7th Week: It's Not About Me

First of all, I would like to thank all of those who greeted me days around my birthday. To be honest, it was the best birthday that I had, because that's the first time I received a lot of personal greetings instead of a battalion singing the Birthday Song. Teehee... You're too many to mention, though. I might get exasperated. :P

Well, there's nothing new for this week... except I experienced a lot of firsts. LOL. But I will mention about it later.

Methinks Monday is the day that I don't really like. I don't know why. I think it's because it's Dr. Basilla's turn to talk, and many will rampage towards him to be his thesis advisees. Well, I really have no qualms if he will not choose me, but there is this ill-feeling churning me on inside. I don't know why.

Time-travel to Thursday. It's my Math 162 exam. That will be my last exam for the month. Or so I think. [To my contacts in Plurk, you might recall my "whinings" about my crush accidentally bumping into me and apologizing to me, but hey, the kilig moment is over. Let's get over it.] I didn't had enough time to finish the exam. It was fairly easy, but the time constraint killed me. It resulted to me not answering 2 out of 7 items. Hrngh...

Results for Math 150.2 exam was returned back. And I received a passing mark despite not answering 2 items worth larger points than most of the items. And, yes, our take-home exam was given last today. Did I mention that earlier? It was TOO hard. Trust Believe me.

Friday morning, I woke up early to submit the requirements that I lack for the scholarship. Hell. This is most of the time that I had a lot of first's. It's my first time to see a lot (and I mean A LOT) of people at the MRT. I waited for almost 1 1/2 hr. If not for Bess and my AI7 playlist, I would have been annoyed. Then after 2 decades hours, while I was getting out of Magallanes station, my ticket was rejected! Well, the reason was because I was on a MRT station for more than 75 minutes. So I, with a few others, went to the ticket office and we exited through a metal gate guarded by, well, a security guard.

I will be posting at some time (most probably later) the gifts I want to receive when I reach 21. Yay!

This week is a tough one, believe me.

Math 162 THV 2nd Boardwork

Attached here. Pardon the clarity.

Attachment: 2009-02-17-1952-16.rar

6th Week: Bittersweet Chocolate

Saturday. Math 123.2 exam. Like little puppies on a stormy night, some of us (including me) were afraid of what's to appear in the exam. It's because the last time we had our exam, the time allotted to us to answer it wasn't enough and it was extremely difficult. Surprisingly, this time, the exam came out easy and I answered it with confidence (except for the question about the Cantor set). We ate at Burger King after that and a long voting process on where to eat.

By Sunday, my heart thumps louder and louder. I will be having my scholarship orientation on Wednesday morning, Korean exam on Wednesday noon, and another Math [150.2] exam on Thursday. Yes, you got me: I had almost no time to review.

So came Wednesday. My mother and I woke up and got off early to go to Bicutan, Taguig (I bet she's excited, also given that a parent or guardian is required to attend the orientation and contract signing). To our relief, we got there earlier than the call time. We asked a speaker/coordinator there at what time will it finish, who promptly told us that it will be done at most 12. Luckily, the program ended up early and we just have to fill up the forms. I had a heated argument with the person to whom I should pass the requirements. You will never imagine how it went (good thing my mom didn't saw us), battling over the sentence construction about what papers are required. In the end, I just "opened my mind" and let them "win" the idiotic debate. And either way, I have to return to Bicutan to submit other forms.

I arrived at UP at around quarter to 1, so I still had time to review (talk about being optimistic). At the exam, I was so disappointed on how easy the exam was, considering that it should cover 13 chapters from 2 books. Why disappointed? I forgot how to spell the other suffixes since the Korean language had a lot of e's and o's.

Thursday. I was frustrated, big time. By afternoon, my professor in Math 197 gave us this so-called "Pre-Second Exam". It turned out to be just a set of exercises. Two things: (1) I don't know how to answer some of them, and (2) I gave it almost all of my mental energy, considering I had a "real" exam by late afternoon. Yes, dears, I haven't reviewed for the exam, and my head is a total mess, so I used my allowance for tomorrow to eat A LOT.

I won't talk about what happened to the exam. It was fairly easy since our professor said he will give a take-home exam, which containced the harder parts. To our surprise, he forgot to give it to us. I don't even know if he did made it at some time earlier, considering that he wants to check our paper before the deadline of dropping which is fast approaching. After the exam, I breathed heavily and clearly, knowing that the next exam will be next week. But I had to review, still.

