An Apple A Day Won't Keep This Dr. Away

[tiredandstressed]

-snip-
I'm going to a toga party (the night before my 8am... pray for me). So those should be a good time

Ahhhh the joys of going to a party the day b4 an 8 am, an essential university experience. I remember when me and a couple of mates did this, we actually booked an Airbnb in the city so we could get to class on time. We ended up falling asleep around 4:30 only to get up by 7:30 to get to class XD
Unsurprisingly, we all ended up sleeping through our stats class and we had three more classes back to back (we did end up skipping bcoz we were so tired)
Hope you're able to have a better experience! But don't be too hard on yourself, these parties and events are part of the whole university experience.
Glad to see a positive update! Looks like you're really keen to get started which is great to see.
Looking forward to further updates
-T&S

[K.Smithy]

Ahhhh the joys of going to a party the day b4 an 8 am, an essential university experience. I remember when me and a couple of mates did this, we actually booked an Airbnb in the city so we could get to class on time. We ended up falling asleep around 4:30 only to get up by 7:30 to get to class XD
Unsurprisingly, we all ended up sleeping through our stats class and we had three more classes back to back (we did end up skipping bcoz we were so tired)
Hope you're able to have a better experience! But don't be too hard on yourself, these parties and events are part of the whole university experience.
Glad to see a positive update! Looks like you're really keen to get started which is great to see.
Looking forward to further updates
-T&S

Oh wow ahaha! Booking an Airbnb is definitely a smarter way to go about it I'm just gonna wing it and hope for the best.
I wouldn't feel too bad about sleeping through a stats class though... I would (even if I didn't go to a party the night before  ). Fortunately, I only have 2 classes on that day (a neuroscience tutorial - which I'll definitely stay awake for bc it should be interesting - and then a Science lecture - the lecturers are awesome and it was super engaging today, so I doubt I'll fall asleep). So fingers crossed everything will be ok ahaha.

[K.Smithy]

~Week 1 has Come to a Close~

Let me just say... I have had a fantastic first week!! My lecturers are freaking awesome. I made sure to spend some time chatting to them after classes - I have been given tones of helpful information for pursuing PhDs and have started making great connections with them. I've also met some more people from my degree and they are all lovely (making friends has certainly been much easier than I was expecting).
I had a few club meetings this week:
- I got to meet up with the German Club over a free cup of coffee _score
- I had a picnic with the Women in Science Association
- I had a club induction/lab tour/scavenger hunt with the Physics Association
I also went to a toga party on Wednesday night (going to bed at 2am and waking up at 5am for an 8am lecture really does not feel nice) and then had an undergraduate party on campus on Thursday (it ended at 7pm, thankfully ).
Overall, it was a very good week and I look forward to next week

I do, however, have a bit of work to get done over the weekend. My to-do list:
SCIE1100
- Complete pre-workshop questions on worksheet 2
- Start communication assignment
PHYS1001
- Complete workbook questions
- Complete pre-workshop readings and quizzes
- Complete EdX modules
- Review uncertainty _{this week kindly reminded me that I was shit at calculating uncertainty}
NEUR1020
- Complete EdX modules
MATH1050
- Complete preparation questions
- Complete quizzes

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

[K.Smithy]

~Midsem Break Can't Come Soon Enough~

Every cloud has a silver lining! The recent COVID outbreak in Brisbane has meant that we are in a three day lockdown - but I'd like to think that, thanks to COVID, midsem break is just being extended 
I was going to wait until next week to post an update, but, seeming as though I now have a tonne more time on my hands, why not post one now?

General Update

Life is    ~~H E C T I C~~    and I am slightly dying - but that's ok. My uni workload is a lot. I have assessment every single week and I am still trying to figure out how to balance everything. I haven't had any time to just sit down and study, as I've been to busy getting my next piece of assessment complete. I think I need to work smarter and rethink my study schedule.
I drove into uni for the first time this morning and that was really good. I ended up getting to campus almost 3 hours before my first class which gave me plenty of time to catch up on 2 lectures that I had to miss last Friday. Once uni starts back up (assuming the COVID situation is sorted) I intend on driving in early everyday to do work - that way I can get to bed early every night.

In non-workload news, I have made myself an amazing group of friends. They are, without a doubt, the only reason I have remained sane this semester. I met a few people before semester started and I still get to see and talk to them frequently, but I have met a group who share most of my courses. I think that uni has the potential to be such a lonely experience (I mean, on Wednesdays most of my friends stay home - so that's now the saddest day of the week ahaha), so I am extremely grateful to have met some amazing people to chill/procrastinate with everyday
With all of the friends that I have made and the clubs that I have joined, it is safe to say that my social life has never thrived this much before.

