First Day of Class!

Yesterday was my first day of class. I woke up at 8:30. ate my breakfast, made my bed, and walked to class. First, it was freezing. I checked my phone. and the temperature was 57 degrees! What happened to the stifling heat of the past week? So I was a bit chilly as I walked to class in my crepe-paper like skirt and tank top. But the second I stepped into Rockefeller, I thankful for my light clothing. The usually air conditioned physics building was mildly warm, getting warmer and more humid as I climbed higher and higher.

I walked into the room where my class was held to find a classroom roughly the size of my high school calculus class, both in number of people and square footage. As the lecture progressed, I was more and more happy that I decided to take physics in the summer. Covault introduced himself, gave us a brief overview of how the course would work, and proceeded to begin teaching us the material. Despite the accelerated nature of the course, I think the more intimate setting and extended class periods will allow me to have a better conceptual understanding of the coursework I'll be doing. And after class, I looked up my professors Covault and Mathur on Rate My Prof and saw that they received a 4.3 and 4.9 respectively. Though taken as a grain of salt, I was pretty encouraged by what I read, especially since many of the reviews were from p1 and p2 students.

I started my homework yesterday and was a little bit jarred by how little I understood the problems. Not so much the concepts, but the way they were worded and what exactly they were asking for. So I did as much as I could, then decided I'd wait till the next class to ask Covault my questions.

Needless to say, I didn't need to ask him any questions since he basically clarified everything in the lecture. It was then that I realised that so much of doing well in a class is adjusting to the professor's teaching style. Covault is extremely conceptual and analytical, something to which luckily I am quickly adjusting. And being able to concentrate in class on what he's teaching rather than figuring out what he's saying is great, especially in a class so dependent on understanding concepts.

Also, I have an interview for a work-study position for the summer and possibly into the school year. Not too many hours are required for the job, it's clerical, and it pays pretty well. It'll be nice to be able to make some money this summer. Wahoo!