New Semester

Semester 2 of the academic year 2008/2009 is about to begin. Now where is that seatbelt?

I was hoping that after the roller-coaster ride that was Semester 1, I could breathe a little easier this time round. Yes, I will be taking GEK1544: The Mathematics of Games, in spite of having a frightful aversion to numbers. But I will also have my lovely Zhenli to keep my head above the water. (Zhenli, I just read the module description and I think I will be depending on you a lot this semester.) And for that I am wonderfully grateful.

So those are just numbers. Nothing to fear, right? (Right?)

Reading the description of a Sociology module however, placed me in greater anxiety. Here it is, quoted wholesale:

"THE COURSE IS NOT SUITABLE FOR THE FOLLOWING PERSONS:

1. If you are a FIRST YEAR student, it is advisable that you wait till your third year to take this course. Past experience shows that first year students dont have the intellectual tools or maturity to read third year modules. They have to compete with more advanced students in their third and Honours year (many of whom are single-majors in sociology), and as a result they feel lost in class, and do badly in grades. This course is offered every year, so be patient and wait till your 3rd or 4th year to read the module.

2. If you are looking for HANDOUTS/NOTES, do not take this module. There are NO handouts in class, there are no power-point lecture notes for you to download, nothing for you to copy! Anyone taking this module has to listen and make your own notes. You may have to learn speed-dictation as lectures may be delivered at rapid fire.

3. If you are fishing for an EASY module, this is not it. The term papers demand quite a lot of research input, tutorials are demanding, and past year exam questions are no guide to the present. Are you sure you want to go through all these ?

4. You have to prepare for TUTORIALS. If an assignment is sent to you via email or posted on IVLE, you have to bring it to class for discussion. If not, we will not hesitate to ask you to leave the room. We don't like lazy people riding on others who have prepared for their assignments. It is very unethical and irresponsible to depend on others that way.

5. If you are looking for PERSONAL VALIDATION, this course is not the vehicle for that. In fact, you'll get the opposite: you will feel slighted or ignored as the lecturer cannot remember your name, very often doesnt give you eye contact, and doesnt have time to answer your email. Part of the reason is due to SIZE of the class: you cannot expect equal attention in a class of over 100 students. If you want to be remembered and loved by lecturers, you should take smaller classes of ten to thirty.

6. If you have timetable CLASHES with another module, you have to drop either one. No new tutorial groups will be created just to cater to one or two oddballs and there are just no rooms available for new groups."

Oh my oh my oh my. I am quite alright with most of the points, harsh as they are, but it is the second point that is most worrying for me. I forsee that I will be struggling with note-taking along the course of the semester. Perhaps I could bring in a video-camera to record the lecture.

Otherwise, life is the usual sunshine, rainbows and butterflies. Varsity Voices 2009 is coming up in February, on the 21ST. I am looking forward to that immensely, and hopefully I will be able to grasp all the songs in time. Wish me luck!