SCIE1100 Update

This course is so confusing... I don't even know what it is meant to be about... We are covering science communication, modelling, coding, general scientific knowledge... I'm very confused ahaha. The course is going well so far and the lecturers are amazing.
I've had 3 assignments and 1 exam, and I must say... the assessment has been quite interesting.
The 3 assignments were communication tasks (all of which I procrastinated doing and ended up starting and finishing the night before they were due). To my surprise I ended up with 100% on the first assignment (no complaints here ). I am yet to find out how I have performed on the other two.
The exam was weird. I feel pretty conflicted as it seemed pretty straightforward, yet I had no clue what some of the questions were asking me. I'm not too worried about it though as it's worth between 0-10%, depending on how well I do on the final.
I will be given another assignment this week. This time, it is a philosophy essay, which should be interesting

PHYS1001 Update

I BOTH LOVE AND HATE THIS COURSE SO MUCH.
Physics - love it, it's amazing, could spend my whole life studying it
PHYS1001 - wtf.
I may love physics, but this course makes me think that these feelings are not mutual.
Lets start with the content: it should all be simple... We learnt most of it in high school.... yet, somehow, it has become so overcomplicated that I now understand nothing. I thought I knew things, oh how wrong was I... I really just need to knuckle down and find time to study properly - that is a major goal of mine for the midsem break.
Lets talk about assessment: I HATE LABS WITH A BURNING PASSION. THEY ARE THE EXACT REASON I WANT TO GO INTO !!THEORETICAL PHYSICS!! AND NOT EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS
I don't want to sugarcoat things and pretend that I am tracking really well in this course... because I'm not. I do find it very embarrassing to admit as I love physics so much and it's what I want to devote a large chunk of my life to, but I am struggling with PHYS1001. The content I can work on and should be fine with given some practice. The labs on the other hand     
I barely passed my first lab, and failed my second. These are worth 20% of my final grade. Am I willing to work to improve? Absolutely!! Do I know what to do to improve? Absolutely not!!
How do labs in PHYS1001 work?, you may be wondering... We are given three hours to conduct an experiment. We produce our own methodology to gather the data we need. We then have to do some error propagation. And, the worst part, write an entire lab report to hand in at the end of the three hours... We are given no instructions and virtually no help. Now, I have no issue with experimentation, collecting data, writing reports... I can do that all... What I can't freaking seem to do is error propagation. You see, in highschool the most I ever had to do when it came to calculating uncertainty was: (x_max - x_min)/2...
Do YoU kNoW hOw MaNy FoRmUlAe ThErE aRe FoR ErRoR pRoPaGaTiOn?!?!?!
I went into the labs and they were like "You should be familiar with error propagation, but if not, these labs are meant to help you develop those skills."... The catch? They can't answer our questions and actually help us      I am trying to teach myself how to propagate and combine uncertainties BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING AND CAN'T GET HELP ... I've just settled with the fact that I will not be doing amazing in this course.

Anyway, on to better things...

NEUR1020 Update

This course doesn't really go beyond high school psych so I'm ~thriving~. The 2-hour zoom lectures kinda suck tho... I did fall asleep in one the other week... my camera was on... yes, it was embarrassing. This is a nice course because I don't really need to study. I just review my notes before the module quizzes and I've been doing really well so far.
I get given a research claim essay this week and it is going to be very boring. Essentially, my entire assignment is just me analysing the strengths and weaknesses of psychological studies and identifying the dependent and independent variables     
I was hoping to do something more exciting but that's ok.

MATH1050 Update

I don't really have much to say about this course. I'm tracking alright. The content isn't too difficult. No complaints really.
I handed in my first assignment for it last week and I accidentally saw my result (it wasn't meant to be released yet). I apparently got a 25/26 but that may be subject to change as they haven't been finalised.
I have a midsem exam coming up in a couple weeks time, so I will start preparing for that ASAP


That's all I've got for this update. I might start posting to-do lists to keep myself on track during the break. I hope everyone is doing well!

[The Cat In The Hat]

How goes it?

