What’s Up | 06/07/13

This will be an ambitious post. I just looked through my What’s Up section, and it’s looking like my What’s Up posts have become semester check-in posts. No matter, I will do my past to highlight the essential (and big) updates, in the manner I know best – by ear. This post will probably be long, but I’ll keep it recap-based.

So much has happened since my last update in February, and for the most part, it’s been quite an amazing and memorable final semester of college. Looking back at the past few months, I’m thankful I was able to achieve most of the goals (serious and fun) that I’d set out to do at the start of semester. I finished college feeling very content and fulfilled, and that in itself I consider a greater personal accomplishment than grades, awards, and the like.

I’m looking through my Yelp check-ins at the moment because I realized most of the fun activities I’ve done have included good food in the mix. It’s quite strange and feels surreal…memories of snowboarding, Napa Valley, music festivals, bouldering, and just having a blast with friends float through my head. But enough with the nostalgia – I’ll save it for a future post. The bulk of this What’s Up update will be about the weeks leading up to and following my graduation from UC Berkeley.

Finals Study Tips

Ok, I’m going to take a quick break from finishing up my take-home final that’s due this afternoon. This post will be about random tips for finals studying – whatever pops up in my mind as I’m writing.

1. Study in a well-lit, spacious environment - This one’s a big one for me, personally. I don’t care too much about noise or people around me. As long as I have a lot of light and a decent amount of space, I find that I’m much more efficient.

2. Eat and sleep well - Typically, I make sure that I eat well during dead week and finals. Maybe it’s partially stress-related, but if you’re suffering, you might as well enjoy good food. Just don’t each too much, you might get food coma and pass out. Fruits are a must. Also, don’t neglect sleep! You need to be well-rested, and you can’t afford to get sick.

3. Study in groups (only if it helps) - This really depends on the person. Some people study better in groups, some better alone. Figure out which you’d prefer, or if you like to mix things up a bit and do a little bit of both. Group study, when done right, can be extremely helpful, because you’ll gain new insight or learn difficult concepts you weren’t able to understand.

4. Listen to music or “white noise” - Music keeps me sane during long and tedious study sessions. I find that I’m good at tuning out lyrics and mentally allocating the sound to the background, but I know others might have a problem doing this. If needed, I recommend listening to “white noise,”which is just a soft noise constantly playing in the background that keeps out distracting sounds and calms the nerves.

5. Take some breaks (really) - Please please please take breaks. You deserve them! Get up, walk around, go outside, watch some YouTube clips. You need time for your brain to process information, and constantly stuffing your head with facts and figures hinders this. Just be sure to exert some self-control – you don’t want to be stuck on YouTube for hours on end, watching cute puppy clips and ignoring your studies.

As a final word of advice, if you find yourself freaking out, take some deep breaths, and realize that others, no matter how composed they appear on the outside, are probably freaking out as well. We’re in this together, and we’ll make it through.

Wish everyone luck on finals at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

What’s Up | 05/03/11

Haven’t done one of these in a while. In fact, some of you newer readers may not even know what this is about. Well, in my “What’s Up” posts, I basically talk about what’s been going on in my life.

Could be the past day, week, month, semester, whatever I feel at the moment. And at the moment, I’m feeling past day.

Today marks the real first day of my dead week. I say this because yesterday consisted of me finishing up an all-nighter and turning in a final paper at 10 am (which I found out at 10 am that it was actually due at 4 pm).

So I decided to sleep in today…for the first time this year. One of the best feelings, hands down. Woke up around 11:30, had lunch with a friend, went up to Grizzly Peak, played some epic basketball matches with ABA peeps at the RSF (finally, a truly good turnout…thanks, guys).

Dinner with another friend, then a meeting.

Did I mention it was a beautiful day today?

And even though things don’t always go as planned (and they don’t), there’s a reason for everything, and you can’t let setbacks set you back. I guess that’s my mini-advice of the day, and something that I try my best to live out. Life is good.

Polyrhythmatic with a big fat boom at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

My Main Stacks

My Main Stacks. Space readily available. No glaring and buzzing fluorescent lights. A cup of mocha and my betta fish Ninja and stuffed pig Napoleon to keep me company. And my Sennheisers. Gotta have music.

Studying at home is nice…as long as I don’t fall asleep in that bed next to my desk.

Judgment day(s) soon at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

Dead Week

Wow. It’s halfway through Dead Week already. Where did time go? In case you were wondering, Dead Week is Cal’s reading week, because we’re too poor to pay our teachers for the entire school year.

On the other hand, it’s a great way for students to diligently study and prepare for finals.

On the other hand, students don’t. At least not for the first few days.

The past few days of Dead Week for me have been semi-productive. I’ve definitely spent time studying, catching up on reading, and working on projects.

