So Wednesday marked the end of my second year. I've been pretty much slacking for this semester. I wasn't working that hard but at the same time, it's not as bad as Year 1 Semester 2. But somehow or other, I feel that this semester has passed really very quickly. It seems like I have not settled down yet and it's already the examination week.
And I guess the readers of this blog will be quite interested in how I'm doing so far for my modules this semester so I shall just give a brief summary of how I've fared. Basically, I'm more or less prepared for my first B- or C+ for CS1010E; I just totally screwed up the finals and it doesn't help that I'm only slightly above average for my lab component which is 50%. So there is a high chance that I will be using my second S/U this semester and that I wouldn't be able to continue with my second major. I admit that I have not much talent for computing and it happens that finals focused on my weakest topics: pointers and structures (I think it should be the same for most beginners). I think it doesn't take practice but experience and more importantly, wits to do well for this module. As for the midterms for the other modules, I scored just a few marks above average for EC3312 and ST2132 whereas for EC3333, I was a few marks below the average. The reason was because my concepts for the earlier topics for EC3333 weren't exactly strong and that was the reason why it cost me most of my marks for the midterms on top of a giveaway question that was identical to one in the previous midterm exam that was uploaded by the Prof but having procrastinated, I did not do it so I deserve to get below average. Plus the bell curve for EC3333 is very steep and I really do mean very steep. So I can only depend on finals now to pull me up hopefully to an B+ as the finals focused quite a bit on derivation-based proofs and understanding of theorems. But at the same time, I am not hoping for too much, probably expecting a B or maybe a B- now that I think of it. Yeah, that's me; the more I think about something, the more I would lower my expectations for it. As the saying goes, the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. I think that's very true for me as I would brace myself for the very worst before getting my results every semester.
ST3131, on the other hand, was one module I did well for the midterms (yes, I should think full marks is considered pretty okay) but then again, the midterms was really easy; it was simply plugging in the right formulas. Yes, it's that straightforward. I feel that ST3131 is a module that is hard to understand but easy to apply once you get it. But how wrong was I as the Prof decided not to be so kind for the finals and set some questions that are not in the scope of the coverage of the lectures which was expected since it's an open book exam.
To sum up, I am not confident of even securing a 4.0 this semester. Yes, I am not someone who's confident about himself or herself so I am expecting to obtain quite a bad SAP this time round. To drift off a bit from academics, I am now trying to secure the position of a RA with a Prof after being rejected for two internships and having received no replies from other organizations. I just hope I'll at least have something to occupy me for this summer (maybe to act as a fallback for my predicted lousy results).
