From 415062f7da24b11ef0a851c56971654a964939c1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Zack M. Davis" Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2025 09:41:54 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] check in "College Is Not ..." bullets --- ...hat_terrible_now_that_im_not_that_crazy.md | 50 ++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 48 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/college_is_not_that_terrible_now_that_im_not_that_crazy.md b/college_is_not_that_terrible_now_that_im_not_that_crazy.md index 34131fd..a9c876d 100644 --- a/college_is_not_that_terrible_now_that_im_not_that_crazy.md +++ b/college_is_not_that_terrible_now_that_im_not_that_crazy.md @@ -1,9 +1,55 @@ ## College Is Not That Terrible Now That I'm Not That Crazy?? + * Previously: http://zackmdavis.net/blog/2024/05/should-i-finish-my-bachelors-degree/ + * SF State is still the communist dystopia I remember from a dozen years ago, but it doesn't hurt this time, because I have a sense of humor about it now + * Communist dystopia: propaganda about how beneficial and humanitarian it is, but authoritarian command economies are not human + * People talk about math courses by number + * We submit our homework through the online course portal; other than that, everything is the same +### My Tragic Backstory + * went to UCSC out of high school, intended to major in philosophy + * nervous beakdown triggered by "Intro to Feminisms" + * I believed in school==education; "my mandate to the University" mentioned in my Diary, "are you trying to sabotage my education?" when mom asked if maybe it was better if I lived at home + * TODO: read my "prodigal son" letter to recapture the spirit + * Heald + * differential equations debacle + * DVC + * SFSU +### Doing It Right This Time: "Real Analysis II" and "Probability Models" -[Queer Literatures and Media] + * Picking up where I left off: my last class but SFSU was "Real Analysis I" with Prof. A in Spring 2013, this is "Real Analysis II" with Prof. A in Fall 2024 + * a memory from 2013: he asked what a sequence was, I said, "A function from the naturals to the reals", he asked how I knew that, I said, "I know how to read" + * First day, I "marked my territory" by showing up and writing the multidimensional chain rule on the board + * Prof. "A" does office hours in a conference room, which is great + * The syllabus is a lie: you might expect that "Several Variables" (https://math.sfsu.edu/courses/470) would cover Stokes, but we actually covered series, series of functions, and metric spaces + * intimate class: like 7 people + * 470/770 split: I was the only undergraduate in "Math 470" + * free Palestine and Rashid Khalidi + * time for the Stone-Weirstrass + * Prof. "A" impressed when a student mentioned ZFC; I think this is "knowing how to read" territory and should not be impressive + * 82% midterm + * botching a compactness proof on the final + * didn't quite have the same rapport in office hours; lanauge and culture might have made a difference + * quiz resubmit for half-credit thing + * LLM use and citing it -[clicking through anti-harrassment training is obviously OK] + +### "Queer Literatures and Media" + + * Getting a C- is the funniest possible outcome + * + +### Cynicism and Sanity + + * Grief that I didn't know how to do this when I was young; I could have majored in math (even if I'm actually a philosopher) and taken the Putnam and started my career in 2010 + * The TA recommeneded I look up the solution manual online + * clicking through anti-harrassment training is obviously OK + * tutoring center punch card + +the fiction of "grade level" + +re studying for life vs. studying for school, people also exercise outside of sports, but I _did_ train harder when I was competing—you could say, that was different because this is a matter of the soul + +Geoffrey Hinton -- 2.53.0