But I’ve also used the week to catch up with current and old friends. I’ve eaten at a lot of great restaurants. I’ve done some end-of-semester events with my clubs. And I’ve chilled, napped, and napped more.

Office hours and review sessions have been pretty helpful. It’s also nice studying in the comfort of my own apartment, something I didn’t have last year living in the dorms.

But sometimes, sitting on the futon, I feel my eyes getting droopy, my head nodding off, and soon I’m curled up, asleep. Good thing I take power naps. Gotta do better the next few days.

Now that I’ve hit the halfway point, it’s time to get (slightly) more serious. Plus, the next few days should be a lot more free in terms of time I can allocate to studying. The weekend is uber-serious time, but I’ll save that for then.

I can’t believe I’ll be home in about a week for winter break. I’m looking forward to relaxing – the weeks after finals and before New Year’s are some of the most relaxing, stress-free weeks of the year.

I’m looking forward to catching up on movies, meeting up with friends, and possibly, possibly learning the drums. It’s my birthday today, and my parents have agreed to get me an electric drum set for my birthday.

Now, back to “studying.” Winter break is my motivation to persevere.

Dead but not forgotten at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

What’s Up | 11/21/10

It’s been nearly two months since my last What’s Up post. So many things have happened the past sixty days, and everything’s happened so fast. It’s hard to believe that time can pass so quickly.

It wasn’t an easy ride. Fall just feels a lot more fast-paced and hardcore than spring. School, clubs, work. Things to do every hour of the day.

Classes have been decent, not great. I pass/no-passed Development Studies, which has been largely a letdown, something I didn’t expect going into the class. The professor is passionate, but the material is just beyond me, too theoretical, and too in-depth.

Econ 1 has been same-old same-old. Delong, problem sets, midterms. Poli Sci has been okay. My favorite class this semester would have to be ugba 105. The material is still interesting, and the professor hasn’t failed to disappoint. Most of the stuff I learn in this class is practical and very applicable to many situations in life, not just in business.

I realized that I took English classes for granted. I really miss them. It may sound unbelievable, but I actually miss writing analytical essays on literature. It’s something that I’m good at, and if the material is good, something that I enjoy.

That’s something I hope to fix next semester with Children’s Literature. Reading books from your childhood and writing essays about them. Pretty cool.

Which brings me to my next point. I’ve had Phase 1 and Phase 2 Telebears, so I’m theoretically supposed to have next semester’s classes down. Problem is, I’m officially enrolled in two classes and waitlisted for three.

I’m looking to take 15 units, and classes I signed up for include Children’s Lit and Sociology 5 (Evaluation of Evidence – Media Studies prereq). I’m waitlisted for ugba 102a (Intro to Accounting), ugba 107 (Business Ethics), and American Studies C172 (Cultural History of Business).

Definitely a lot more business courses, and I should be finished with both my majors’ prereqs by next semester.

Work at The Daily Cal has been going pretty well. I have several contract clients, so at least I’m getting a steady stream of commission sales in addition to my base pay. Plus, we finally got new computers at work last week. They’re lightning-fast, with Windows 7 Professional installed. Will be looking forward to work.

ABA Fall 2010 has ended. We had our end of semester banquet Friday night, and it was an apt ending to a busy but ultimately rewarding semester. Compared to last semester, I felt I learned so much more this time around. Being Professional Chair was lots of work and dedication, and I’m happy overall with the outcome.

Our events have had great turnout, our Committee kids have been wonderful, and it was great meeting so many new members this semester. I’ll be working hard in preparation from next semester as External VP. We have a lot on our plate, but I’m confident that my Officer group and I will do a great job.

It’s almost Thanksgiving. I miss my family dearly, and at this point of the year, I’m really looking forward to going home and just relaxing with family and friends. I’ll be driving back to SoCal this coming week for Thanksgiving break. Can’t wait.

Before that, I have three more days to finish up some big projects and continue to work on Haas applications. Finals are rapidly approaching, and it’s hard to believe, but I actually think that finals season will be a lot more chill. We have an entire week (Dead Week) to study, and I plan to also use the time to catch up with friends and exercise.

Hmm…that’s about it for now. I don’t know when I’ll next update, but I hope that I finish the semester strong.

Turkey soon at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

Two Down, One To Go

I finished two of my finals today. My History 7B final was from 3-6 pm, and my Math 16A final was from 7-10 pm. I woke up this morning at ten…eight hours of sleep, something that doesn’t happen very often. Fired up my computer, looked over some readings, then chilled.

Around 1 pm, I couldn’t stay at the dorms any longer, so I headed to campus to grab some lunch. For the next hour and half, I relaxed some more and even stopped by The Daily Cal office. Took a ten minute nap there and was soon on my way to the first final at Haas Pavilion.

Haas Pavilion is where the Berkeley basketball team plays its home games. We took our final on the court. Pretty cool. I started the final pretty strong. Finished the first essay in a little over an hour. But midway through the second essay, my brain was mush and my hands felt like jello.

