On ur marks... get set... go!!!

Classes started yesterday! Got my first homework. Math problem sets (math questions in our lingo). They're all from the textbook, thank God my neighbour has the textbook so I managed to do quite a few of the questions. There're a LOT of questions to be done, it's due next thu. But wanna get it out of the way before other hw starts coming in as much as possible.

So u're probably wondering what classes i'm taking eh? :) Ok here's a breakdown and summary:

IHUM - Stands for Introduction to the HUManities. Consists of a range of humanities courses that tend to touch more on philosophy, sociology and literature. They all have interesting but rather vague names; mine's titled "Journeys" (which applies to practically every literary work ever written), then there's stuff like "Technological Utopia" or smtg like that, "Visions of Mortality" etc. It's compulsory to take an IHUM during yr 1, by the way, so every freshman's got an IHUM assignment. Worth 5 credits.

Math 51 - A more chim math course than the course that a majority (I think) of freshmen doing math start with. I think. But for some reason there seem to be more Math 51 classes than 41, which is the easier course. Our Teaching Assistant who's doing the discussion sessions is a slightly insecure-looking girl from China who's got quite a heavy accent and is prob doing her post-grad studies. I can understand her English but I wonder if it's harder for the Americans in the class. Also worth 5 credits.

Introsem: Physics in the 21st Century - Introsems = Introductory Seminars. They're seminars that are created and conducted by faculty members themselves, based on any topic of their choice. So often it's stuff that's not the normal academia but is interesting. And the class size is usually small so it's supposed to be quite interactive, and a gd way to get to know a member of the faculty Mine's a bit more academic, but not ur usual syllabus. It's gonna touch on elementary particle physics, i.e. the study of very small things, and also cosmology i.e. the study of the biggest stuff in existence (besides God). Worth 3 credits.

Jazz theory!! - Sounds fun eh? I'm expecting it to be. Quite self-explanatory. It's worth 3 credits, but I'm considering taking another 1-credit course called Jazz Skills that runs quite parallel to the Jazz Theory course. It's a course to teach u how to play jazz in a jazz combo group, quite catered to a varied range of musicians including beginners. But see if I have time first.

MS&E Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders' Seminar - A 1 credit lecture thing. MS&E stands for Management Science and Engineering, which is a course I'm considering majoring in, or maybe even doing a masters in. It covers foundational engineering but also delves into operations management, business, economics etc.; it's basically like a business course with special emphasis on industrial engineering and methods of management. i think. I'm just taking this course to see what MS&E is like since it seems like a potential major.

So that's it! 17 credits, 18 if I do the Jazz Skills class. And maybe 19 if I get into University Singers (a choir). I dunno yet. The permitted workload is 12-20 credits so I'm already on the high end of things. i really dun wanna overload myself which is y I'm a little apprehensive abt the jazz skills class. But I have until 22 Oct to drop classes so there's still time. =) for those of u who're Christian, if u're praying for me, pray I'll be led to the right choices in terms of planning my major(s) and/or minor or masters, cos there's many options that seem interesting to me now. =)

On an unrelated note, I was super blessed yesterday to meet a friend called Pearline. Met her thru Charmaine, one of the other Singaporean undergrads. Pearline's a postgrad student doing her PhD in Stanford and she's super entrepreneurial. She either finds used appliances arnd or ppl give old appliances to her when they move out, and she cleans them up and sells them. So I got a mini fridge from her and a microwave for only US$30. Thanks Pearline!! The microwave is super old, prob made of solid steel - it's heavier than the fridge! And the only button it has is a knob to turn for the timer. but it works, and I'm really thankful I have it to complement the fridge which was also a huge blessing. =)

Time to return to homework. Cheers!!