Tag: encountering & overcoming difficulty

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amanda quotes

Amanda’s Quotes #2

[129-136] First, I was kinda struggling. I remember struggling with some tests like I didn’t understand the question, and it’s not because I didn’t know what to do, like I knew the calculations I just didn’t know the words. Like if it said “counter-clockwise” I didn’t know what it meant so I didn’t know what it was asking for. I usually went to my professor after the test and was like “I’m sorry, but I don’t really understand,” and they treated me really well and explained, like helped me to reduce some parts of it because they knew that I could do it, it was just the English that I was struggling with. But then, after the first semester I was here, I don’t think the language has been a problem anymore.

[155-160] The programming class, I’d never done programming before. Another class I was working with matlab, so that one’s like totally new for me. I didn’t know anything I was not interested going into the class, it was a lot of work required in that class, I think it’s fun when you get it but it took a lot of effort I guess, like understanding what you’re supposed to do.

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Amanda’s Quotes #4

[211-219] That’s the big difference to home, like at home in high school you barely have homework and then at the university you never have homework, you have maybe like two weeks during the whole year and that’s it. From going from our high school where you have learned that you need to be self independent and professors don’t give you homework and then you come here and it feels like you’re in elementary school again, because they’re giving you homework for everything in class, even just a big difference which I didn’t really like in the beginning because it felt like just let me start it the way I want to start it and when I want to do it and I will do well on the exam. But then like I need to do this, like all the homework.

[219-222] But now after being here three years I still don’t like the thousand homework courses. But I’ve learned to accept it and I don’t waste my energy on it, like it’s a good way to be prepared for next time instead of having to do everything by your own.

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Amanda’s Quotes #16

[268-272] Oh yeah, forgot to mention one class called Advanced Machine Design. So, the first class or the first quiz, what is the module supposed to know from Intro to Machine Design. It was mostly a conceptional, so I didn’t remember it. Yeah. And they didn’t tell us it was going to be on it.

[281-283] Yeah, even though you have the software, is good to have an assumption, what do you think is going on? Knowledge, what you think is going to happen? Just because usually it’s always something wrong in the first set up of the computer.

[285-286] Then I just going back to check all the parameters that I have put in and make sure they are correct, and usually find a mistake in there.

[292-294] When I experienced difficulties in the machine design class, I started to study, whatever it was the quiz that they tested us on. And so, I learned that material, and then just tried to keep up with the current material, with the new material that he was teaching during class.

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josh quotes

Josh’s Quotes #4

[158-160] I will say though this last fall it did falter a little bit because I was having some trouble in classes and I started to question whether or not I should be here if I’m not able to succeed in this class.

[202-211] I went to some professors and multiple people told me, “You can breeze through this class.” One professor actually told me, “I wouldn’t care if you got a 2.5 in this class and just passed it barely because as long as you get the concept and applied them later, it’s not about whether you can pass it with flying colors.” I went with that mindset and continued. The homework format changed and the tests ended up being super simple compared to some of the homework problems and some of the things we were doing in class. So, I realized a high grade isn’t the only grade you can get. I also realized it’s a culmination of concepts, but as long as I get the ones that I’m there to master, that’s what the program was focused on teaching me at that time.

[160-161] I ended up getting the help that I needed and I ended up getting a four in the class.

[345-348] Also, I think I definitely have a good routine. I’m a very organized person in how I organize the things in my house and also how I organize my life. I’m very timeline oriented, I have Google calendar and I do put a lot of my things on there. That’s something that I’ve kind of always prided myself on, is knowing when I can do something.

[358-362] You kind of get a feel for what each assignment is going to take time wise. It’s about deciding how much time I’m willing to spend at once. So it works good for me, I know a lot of people have issues with their time management and I try to give recommendations where it’s due but it’s definitely manageable. I mean, I still have free time even being involved in the five or six organizations I’m involved in.

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Josh’s Quotes #5

(6-9) So when the semester began I got to see all my friends. You know, I got to see the people who I had missed over the break. I also was excited for the start of the new classes.

