I’m a-feared
UGH THE TEST IS OVER. Thank god.
It wasn’t awful, but I know I made at least one—maybe two—stupid little mistakes. I’m hoping Dr. Lu will be merciful and see that I do understand what I’m doing, I just made dumb math errors.
‘Cause that’s what I do.
Now it’s time to do nothing school-related for the rest of the day.
Sorry I keep posting about school. (I’m not sorry at all.)
This video accurately depicts the change in my attitude and approach to grad school, pre- and post-February 2nd.
The day you identify with a HowToBasic video is the day you know that things have gone horribly wrong.
LAJDFLDS
THE RAGE
MAKES IT
HARD TO BLOG
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Rough
I am DONE with the first draft of my thesis introduction. Last time I did this, I thought the introduction was the hardest/most work-intensive part of the whole thing to write. So considering I’ve got all my simulations done and just need to write up the results, I’m guessing it’s the same sort of thing this time around.
So it’s nice to have that first rough draft done, even though it is just a rough draft.
Plus, I don’t think I’d made this much progress until April or so last time.
Yeah.
It Begins!
Okay, so unlike Thesis: Round I in 2011, I’ve actually started my thesis writing now—in January—versus in March. Which is probably a good thing. I also feel like I understand what I’m actually doing WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than I did back then.
I also care a lot more.
So yeah. Hopefully things will go a lot smoother than they did last time, but I guess we’ll see.
WOO!
Winter Semester 2016: COMMENCE!
It’s time for the final semester of the Masters program! I’m excited. Well, excited for it to be over. Excited to (hopefully) get this degree. I’m hoping to be done with the thesis stuff by May so that I can defend then and just not worry about anything over the summer. That would be SO NICE and SUCH A GREAT CONTRAST to last time in 2011.
I just want to teach, man. That’s the end goal of all of this.
I just. Want. To. Teach.
I’M FREE
Had the final for Dr. Chen’s class this morning, which means I’M FREE OF THIS SEMESTER!
(Except not really. I have to invigilate a test on Monday at freaking 7 PM.)
BUT I’M FREE OF ANY CLASS OBLIGATIONS!
Now it’s thesis time for real. My goal is to get it done by May at the latest, but we’ll see.
I’m already ridiculously nervous.
Hoo-rah
Hooray, a 33/30 on that test!
That makes me super happy. Not as happy as A’s on BOTH of those freaking tests, but it least it raises my average up to an A- in the class.
Now all that is left is the final.
Bring it on.
(I’m going to go pass out from relief.)
Test = done
UGH THE TEST IS OVER. I think I did okay. Hopefully. I kind of “blacked out” during it, meaning that I don’t really remember doing any of it, it just kind of happened.
But that’s good! That’s something that usually happens when I know the material well, and it usually results in a good grade.
NOW I CAN RELAX FOR A LITTLE BIT HOLY HELL.
Grad School News
So here’s some news: I’m going to have two supervisors at school instead of one from now on.
Reason is as follows: Dr. Chen said that he wanted to talk to me after class today, and he basically told me that because I’m doing my own research topic rather than one he selected for me for my thesis, he wants to make sure that I’ve got someone who knows the topic a little bit more than he does (he doesn’t specialize in SEM or anything like that).
He also said that one of the new professors in the department has a strong background in latent variable modeling (SEM is a common technique used when you’ve got latent variables) who is applying for grants. One of the criteria they look at to determine whether or not to give you grant money is how much experience you have supervising students. Since the new professor is, well, new, she doesn’t have any experience being a supervisor. Thus, Dr. Chen thinks that having her be a co-supervisor could be beneficial to us both, as she will be able to put down that she’s currently supervising a grad student and I’ll have someone who’s quite familiar with SEM working with me as I do my thesis.
Coolio.
Oh, and her name is Dr. Shen. My co-supervisors are Dr. Chen and Dr. Shen.
That is awesome.
WOW I SUCK
I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck
I SUCK
BLUCHGLSKJFG
Well, I’m pretty sure that was the worst I’ve ever done on a test.
Fantastic.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see until next week to see if my “Complete Loser” status is confirmed.
I’m going to go die in a corner now.
Teachin’ Time! (sort of.)
It’s summer session, which means it’s time for me to be a TA again!
Actually, this semester it’s a little bit different. One of the professors I’m TA-ing for was one I TA-ed for last semester. He knows I want to be a stats teacher at some point and seemed to like the job I did last semester, so this semester he’s letting me basically teach a fourth day of class in place of the lab I was supposed to run.
Which is super snazzy.
I’m also TA-ing for a new class, but it’s a lower-level one than the others, so it shouldn’t be so bad.
…
I have an exciting life, huh?
GRADES!
YAY, I got an A in Multivariate! I was super nervous because the final was brutal and there was one question on there that I’m pretty sure no one got full points for, but still…nervous.
And I got an A+ in Dr. Chen’s class, but I was expecting that just because we didn’t have a final and I knew what my grades were for everything else in that class.
WOO!
Claudia’s Top Ten Reasons Why Round II of Grad School is better than Round I of Grad School
The semester is officially* OVER! We shall not discuss the Multivariate Analysis final. Instead, it’s time for a very important list.
Claudia’s Top Ten Reasons Why Round II of Grad School is better than Round I of Grad School (ordered from least important to most important)
10. I was excited to move to Calgary.
I didn’t give a crap about Vancouver when I moved there. UBC was the only school that accepted me, and so that’s where I went. Location didn’t really matter. This time I had a choice (sort of (and it was a hard one)), but I pretty much knew as soon as I was accepted at U of C that Calgary would be a cool place to live and that I wanted to move there.
