Question EXAMS SUCK!!!

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WHY THE F**K DID I CHOOSE TO TAKE AROUND FIVE YEARS OF GAP YEAR BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND UNI!!!
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I HAVE EXAMS, AND THEY'RE WORSE THAN THE HSC WAS IN TERMS OF STUDY!!!
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I mean, I had them during my time as a undergrad, but I found them really easy...

But now I'm doing my masters???

I HAD TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ON BIBO STABILITY FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!!

AND LYAPUNOV STABILITY!!!

AND A SHITTON OF OTHER STUFF ON ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND CONTROL SYSTEMS!!!

THIS IS JUST THE FIRST EXAM!!! I HAVE ANOTHER NEXT WEEK, AND ANOTHER AFTER THAT!!!

oh wait sh*t. I just mentioned stability twice. BIBO is a type of Lyapunov stability. Or at least, they fall under the same category.

GODDAMIT!!!

Wait until you get questions about the Heisenberg Compensators.

Don't think of them as an obstacle to be avoided, or as a struggle to overcome.

Look at the exams of being a simulated test of the standard of your work.

You want to know that your welding is up to scratch, as the final examiner is Mother Nature, and she is much less forgiving than your examiners.

I would also recommend the "Learning How To Learn" modules on Coursera, as a resource that may be useful for the next set of learning experiences you choose to follow.

Mister D wrote: Don't think of them as an obstacle to be avoided, or as a struggle to overcome.

Look at the exams of being a simulated test of the standard of your work.

You want to know that your welding is up to scratch, as the final examiner is Mother Nature, and she is much less forgiving than your examiners.

I would also recommend the "Learning How To Learn" modules on Coursera, as a resource that may be useful for the next set of learning experiences you choose to follow.

This poem ( and the song based on it , which is the second one in that post) might be worth contemplating in this context, as it applies to our spirits just as much as to our creations:

The Hymn of Breaking Strain
Rudyard Kipling, 1935
The careful text-books measure
(Let all who build beware!)
The load, the shock, the pressure
Material can bear.
So, when the buckled girder
Lets down the grinding span,
The blame of loss, or murder,
Is laid upon the man.
Not of the Stuff - the Man!
But, in our daily dealing
With stone and steel, we find
The Gods have no such feeling
Of justice toward mankind.
To no set gauge they make us, -
For no laid course prepare -
And presently o'ertake us
With loads we cannot bear:
To merciless to bear.

The prudent text-books give it
In tables at the end -
The stress that shears a rivet
Or makes a tie-bar bend -
What traffic wrecks macadam -
What concrete should endure -
But we, poor Sons of Adam,
Have no such literature,
To warn us or make sure!

We hold all Earth to plunder -
All Time and Space as well -
Too wonder-stale to wonder
At each new miracle;
Till in the mid-illusion
Of Godhead 'neath our hand,
Falls multiple confusion
On all we did or planned -
The mighty works we planned.

We only of Creation
(Oh, luckier bridge and rail!)
Abide the twin-damnation -
To fail and know we fail.
Yet we - by which sole token
We know we once were Gods -
Take shame in being broken
However great the odds -
The Burden or the Odds.

Oh, veiled and secret Power
Whose paths we seek in vain,
Be with us in our hour
Of overthrow and pain;
That we - by which sure token
We know Thy ways are true -
In spite of being broken,
Because of being broken,
May rise and build anew.
Stand up and build anew!

(Feel free to call me out on my hypocrisy, if you like. I'm not sure there's enough of my own spirit left to repair, even were I to try.)

You might also want to take a look at the classic How to Solve It by George Pólya; while it is focused mainly on abstract mathematical problems, it is really about problem-solving strategies in general. It is pretty cheap to get a copy of it, either used or new, and there is even at least one Kindle edition if you use e-books.

CrazyMinh wrote: WHY THE F**K DID I CHOOSE TO TAKE AROUND FIVE YEARS OF GAP YEAR BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND UNI!!!

I'm not seeing the problem here. You probably forgot some more minor material from high school. What bearing does that have on later education?

CrazyMinh wrote: I HAVE EXAMS, AND THEY'RE WORSE THAN THE HSC WAS IN TERMS OF STUDY!!!
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I mean, I had them during my time as a undergrad, but I found them really easy...

But now I'm doing my masters???

Yeah, the GRE subject exam for my degree field incorporated basic questions in material normally not covered in undergraduate courses. (Seriously, palynology? paleo-eco?) My five-year gap was between completing my BS degree and going back for the MS. The three sections of the general test were a piece of cake though.

Anyway, the goal of your undergrad study should have included *learning* the material related to your field, not dump-and-dump memorization for the grades. No, the school doesn't have to tell you that beforehand.

Because graduate and postgraduate courses do include exams on the material covered in class and/or the assigned readings, and those are the easy parts.

So...I got my B.S. and went to work. Never wanted my Masters, even though the company would pay for it.

I've learned so much more at work than I ever learned in university. University ended up being more about memorizing homework problems that would get remixed as exam questions, which I am not very good at doing.

The students who excelled at memorizing problem and did well on their exams are not very useful at work, for what it's worth.

Try something really stupid, like getting a BS and MS in one discipline, then enroll for a PhD in a different discipline.

That was NOT fun. Most stressful 2 terms I ever went through.

The reason why taking that 5 year gap year was a problem is in the fact that I got comfy and forgot how bloody hard exams can be. I should have just gotten right back into study at uni, instead of spending two years in England with a friend and his family, and the other three years generally relaxing.

Goddamm, even the exams which I know the content for are gruelling. You don't know the meaning of pain until you have to sit through a exam which asks you questions on the function of a mechanum wheel, or on how Ohms law applies to the potential gain in a circuit. Or something. Honestly, it was a slog. Mainly because the engineering exam I took yesterday morning was like 20 pages of algebra and other stuff, as well as stuff like applied stuff on stability and a few questions on mechanical concepts and a couple on electrical engineering.

Mechatronics is a pain in the ass, because there are so many bloody disciplines involved in it. It combines the best of control systems, electrical engineering, software engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science, systems design, industrial engineering, and other such combined fields. It is possibly the most bloody annoying course I could have taken, and I took it because I'm interested in it. Shows how I can really torture myself.

That doesn't mean I don't enjoy it though. I love working in the Australian Centre for Field Robotics, and I'm really good at what I do. But what really irritates me is the bloody exams. I didn't like them in high school, and I don't like them now.

CrazyMinh wrote: Mechatronics is a pain in the ass, because there are so many bloody disciplines involved in it. It combines the best of control systems, electrical engineering, software engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science, systems design, industrial engineering, and other such combined fields. It is possibly the most bloody annoying course I could have taken, and I took it because I'm interested in it. Shows how I can really torture myself.

See, this sounds like work. I also think this type of class will really prepare you in the long run for success, whatever you end up doing.

I've learned the basics of programming, rigorous testing, how to write good test scripts, legalese, materials science, project management techniques, "systems engineering," process improvement techniques, system architecture, actual systems engineering, database management, how to interface with skilled tradesmen, contracts work, outsourcing, purchasing, and even a little bit about staffing and budget management.

All in the normal course of my job. It feels good to branch out of your comfort zone. Meet people. Meet experts. It's like building a resource pool so everyone can succeed.

Just always remember to smile, try your best not to be rude or snippy even on your bad days, be as helpful as you can, and never try to be a bully to get what you want.

You'd be amazed at what a little experience in retail or customer service can teach you about interacting with other people and getting what you want in a polite and productive way.

Thank god that my uni exams are done next week. Also, thank god it's my birthday in 2 days.