My second year at UW revolved primarily around optimizing my time. I’ve been slow to warm up to new people and situations since I need time to process what I see and figure out my own role, but with three quarters down I was ready to move forward. I was familiar with campus resources now and had learned what study habits worked best for me, so while classes took time and hard work, I wasn’t stressed about it. I focused my free time on strengthen the relationships I had started the year before and allowed myself to leave behind commitments I didn’t really enjoy. In particular, I got more involved with Phi Sigma Pi, the honors fraternity I had joined mid-way though freshman year. I had the opportunity to travel to UC Riverside for our regional conference and volunteered for more leadership roles. Most importantly, I formed friendships and looked forward to seeing them at events, whether it was a trip to Pike Place Market or cleaning trash of the street in 35 degree weather at 10 am on a Saturday. Overall, I was content with where I was in life, having shed the expectations I carried into freshman year and instead allowing opportunities to appear as they may.
ME 123 - Introduction to Visualization and CAD |
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Winter 2014
This class was my first ME prefix course, so I was pretty excited about taking it. Overall, it wasn't really a favorite class of mine since the lectures were boring and covered topics that many engineers don't need (and those who do will quickly pass the levels of an intro class). However, I did enjoy working with the CAD software, SolidWorks, in lab sections and it cemented my interest in pursing a design and/or manufacturing type career. Also, our final projects were pretty extensive and really demonstrated just how proficient we became in SolidWorks. Starting completely from scratch, I designed a grandfather clock by modelling 12 individual parts, assembled them, and produced two drawings.
This class was my first ME prefix course, so I was pretty excited about taking it. Overall, it wasn't really a favorite class of mine since the lectures were boring and covered topics that many engineers don't need (and those who do will quickly pass the levels of an intro class). However, I did enjoy working with the CAD software, SolidWorks, in lab sections and it cemented my interest in pursing a design and/or manufacturing type career. Also, our final projects were pretty extensive and really demonstrated just how proficient we became in SolidWorks. Starting completely from scratch, I designed a grandfather clock by modelling 12 individual parts, assembled them, and produced two drawings.
ME 230 - Kinematics & Dynamics |
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Spring 2014
This class was...interesting. Not because the material was riveting, but rather my overall experience. The professor was a PhD candidate teaching his first course so he could relate to us as students very well but hadn't established his own style yet. I generally like a lot of structure in my life so I struggled with the format of the class and the textbook he had chosen. When it was time for the midterm, I put a good amount of effort in and felt okay about my preparation, but once the test was in front of me I realized I had studied the wrong type of material. And as it turns out, I failed. I wasn't just slightly below average, but rather just slightly above the lowest score in class. It was the worst feeling. This class is a prerequisite for the major I have already been accepted to and I'm at the bottom. I decided that I would need to reconsider my major, but I had to at least try and salvage the rest of the class. For the final, I studied 10 times as hard, and I knew what the test would be like, so I felt confident I could at least get an average grade.Then I had to wait almost two week for final grades, hoping for at least 3.0. But by some miracle (read: combination of handwork and a generous curving system), I received a 4.0 in the class (and the second highest grade on the final). I guess it just proves the saying: when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Attached is the class midterm; unfortunately I was unable to pick up the graded final.
This class was...interesting. Not because the material was riveting, but rather my overall experience. The professor was a PhD candidate teaching his first course so he could relate to us as students very well but hadn't established his own style yet. I generally like a lot of structure in my life so I struggled with the format of the class and the textbook he had chosen. When it was time for the midterm, I put a good amount of effort in and felt okay about my preparation, but once the test was in front of me I realized I had studied the wrong type of material. And as it turns out, I failed. I wasn't just slightly below average, but rather just slightly above the lowest score in class. It was the worst feeling. This class is a prerequisite for the major I have already been accepted to and I'm at the bottom. I decided that I would need to reconsider my major, but I had to at least try and salvage the rest of the class. For the final, I studied 10 times as hard, and I knew what the test would be like, so I felt confident I could at least get an average grade.Then I had to wait almost two week for final grades, hoping for at least 3.0. But by some miracle (read: combination of handwork and a generous curving system), I received a 4.0 in the class (and the second highest grade on the final). I guess it just proves the saying: when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Attached is the class midterm; unfortunately I was unable to pick up the graded final.