[K.Smithy]

~Semester 1 Has Come to a Close~

Despite the ups and downs, my university experience thus far has been fantastic. Sure, I hated PHYS1001 (with SCIE1100 also being a bit of a bust). And sure, I should have had more of a focus on my academics. We live and we learn and I wouldn't have it any other way. This semester has been such a fantastic learning experience

To start this update off with some positivity, I have a list of the things I am most grateful for this semester:

• The incredible social network that I have made: I am incredibly grateful to have so many amazing friends at uni - I think uni has the potential to be such a lonely experience (especially at a campus as big as St Lucia), so I feel very fortunate to not be alone.
• The amazing lecturers I have had the pleasure to learn from
• Some of the assessment items have been pretty cool
• The endless social opportunities I have made the most of
• The learning opportunities that this semester has provided

General Update Since Last Post

.... I never ended up finding time to just sit down and study.... the only time I studied this entire semester was during SWOTVAC.... needless to say, I am not feeling confident about my performance on the finals (bar one). One thing I desperately need to work on next semester is work/study/social life balance. Academics definitely wasn't my focus for this semester (being a first generation uni student I didn't feel I needed that extra pressure straight off the bat). However, I really wanna put my head down and work next semester and start focusing on the quality of work I produce and actually getting some effective study done.

On that note, since the last update I've had quite a few assessment pieces to hand in and results I've received:
SCIE1100

• I did quite well on most of the communication assignments for SCIE1100. I got 4/4, 4/4, 3/4, 3/4, 2/4 (whoops), and 4/4 (this last one was my favourite - the task was to muse on what the provided statement meant about scientific disciplines and scientific communication)
• I got a 6 for the midsem - I'm not super happy about, but it was reassuring going through the marking scheme and seeing that majority of the marks I lost were from stupid mistake (e.g. forgetting units).
• I got a 6 for the philosophy essay (that kinda hurt but ok... lol). Writing essays is something I quite enjoy and I get very self-critical of the work I hand in, so getting a 6 didn't feel very good (my brain took it as an attack on my ability to write - when it definitely wasn't). I was reassured when the first comment I received on it was: "This is exceptionally well written and I enjoyed reading it."... That made me feel better. Turns out my understand of Kuhn was wrong - which I'm confused about because I had sources that supported everything I said, but it is what it is I guess.
• I got a 7 on my python assignment - I was pleasantly surprised by this one as I taught myself an entire semester's worth of coding in one day and wrote up the assignment the next... So I thought I would do terribly, but I won't complain ahaha
• I had the final last Tuesday and I think it went ok.. Hopefully better than the midsem

PHYS1001
Oh gosh how I hate this course...

• The problem sets went alright. I got a 6 for the first two and finally got myself a 7 for the last one (thank you thermodynamics!!!)
• The labs actually suck. I got a 5.3, 3.5, 5.5, and 4.3.... Yay... we scraped a pass ahahaha
• I had the final on Friday and.....  .... It was definitely something... right now I'm just hoping I passed the hurdle because I really don't want to retake this course
  NEUR1020
  
  • For the module quizzes I've done quite well. I got 5.5/6, 5/6, 5/6, 5.5/6 and 5/6
  • For my research claim essay I got a solid 5.... RIP  I had an entire 6 weeks to write it... did I leave it for the night before? Of course I did. It was worth 33% of my grade... whoopsies. Oddly enough, majority of the marks I lost were from my intro and conclusion - the actual contents of my essay were fine
  • Had final today and I think it went very well. I don't have any issues with the content. It clicks well with my brain. I finished the entire exam in 20 minutes.
  MATH1050
  
  • For each of the problem sets I got a 7
  • For the midsem I got a 6 - I was one mark away from a 7 
  • I had the final on Friday.... I thought it would be a breeze.... It was far from a breeze.... It wasn't even a step up from the midsem - it was an entire leap... Once again, I'm just hoping I passed the hurdle
  
  
  The Plan from Here?
  Assuming I don't fail any of the finals, I will be taking the following courses next semester:
  
  • PHYS1002 (Electromagnetism and Modern Physics): I'm excited for this one! It should definitely be a step up from 1001. The content look really interesting and I know one of the lecturers is absolutely fantastic! Though, one of my friends was telling me about how it doesn't have such great reviews on UQ Review. Apparently it's really difficult - but I think the difficulty will be worth it for the interesting content
  • MATH1051 (Calculus and Linear Algebra): I have really enjoyed 1050 this semester and look forward to continuing my study of mathematics next semester. While I've never had the lecturer for this course, I've heard she is fantastic
  • SCIE1200 (Introduction to Science Research): I am beyond excited for this course! The content looks really good and so does the assessment. Also, research is where I wanna go in the future so I think this course will be a fantastic learning experience
  • STAT1301 (Advanced Analysis of Scientific Data): I don't care too much for stat. Though I can appreciate how useful it will be in the future. I'm just hoping it'll be easy ahaha
  
  
  

  How goes it?
  