So what's the deal with my Korean class? Well, it turned out that we don't have any lessons. From Friday onwards, we will practice conversations. Finally, the thing I've been waiting! But there's still a problem: I forgot my vocabulary! T_T

5th Week: Descaling Might

6th of February, 3PM, at math Bldg. I am to write that time about my week's frustration when I tamed a cat and, shortly, it frantically followed me everywhere. I had to stray the cat so it won't bother me in writing this. But I had to admit: that cat made me feel better.

A classmate of mine declared last Monday that we don't have any classes on my only subject class for that day. Scenario: NLEX, on a bus. Of course, I'm a bit frustrated. If not for Regina inviting me to review, the fare would have been a waste.

Tuesday. Both Math 162 and Math 150.2 professors announced that our exams will be moved from Feb 10 to some date after Feb 11, which I will be having my examination on Koreyano 11. Sounds like good news.

I didn't bother going to school this Wednesday since (1) I only have a afternoon class, and (2) that day is the day for ACLE. So I spent half my day asking for my father's Tax Exemption Certificate (he's a seaman). I went to the regional (or was it provincial?) BIR office in a nearby town. As I shyly get myself in there, they said to me that I can get what I want on our municipal hall. So I went back to our town and rushed to the said place.

I was annoyed by the people to whom I should ask for the thing that I want. As you see, they have a preformatted certificate which only states the exemption for someone with a low annual salary and that they only give it for "scholarship and summer job purposes". With a 50-peso bill, they gave me one WITHOUT EVEN ASKING FOR A PROOF THAT MY FATHER SHOULD REALLY BE EXEMPTED. Annoying.

Thursday is a normal, unboring day, I just got my letters from DOST (for scholarship) and College of Science (for recognition day).

Friday turned out to be a disaster. I faxed my reply slip to DOST and printed my brother's project at the Shopping Center (at UP) before going to class. I have a problem I wish to talk with my Korean teacher: that the scholarship orientation falls on Feb 11 (see above). So basically, I asked him if I could take a late exam. Annoyingly, the ill-conceited guy my professor gave me a big, fat NO. I felt my world crushing prior to the cat incident mentioned at the beginning.

Well, we have an exam this Saturday on Math 123.2. But I'll put it on next week's entry so that it can have a unifying theme. Busy, busy, busy...

Sembreak? Not!: The Evaluation of 1st Sem AY 2008-2009

Name: LUMIDAO, Edward Jenned, Manicad
Year: III
Course: BS Mathematics
College/School: College of Science [Institute of Mathematics! woohoo!]


Subjects: (for Year 3.1 only)
1. Math 122 (Differential Equations and Applications)
Professor: Dr. Yoshifumi Takenouchi

Section Background: Heto yung isa sa mga classes where we sought petition for an additional section. Surprisingly, yung section pa na yun ang unang napuno. More surprisingly, hindi si Ma'am Sy ang naging teacher namin (in contrast dun sa indicated sa CRS) kung hindi si Sir Yoshi. Hinimatay ako sa red underwear niya...

Subject Rating: 5 stars. Ang galing niyang magturo. Plantsadong-plantsado sa lahat ng sections. Scripted baga.
My Performance: 4 stars. Uno-able, kaso ang dali kong tamarin. T_T

2. Physics 10 (Physics and Astronomy for Pedestrians)
Professor: Dr. Carlo Amadeo Alonzo

Section Background: Isang GE. Dapat Chemistry 1 ang kukunin ko kaso dahil blockbuster hit, Physics 10 ang kinuha ko. No regrets. Masaya naman. Mahilig mag-drawing si Sir Alonzo ng rabbits. Kaya Sir Rabbit ang tawag namin sa kanya. Kaso dahil maraming walang pasok, hindi namin na-discuss yung astronomy. Type kong magturo sila Sir Blanca at Ma'am Legara, dalawa sa mga guest lecturers nung last part.

Subject Rating: 4.5 stars. Medyo magulo yung ibang guest lecturers kaya hindi perfect pero since magaling naman si Sir Rabbit at cute ang bunny drawings niya...
My Performance: 5 stars. May 6 stars ba? 8D

3. Koreyano 10 (Elementaring Koreyano I)
Professor: Dr. Bong-Cheol Lee (Visiting Professor)

Section Background: Dapat Hapon 10 ang kukunin ko pero dahil blockbuster Foreign Language Elective siya, I chose my second option. Lee-seonsaengnim was a bit slow in teaching at first pero biglang bumilis. Marami naman akong natutunan, kaso pahirapan talaga sa vocabs.