It was tough, but I finished within the three hours, ten minutes early. I had written twelve pages. Turned in my packet, picked up my graded research paper (happy about that one), and ate dinner at the Golden Bear.

I scootered back to my dorm, took a twenty minute nap, and scootered back to Haas Pavilion to take my math final. The questions were pretty easy. I went through the test in under half an hour, but spent another 45 minutes stuck on this one problem. But no worries, I’m doing pretty well in the class, so I should end up with a decent grade.

Whew. Two down, one to go. I’m going to chill tonight, study the whole day tomorrow for Music 26AC, finish that final on Thursday, and head back home on Saturday. My first year of college is closing in very quickly. Two more days.

Ball up the finals at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

Time for Finals

Two finals tomorrow. Six hours total. One hour break in between. It will be intense.

I feel that I’m at the point where I can no longer study. I’ve been looking over the same stuff the past week, and at this point, I either know the material or I don’t. So I’m just going to sleep (a little) earlier than usual, wake up a bit later tomorrow, look over everything, and dive into the finals.

My eighth grade teacher Mrs. Davis used to tell us to “have fun” during tests. Her rationale was that we’ve prepared so much for it, now we just have to show it on paper. Tomorrow, I might not have a great six hours, but I will definitely try my best.

At this point, that’s all I can do. I’m not stressed or nervous. Yet. I just want to get these finals done and over with so I can finally enjoy the summer. After Thursday, I will be free, at least until summer school.

Have fun at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

Studying for Finals

The past few days, I’ve been hard at work studying for my finals. I started off a bit slow, because I had a bunch of other stuff to take care of *cough* apartments. As the weekend came around, I started to find more time to study.

Compared to last semester, I’m taking a more chill approach in preparing for finals. Whereas last semester, I started a week early and studied hours on end every day of dead week, this time around, I decided to spend more time catching up with friends and taking care of other things.

The biggest change that I noticed is my study surroundings. Last semester, I would hole up at the Main Stacks library, by myself, for extended periods of time. Walking back to the dorms at dawn in 40 degree weather with the rain slamming into my face was one of the less exciting memories of college.

The past few days, I’ve done most of my studying in my dorm and the lounge at Clark Kerr. There are usually a lot of floormates studying at the lounge, so it definitely motivates me to study. It also feels a lot better to be studying with friends in a comfortable surrounding.

At this point, I’m feeling pretty good about Math 16A and History 7B. I’ve been focusing on those two subjects the past few days and just started on Music 26AC yesterday. I definitely have easier classes this semester, so that could explain why I’m a lot more relaxed this time around.

Plus, after experiencing finals at Cal, I’m much more comfortable with what to expect. I plan on finishing up on math and history tomorrow, taking the two finals on Tuesday, studying for music on Wednesday, and take the last final on Thursday.

After that comes summer, and I can’t wait to go home and spend time with family and friends. I’ll be back at Cal the end of June for summer school, and hopefully by then, I’ll have an apartment for the coming year.

Yep. This is where I live and study. Definitely beats the library.

Take a break from studying at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

A Day in the Life (Deadwoch3)

Before the trouble started to set in, I had an amazing Tuesday of Dead Week. Here’s what my schedule looked like.

9:30 am – Wake up, study for History final for two hours.

11:30 am – Drop by Music review session to turn in extra credit.

12:00 pm – Lunch at Thai House with Christina, a friend from ABA. Delicious Pad Thai, with Thai Iced Tea to wash everything down. Said hi to some other ABA peeps who happened to be at the same restaurant.

1 pm – Back to studying at the dorms, but tough to concentrate with food coma setting in. The bed is just so comfortable.

5 pm – Head over to the Clark Kerr dining commons to set up a movie for Hall Association’s movie night. Jumanji for the win.

6 pm – Running late, I rush over to Eshleman Hall to meet up for The Daily Californian sales team social. We drive to Emeryville and eat at The Elephant Bar. I order a delicious Chicken Medallion entree. Delicious coffee mud pie for dessert.

8 pm – Dropped off at Yogurtland for ABA Fall 2010 Cabinet social. We play some ice breakers such as Newlyweds. I’m too full to get yogurt.

9:30 pm – Bike over to Barney’s on College to meet up with my small group for Intervarsity Fellowship. It’s the end of the year celebration, and everyone is enjoying themselves and having a good time.

10:30 pm – Bike back to Haste to meet at an apartment for the last small group meeting of the school year. We do affirmations for everyone in the group, encouraging, thanking, and praying for them. We don’t finish until 2 am, and I enjoy (another!) slice of mud pie – coffee flavored.

2:30 am – Return to my dorm, realizing that I had once again forgone my studies. Oh well, it’s the second day of dead week. Carpe Diem.

Seize the day at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.