The Chase Building

Do you ever have one of those moments where you feel like you're in a movie? I've had a couple of those recently, in one class in particular.

The math building at Dalhousie (also called the Chase Building) is currently under renovation. It started with a little upkeep of the stone work. Next it turned into updating all the windows. Then a pipe broke and ruined all sorts of mathematical journals (some of you may find this a good thing... most here don't). There's really only one classroom in the Chase Building that can fit more than 10 people, and so many math students never actually have a class there. It's just a place to relax, a campus-home, if you will. There are a lot of offices and study areas with comfy chairs.

Anyway, I have the privilege this year of having my Optimization class there. And each morning, we hear this thump, bang, or brrrrrrrr from the open window. And if any of you have seen A Beautiful Mind, you'll remember when Professor Nash starts to teach a class, and closes the window to muffle the jackhammer outside, ignoring the sweltering students. Jennifer Connelly's character coolly gets up and politely asks the construction workers to do something else for the time so they can get enough fresh air to think.

Well, I sort of feel like being Jennifer Connelly, because even with the windows closed, they're drilling into the building. It is loud. And it's hard to optimize with brrrrrr going on.

I think I could pull off the hair too. And she has the cutest dresses.

I love math movies.

Picture from A Beautiful Mind, (2001).

Continual Blessings

I have completed four final exams, and have two left at this point. My most recent exam was Linear Algebra. That course has been a mess so far.

It all started with enrollment. Everyone starts with Math 2030: Matrix Theory/Linear Algebra in the fall, which I did. Then there are two options for the second course in the winter. The first is the natural continuance, Math 2040: Matrix Theory/Linear Algebra 2. There is also Math 2135: Linear Algebra. I don't think it's ever explicitly stated in the course description, but it is the honors Linear Algebra. I was aware of this when I signed up for it, but I couldn't take Math 2040 because it conflicted with Cryptography, so I thought I would just suck it up and start the hike up the mountain of proofs.

I don't quite remember the situations surrounding the midterm, but I got a 48%. I was pretty miserable. I had totally skipped over one question, which automatically lost me 20%. It just wasn't a good time. Luckily, he took the grade out of 20 rather than 25, which boosted my grade to a 60%, but still... not the sort of thing a math major wants on her record.

The rest of the course was a little more application centered rather than proofs (though there were still plenty). With the final coming up, I was dreading all the studying I was going to have to do to make up for my midterm grade. Then our professor mentioned that he had an alternate grading option. Typically, the final would be worth 50% of our mark, and assignments and midterm are each worth 25%. However, if the final exam grade alone was higher than that composition, your grade would be taken as 100% final exam. Yahoo! The nasty midterm could be forgotten! But now the stress was on. I was aiming on clearing the slate, and to do that I wanted a really good final exam grade.

I spent a decent amount of time studying. My eighth grade science teacher, Mr. McHatton, was right. If you don't know how to study for university, you're toast. I think I'm still learning how to study, because I never really had to in high school, and that makes me put off studying even more! I hate the idea of it, but something I found when studying for this course was as I studied, it made sense. And suddenly, I didn't need to memorize tons of things- just the building blocks. I could come to the conclusions of the proofs myself if I just learn the basic properties. I didn't have to memorize a lot of theorems, and really, there weren't that many anyways.

Then the morning of the test day, I went to Coburg Coffee early early. I got a bowl of soup (for breakfast? I know. But it was really good soup) and pulled out the practice problems. I went through everything and then went to beautiful Becca A's room. She gave me a card with Eph 1: 18-21 on it, had me review, and sent me off.

...that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (Eph 1:18-21 NKJV)

The test went wonderfully. I mean, I don't know how I did yet; it will be a couple weeks before I get the results back. But it's been quite the adventure. In the last two weeks I've discovered what wonderful friends I have and how, even though we're studying totally unrelated topics, we are there to help each other as best we can. Even though at the end I was starting to enjoy the material, I'm sort of glad that class is over. I'll update with the results when I get them.

The Numerati

I love finals weeks. They are my kind of weeks. I think this is mostly because I don't stress out over exams. I look over the material, sure, but I learned long ago that math isn't something you can "catch up" on at the last minute, so I make sure I learn it as we go through classes. Then, when tests come, life is a whole lot easier.

It means I get to do other things this week. Yesterday I went ice skating with the A's (see next post). Tomorrow we're going to the Nutcracker. And today... aside from looking over geometry... I am reading The Numerati. Call me a nerd (one of my friends did) but I like math books. They motivate me.

The Numerati is about that classified group of employees that makes us into math. I had no idea what sort of industries were out there that blend computer science and mathematical analysis, but they range from political polls, to advertising, to matchmaking sites. The Numerati are the people that take all that data and feed back results to companies so they know what to do with it. For instance, Umbria Communications has computers that read millions of blogs just like this one, and read "customer reviews," along with targeting the demographic of the writer. They then send the information back to the company. So Canon knows I like my Rebel... now. They don't have to wait to check sales projections because blogs are updated constantly. Scary. There's a whole lot of scarier things in this book, but they're a little more complex than that example. I would recommend it to people who are interested in a mix of sociology, computer science, and statistics. There is a disappointedly little amount of math in it, for the title, other to say that math is used. Still, I find it interesting and a quick read. Back to geometry!

Another Patience Tester

One of my jobs around here is tutoring my little step-sister in math. I just sat down for my first hour with her, and I don't know what to make of it. She's scatter-brained. She verbally says one thing and writes down something completely different. She tries to apply identical principles to completely unrelated problems. She writes down an answer, I explain which part of it is wrong, so she erases it... and writes down the same thing again... twice.
The saddest part (or possibly the most hopeful for her) is that it reminds me of me. I hated math in grade 5. When we had "Fast Fact" quizzes every week (addition/subtraction/multiplication/division memory tests) I would get 40%, even when I came in at lunch to do them to reduce test anxiety. In grade 7, I got a C in math. It all sort of changed with Algebra I in grade 8, but till then, I was a math mess. Now, I love it. I love the order. I love how Ian Stewart puts it: "Your entire life bobs like a small boat on a vast ocean of mathematics." So lovely and peaceful and ordered.
I hope it turns out that way for my sister.