Subject Rating: 5 stars. In its purest form. Pero in reality, 3 stars lang.
My Performance: 5 stars. Dapat nga 10 stars, eh. Kaso 5 yung maximum. Saka, ang daya. May magic. Hindi ko siya na-uno. T_T

4. Math 123.1 (Advanced Calculus I)
Professor: Dr. Marian Roque

Section Background: Si Ma'am Roque na yata ang pinaka-sosyal na prof na nakilala ko. Sosyal manamit, sosyal magturo, sosyal tumawa. Kaso pag bumanat, nako, tamaan na ang tatamaan. Lol. E paano naman kasi, nasa same coset sila ni Geometry "Queen" (Disclaimer: Ma'am Roque daw ang former Geometry Queen. Parehong may 11th finger ang mga naturang reyna. Kaso yung kay Ma'am Roque, totoong 11th finger na nasa kamay niya yun. Yung sa isa pang "reyna", nasa somewhere down there. :P)

Subject Rating: 5 stars. Marami kang matututunan sa kanya. Lalo na sa mga banat.
Performance Rating: 4.99 stars. Sayang! Konting-konti nalang!!! T_T

5. Math 110.2 (Abstract Algebra I)
Professor: Dr. Julius Basilla

Section Background: Isa uli sa mga section na newly-opened. Natuwa naman ako, kasi si Sir JB uli ang magiging prof ko. Kasi marami kang matututunan sa kanya, math-related man o hindi. Kaso the way he teaches, according to a friend, ay "parang kwarto (office/faculty room) niya". Pero magaling talaga siya. Swear.

Subject Rating: 3 stars. Teka, dagdagan mo ng isang moon. At isang malaking emoticon na 8D.
My Performance: Blackhole. 0 out of 5 stars. Ang failure ko. T_T

6. Math 150.1 (Mathematical Statistics I)
Professor: Dr. Adrian Roy Valdez (1st 2 parts)/Dr. Jose Ma. Escaner IV (Last part)

Section Background: Ang section na ginamitan ko ng hacking para makuha. :P Opposite ends of spectrum ang way of teaching nila sa subject na ito. Sir Valdez is more theoretical, while Sir Escaner is more on applications.

Subject Rating: 5 stars. Di ko lang talaga siyang kayang i-appreciate.
My Performance: 3 stars. Nag-effort naman ako, no. Kahit hindi ko lang siya ma-absorb at ma-digest.



Overall Semester Rating:  4 stars. The best sem pa rin ung kay goddess Ma'am Zolah.
My Overall Performance: 4.5 stars. I never did better on any other sems than this one.



Other Things/Miscellaneous: NO COMMENT! >o<
==============
Post: Sembreak ko na nga pero di pa ako magse-celebrate. May dadamayan pa ako. 8D

Arigato, Sensei!

Turns out, this day is good. 8D

I was so sleepy this morning. I slept at 5, woke up at 6. I (or, my parents) decided that I should take up the morning exam. I haven't reviewed, really. It was so stupid of me to drink coffee during midnight. I really feel sleepy. I thought this will be the end.

I slept at the bus. Yeah, and my talent resurfaced once again: I woke up exactly at the stop where I needed to go.

Forward to the exam time. It was sensei's birthday yesterday but I don't know how to greet him. I recognized later that our exam was our sample exam! Stupid! Argh!

At the middle of the exam, sensei suddenly approached me to give a book (that was a reward for... performing good. 8D) and took pictures of... me. 8D (well, he has a purpose for that; besides, he always brings that cam of his)

After I finished the exam, I submitted my answer sheet (ie, bluebook) to the proctor (sensei went to some place that time) and waited for my friend outside. My classmate was done and my prof went to the exam room again. So my friend and I went inside the room to ask him again. My friend asked for her book and I asked something about the thank-you letter.

I said to him at the end: Otanjobi omodetou.
And he replied: Arigato!

Kawaii!!!

Then other things came, like the result of my exam in Linear Algebra. I never expected to get a high grade. 8D

Basta, this day is so good... 8D

I Will Be a Masochist, But I AM NOT a Masochist [yet]

I realized I can't finish my undergraduate course in three-and-a-half years. Well, theoretically, I can. But later, I came to my senses that I will pass out if I enroll next semester in full load. In short, I will [?] finish my degree on time [i.e., not in advance].

