Math!

After my horrific encounter in a calculus class yesterday, I began to study up...

I looked through the quick-summary calculus sheets I bought from the bookstore, which didn't help too much... I then decided to give the Internet a shot. I never thought I could learn math online, it was too complicated a subject, and with no human being to guide you through the subject -- it was just too overwhelming. But I did give it a shot...

And it worked.
What was particularly helpful were the YouTube videos. There was a "calculus in 20 minutes" video, which was extremely helpful. It reviewed all the areas of calculus in 20 minutes, which brought back a lot of the knowledge that I'd forgotten since high school. Also, it helped connect everything together, and help me understand WHY calculus is important. What it's used for. A combination of this video, and watching several others on derivatives helped me a ton. In fact, I attended the Math 125 lecture this evening, and I felt like I knew more about calculus than 60% of the kids in the class who'd taken Math 124 the previous quarter. It doesn't mean I'm the master at calculus or anything...but I'm starting to understand the overall concepts/purposes/themes of calculus. Which is something I've never fully understood. I still need to practice equations, and relearn all the individual techniques (quotient rule, fundamental theorem of calculus, chain rule, etc.). But at least I have some understanding of calculus now. Yesterday, I felt like someone threw me into a black abyss of numbers and equations with no flashlight. Anyways, I'm gonna try and continue learning so I can be prepared for the class next quarter.

Also, side-note: I bought a few posters today that I liked...

One was the "21 Suggestions For Success" which had a lot of good tips for living life.

Another was a landscape shot (taken with a wide-angle lens, woo I know photography now!) of a sunset on a lake (with a long pier stretching out towards the center of the picture). I liked it because it was both a beautiful shot + it conveyed a real sense of mystery (something I've talked about on here before).

The other shot was a bit similiar... It's a shot I'm sure you've seen-- where it shows an enormous iceburg, with only the tiny top poking out above the water. It was another beautiful shot, also conveying a sense of mystery. I thought it went well with the "don't judge a book by its cover" and "there's more than meets the eye"ways of looking at life.

Anyways, that's a rundown of what's going on right now. Oh and I also looked at all the other future classes I'm going to have to take for the major. The all look EFFING hard...but interesting too. Basically it looks like I have a LOT of studying in my future. All other priories in my life are going to have to be put on hold for a while.