(16-17; 19-20) Then I had a bad grade on a thermo exam. And it was a 78 percent, which for me is a fairly low grade, the teacher did tell me that I was in a fine spot, she told me it wasn’t a big deal, so once I got over my own personal opinion on it I was able to look past it and continue the semester.

(279-283; 294-296) With that thermo grade, it really wasn’t that difficult for me to overcome it because when she told me it wasn’t a bad grade, I kind of went what do you mean that’s not a bad grade? Because to me it is. But when she told me that I was fine, and that I had four more exams to make up for it, I just took that to heart and I just committed myself to say okay, well now I know. You know, I’ve got to make sure I’m on top. It’s kind of just a mental commitment more so than anything. It is more studying, I think a little bit more. But I think it’s more so asking questions and making sure I understand the concepts in a deeper sense.

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Josh’s Quotes #6

(24-28) And then [in thermo] I felt like I started understanding more, so I felt like it started getting higher. And we had the strength class that I had, we only have two exams in the semester. And our first exam, I ended up doing very well on. So that really boosted my confidence as long as with doing well in these other classes. And that was right before we went on winter break.

(34-38) And then right when I came back, the classes almost unexpectedly have just seemed like a whole bunch more work, and not just in the classroom but outside the classroom with extracurriculars, seemed to be increased. So it kind of took a fast down slope. And I had multiple exams, I had two or three weeks where I had an exam or two every week. I was constantly walking around stressed. It was just a very difficult time. And obviously made it through it, and I did relatively well, but some of the grades weren’t as good as I’d like them to be. But it was still a stressful time.

(306-310) So the low point, I’d say was mostly because of stress, not because of any grades I was getting. Because I just felt like with all of the things I do on and off campus, and all my classes, I was constantly going somewhere and doing something. So I would feel like I don’t have any time in the day to relax, which is bad for me, because if I don’t have time to relax, then I’m just burning myself out day after day after day.

(311-312; 336-337) . . . the way that I got through that was through a combination of committing—It was more, what’s the word? I planned out more so, when I was going to do my work and how I was going to do it, than just going along and seeing what would happen. It’s having everything in the Google calendar and being able to look ahead and say this is when I can afford to take a break, this is when I have to do my work.

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Josh’s Quotes #11

[75-132] Then classes started. I was feeling little down because I missed the experience over the summer. The second week of school, I found out there is the sophomore year award. It’s awarded by highest GPA. Over the summer, they have allocated $500 to me. After that it was a pretty even point for two weeks. Then everything started to get harder. Because of all the stress, my first exam was on the down curve. However, I did well on the exam. I had so much work to do. It was hard to stay motivated. I have to give up my leisure activities. Two weeks ago. I was supposed to be taking an exam, but I didn’t understand the material. I was overwhelmed. There was one day I spent 12 hours working on lab reports. I was trying to find new habits and working with friends to find new ways to achieve goal. I had the second machine design exam during fall break, and I did very well. Hopefully I can maintain it for the rest of the semester.

[239-373; 430-439; 467-489; 526-539] This semester has been the hardest I have ever had in my life. I never had a mentally challenging experience. I wouldn’t be here without my professors. I get enough amount individualized of help that allows me to be successful. I have five lectures and two labs. I have a thermodynamics lab or a fluids lab which builds on the thermo class last semester. I also have a microprocessors lab for my degree. Machine design is the longest class. Professor has a notepad. Everyone in the room knows each other fairly well because it’s not a huge program. He keeps us engaged by making jokes.

For system modeling and analysis, we’re modeling a system, predicting its performance and optimize it. It’s been a difficult class because the professor is new. It was a big transition for her. She was just out of grad school. She was expecting us to know a lot of things that we didn’t learn before. There’s homework that’s due every week. With the thermo lab, the first week we do a demo with machine we’re working with. Then we have supplemental activity to do with the data on our own. The lab report is on an A3 size piece of paper. It’s printed out as poster. It definitely teaches me have to simplify after getting complicated results. We had a class learning how to use programs. It’s a supplemental. The memo format is a one-page summary report which most people had anywhere from eight to 12 pages.

