Getting this website up took some time, and I had to start doing physics homework so I was not able to backlog my first few days and experiences yet. I will do so at a later time but for now, I will get back on track and start writing from the current day.
Soo, today was the first day of school. I woke up around 7:00am (give or take 10 minutes). I got ready early because I was going to visit the Fraser building to get my ankle checked out. I left my room at 8:00am and tried to get an uber but the app couldn’t find anyone to drive me so I walked. The sky was kinda gloomy and it seemed like it could start sprinkling at any second.
I arrived at Fraser at 8:40am and was expecting to be able to make an appointment today but the reception said I had to fill out a form to register myself and then wait 24 hours until I could make an appointment. Well that was just great. Another day of not getting my ankle checked out. I thought the healthcare in Europe was supposed to be lightning fast but maybe that only applies to certain kinds of health services.
For breakfast, I got the same old bacon between buns and went to the first day of class. Our course is scheduled to last eight weeks. There are two cycles per week, Monday-Tuesday and then Wednesday-Thursday, with an exam on both cycles on Friday. Mondays and Wednesdays consists of class from 10am-1pm and then drop in hours from 2pm-5pm. The engineering cohort meet together in a separate area at 4pm to work on supplemental content. Tuesdays and Thursdays consist of tutorials from 10am-1pm and then lab from 2pm-5pm.
The first day of instruction went pretty well. During the first session we quickly went over the concepts we were supposed to read and then did some practice problems and clicker questions to check our comprehension. The questions were more conceptual than computation and helped reinforce understanding of the material.
Lunch was supposed to be pasta but they ran out so I got a chicken burger. It tasted pretty good but it’s no Chick-fil-a. After that, I went to drop in hours where I worked with Anabella, Richard, and Rhia. We did consolidation questions which were a mix of computation and conceptual questions. At 4pm, we met the other students in the engineer cohort and did two supplemental computation problems.
After that was dinner, which was pretty good. For me, it was rice and beef chili with a side of tortilla and tortilla chips. Hearty and filling but all carbs. After dinner, I sluggishly walked back to the dorm. I had to carry back the huge 1400+ page textbook we have in my backpack and I just felt really meh. When I got back to my room I put in my headphones, put on Mahler 2, and knocked out for a couple hours.
I woke up at around 9pm and did tutorial questions for the rest of the night with Andy and Vivian. The tutorial questions were all computation and it felt like I was back in AP Physics with Mr. Lawrence. Those were great times. Working together was nice and it felt like a small bonding experience. I’m sure many of us will get to know each other better as we begin grinding out the physics. Here’s to the next eight weeks, let’s see where it’ll take us!