  
  Heya! Its going pretty good Certainly been a hectic end to the semester but I'm still loving uni 

[K.Smithy]

~Results Come Rolling In~

Picture this: It's roughly 8am on a cold, winter's morning. You have no desire to leave the comforting embrace of your weighted blanket, but a flickering light to your left begs desperately for your attention. Reaching out quickly, in an attempt to ensure that your encounter with the brisk air is as brief as possible, you grab the very thing seeking your attention - your phone. Message after message from the "pAiN kILleRs" (the group chat consisting of a large chunk of your uni friends) occupies the screen. Well... this surely can't be good. Below the barrage of attacks on your confidence lies a text from UniQLD, "Hi y/n" the preview reads... Oh no. It's results day... You forgot that was today.... After a long wait, they're here. Your quivering thumb hovers over the notification before a burst of courage forces you to open it.

Results

They were much better than expected lol. A couple days ago I was looking at the dates for supplementary exams and the process for requesting them as I thought I'd have to retake PHYS1001 and potentially MATH1050. But nope  we all ~Gucci~. My overall GPAs for each course are as follows:
SCIE1100
6
PHYS1001
6 - surely a mistake
NEUR1020
6 _{I was 1 mark off of a 7  def should've put more effort into that essay}
MATH1050
6
I don't feel deserving of these results given the lack of effort I put in, but that does also make me feel more confident about next semester. I will put my head down and actually study. I'm hoping to develop a good routine early on and maintain it, and hopefully I might see some 7s next semester
My goal is to make better use of the tutorial and workshop times. I never went to any of my MATH1050 workshops and I didn't even catch up on the worksheets in my own time (which probably would've been helpful for the exam). I will also make better use of the physics tutorial times. In sem 1, I would go to them but I never did any practice questions - I spent the entire time talking to my friends. In SCIE1100 workshops, I would go to them because they were compulsory but I'd spend the entire time playing online chess or whatever (really, I would do anything but actually put effort into the worksheets we had to complete). So, that is no more! I will actually utilise my classes!

I put in my timetable preferences last week and this is what I'm hoping for:


The practicals on Monday and Tuesday only occur once a fortnight, so that's nice. I'm hoping that the SCIE1200 tutorial will be optional, that way I can take every second Monday off, and every Thursday and Friday off (I don't think I will find the SCIE1200 tutorials to be of much use, but if I do then I may go to some of them).

As you can see, PHYS1002 - just like PHYS1001 - doesn't have any lectures. But it's ok... because I have devised a plan. I have gone through the list of topics we will be covering and all the textbook chapters and stuff, and I have found lectures from other universities that have been uploaded to Youtube. I am determined to get my lecture fix in and if this is how I have to do it then so be it.

Anywho, that's all I have for now I'll probably update again in the coming weeks once timetables are finalised.

I hope everyone is doing splendidly!

[K.Smithy]

~Semester 2 is Right Around the Corner~

Ahhhh It has been a fantastic break. I am incredibly fortunate enough to have been able to catch up with some friends from high school. Most of my cohort are studying at QUT - only 5 or 6 (out of the ~150 of us) chose UQ. However, most of them are studying law or some form of humanities so I never see them around anyway. So it's definitely been good being able to see how everyone is going and what they've been up to since graduation. God, I miss high school sometimes. Don't get me wrong, uni is fantastic and I definitely prefer it to high school. But I do miss the people, the community, that I had to leave behind after graduating. I do get sad sometimes when I realise just how many people I had to say goodbye to. I'll scroll through my Facebook or Instagram feed and it's full of people from my cohort hanging out and studying together at university. It just reminds me of how many friends I have, who I spent so long getting to know and making memories with, that I rarely see nowadays.
Well... that was a lot more depressing than I had originally anticipated... This is meant to be a happy, up-beat entry... Whoops ahaha.

(Exciting???) Life Updates:
So, after months and months and months of being unemployed I have finally landed myself a job (which is fantastic because my broke ass can't afford to live at this rate). I did realise recently that the length of my unemployment was likely a fault of my own.... You see, now don't laugh at me, but my parents have preached "stranger danger" to me ever since I was young. This mindset extended to phone calls - I was never allowed to answer the phone at home. So... therein lies the problem. I had applied to so many (and I mean SO MANY) jobs, and every time I did that I gave them my phone number. Now for months I have been receiving so many calls from unknown numbers that, because of "stranger danger", I didn't pick up.......... Who knows how many of them were potential employers....... Whoops. BUUUUUUT, a couple weeks ago I got a call from a random number and decided, "You know what, I'm gonna pick this one up. I'm feeling adventurous." And thank God I did because I had landed myself a job interview with Art of Smart Education.
Long-story short, the interview went well and I got the gig I was also asked if I was interested in another position, which I had my interview for today (the girl who took my interview was super friendly, it was probably one of the chillest job interviews I've ever taken. She said my interview was "Awesome"  ). Anywho, I digress, the position I was interviewed for today is one in which I get to produce resources for QLD students (so practice exams and problem-sets, stuff like that). Which sounds pretty sick to me.
So I am a tutor and potentially a resource writer person ahaha. Now, this is going to be a bit of work. It's expected that I will work 10 hours a week if I get the writing position, and I have agreed to take 3 students a week (there are no set lesson durations but I'm expecting 1-2 hours per student). So, it'll definitely ramp up my workload but that's ok.

