Busy, Busy, Busy

This semester isn't going to be a fun one. I'm taking Thermodynamics, which is universally (among Purdue CE students) considered the hardest class in our School. I'm actually working on homework right now, and it's not terrible, yet. But it's time consuming.

The professor is very angry man. He spends a quarter of the class each day ranting about how terrible the English system is (which I agree with 100%), but then gives us homework in it. At one point he threatened to leave and let us learn the material ourselves because people in the back were talking. He's also the only professor I've ever heard say "well, sucks to be you then". The most annoying thing though, is his attitude towards questions.

We got back our first quiz last class, and the average was around 50%. (I got a 13/15, woo hoo!) He gave us a speech about how this is unacceptable, and that is there anything wrong? If you don't understand something, you need to stop me and ask. So later that period, I wasn't sure about an example he was doing, so I asked a question about it. He explained, but then added about 10 seconds worth of yelling at me for not paying attention because he'd already said it once. Sorry, prof, you said ask questions, my bad, I thought you meant it.

He has some redeeming qualities though. He said that we might see him at the Cactus (local bar/club) on thursday nights.

So yeah, been busy with that. And also with DiffyQ. Yes, I said DiffyQ, a class I took a year ago, during that terrible fall semester. I'm retaking it because I got a D+, which isn't passing in the eyes of CIVL.

You might remember that as I got the D+, I failed hydraulics, which I then retook last Spring. I ace'd it the second time, which is because the material itself wasn't the problem. The problem was the professor, one Professor Lynn, who is the worst teacher I've ever had, at Purdue or elsewhere. Exam averages rarely were higher than 50-60%, and many times lower. When I retook it, I had a new professor, and I breezed right through the class; almost an easy A.

The problem with DiffyQ though, is that the reason I did poorly in it wasn't the professor, it was that I had a hard time with the material itself. And the material hasn't changed. I've got a slightly leg up because I remember some of it, but even so I'm already struggling. Gotta say, office hours are a godsend.

With those classes as well as pavement design and a soils lab, not to mention CESAC work, this semester has been extremely busy. Don't be surprised if my entry rate on this blog slows way down.