My name is Thaddaeus but Jac coined the term Thadii to accommodate to my multiple personalities.
I am nice and friendly and I am currently located in GeorgiaTech.
Webmaster Jac.
The Blogging Thadii.
GeorgiaTECH.
NTUWKWSCI
NorthWest Airlines.
(sorry thad, i was bored and i figured that since i was adding the comments thing...*grin*)
Stress Starts Here
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
I am blogging early today only because I'm bogged down by readings. The LCC modules I'm doing are crazy on readings...real crazy. Think COM207 but worse. Why worse you ask? Lemme tell you.
1. A lot more pages. If you thought the 60 page pdf files we got were the bomb, you ain't see nothing yet. Here, you get 3x60 page pdf a week, because each week has 3 lessons and there's one reading per lesson, NOT week!
2. Missing your readings is NOT an option due to the emphasis on continual assessment and participation. The 15% for participation is real. Class dynamism in America is at the level where students cut professors off mid-sentence to contribute. Yes, it's that scary. I guess I have to try my best to adapt and be more vocal in lectures. It really will show if you don't do the readings.
Philosophy is crazy on the readings. Biomedicine and Culture is insane. Not only do you have to read them, you got to do a blog entry (300 words) on T-square (their version of edveNTUre) critiquing every week's reading that WILL eventually be graded >< Film Studies...well I'm waiting on a positive reply from Wenxu to mail me the ISP textbook over. Over all this, every course requires a presentation/show and tell of sorts, and about 4 essays each, over the semester.
In comparison, I feel that even Singapore's university education is spoon-fed to students. You have no idea how easy and lucky we have it in Singapore I guess, until you try somewhere else. There are no lecture notes here. Lectures are really just a time where the professor throws the floor open for discussion about the topic and the readings. And that's it. No powerpoint slides, not bullet points, and no nothing. You read your readings, you discuss them in class, you take your own notes, and that's it.
The only consolation I'm getting out of this is that everything will be counted in small amounts to the final grade, and there's NO final exams to do. This has to be the most unique semester in my university life.
Ever heard of a semester with 6 subjects and NO final exams? I've done it this time...
On a totally random thought here before I leave, American drivers are a lot more courteous. People cross the roads at amber because nobody ever beats the traffic light, and there are many uncontrolled junctions. Apparently, the American version of "zebra crossings" are called crosswalks, and they exist almost everywhere, especially at uncontrolled junctions.
The moment a pedestrian steps onto the crosswalk, all traffic stops. No joke. It's super safe to cross roads in America. And after the crosswalk is clear, the cars magically give way to one another in slow, courteous fashion. No honking or insane acceleration etc.
I bet this system will never work in Singapore. Cars will probably attempt to speed past or inch their way through such junctions. And everytime we reach an uncontrolled junction, you will get all the horning and near-accidents.
I'm loving this country, really.
P.S. I just might attend my first American party this Friday if nothing goes wrong. Some dudes from my Biomedicine and Culture class invited me over to their fraternity party. I wonder how's a frat-party like...
One of the Thadii blogged at 9:49 AM.
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