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Josh’s Quotes #12

[377-415; 496-510; 656-673] Our fluids professor can be a bit hard on us. It does get annoying since I’m coming here to learn, not get chastised for asking questions. He definitely knows what he’s talking about and good at explaining. He called on random people in lectures. One time, I was working on a homework. I’m trying to be efficient by making a table, I asked him if it’s acceptable, and his response threw me off guard. He said, “Yes, but you should ask what’s the maximum I can do instead of minimum.” In my mind, I’m just trying to be efficient and make it easier to read.

For micro lab, I asked my professor a lot of questions. She would explain it until I understood. Knowing when you have a problem and seeking out the help before it becomes an issue that you can’t solve. I have a lot of interactions with faculties in school. The new professor has become a very good person to talk to because usually after I asked her a question about a lab report, we discus about how things goes for 40 minutes.

During an event orientation, a professor I had last semester pat my shoulder to say hello, so later I walked to his office. Even though we are both busy, we still talked for 20 minutes about my co-op and how I’m doing in school. The machine design professor sat down with me before this exam because I feel like I’m going to fail. He made me answer the questions to prove that I knew enough to what I was talking about to do decent on the exam. It’s also finding the time to relax in situations where it feels like I have none. I feel like it’s evident that I talked to my professors. I am very open about things going on in my life.

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Josh’s Quotes #13

[545-702] I know a lot of the people in engineering program. I tend to interact with four to six people on a regular day because I’ve gotten to know them over the past three years. We have classes together and see each other in other extracurriculars. I have general interaction with everyone in the program. I’ve always been the student who answers questions. A lot of people in the program have been reluctant to talk to me because I acted like a teacher’s pet. As I’ve been put into classes with more people, they started to realize I’m also having the same struggles as they are. My interaction with my peers has increased a lot this past few weeks. A lot of the interaction is during the day in classes.

To navigating through low points, it was a lot of self-reflecting on other people. When I was in the fall, I was getting extremely overwhelmed by my math class. For about two weeks, I was struggling to stay positive and get my work done. It was my past experiences to convince myself that the struggles are only temporary. Another point was brought to my attention that my classmates and I talk about a lot. I won’t take any classes in the spring. My peers and I agree that we had to go through this fall because we were coming back in the spring. We are so busy that we don’t have time to realize how fast is fast. I know pretty much everyone in the program, but a majority of people have different methodology than me.

Sometimes, students gather in the civil engineering building, and I don’t even know when they get there. Tuesday afternoon they stay there till 4:00 in the morning doing work. While working with my peers, we have same methods. That’s reflected in the people that I do spend most of my time with. We start ahead of time so that we not only don’t have to work at hard-last minute but also we can ask questions. It’s picking and choosing which peers I know are going to help me, and I do sometimes go to sessions with other people. We study and work with each other.

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Josh’s Quotes #14

[628-648; 729-742] There’s only so much self-repair you can do when you get knocked back down. It’s just the general feeling of anxiety in academics. If I don’t get this done, I’m going to work much harder later. The best way I can describe it is notice change and recognizing the change in behavior was how I get through difficulties.

The past four months have definitely been some of the biggest areas of growth that I’ve personally had in my life. I gained a lot of experience from the real world. I’ve had 12 jobs since 14, but none of them were engineering jobs. Having an engineering job allowed me to be used to professional. That taught me even if the concepts don’t apply, there is a baser reasoning to what I’m doing. I can look at a problem now and solve it without any help. If zero is not an engineer and 10 is an engineer, I put myself at six or seven. Purely because I don’t think getting out of school and getting an engineer job makes me an engineer. There’s an additional component that can only be found with experience and time. Getting the degree put me up from six or seven to an eight.

This afternoon, I’m updating my resume and choose where I want to go. As long as it fits their requirements that they lay out before me with time. My professor had to come visit the company I worked out for over the summer to see that I’m doing meaningful work and they’re taking care of me. I am still looking for an internship. Because my school is so involved in community, I can find a position that get me experiences that I need to achieve before I graduate.

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