In other news, I'm going on a space camp next week so that should be cool as  The UQ physics club is heading out to Avoca Vale for 4 days to do star gazing. Don't ask me what we'll be doing in the day time because I have no clue. But I'm excited to go nonetheless. There's no reception though, so I am mentally preparing to lose the 742 day streak I have with someone on snapchat 

Finalised Timetable:

This is my timetable. I ended up getting all of my first preferences. They did make some changes to contact hours though, which means instead of having two one hour lectures per week for SCIE, I have 1 three hour lecture every week for the first half of semester. For the second half I will have pracs in that time, so there are no clashes It appears that the pracs will be online (unless they haven't set a building for it yet) which would be nice because then I can take Mondays off. I'm thinking of taking Fridays and Mondays off, if that's the case, because then I can have a four day weekend and get tonnes of work done 
As you can see I've also allocated times for study for each course (I made sure that each course gets the recommended 10-12 hours a week). However, once I start tutoring this will likely look a lot different.

Now, with the significantly increased workload I have next semester, I have adopted a new plan of attack for assessment. I trialed it at the end of last semester and it worked really well... The whole idea is that I will start my assignments as soon as I get them, instead of leaving them until the last minute. Honestly guys, it worked a charm at the end of last semester. I highly recommend it. I would've probably failed a few assessment pieces if I hadn't done it.


Ok, well I think that's all I have for now. I may update again with my thoughts on each of my new courses once the ECPs are released.
I hope everyone is doing well!
Katelyn

[K.Smithy]

~First Week Done and Dusted~

On the last week of break I was fortunate enough to go away for 4 days with the UQ physics club to spend some time star gazing. Though, not much star gazing actually took place. I think the get-away was more so an excuse for everyone to get together and drink. My friends and I weren't aware of everyone else plans to drink so we came unprepared. Nevertheless, it was a good trip. I got to know my uni mates better and I look forward to hopefully going away again next year

The first week back was very good. It was a lot more busy than I anticipated however (I have three assignments to do already  ). I was planning to get some stuff done on the forums this week but I just wasn't ready for how busy life would become. Hopefully next week I'll smash out some posts - fingers crossed. So far I've been doing a very good job at keeping on track with my study schedule, so I am feeling quite confident right now about how the semester will track.

First Impressions

PHYS1002
This course is already so much better than 1001. Omg I can't put into words how nice it feels to finally understand physics content again!! The module 1 lecturer seems very nice so far, but I am really looking forward to having the module 3 lecturer as I had him for SCIE1100 last semester and he was fantastic.
MATH1051
My lecturer is adorable!!! She is the sweetest human being I've ever met  I adore her. I very much look forward to her lectures this semester. The course itself seems pretty good. Really easy so far as all we've done is review functions. There are only two components to this course: calculus and linear algebra (2/3 of the course is calculus though) so I'm not too worried. I don't think it will be too difficult. That being said, 30% of students enrolled in this course last semester failed. So....
Assessment: I got my first assignment on Friday and aim to start that today. I have to use Matlab though and I don't know how that works, so I'll have to figure that out.
SCIE1200
This course is interesting. The three hour lectures are kind of sucky but it is what it is. We are just watching research seminars and taking notes on the aims and findings of studies. It's kind of weird but interesting.
Assessment: I got my first assignment on Thursday. I have to write 2900 words  ... It's due in two weeks... we haven't finished the content... we have to write a literature review.... we haven't learnt how to write a literature review...  I aim to start this today.
STAT1301
idek what we're meant to be learning. The lecturer speaks so slowly... In the last lecture of the week we only answered 1 question. I don't know what's happening but I'm hoping it will sort itself out.
Assessment: I got my first assignment on Wednesday. It's just a statistical review so it should be easy. I will start and probably finish that today.

General Life Update

I had my first tutoring session today. My student is awesome and we get along really well. I will be taking them for year 11 biology. They have their research investigation due soon so we spent the entire 1.5 hours going over that - just breaking down each individual section and the requirements to meet all of the ISMG criteria points. Was good fun. I will be doing weekly lessons with them on Friday afternoons over Zoom; I very much look forward to our next lesson.

