One semester down! Last few months were very busy and I see that the last time I posted was in January. A lot has happened in the meantime and I might write about those in the coming days.
Let me begin with writing the things that I remember the most. The exam period! One of the most hectic exams that I have answered in my life.
The Timeline
The lectures ended on the first week of February. I also had the first of my 6 exams in that first week. The last exam ended three days ago on 9th Apr.
In between these 3 months there was a “Break” of 1 month. But it is hard to say exactly when it was. It was somewhere between the mid of Feb to the mid of March. I know I had 2 exams before the break 3 after. I think 1 was during the break. And there was a week of Labs during the break.
During these months, the weather changed from snowy to warm and pleasant. That is from -10ish to 20ish.
The Grind
Looking at this long timeline one might feel there is sufficient time to study for exams even if one hadn’t started before. But I strongly disagree.
Coming from India, the exams feel really hard. They are very challenging and unless one understands the concepts clearly, one can’t pass. This is what I was told on my first days here. It is 100% true and I can also vouch for it and say it to the next batch.
Roughly, we had 2 weeks on an average between each test. Except for the first exam which we started studying in January and that gave us 1 month.
The days were extremely boring sometimes. During this time we tried to study in group. The group study time was something to look forward to in a day. That was a time to discuss what was studied, try to solve questions together and most importantly gossip a bit. The banter with friends made the days bearable.
The study consisted of going through the lecture notes, tutorials (solved numerical examples) and solving old question papers. During this process we understood that they teach us A, B, C, D.. in class. Make us practice writing sentences in the tutorials and in the exam they expect Shakespear out of us. (Not my wordings, I borrowed it from some acquaintance I met in bus! But I can’t say it better.)
The confidence level during the process starts high when you know the lecture notes. Then it drops slightly when you try to remember the tutorials. And crashes and goes underground when you start solving the exam questions. Finally, after 15 or so question papers you feel you are in a position where with enough god’s will there is a chance to pass. In that final state you answer the exam.
The Exam
Every time on the exam day the mental state was more or less the same. You wait for your friends to join you at the exam center. If the exam is after lunch then we met earlier at the Mensa (the canteen).
The tutors enter the exam hall first and generally make markings, which lets us know where we are allowed to sit. The halls are huge and everyone is spaced apart. When the time comes we are allowed to enter the room. There is no dedicated place and we could choose the seat freely.
Then comes the announcement. It reminds me of the first time when I took the flight. The flight attendant reads out the instructions about the emergency doors and life vests. I listened so intently thinking I might really need it if the flight crashes.
Similarly, here the tutors read the same instruction before every exam. Some interesting instructions were: if anyone is feeling sick then you must tell now and you can leave and get a medical certificate. If you get sick after the question paper is distributed then you can only get the medical certificate from the doctor that the university suggests!
The way they explain it, getting sick before the exam is a medical issue; getting sick after the paper is distributed is apparently an academic offense.
My performance
Answering exams after a long time comes with some challenges. I noticed I have forgotten the exam answering skills. I constantly made silly mistakes, like for example copying a different value from the calculator to the notebook or changing + to – etc.
These mistakes aren’t new but earlier I was better at catching them early. With time and constant use of computers, I realized I have lost this skill. This has hurt me the most through the exam.
Most exams also allowed carrying cheat sheets or textbooks. As I was not used to using these, I wasn’t very effective at using these. Also my handwriting doesn’t help either.
Most results are yet to come and I hope to pass the exams.
End and the Beginning
We celebrated the end of the exams by visiting the Volksfest. I performed a hard reset with a ride called “Brake Dance”. Then, the beautiful fireworks marked the beginning of the new semester. It was a wonderful evening with friends.
I start my first class for the new semester tomorrow. Here are some photos and videos from the festival
