Last week I received my grades for the semester at Long Beach. I got two As and one B. These were upper division electrical engineering classes that students usually take junior or senior year.
One class was on assembly programming. It was my first real programming class, so I was concerned. Everyone I talked to said it was a difficult class. However, I thought it was one of the easier classes I have taken at Long Beach. All of the programming made sense to me and I understood most of the computer architecture concepts.
The second class covered analogue circuits such as current sources, amplifiers, and op amps. My earlier exposure to transistors was five years ago and much less theoretical, so I had a lot of background learning to do. All of the other students took the prerequisite class a few months before. I spent a lot of time in office hours and bought another textbook to help. I scored 1/10 on the first homework and 4/20 on the second one. I spent a lot of time learning things and working problems. By the end of the semester I learned everything I needed to and got an A.
My third class was on power systems. Since I took the prerequisite class last semester, I figured it would be the easiest of the three classes for me. However, it was the class I got a B in. I blame my low grade on the final. I only scored 5% above average. This was because all three of my finals were in 24 hours. I spent so much time preparing for the other two finals, I did not cover everything I wanted to for the last one.
For comparison, my comments on these classes at the start of the semester are also posted.
With these grades, my GPA is now above the minimum cut off to apply for the master's program at Long Beach. This is great.
However, the application period for the fall semester closed before my grades were posted. The soonest I can be accepted and start the program is spring 2013.
Since they have a cap on the number of units I can use for the master's degree before I am admitted, it is only practical for me to take one class next semester. The good news is the class is scheduled to be taught by the graduate adviser for the electrical engineering program. I will have a great opportunity to impress him by my performance in class. It is a graduate electrical engineering class in linear algebra.
While I should be excited about my grades (and I am), I am disappointed I cannot start the program this fall. I want to get on with my life, but I am stuck in the grey area of being a non-matriculated student for six more months. I can't even take a full load of classes like I did this past semester.
I am also sad for other reasons. I realized in May I graduated four years ago. Since then I have not attained any of the major things I would have described as success. I do not have a job. I am not in a degree program to further my education. I still live at home. I do not have the kinds of relationships I want with people. If four years ago I was asked to describe my idea of failure at this point in my life, this would be it.
Aw, that is so disappointing! Stupid deadline. But, your plan to take the class with the graduate advisor sounds excellent, and will only improve your graduate school experience in the long run.
ReplyDeleteYes, this may not be the ideal life situation that you envisioned when you graduated from Cal, but I hope you aren't forgetting about all of the amazing things you've done with your time. How many lives you've saved with your blood donations. How many people you've helped with your volunteer work. How many sights you've seen on your road trips. How much knowledge you've gained through your studies. How much closer to God you've come through your church involvement. Failure would be doing nothing with the time you've been given. In that sense, I'd say that you've spent your time in an A+ manner, friend.
Congrats on your grades! I'm sorry about not making the cut off, but you're now eligible so that's great!
ReplyDeleteSome people are just late bloomers. Look, the way I see it, 20 years from now, it won't matter that you got off to a late start. And like Amanda said, you've been productive in a lot of other ways during this time, so feel good about yourself Chris!
I'm really sorry to hear about this deadline, Chris. I know that it's a blow because now you're all geared and ready to go, and I can see how it's making you reflective of the past four years, but remember: you had a tough go after college, like a lot of people, but you've picked yourself up. You've already done all the hard work of getting yourself out of inertia-mode and back into action.
ReplyDeleteDon't let a couple of months delay get you down. You should be really proud of how far you've come and how fast. I remember talking to you about working toward a graduate program, and I never imagined that you would already be at this point by now. I couldn't believe when talking to you the other day how busy and how with-it you are now.
So, only look ahead. You're on track now with something that resonates with your heart, and a couple months means nothing in the long run. If you should only take one class, then only do that, but I would be very careful about how you spend the rest of your time. I think you should busy yourself as much as possible. Find other engineering related volunteer gigs, or research licenses or get more involved in the amateur radio stuff. Like I said earlier, you're a pro at getting involved with things out in the world, so go do it with all of your passions. Use this as an opportunity to get some related goals done before you dive head-first into the graduate program should you get in.
And yea, that linear algebra class is the perfect opportunity to show your mettle and passion to the adviser. And beware, higher level linear algebra is no walk in the park (although I doubt you'll be doing proofs). Obviously this class is by far the priority, no matter what you fill the rest of your time with. But as I've discovered, being busy with multiple things makes you more focused and effective when doing each individual activity.
Thank you for all of your positive comments :)
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