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A New Home

Exactly one month ago, I set foot onto College Hill after spending the night in the car because of flooding in the Bronx. A little less than a month ago, I waved goodbye to my parents and brother, left stranded and lost in a new planet of college.

The first month of university has just flown by as I am startled to realize that it is already the second of October. Being away from family, completely new experiences everywhere, the pressure of excelling in an environment of excellent people… it’s been exhausting yet invigorating.

Here are some of my reflections on life at Brown so far.

Academics

Currently, I am taking 5 courses: an intro CS course, linear algebra, differential equations, statistical inference, and a philosophy, politics, and economics course. So far, the material in my classes has been standard and not particularly challenging, but my professors are the standouts.

Every professor is so passionate about their respective subject, and they all feel dedicated to teaching and helping us students succeed. And of course, they are so, so, so, so smart and knowledgeable, so much so that it is incredibly inspiring for me as their student. A huge flip on the stereotype that I’ve heard thrown around about college professors being apathetic to teaching and focusing on their research.

The linear algebra midterm I took yesterday was a very interesting experience, as I feel like my testing in high school has exceptionally prepared me for the pressure of college exams. Small digression…

Exam Philosphy

In high school, my (exceptional) math teacher that I had for all four years tested in a very particular way to mirror what he thought we should expect in college. The exam questions were VERY difficult, and usually had multiple ways to approach them. However, he told us that we should use the time limit to help guide us to the correct method. As in, of course you might be able to get the solution by bashing, but can you really finish in the time limit?

Additionally, he tested extensively on our DEPTH of knowledge vs. BREADTH (queue searching graphs) by making the problems new applications of the topics we’d done in class. Often, it required you to truly know the topic or concept to twist it into the new way we were expected to apply it on the exam.

To compensate for the incredibly difficult and tricky problems, he gave a ton of partial credit. In some cases, evaluating an integral or expanding some algebra was only 0.5 points of a 20 point question. We were allowed to write out our methodology instead of actually doing it (i.e. “I’d use X theorem here and Y technique here”) and he’d give us some partial credit for that.

This generosity contrasts greatly with the generosity of my linear algebra professor, which arose in a different manner. Our exam’s questions were significantly more straightforward than what would normally appear on my high school teacher’s exams, but I expect tougher standards for partial credit as a tradeoff.

Honestly, I’m not sure which one I prefer, or if I am even in a position to judge. Maybe the difference just arose because of the nature of linear algebra and the subject being very definition focused; I just thought the difference in examination philosophy between teachers was interesting and wanted to describe what it was like having been exposed to both.

Social

Currently, I’ve applied for a couple clubs and have yet to hear back. The main club I have been attending is club swim and working out with some great people there. And finally, I just interviewed for an officer position in the Brown CS Departmental Undergraduate Group, so hopefully I get accepted!

Speaking of people, in my first month here, I’ve met a ton of people. Too many maybe. But, I feel as if I only truly know a few well enough to call them my friends. I guess it’s something like the “icebreaker dilemma”: you introduce yourself to and meet so many people, yet get to know nobody.

A lot of times I catch myself worming out of social situations, often through BS excuses like “I have work.” I even have way more free time than I thought I would, so I am being way too conservative with social activities and clubs.

As I plow through the end of 2021, I aim to change this. I am deeply inspired by one of my friends, and his change in mentality when approaching life, namely the idea of asking “why not?” instead of “why?”

I feel like I have limited myself, and my mom tells me this a lot too. I’m not here at university to be the same person again; I’m here to explore and become a better, more full person. My goal as I move forward is to push my comfort zone instead of staying huddled up at the bottom of the well, doing activities I’ve always done. Asking “why not” instead of “why” when I approach a new experience will be a great way to start.

Miscellaneous

  • Playing in a few game tournaments soon with some new friends that I met at Brown! Hopefully that will be a cool experience.
  • Yeah, I’m homesick. Very. Cried a few times. Miss you guys, if you’re reading this. It sucks to not be able to eat home cooking or to just be able to talk to my family.
  • I hear they’re getting a cat to replace me. Here’s a picture of Almond: my cat 😍😍😍😍😍

That’s all for now. In summary, stuff is going well, maybe better than expected. However, I still have some work to do to make it a truly fulfilling first semester and I still miss my family a ton. Thanksgiving could not come sooner… Back to work!