

[penguin-ghost]

Week 5 - Life Update

It's the mid-semester break!!! And I'm out of quarantine!! This week marked the first time I've set foot on the university campus as a proper uni student, which was very exciting. And scrap what I said last week, I will be moving to the UK in September for a straight physics degree. But nevertheless, I will still complete this semester because my offer came 3 hours past the uni census date 🤦🏻‍♀️

Physics

This week was the last week on mechanics, and we did the angular version of everything. I must admit that although mechanics itself isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, it’s still rather beautiful when it all comes together.

Lab this week was really good as well because it was a follow-up of last week's lab - the one that involved tossing my phone into the air. We showed that despite rotating with instability along the intermediate axis, rotational energy and angular momentum are still conserved as no torque was acting upon my phone.

I‘m also pretty excited about starting thermodynamics after the break; the professor said it is going to be very different from mechanics.

And the mid-semester exam is coming up soon... Time to start planning out my revision.

Reality Ethics and Beauty,

We have a new lecturer for the Ethics module, and he has an entire new way of lecturing which involved producing pre-lecture podcasts, and turning the actual lectures into discussions. I really appreciate the podcasts but I'm not sure the discussions are all that fruitful... I even missed the Thursday lecture 🙈

And I've finally picked a topic for my essay and began working on it! I will be writing about higher order desires and free will.

Linear Algebra

We focused on matrix operations this week, and I'm really excited about where we are heading towards.

P.s. matrix multiplication is actually rather tedious, but it is defined the way it is because we are trying to represent linear transformations so oh well.

Calculus of One Variable

This is definitely my most challenging class at the moment. We only had 1 lecture this week due to the Easter Break, but the lecturer managed to cram an incredible amount of info into it... from improper limits all the way to the intermediate value theorem.

Introduction to Programming

I dropped this class. Yea.

Without the pressure to do 24 credit points this semester, I decided to avoid the extra suffering...and not burn myself out before moving to an entirely new country.

I will still be doing weekly blogs until the semester finishes, but studying is probably not going to be my priority anymore. Catching up with friends, and enjoying Sydney feel more meaningful to me at the moment.

[penguin-ghost]

The intellectual freedom of university is unfriendly for indecisive people like me... struggling to pick a topic for my philosophy essay: determinism or personal identity 🧐

[penguin-ghost]

Week 4 - Running out of title ideas

It's almost the-mid semester break...??? This week has been a very meh week for me... I was rejected from my 2nd dream university (in the UK) and so I will probably (read: almost definitely) just do my undergrad in Sydney. To my surprise, I actually wasn't all that upset (?) just because so many people deferred from last year and the offer rate for my subject dropped to 10%. It’s really an incredibly tough year for applicants, especially international applicants. Oh well, life is life. Let's get back to uni life in Sydney.

Physics

We finally started learning something entirely new! Rotation of rigid bodies with angular versions of displacement, velocity and acceleration. I love the symmetry between the regular equations and the angular ones, there's something so satisfying about them. I also happened to really enjoy this week's lab, although it basically involved throwing my phone into the air 👀. Anyhow, it was interesting to find out that the phone cannot stably rotate about its x-axis (which is explained by the Tennis racket theorem).

Understanding the material has been relatively easy, but tackling problems is another story. Sometimes it is difficult to know what principals/laws/approaches to apply. I guess it all takes practice. Although I must admit, Physics often makes one feel intellectually incompetent.

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

We wrapped up the module on metaphysics, and it ended with a bang (at least for me). We discussed the two main approaches to mental states and consciousness: Dualism and Materialism along with their sub-categories.

I also picked a question for my essay: it's about free-will and higher order desires.

Next week begins the ethics part of the course, and there is substantially more reading to be done. But overall, I'm surprised by how little reading we actually do as Phil majors...

Linear Algebra

Began studying matrices and things... but so far, the content is still a rather boring... Fingers crossed 🤞🏻 things get more interesting when it comes to eigenvalues.

Calculus of One Variable

Compared to Linear Algebra, this class is significantly harder (and feels more rigorous), which also makes it much more fun. We spent a while formally defining limits with the epsilon-delta definition. It did take some time to digest although it does make intuitive sense.

p.s. I think this is actually my favourite class(?)

Introduction to Programming

What the hell.

I was pretty satisfied with my progress after the Monday lectures on lists and arrays. Then I attended my tutorial on Wednesday and my confidence level dropped straight into a deep abyss (I still haven't finished the exercises 😢). 

On the other hand, it feels great when I finish writing a program THAT WORKS. It's a pretty addictive feeling actually 🤦🏻‍♀️

I also tried to learn Vim, although I'm not using Vim to code yet, I am getting familiar with the keybindings in VS code (via the Vim extension). And it definitely speeds things up. I'm hoping to make the full transition during the mid-semester break, or some time in the holidays when I have more time to properly learn it.

p.s. we got our first assignment and the instruction is so damn long.