9. I “fit in” here.
This isn’t too big of a deal to me, but it’s nice to be around people who are actually interested in the same stuff as I am, school-wise. When I was at UBC, I was the ONLY one in the quantitative psychology division of the department, and thus was kind of isolated. Here, we’re all together in the same program, which is nice.
8. I’m older now.
I GOTS TEH WISDOM!!!1!
Seriously though, I think being in grad school at 27 instead of 21 makes a huge difference. This is the most cliché thing ever, but I feel like I’m mature enough for grad school this time around. (And probably would have been at 23 or 24, too, but I was busy doing other things then. Like more undergrad.)
7. I actually have a solid math background now.
Well, as solid a math background as I can have. Surprisingly, a solid math background is helpful in statistics. Who would have guessed?
6. I actually give a crap this time.
I did NOT give a crap last time. Not one little itty bitty crap.
5. I’ve been through all this nonsense before and thus know I can do it.
There were a few times at UBC where I was positive I was not going to be able to make it through because I didn’t think I was the type to be able to complete and defend a thesis. But now I know!
4. It almost never rains here.
It almost never iraining in Vancouver. As you can tell by how far up this is on the list, weather was a major downside to Grad School Round I.
3. I get along with my supervisor here.
REALLY.
DAMN.
IMPORTANT.
NOT.
EVEN.
KIDDING.
2. I like what I’m doing now.
I guess I liked quant psych too, since I was practically doing a stats degree, but now it’s ALL ABOUT THE STATS, not just their application to psychology. And I’m just so damn happy to finally be doing JUST STATS, not stats mixed with some other crap because I’m too chicken to just do stats.
1. I have a reason for being in grad school this time.
I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do once I finished grad school back at UBC. Teach? Maybe. Work for the Census Bureau? Maybe. Who knows? But now that I KNOW I’m good at teaching stats and enjoy doing so immensely, that’s given me a very solid reason for being back at grad school. And that’s probably more important than all the other items on this list combined.
*Well okay, I still have to invigilate exams on Monday, but that’s easy.
Broccles
LOOK AT MY FRIDGE
THAT IS ALL BROCCOLI
WHO LET ME LIVE ALONE?
Anyway.
Turns out everyone in Dr. Chen’s class got dropped from it the night before the class started, so we spent about 15 minutes of today’s class just being confused over why we’d all suddenly get dropped. More on this riveting story as it develops.
Also, I’m in a Muse mood tonight. I’ve posted this video on here before, but I’ll post it again because it features the song I’ve currently got stuck in my head.
BOOSH
Hey, so it turns out that I won a Graduate Assistant Teaching Excellence Award for my TA work last semester. Snazzy!
Actually, I think I was the last person to find out I was one of the five six winners, considering the fact that an email regarding the awards was sent out last week to everyone but me, haha. I only found out once someone said congratulations to me and I had to ask, “For what?”
Also, Multivariate Analysis looks like it’s going to be awesome. We indeed get to do factor analysis. Expect nothing but joyful screeching that week.
Edit: I guess all the other four winners are from pure/applied math. I’m the only one from stats. Badass!
Edit 2: holy crap, I get $600 as part of that award? Badass!
Mitten Manufacturing: A Labor of Glove
What the heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell.
Alright, so Dr. Chen had our grades in for 701 last week. I got a B+, which is certainly not stellar by any means. However, the fact that it’s a B+ and not an A- (or maybe even an A) is most likely due to my low score on the first midterm. Why did I get a low score on the first midterm? Because I’m me and I panicked on it, which caused me to make a really dumb mistake on a question I knew how to do. I was able to catch the mistake and fix it during the test, but doing so cost me so much time that I was unable to even answer one of the other two questions, which got me a super low score on that third of the test.
But we’re not here to talk about 701.
We’re here to talk about 601, the class that I was really worried about. Up here we need a B- to “pass” a class* but are only allowed to have two B- grades every two semesters. So really we all want B’s or better. Calculating my grade before the project, I pretty much needed a perfect score on said project to get a B overall. And even though I was feeling fairly confident about the project after I’d finished it last week, I figured there was no way in hell I’d gotten a perfect score.
So I checked my grade today and somehow I pulled off an A- in 601. As you might expect, I’m pretty pleasantly shocked. He must have really curved things at the end. Either that or my presentation ROCKED HIS SOCKS.
But I’m guessing he just really curved things at the end.
Either way, though, I’m relieved. I was really worried throughout this semester that I’d do so poorly that they’d kick me out. Seriously. I’m the only** statistics student from the United States, too. Gotta represent!
*A note for my American readers out there (which I think is almost everyone): Canada grades are different than US grades in the sense that for us US people, a B is equivalent to a grade anywhere from 80% to 89% (at least in most cases). Here it varies slightly by class, but a B in 601 is a grade anywhere from 76% to 79.5%. That may make it sound “easier” to get a B, but compared to US grading, they’re quite a bit tougher up here. Both UWO and UBC were like that, too.
**I definitely know I’m the only incoming US stats student, and I’m pretty sure I’m the only US stats student in the entire department right now, too.
End!
Okay, NOW I am officially done with the semester! Turned in my final paper and the corresponding data and R code. My grade will be what it will be—there’s nothing I can do to influence it now.
I also went on a nice 13-mile walk, which was especially awesome considering the fact that I have basically walked ZERO miles over the past week due to all the panic.
I wonder if the end-of-semester sadness is going to kick in this year. I haven’t felt it over the past few semesters, but who knows. That used to hit me really hard, man. Especially in the summer.
I should distract myself by packing. Instead, I’m going to distract myself by playing Quake. Non-semester mode, ACTIVATE!
(Sorry I’m so boring.)
Eigenblogger 