Yay school

[SkyHog]

I started school on Monday, and now, after the first week, I feel comfortable giving my first impressions of UNM (this is being typed/posted from a lab that I don't need).

The school is really neat, and there are some really cute girls here. That is one of the best features of this school. It is a really big campus, so giving myself 10 minutes between classes was a really dumb mistake. Live and learn.

There are 2 classes I am required to take for my major this semester, and both are kind of jokes so far. One is Social and Ethical Issues in Computing, and the other is Fundamentals of Programming. The Ethics class is self explanatory as to why it is useless, but the fundamentals class is supposed to be a Java class, which should be useful, but the first week has been "This is a mouse, here is what it does." Sigh.

I am taking two math classes - Triganometry and Pre-Calculus. Both teachers are very Hungarian, and I can't understand a word that my Trig teacher is saying. My pre-calc teacher is a lot better, and she's hot, too. This semester will be full of me teaching myself trig tho.

I am taking a Technical Writing course as well, and I love it. The best part is that I hate English classes usually, but this is great - English, with a useful purpose! The teacher is funny, too. Bonus. Finally, a good English class.

I have two labs, Physics Lab, and the Fundamentals of Programming Labs. Physics should be fun, but this programming lab (where I'm at now...) is a joke. Teacher just said "Your program must compile, if it doesn't I won't grade it." No kidding. Sigh.

I sound cynical, but its early, and I hate being talked down to. Oh, and in both programming classes, there is a guy that sits in the front and heckles the teacher. Yesterday, the prof called Word a text editor. Oh no, the guy stands up and says "Its a word processor, do you know the difference?" Sigh.

 

[Bill]

IThe school is really neat, and there are some really cute girls here. That is one of the best features of this school.

Good to see you have your priorities straight!

Both teachers are very Hungarian, and I can't understand a word that my Trig teacher is saying.

I remember those, we had a Chinese guy teaching third year E&M, and his first words to the class "In this class, we're going to spend a lot of time talking about impotence" (much laughter) "What so funny? Impotence very serious subject. " (even more laughter)

Oh, those were the days...

 

[mikea]

Good to see you have your priorities straight!



I remember those, we had a Chinese guy teaching third year E&M, and his first words to the class "In this class, we're going to spend a lot of time talking about impotence" (much laughter) "What so funny? Impotence very serious subject. " (even more laughter)

Oh, those were the days...

I had a Chinese TA in my overcrowded frosh physics class, "Pee Wee eeekwalls en arr tee" Nobody laughed.

 

[Bill]

I had a Chinese TA in my overcrowded frosh physics class, "Pee Wee eeekwalls en arr tee" Nobody laughed.

Yup, and finding the "geero" of the equation. Then the Indian guy teaching diff eq's: take the derryberry of the equation...

 

[RotaryWingBob]

Had one of those in my differential equations course at M.I.T., T. C. Kuo, if I remember correctly (this was 1962 or 3, I think). He kept saying "arfa nurr". It took a week or so for anybody to figure out he was trying to say: "Alpha null"...

 

[EdFred]

Nick,

I thought you were moving to MN ???

 

[Earthroamer]

I have two labs, Physics Lab, and the Fundamentals of Programming Labs. Physics should be fun, but this programming lab (where I'm at now...) is a joke. Teacher just said "Your program must compile, if it doesn't I won't grade it." No kidding. Sigh.

I sound cynical, but its early, and I hate being talked down to. Oh, and in both programming classes, there is a guy that sits in the front and heckles the teacher. Yesterday, the prof called Word a text editor. Oh no, the guy stands up and says "Its a word processor, do you know the difference?" Sigh.

Well just keep in mind, college isnt always about learning. More often than not, it's about how much crap you can take. Get the basics that you need and go learn real stuff later.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

the fundamentals class is supposed to be a Java class, which should be useful, but the first week has been "This is a mouse, here is what it does."

Nick... This is a "GPA Booster." It'll get better. Just don't completely blow it off, 'cuz there are some classes that start that way but if you look the other way they leave you behind.