Weekend To-Do List:

• Read textbook pages 625-643 and 652-672 for PHYS1002
• Complete reading quiz for PHYS1002
• Go over the EdX content for 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 for PHYS1002
• Go over the EdX content for 2.11-3.6 for MATH1051
• Review workshop questions in advance for MATH1051
• Rewatch the Monday lecture for SCIE1200 _{because I low-key fell asleep during it...}
• Read chapter 2 and 3 of the lecture notes for STAT1301
• Complete the tutorial questions in advance for STAT1301
• Review Unit 1 bio content for tutee
• Start assignment for MATH1051
• Start assignment for SCIE1200
• Start assignment for STAT1301

[K.Smithy]

~Lockdown Or Really Long Extended Weekend???~

So, COVID may have stopped a lot of things from going ahead on campus, but it has not yet halted my motivation!  I was kinda hoping to get my shit together this week, but I didn't - maybe that was just an overly ambitious goal  Though I am happy with what I have achieved as I did get through most of my to-do list.
I actually quite enjoy the whole online learning thing. It means I don't have to leave my house by 6:30am to make sure I get parking on campus. I can roll out of bed a few minutes before my class if I wanted to (or 36 minutes into the class if you take my 8am MATH1051 workshop, for example). I quite miss my friends though, so I spend quite a lot of time on discord chatting with them (I was peer-pressured into downloading it a couple days ago and I'm glad I did bc it is fantastic still being able to chat with them during classes). I was worried that video chatting friends during lectures would be a distraction, but it actually keeps me focused and zoned in - it's probably helpful though that our conversations rarely deviate from the content lecturers are discussing.
Anywho, despite lockdown potentially ending for my area this Sunday (unlikely), UQ will be shut for the entirety of next week. There have been a few cases amongst students (I'm pretty sure this outbreak was actually a result of a UQ student unknowingly having COVID), so a lot of UQ buildings have been deemed high risk exposure sights. Also, majority of my lecturers are close contacts and have to self-isolate for two weeks anyway.

Course Update

PHYS1002
Still a fantastic course. For the most part I am understanding the content quite well, but we did go over quite a tricky integral last workshop and I had a bit of trouble following it. I think it may have been a result of the lecturer choosing whacky variables, but I'm sure I will be fine if I review it a little more
MATH1051
The lecturer is still adorable. I am struggling a bit with MATLAB though. I will definitely have to get some more practice in, but
Assessment: I have almost finished the first assignment. I am just a bit stuck on the last question. If I'm to be honest, I'm not sure I quite understand what it's even asking for. But it's not due until Thursday so I have plenty of time to figure it out.
SCIE1200
COVID has really messed with this course. With going online it messed with the course schedule. We were meant to watch the last research seminars on Monday so that we could hand in assignments by next Thursday. But we couldn't do that, so we finished them yesterday.
Assessment: Thankfully, they pushed the assignment back a week. I haven't started yet but I'm think I'll do the significant piece on Optomechanics (the options were beer making, dynamical systems, coastal geography, and opto - I was gonna do dynamical systems but opto seems both easier and more interesting). I will hopefully (fingers crossed) start this tomorrow. If not, I'll start on Sunday
STAT1301
I still don't know what we're meant to be learning  we are still only getting through one question a lecture... except, last lecture I don't think we even got through any of the assigned questions... the lecturer just made random graphs on R for an hour... On that note, I really don't know how R works ahaha. We were also told that learning R isn't really a part of the course and we will just have to teach ourselves (I don't really have the time for that but ok). I am quite concerned about the pace of the course... We were meant to be going through chapter 3 this week and moving onto 4 next week... we're still on chapter 1 
Assessment: I finished my statistical review pretty quickly ahaha. The hardest part was finding a paper I could use for it. I have to do an ethics review later on in the semester, so I tried to find a paper I could also use for that.

General Life Update

I had my second tutoring session with my yr 11 biology student today and it was fantastic. We covered the entirety of the "Energy and Metabolism" subtopic from Unit 1, Topic 1.
I also picked up a second student this week. I will now also be tutoring yr 12 biology which is exciting as I am more familiar with that content (there's also more resources available for it which is helpful). I had my "kickstarter" with that student yesterday and we devised a plan of attack for the next 13 lessons leading up to the external. Should be fun 
I also ended up getting a couple writing positions with my tutoring company. So I will be writing lesson study guides for QCE physics, as well as general study articles/practice questions. So I'm now under 3 different contracts with this company which is fun to keep track of ahaha. I've had to get pretty good at invoicing very quickly lol. I have already been assigned my first article and lesson guide to write - both are due next week.

