Posted on 1 Comment on ACADEMIC WEAPON

ACADEMIC WEAPON

Academic weapon (noun)—An individual (typically a student) that acquires traits that are seen by many as scholarly. Example: Ian is an academic weapon who doesn’t miss class and studies hard for his midterms. 

The term “academic weapon” blew up as a meme on TikTok, where people doing academically positive things such as not skipping class, studying, and asking questions were referred to as “academic weapons.” And who doesn’t want to be called a weapon? Of course, I had to comply.

Throughout this quarter, I have tried my best to maintain a healthy work-life balance with the help of my friends—and this silly little meme. Midterms the week after Halloween? No problem. My friends and I would go out for Halloween but come home earlier, all in the name of academic weaponry. 

So far, I have taken a midterm for math and econ, and both have gone well! To study for math, I was able to get help from our class’s online discussion board, which allowed me to ask questions to the other 600+ students, as well as the professor. It also helped that I go to class with my roommate Brandon, where we sit in the first row of our 400 person lecture (as academic weapons should). Brandon has been a huge help in this class, teaching me things I didn’t understand and letting me study with him for the midterm. My midterm could have gone better, but I still have finals, so I still have a chance of getting that coveted A.

Even though I expected better in math, at least I have econ to cheer me up. Somehow I aced the midterm, leaving me physical proof of my hard work. And because of this, I now find myself in a predicament I would never have imagined myself in. 

So my econ class has two midterms: one in week 3 and one in week seven. However, in this class, the lowest-scoring midterm gets dropped. See where I’m going with this? I could technically get any grade at all on the next midterm, and it wouldn’t matter one bit. The thought is tempting, and I’ve imagined myself reenacting a scene from my favorite movie Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, where the main character, Miles, knows all of the answers on his test but gets a zero on purpose. However, one thing is holding me back—I need to be an academic weapon.

All that effort to ace an exam just to throw away my title like that? Not a chance. I’ve already started studying for my midterm next week, and I plan on doing just as well. Maybe then, just then, I can hold the title of academic weapon with pride, knowing that I took the right steps and got the results I wanted.

See y’all next time!

-Ian

Posted on 1 Comment on Mid-Quarter Meditations

Mid-Quarter Meditations

I have something to confess: I actually have zero midterms this quarter.  I’m taking three classes: the first revolves around writing two major papers, the second is a project-based ICS class, and the third is Intro to Linguistics, in which we had our first quiz of the quarter during Week 4.  I did have some major deadlines (including my first major paper of the quarter and an ICS project) around the time my friends started complaining about their midterms, so I felt included in the mid-quarter stress; however, I don’t think I’ve had the true “UCI Midterm Experience” yet.

Due to this apparently unique experience, I have found myself having more “homework sessions” than “study sessions” at this point in the quarter.  As a commuter, I’ve found myself spending most of my time on campus either in class or in the library.  I’ve done productive work in both the Langson Library and Science Library and found some spots I like at both.  In the Langson Library, I usually stay on the ground floor, sitting in those wooden cubicles by the floor-to-ceiling length windows.  I like the location of those desks, as there usually aren’t many people passing by, so I can have a reminder of the outside world without feeling like an animal at the zoo.  Also, the wooden walls that cage in the desk provide an illusion of privacy, and I feel comfortable visibly expressing any frustration or confusion induced by my work.

As nice as those cubicles are, I’ve found myself at my most productive on the second floor of the Science Library – the colorful chairs and high ceiling make it feel more like an IKEA showroom than a library, and something about being in that artificial environment makes me want to do work.  Not being in a cubicle also reduces my desire to procrastinate, as I know my less than productive YouTube endeavors can be seen by any passerby’s searching for seating.  I also usually go relatively early in the morning (around 9am), so it’s quiet enough where I can put my AirPods in and just grind through my to-do list for the day.  It always feels nice to get things done early and know that you have a full day ahead of you still.

I’ve been enjoying this quarter a lot, not just because of the fact that I’ve had no midterms, but because everything I’m studying interests me.  Since I find the things I’m doing interesting and mentally stimulating, not even the frustration of debugging, the stress of writing, and the initial confusion of trying to wrap my head around entirely new concepts can dissuade me.  I can only hope that I’ll have a similarly pleasant combination of classes next quarter, so that my first midterm experience doesn’t come with too much stress.