[penguin-ghost]

Week 3 - Surviving

This was one busy week but the good news is that I’m back in Sydney so there’s no more time difference when it comes to lectures and tutorials.

Physics

The pace is gradually picking up. We learnt more on work, energy, power, momentum and work-energy theorems. Still, it’s all just revision but with calculus. 

Lab was ok, we finally didn’t have to do a random experiment but instead analysed data. I found it very enjoyable (albeit slightly tedious). There was also an experimental design component, and this gave me a lot of high school flashbacks hahaha

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

We first finished up discussion on free will with the second order desire theory, and then the ideal desire theory. From what I gathered, it would be very difficult to argue for compatibilism. But who knows, maybe the world isn’t deterministic in the first place.

In the second lecture, we moved onto identity in REAL DEPTH. I realised that I never really thought about the intricate connection between memory and identity, or rather, the problem of using memory as the sole/main determinant of identity. 

Also, I think our first assignment is coming up. This makes me really anxious because I’ve never properly studied philosophy before and am clueless on how to approach the assignment.

Linear Algebra

We finished vectors!!!!!!! I spent the majority of today tackling the assignment. It is definitely much easier than the calculus assignment (at least I had some vague idea on how to approach every question when I read it 🤦🏻‍♀️). 

I also watched the pre-lecture videos for next week and got a glimpse of matrices. Super excited for them.

Calculus of One Variable

Done with complex, and started functions. Did a lot of notation and terminology things this week. Not sure how confusing this will all be when we actually start doing maths with them hahaha.

Introduction to Programming 

Things just got significantly harder??? Like all of a sudden??? I wasn’t able to just cruise through the labs anymore. Although I partially blame this on the very ineffective lectures...

I understand that theory is the foundation of all subjects, but working through some more examples would probably be a lot more helpful.

Other comments

Uni is hard work, but I genuinely enjoy doing the work. It just goes to show how important it is to study subjects you love. I mean it’s still work, but at least, it’s all enjoyable work.

[penguin-ghost]

Week 2 - Tempus fugit

So second week of uni flew by like crazy, and I spent quite some time catching up (read: struggling with online uni) with an old friend because I’m flying back to Sydney next week ✈️

Physics

We did more revision throughout the week and finally, in the last 30 minutes of the Friday lecture, I learnt something completely new: the line integral for work! But apparently a line integral is some quite advanced maths (at least for a first year student), so I have no idea what the dot in the integral does and what we will actually be doing with the equation,  🤷🏻‍♀️

I have an upcoming assignment on Mastering Physics that I haven’t had the time to work through but it seems like quite a lot of work.

Lab wise, I did a pretty boring experiment of determining the final velocity of a pen dropped from rest. The main deal was the propagation of uncertainties through calculations. And starting from next week, our logbooks are going to get graded 🥲

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

In the first lecture of the week, we went through the Design Argument which involved discussing Paley’s watch as well as evaluating arguments from analogy. And... although I was already expecting this, but seeing mathematical notation (of the Likelihood Principle) in a Phil class was still interesting, and reminded me the good old days when I struggled with probability.

In the second lecture, we moved on to discussing determinism and free will, or rather, the relationship between determinism and free will (spoiler alert: determinism doesn't necessarily undermine free will). I was very excited by the Professor's passing remarks on the relevance of quantum events in this particular philosophical discussion, and apparently Karl Popper was a philosopher with some insights on this topic.

Oh and I also had my very first Phil tutorial, our tutor is a super nice and intelligent postdoc who just looks like a philosopher with bushy mustache and a pair of classy glasses.

Linear Algebra

We did more revision on vectors, and although it felt very slow, I'm pretty sure the pace is going to pick up when we begin learning new things next week.

P.s. I haven't had the time to watch the pre-lecture videos so I can't comment on exactly what we'll be doing next week 🤦🏻‍♀️️ but it's got something to do with lines, planes and distances.

Calculus of One Variable

I'm not sure if the problem is this lecturer's style of teaching, or the pace of the course, or my unfamiliarity with mathematical formalism but the lecture notes just make the contents look a lot more difficult than how they really are (??).

Anyway, our very first assignment is due next week, and although there are only 3 questions, the final one seems VERY VERY DIFFICULT, I haven't had the time to work on it yet but it just seems VERY VERY DIFFICULT.

P.s. Yes the emerging theme of this week's update is "I haven't had the time to..."

Introduction of Programming

Just like last week, the lab was so much more helpful than the lectures. We began using this import.sys thing to deal with use user inputs from the terminal; this opened up a lot of possibilities for our codes.

There are also weekly challenges (which involve concepts that are ahead of the lecture content), so I'm struggling a bit with the 'If' statements. But who cares because that will be covered next week.