And, oh, if I changed my mind again, I will spend the rest of the months, before I graduate, "taking up Culinary Arts with my mom as my professor and Professional Driving with my dad as my professor".

The First [Few] Day[s] of Classes

I can’t believe that it is my third year in college. In fact, I will graduate next sem! Well, approximately…

 

Tuesday:

Math 122

~Takenouchi-sensei is kawaii… That’s it. Hahaha! No… By some blows of gale (or in other words: since I am interested in Differential Equations), I became interested in studying the course.

Physics 10

~I have to sprint from MB to New NIP to go there. We experienced difficulty in finding the room. We met Dr. Alonzo, and ate inside the room. After a while, he said that one rule is that we shouldn’t eat and drink inside the classroom. Well, except for crackers and water (I brought nachos and iced tea inside).

Koreyano 10

~Another sprinting session from New NIP to AS. Our instructor is like a typical Korean: he wore polo, pants, and a hat. And the first session gave me nosebleed.

Math 123.1

~Little did we know that this Advanced Calculus course is really an Introduction to Real Analysis course. Ma’am Roque is the laughs, believe me.

 

Wednesday:

Math 110.2

~I can’t believe Sir Basilla taught that “well”. Math 140 (one of my classes last sem: under him) is a mess. From the start of the session, I’m expecting more from Linear Algebra. Good start, indeed.

Math 150.1

~What 150.1? Where is the prof?

UP Math Major's Shirt [w/ the unwanted model]

Shirt Design by Paul Reine Kennett dela Rosa (tama ba spelling? :P)
He won the Math Shirt Design contest. ^^

Couz's Debut

My Couz (Frances) had her debut today. Well, kind of. It was just your ordinary party. No ceremonies and all. I wanted more pictures but time did not permit us. Wahaha...

Random Crap: Why am I a Math Major?

There were six of us, and we were still young (my 3 cousins, 2 siblings, and myself). We have huge dreams back then. It is so funny that I can still recall what our grand dream was: to become doctors and build a hospital owned by the six of us. Funny, again, though, that it will happen for all of us. I guess it is an impossible dream after all...

Not knowing, I grew up very meticulous. I want everything in chaotic order (how ironical!). And here is the hilarious part: I am scared of blood and syringes! No really, laugh at me now but that's the truth. I'm sort-of blaming it as a reason for taking medicine-related courses out of my list of courses I like to take in college. Dreams shattered? Kind of... We're still young when we made that dream, it was forgotten now...

UPCAT! I don't know what to write in my choice of courses. My parents said I should take Accountancy so I followed them and wrote that down. Then I looked at the list and found nothing of my interest except Journalism and Mathematics. I just wrote down Mathematics since, I said to myself, I'm not a part of the school paper. Why Mathematics? I don't know that time... It is a big mystery to me... So I passed the form, hoping to pass UPCAT and land to the course where I should be.

But lo and behold! I was made Features editor of the school paper by the beginning of my Senior Year! I never knew I had that "talent" but I don't think I'm great. I just think of myself as a mediocre bastard being an editor because of my nonsensical doodles. [spoiler: I only took three exams out of eight throughout a year due to different contests I engulfed myself into. :D]

I was walking in the covered court when I realized that it is time for my review session for a Science Bee (know BULPRISA?) so I went to the office of my coach-mentor. To my surprise, we were talking about my future plans? I said to her I don't really know what course to take. She (my coach-mentor) told me that why shouln't I try Actuarial Science. I showed her a blank face because, in the first place, I don't know what it is, really. At that incident and moments after, I really felt blank. Is that Actuarial Science the thing for me? Is there a course in UP with that name, assuming I passed?

By the end of January, I have this feeling of doubt. I said to myself that I think I should wrote down Journalism and not Mathematics. The plain reason? I reached the Nationals of a journalism contest (Press Conference). It really crossed my mind. But only God will tell.

Then the results came out. I passed. (Hooray! :D) And my course? BS MATHEMATICS. I wanted it, I said to myself, but my enthusiasm about that is not too high. I just murmured, "Go with the flow..."

And you know what's amazing? Actuarial Science is a course in UP (Masters', in fact) which I can take up after I finished Mathematics! It's like *whoa* thanks, ma'am, now I knew my path is set! And Journalism? Nah, I forgot that thing now... I AM NOW DEVOTED TO MATHEMATICS...

KUDOS TO MATH MAJORS!!! :D

And that's my crappy answer to the question "WHY AM I A MATH MAJOR?"