Weekend To-Do List:

• Readings for PHYS1002
• Quiz for PHYS1002
• EdX for PHYS1002
• EdX for MATH1051
• Complete lesson resource AOS
• Complete article AOS
• Prepare for yr11 bio tutoring session AOS
• Prepare for yr12 bio tutoring session AOS
• Finalise MATH1051 assignment
• Start SCIE1200 assignment

[K.Smithy]

~Getting Back to Business (sort of)~

Online uni has been a hoot. I'm really enjoying it I get to save a lot of time by skipping the gruelling drives during peak-hour traffic. Uni will slowly be returning to campus come next week. Though, I think I only have three in-person classes all week (all lectures and workshops will be online). So, as far as I'm aware, I will only be on campus from 8am to 11am on Tuesday, and 1pm-2pm on Wednesday (so is it really worth going in on Wednesday? Idk...).

Course Update

PHYS1002
We're still going strong in this course. It's good stuff. We're getting close to the end of Module 1, so that's cool.
Assessment: I got my first assignment for the semester yesterday. I haven't had too much of a look at it yet but I hope I can get started on it this weekend. I also have a mastering physics activity due at the end of the week so I will get that done as well.
MATH1051
I handed in my first assignment the other day. It was pretty good. The last question took me quite some time to get but I had kept making silly mistakes that were taking me further and further from the answer, even though my plan of attack was correct.
Assessment: I got my second assignment the day I submitted the first. It looks interesting. Will hopefully get started on it this weekend.
SCIE1200
I am slowly working through the assignment. I hope to have bulk of it finished this weekend.
STAT1301
This course is still confusing 

General Life Update

I had my two biology students this week. Was very good. I look forward to next week.
I also picked up a third student who I will start working with next week - year 5 mathematics.
My first article went really well and they were very happy with it. So I am working on the second now. It's due Monday but I've made good progress on it.
My first lesson guide was also received very well. They were impressed with what I had come up with. The term hasn't been fully planned yet, so I won't be receiving my next lessons to write until that is finished. But once it is, I will be writing two a week.

Weekend To-Do List:

• Do readings for PHYS
• Do quiz for PHYS
• Do EdX for PHYS
• Do EdX for MATH
• Do readings for STAT
• Complete module 1 for the Leadership and Mentoring Program in Science
• Prepare for tutoring lessons AOS
• Finish article AOS
• Make significant progress on SCIE1200 assignment
• Start MATH1051 assignment
• Start PHYS1002 assignment

[Bri MT]

I'm glad to hear things are going well for you!

Btw, not at all surprised that your students had positive feedback for you

[K.Smithy]

~Bring on Week 5~

It's been a hectic, hectic week! I am writing this update earlier than usual because I will have 0 time to do it on the weekend 

Course Updata

PHYS1002
Assessment: Gotta finish the assignment
MATH1051
Assessment: Gotta finish the assignment and start studying for midsem
SCIE1200
Assessment: So close to finished. It's due tomorrow at 2pm. We also received the second assignment which is a literature review
STAT1301
Still confused about this course 

General Life Update

Haven't done any tutoring yet. I have 2 lessons this evening (yr 5 maths and yr 12 bio). My yr 11 student has asked to move their lessons to Saturdays, so my Friday evenings have freed up.
The second article went well, I am starting work on the third which is due Monday.
They've taken a guess as to what the plan will be and have assigned me some lessons to write. I have one due on Sunday and one due next Thursday.

To-Do List:

• Readings for PHYS
• Quiz for PHYS
• EdX for PHYS
• EdX for MATH
• Revise chapter 1 for MATH
• Revise chapter 2 for MATH
• Readings for STAT
• Quiz for STAT
• Prepare tutoring lessons AOS
• Write third article AOS
• Write first lesson AOS
• Write second lesson AOS
• Finish SCIE1200 assignment
• Start next SCIE1200 assignment
• Finish MATH1051 assignment
• Finish PHYS1002 assignment

I'm glad to hear things are going well for you!

Btw, not at all surprised that your students had positive feedback for you

Thank you! Too kind 

[K.Smithy]

~Another One Bites the Dust ~

This week was also another hectic one, but I was able to tick off most of my to-do list which is very good

Course Update

PHYS1002
Goodbye electricity and hello magnetism! Module 1 has come to a close and now we are doing all things magnetic    The new lecturer seems very knowledgable which is good. So far the content is relatively easy so hopefully it stays that way ahaha.
Assessment: I handed in my first physics assignment today and it was pretty interesting. The questions were pretty thought-provoking and, if I'm to be honest, I'm not entirely sure whether I got some of the questions correct but that's ok. This is a learning process 
MATH1051
This course has been good, as always
Assessment: I handed in my second assignment for this course on Thursday. It was certainly something ahaha. My midsem is in 2 weeks time so I am beginning preparation for that.
SCIE1200
This course is so weird lol. We don't actually learn anything. We just listen to people talk about research or we read scientific papers and then write about it
Assessment: My second assignment for this course is an abstract writing and figure analysis task. It's due next Friday so I'll hopefully make good progress on that over the weekend.
STAT1301
I don't like this course, and I don't think this course likes me  On the upside, we have been doing distributions in the past few lectures which is good because I somewhat remember that from methods.