I am taking two math classes - Triganometry and Pre-Calculus. Both teachers are very Hungarian, and I can't understand a word that my Trig teacher is saying. My pre-calc teacher is a lot better, and she's hot, too. This semester will be full of me teaching myself trig tho.

Nick, Nick, Nick... C'mon, man! Get your hot pre-calc TA to teach you the trig!

I am taking a Technical Writing course as well, and I love it. The best part is that I hate English classes usually, but this is great - English, with a useful purpose! The teacher is funny, too. Bonus. Finally, a good English class.

It's amazing what a difference a good teacher makes in the learning experience.

I sound cynical, but its early, and I hate being talked down to.

Almost every class is a joke until at least the third week, IME. And if it remains a joke, well, see the "GPA Booster" comment above. Engineering Economic Analysis - Attended the first two days and for each of the exams, and aced 'em all.

Another thing with college is that it is a test to see how much crap you can put up with. That's why a tech school will get you a job in that trade, but a four-year college degree can get you a zillion different jobs. There are a ton of jobs that want a degree, any degree, don't care what it is degree. My Primary CFI had a degree in Sociology, but it worked to get him an airline job!

 

[redcloud]

Nick:

I'm sure you'll do well. As far as the writing goes, you seem to like to do that. Are you aware that most technical writers make a nice income?! Don't get frustrated with the Ethics class and keep your conservative views to yourself on Campus or you'll pay dearly. Free Speech is really not the norm at most Universities!

Best wishes,

Scott

 

[kath]

"Ethics of Computing"? Is that like a course in "what evil things you can do to your users when they have accidentally deleted all their files or forgotten their password for the twelve thousanth time"?

--Kath

 

[tonycondon]

I learned to love the joke classes. this semester is Aerodynamics and Lab (All the math and stuff, already have done the theory), Controls and Stability, Vibrations and Aeroelasticity, and Composites. None of them will be easy, but Im excited to finally get to the core of my major and the classes I have been looking forward to.

 

[SkyHog]

Thanks, guys, I'm not discouraged, just amused.

And the hot Pre-Calc teacher is my prof, not the TA (she doesn't have a TA yet.....). Hot, sexy accent, comes from a country that probably didn't treat her very well...enough. I'll drive myself crazy that way.

 

[gkainz]

I had a prof from India who would state emphatically "for exam!" and start writing madly on the board with one hand and I swear erasing with the other. We were scribbling as fast as we could to catch what he was writing. When we finally asked him to slow down, he said "no need to write down" Further questioning finally resolved he was saying "for example", but with his accent, the "ple" part of "example" never came thru.

 

[ScottM]

Cool math!! I have been waiting all summer!!

Let me get a start on your trig stuff. One of the important concepts for you will be SOHCAHTOA

That means the Sine of an angle is the Oposite over the Hypotoneus
The Cosine is the Adjacent over the Hypotoneus
The Tangent is the Oposite over the Adjacent

In the picture the Hypotoneus is c, the adjacent is a, and the oposite is b

 

[Ghery]

Ah, yes. You bring back old memories. I remember our Taiwanese imports trying to teach statics and dynamics. Then the guy I had for linear algebra was teaching his first semester in this country from some eastern European country. Couldn't understand a word. Laid down the law to my major advisor after that adventure. If they prof didn't speak English as his native language I wasn't going near that classroom. It was hard enough learning the material from people who did speak it. I made one exception my last semester and took a seminar class from a prof who had escaped from Hungary after the 1956 revolution. But, I went to school with his daughter and I could understand him.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I remember having a Chinese chem TA who was "straight off the boat," had been in the US for a whole day by the time we first got him. We managed to figure out that he wanted us to call him "TT" because his name was some unpronouncable mess. He did improve, going from "Sipuh" to "Sim-poh" which was close enough that we realized he meant "Sample!"

For the most part, the problem was limited to TA's; Unfortunately economics pretty much limited the TA's to foreigners who couldn't get any other job.

However, I did have one professor, Dr. Law, who was so bad that some of us actually wrote a "Dr. Law to English translation dictionary" when we could actually figure out what he was saying. It was very difficult to understand him at all. At least he wasn't teaching a hard class, only ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS! I learned so little of what I really need to know in that class that I'm probably going to have to take it over again when I get back to school.