YOU HAVE BEEN DEFEATED.

Sadly, my marks turned out worse than it was last year. However, I do believe that I understood the material but failed to present my knowledge to the best of my abilities. For example, after just writing Test 1, I felt pretty confident because I knew how to do the questions. But when the marks came back, I realized that I mixed up many variable names and forgot to add important structural elements in my proof. This can also be said for Assignment 1. I got good marks on question 3 and 4 (which were the harder ones) but didn't do as well on question 1 and 2 because I failed to notice minor details that would make my proofs complete.

Truthfully, I am feel demoralized because I knew the material and knew how to apply it but I wasn't able to communicate it where it mattered. I have no one else to blame but myself. Because my mark is really low, I do feel a lot of pressure and uneasy since there is no more breathing room for mistakes, I hope I can get my act together and still do better in this course than in CSC165.

Assignment 1: Self Reflection

I feel some background information is required. I didn't do well last year in CSC165. I was failing but I managed to study hard and get my act together and as a result, I passed.

This year with CSC236, I vowed to not let it be a repeat of CSC165 and to study and UNDERSTAND the material that was being taught EVERY WEEK. This being said, when I saw assignment 1 was posted, I dived right into it. I think many students at UofT would agree with me that UNDERSTANDING the material is only HALF THE BATTLE when it came to assignments, tests, or exams. What really matters is using what you know and APPLYING it to solve problems. Assignment 1, was no different. I understood the material but was having trouble in knowing how to apply what I learned to try to solve the questions. I took a lot of time just sitting down and trying to find a connection between the course notes and the questions being asked from the assignment so I can maybe get an  idea on where to start. Of course, for example question 1 and 2, the relationship can be found quickly as they were extremely similar to some of  the lecture examples. Question 3 and 4 were the hardest questions out of the whole assignment. I had no idea where to begin . When I was running out of hope, I remembered some helpful advice given to me from some of my high school teachers. My English teacher taught me to just keep writing or doodle even if you have nothing to say as sometimes random thoughts can emerge and grow into insightful ideas. Also, my physics teacher taught me to draw pictures as it helps you to visualize and understand the problem more. I started doodling and drawing pictures on my brainstorming page that were related to question 3 and 4. To my surprise, those two helpful advice allowed me prove all the questions in the assignment. 

Maybe my weakness last year was not about being unable to understand the material... but failing to learn how to apply concepts from the course to questions or proofs that need proving. I guess that will be my goal for this course. To learn how to apply what I learned to everyday challenges.