General Life Update

I had my lessons with my yr 5 and yr 12 students yesterday. They were very good lessons - lots of fun. I will have my yr 11 tomorrow afternoon.
I wrote two physics lessons this week and am yet to be assigned any for next week. I have an article due on Monday which I will start tonight.
I had to pick my sister up from school this afternoon while my parents got their second covid jab. As I was doing that I got to catch up with my high school physics teacher which was fantastic  It was so good getting to talk to her.

To-Do List:

• Readings for PHYS
• Quiz for PHYS
• EdX for PHYS
• Module 1 review for PHYS
• EdX for MATH
• Midsem prep for MATH
• Readings for STAT
• General study for STAT
• Complete module 2 for Leadership and Mentoring Program in Science
• Write article AOS
• Write PHYS12 lesson AOS
• Write PHYS12 SHE AOS
• Prepare lessons AOS
• Make good progress on SCIE1200 assignment

[K.Smithy]

~Overdue Update~

Wow, it's been some time since I have updated this. My life has been so hectic since the last update.
Since the last update I have completed:
- the second LaMPS module review,
- a literature review for SCIE1200,
- a MATH1051 mid-semester exam,
- a PHYS1002 lab report,
- a team oral presentation for SCIE1200,
- another seminar review for SCIE1200,
- the third MATH1051 assignment,
- the second PHYS1002 assignment

I'm yet to find out how I went on most of these.
All I know is that for the PHYS1002 lab report I got a 5 (which is big improvement from last sem - but hoping to do better on the second and third), for the MATh1051 midsem I got 50%  (which I wasn't happy with until I found out it was above the class average), and the MATH1051 assignment I got 15.5/20 (they mark so harshly and its killing me).

I'm seriously struggling to get work and study done this semester. I've had three tutoring lessons a week where I have to prepare resources myself bc the company is currently developing them. Because two of my students have online lessons, it means I have been spending hours each week making powerpoints to deliver the content. I'm also on the content development team, so I am one of the people who are working on the resources that tutors will eventually use once we finish them up. I am on physics duty, so I write two lessons a week. Each has at least 38 questions and numerous content blocks with lots of theory. They take hours and hours to write. I then write an article every week which can range from practice questions to entire practice exams, or guides to completing certain assessment pieces all the way to example assessment pieces. These also take a good few hours to write each.
Sooo... as you could imagine, with the near constant assessment and this workload, I am slightly dying

I'm seriously concerned I'm going to fail stat because its really difficult and the lecturer isn't very good. Physics is ok, content wise, so I'm not too concerned about it... I thought I was doing fine in MATH1051, but that midsem proved otherwise. SCIE is still the weirdest course and the final project scares me (i have to write about qubits and energy levels and schrodingers equation - it's all 2nd year physics stuff that we haven't been taught and some maths that I am yet to learn and will have to teach myself in order to complete the report  ).

Thankfully, I get a few weeks of a break from tutoring so I am going to make the most of that and try to get some good study done. My year five student has seen improvement with their grades so we will be taking a break from lessons until she needs me again. My year 11 student is just started grade 12 content, so they will be waiting for their teacher to start delivering the content before we continue with lessons. My year 12 students is preparing for exams now, we just completed our last content-based lesson this week so for the next three weeks it'll be straight exam prep - which means I wont have to make powerpoints (which saves me a lot of time).
I will have finished the entirety of U3/4 physics content for the lesson writing this week. I'm hoping the company gives me a bit of a break before starting year 11 lesson writing. If not, I might ask to drop down to 1 lesson a week for the tail end of semester so I can spend more time preparing for exams.

I would do an individual course update but I think I can sum it all up in: "I am dying". I feel that perfectly encapsulates the present situation.

To-do list for the week:
- finish the STAT ethics review that is due Monday (we're very close to finished  )
- finish the final LaMPS reflection that is due Monday
- finish the PHYS lab report that is due Tuesday (we're very close to finished  )
- finish the MATH assignment that is due on Thursday (we're very close to finished  )
- write the two physics lessons that are due this week
- do some general MATH1051 study
- do some general PHYS1002 study
- do some general STAT1301 study
- get started on STAT project
I'm still enjoying uni and am as motivated as ever. I just wish I had more time to really appreciate the process of learning and be able to get some study done. Hopefully everything will sort itself out next year...