Happenings of October

My last post explained the negative things around me. In contrast, this is about the (mostly) good things going on around me. This is about the life I am building for myself.

College Fairs
As in years past, I am a volunteer alumni ambassador for Cal at college fairs at high schools and community colleges. I am working at seven events this year, and it is usually fun.

Looking around at the other college tables at these events, I realized how blessed I was to get into and attend a great school. When prospective students ask me what academic programs we are know for, I tell them Cal has the top departments in the country (according to U.S. News) for Chemistry, Computer Science, English, History, Psychology, and Sociology; the number two place for Biological Sciences, Math, and Statistics; number three for best undergraduate business and engineering programs; and a few dozen other disciplines to round out the top ten.

Then I explain how UCs are significantly cheaper than over half the other colleges at the fair. This year I also told people one of the latest recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics got his B.A. in Physics from Berkeley (like me and one of the other alumni volunteers). We sent 45 people to the Olympics in London. 17 of them earned medals, 11 of which were gold. I do not know how other schools advertise themselves to students.

A Bad Class
The professor for my Linear Systems Analysis class is in serious competition with a professor I had last year for the title of worst science professor I have ever had. He uses Power Point slides to try to teach us math. The slides have very few example problems and the homework questions are sparse as well. At least in Berkeley the professors could have the excuse of "I do research as a primary job, the teaching is just because I have to." At Long Beach there is no research imperative. The professors' only job is to teach. I do not even try to pay attention in lecture anymore. Instead I work on the problems in the lecture notes and the homework.

In the past I have let a professor's poor teaching skills allow me to think I can put in that same low level of work as a student. While this is a nice theory, tenured professors are guaranteed a job for life, even if every student in the class gives a poor evaluation. However, when I get my grade at the end of the semester no consideration will be given to how the professor did.

For the midterm and quizzes so far I have scored a few points below average. I have a lot of things to learn and get better at for future tests. The professor grades hard; for many problems he gives little if any partial credit.

Last Night
Last night was also good. This weekend was supposed to be a retreat at church. However, we could not get enough people signed up so we had to cancel. This is horrible because everyone who attends the retreat has a great experience; many people describe it as life changing. Since there was no retreat, the team gathered at someone's house and enjoyed carne asada, homemade salsa, and fresh guacamole. After that I went to a Halloween party at Ryan's house. I used my costume from a couple of years ago. I decided to call myself the coachman for hell. I played a couple of games of beer pong with Speed Racer. I also met a girl who was dressed as Anonymous complete with a Guy Fawkes mask. We talked about a movie both of us wanted to see and exchanged phone numbers.