Other comments

I made a friend who is also double majoring in Physics and Philosophy! This is something I never imagine could happen just because it is pretty rare for people to do these 2 subjects simultaneously, so I'm really glad I found her!

Work piles up really fast, and by work, I don't mean homework that needs to be handed in, but just studying in general. In order to not fall behind, I must be constantly revising, pre-studying, thinking and working through questions.

Next week will be quite chaotic as I will be traveling, and potentially missing classes... I'll see how it goes

[penguin-ghost]

Week 1 - Uni Begins

So I’ve made it through week 1 of uni 🥳! Here is the weekly update:

Physics

Everything has been revision so far, and I guess that’s not a bad way of starting. We reviewed kinematics, dynamics and Newton’s laws.

Also, my lab tutor is a 2nd year PhD student in astronomy (which is a field of my interest), so that made lab very exciting despite the fact that our first experiment involved measuring the height of my desk (for illustrative purposes and commenting on the nature of doing experiments obviously).

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

The professor is extremely engaging, and the class is almost entirely based on discussions. We closely examined the first two arguments for the existence of God by Aquinas, whilst clarifying concepts such as validity, soundness and lemma (which I thought sounds rather cute). Besides the lectures, we also have weekly workshops, and our first session was just a really open space in which we could discuss philosophical concepts relevant (or sometimes slightly tangential) to the course material.

Linear Algebra

Vectors and vectors and vectors. Nothing was new until I watched the pre-lecture videos for next week where we are introduced to cross products. My high school physics teacher brought it up multiple times regarding its relevance to Electromagnetism (more specifically Maxwell’s Equations if I recall correctly), so it was fairly exciting to find out what it actually involves. I’m also starting to get used to the formal notations. And although I haven’t had a tutorial, the first worksheet looks pretty manageable.

Calculus of One Variable

Complex numbers! We basically had an introduction to complex numbers which I was already confident with. However, I was able to gauge the pace of the class, and I’m pretty sure once the introduction is over, things are gonna go pretty fast.

Introduction to Programming

The lectures were... pretty bad. But thank god it’s programming, and you learn by coding, not listening to the professor. The 2-hour lab was very fruitful for my learning, and I felt an immense sense of accomplishment when I was able to finally (after so many failed attempts at learning how to code) code something! I also managed to complete the Weekly challenge without much trouble.

Other comments

I participated in an online welcome event where I was able to chat to a Physics professor for an entire hour. He told me about his journey in STEM, his research in nanotechnology and what it’s like to be an academic. It was a really insightful and inspirational hour for me.

I met with my mentor group, and the biggest advice I received was to stay on top of things: try not to miss any lectures, and always catch up as soon as possible.

Uni offers so much freedom, and that is precisely what makes it so hard. I am still getting used to managing pre-studying, homework, after-class reviews and deadlines for all sorts of tasks. Things can quickly get out of control without a system.

I am really looking forward to week 2 where I might be able to learn some new concepts in Physics and Maths. Overall, week 1 was a nice start 🎓

[penguin-ghost]

Week 0 - What I am taking this semester

Uni starts next Monday!

As a Physics and Philosophy major, I’ve enrolled in 5 units of study this semester:

Physics 1A

This is introductory physics course, and I'm taking the advanced stream that will be more fast paced. We will cover 3 modules this semester:

Mechanics

Thermal Physics

Oscillations, Chaos and Waves

Physics is my main interest, and although the introductory class doesn’t have very exciting modern physics, I’m still pretty hyped about learning Physics at a more advanced level with a lot of maths.

Reality, Ethics and Beauty

This is an introductory philosophy class that discusses the central issues in metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics. We will begin with the philosophy of religion, and the reading for Week 1 is on Thomas Aquinas and his five ways. I've never formally studied philosophy, so I am also super hyped about this class too.

Linear Algebra

I think I'm excited for every class hahaha. We are required to watch pre-lecture videos (produced by the professor) to familiarise ourselves with the material, so that harder content and examples can be covered in the actual lectures. I genuinely enjoy this learning format, and I think it's effective for me. I've already watched and made notes on the first set of videos on Vectors in R^n and Vector Space. It doesn't take long to realise that uni maths is a lot more reliant on symbols rather than words, so I will have to get used to reading and interpreting them faster.

Calculus of One Variable

We will begin with complex numbers! This was my favourite maths topic back in Year 12. But I'm not sure how much of a revision it'll be - it's been more than 100 days since I've last touched any maths, let alone maths on the complex plane. And by the look of the unit schedule, the pace for the class is really fast. A little worried.

Introduction to Programming

I have attempted to learn how to code on at least 3 occasions. Never succeeded. It's got to a point where I don't even know what my attitude towards programming is anymore. Who knows, maybe it’ll be fun. It's also quite essential for my physics career so I will try to enjoy it as much as I can.

p.s. All of my classes are remote, as I am currently away from Campus, and I will be doing weekly updates on how I find uni.