The XMEN Clan Forums

Just moved into my dormroom today on the Ohio State Campus in Columbus. Awsome internet connection so far. Going to be spending the rest of this week exploring the area, getting setup, starting classes, and just plain enjoying real life.

What is this "real life" of which you speak?

I am trying to find that out myself, but it so far appears to consist of walking around the campus, buying books, and not meeting anyone of interest.

Your just starting classes or just moving? I started Aug. 29. I enjoy my college life so far, well i'm not going to OSU(attending small JC) but i do live on Texas A&M campus.

Ok, Beast, from English 101 : What's wrong with your previous post?

everything!

Dem Kountry Skools is gr8 at inglish!!!!

OU > OSU

have fun - don't blow it. 4 years go by like that. trust me, i'm 3 years into it and it still feels like freshman year.

Beast, only one thing in particular stands out.


My freshman year was the greatest. Easy classes, no real responsibilities yet. Jr and Sr years I had the hard classes, ran a club, was on student senate, and was getting ready to get married. Rogue got upset once when I was locked up in the computer lab with a heavy-duty project and didn't have time to come down and see her off on a trip home.

This is not my first year of college, but my first to be in a dorm room. I have bounced around several colleges now, the first change because of I couldn't pass Calculus at UTD, second change because of the family move to Ohio, and finally the third change from the Branch at Lima to the main campus. In fact this is my fourth year but I an a couple of years behind because of these changes.

UT > A&M
OSU > UT
Beowulf Bumber > You

I didn't "get" Calc I until I was halfway through Calc II.

there's nothing to "get" about calculus. You just do what your told, and use the formulas they tell you to.

There's plenty to 'get' w/ calculus... just like physics. Its not magic. There's logic hidden in there somewhere. You just have to look harder.

OSU has a great campus... I've been up there 4 or 5 times in the last 2 months.

If you did good in algebra and trig, then the formulas for calculus are not hard. To truly understand calculus, you have to sit there and think.

Think about what the impact of a derivative is. Then think about what the impact of an integral is. And think about how limits play the pivotal role.


Then take a class on calculus of variations, and one on number theory (sometimes called analysis). If you're just plugging and chugging the formulas, then you're missing out. And it will hurt you if you have to use calculus in stuff down the road. There's no way you can do what I do without a complete understanding of calculus, or quantum mechanics and maxwell's equations for that matter.




The thing that really throws your noodle into a knot is when you encounter quantum mechanics and try to integrate it with your understanding of limits. Oh and not, the easy undergrad quantum. Be a man (or woman) and take a graduate course. Then you REALLY start to understand things. There's a reason that there is still a search for an underlying theory of the universe; approximating the real world by using quantum mechanics with a group of field theories isn't working.


Oh and UW > beats all other schools, hands down, in engineering/law/medicine. The rest of it... well, I'm not sure about.

What they said. The formulas are easy - that's how I got my B in Cal I. The real understanding came later when I was wrestling with Cal II stuff. The light, she comes on! Up to that point, I knew what to do to solve the problems, but didn't have the whole picture.

Look at it this way - would you rather go to a doctor who just knows that if he cuts here or prescribes this drug, it'll cure this condition, or would you rather go to one that understood how the various parts of your body work together, and the likely effects of changing something via surgery or drugs? The first may have a license, but he's just a mechanic. The second is the real doctor.

The same thing holds true for most fields, including mine. There are people who can do the work, and might even be very good at it, but then there are other people who really understand what's going on.