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Take a Step Back

It is already that time of the year again. Summer is coming up and everyone is having a good time, or looking forward to a good time. For some, graduation is right around the quarter and the rest of their lives are about to begin. For others, it is just another year that has gone by, with everything seemingly the same. However, things have changed over the course of the year, and this would be a good time to go back and reflect.

For me, this would be the end of my first year at UCI. It has been a long three quarters here, with each quarter being harder and harder. So far, I was able to get though them with relative ease, but these are beginner classes. One of my objectives was to get the hard math courses out of the way, and I did manage to do that if I end up passing Calculus 2 this quarter. I’m en route to success, but with that final coming up, I sure do hope I can pass. Another goal I had at the beginning of the school year was to get into a club or organization of some sort. I technically did that with joining the Zot Blog program, so that was nice. I might try harder to join another club, like the animation club or the CS-GO club next year, but that is best left for later. Lastly, I had a goal to build a computer for personal use here at UCI. That was actually accomplished pretty early, near the end of first quarter. However, that computer has went through many revisions and ended up better than the one I have at home. It is my power house and was built from scratch with parts from Micro Center. It keeps me company and updated, and I can even get homework done on it. This might be the best goal I have accomplished this school year. Overall, I got my goals for the year completed, although some of them could be better.

Over the course of this school year. I have met many professors. Some can be described as outstanding, while others are just doing their jobs. One teacher that I saw was outstanding was my math 2A assistant professor, Xiaolong Li. Although he was hard to understand at first, his explanations got more and more in depth. He would also answer any question, no matter how dumb it sounded. For a Calculus class, this kind of help was quite welcoming. I was able to pass with a B thanks to his review question and answer sessions. Another instructor that felt really nice to work with was
Mustafa Hussain who taught ICS 10. This was one of the classes that I was forced to take in first quarter since all the classes I needed were full or locked. My expectations for the class was quite low, and I knew most of the content in the class. However, he found students like me and challenged us, giving us different coding assignments. He also made the class lecture’s interesting, and for an afternoon class, it was difficult to do. A class that was super hard for me, but had a decent professor was physics 3A with Thorsten Ritz. The class overall was difficult to me since this is the first time I took physics. He did make it bearable by curving the midterm and final, and if he didn’t, I wouldn’t have passed. Over the first year, I had ran into many great professors, and I hope to continue this trend.

If I had to teach a class on being undeclared, the main point that I would want my students to leave with is that undeclared life is not impossibly hard. It would include units on time management, unit management, and lastly tips and tricks on how to get major classes. Undeclared life is hard, but with the right alarms and emails made, getting into the major you want can be done.

My major undeclared specific goal that I accomplished was getting into ICS 31, the introductory programming class. It is one of the classes that is required to enter the computer science major, and it is a really hard class to get into if you are not already in computer science. I was able to snag a spot in spring quarter by camping website when restrictions drop, and I am currently passing the class. I still need to get into ICS 32 to officially have a chance to declare as computer science but it is still a big step forward.

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Hey, check this out!

Hey y’all, if you end up living in Mesa Court, there is a good chance that you would end up seeing this volleyball court. Not only can you play in it if you have a ball, you can also build sandcastles late at night. It also serves as a reference point in Mesa, if you ever need to give directions or anything of that sort.

This one is for all the incoming potential CS majors. These buildings are where most of the CS classes are. The one with the glass behind me is the engineering hall. The one immediately above me is the engineering tower and the one to the right is the ICS building.

This area to me seems like a really good spot to chill at Aldrich park. Behind me in the first picture is a tunnel connecting the park to the main road and Mesa Court. It is a nice place to duck under if it starts to rain, and the tunnel itself is just nice to go though since most of the time it is quiet and cool. It also happens to be one of the three ways to get into the park from Mesa Court. The area in front of me, which is picture two, is a nice resting spot, complete with statues. There is Chinese text on the signs there, with English as well so you can learn a thing or two about why they are here. Overall, I think this is a cool spot to go though if you ever need to get to class through the park.

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Get Help Now!

If you ever need help on campus, you should know that there are many resources that exist solely to help you. The main resource that I use the most is the offices hours of various classes.  During these times, they offer tutoring on the subject, and will try to answer any questions you may have. They are really kind to you, and anyone in the class is welcome to go whenever it is open. I have went to the office hours of Math 2B, which is calculus 2, and ICS 10, which has light coding, in search of help.

Math 2B is course that has a high falling rate. It also happens to be a required course for many majors. As the second course in the calculus, it requires you to pass Math 2A to be able to take the course. I didn’t really do outstanding in Math 2A, and was saved by the class curve. I also have not taken any calculus courses in high school, so the material that they sped through was unfamiliar. There was a good push to sign up for LARC, which is the paid tutoring service that has peer tutors that help you out, but I thought that the extra cash you need to join wasn’t worth it. So whenever I was struggling, I would go to the free department tutoring and the office hours of my professor. It was also super convenient, since office hours started right after class. That way I can ask about the materials covered in the lecture right after lecture, when it is still fresh in my mind. I believe it works well, and my grades should be ok, but that depends on when the midterm I just took is going to be graded.

For ICS 10, which is called how computers work, we had to use Javascript, which was something I had never used before. It different compared to the programming languages that I had already knew at the time, such as C++. We had an assignment to create a pig latin translator in that language and I couldn’t get the final loop to work properly. This was back in fall quarter, when I had just started college, so I was scared to go to office hours. However, the person teaching the course was very nice and helpful, and got me up to speed with Javascript really quickly. I highly suggest that if you have any problems in a course, attend the offices hours of that course. Most, if not all, courses have designated office hours, which when used properly, can guide you to success in college.

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A Letter to You

Dear incoming UCI Freshmen,

First of all, congratulations on your acceptance to the University of California Irvine. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get here, but now you are here. If you are reading this, that must mean you are interested in the undeclared life at UCI. As an undeclared student at UCI, I find this lifestyle challenging, but not difficult. Sure, some classes are harder to get when you are Undeclared, but it isn’t impossible to get them. That is especially true for the computer science classes. These classes are in high demand, meaning that if you cannot initially get in during the first few weeks of each quarter, getting in would be impossible. Computer science is a major that everyone wants to get into, and if you couldn’t get admitted into the major when you applied here, I get it. I am in the same boat as you. However, being undeclared has its perks, such as being able to attend this school. All jokes aside, being undeclared means that you don’t have to be tied down to the classes of a certain major, allowing you to explore. Some classes restrict certain courses to certain majors, like if you are a physics major, you are not allowed to take any of the lower division easier physics classes, which you can as an undeclared. This also helps you find a major, since you can get a taste of how each specific major classes feel, and decide later what to declare.

Now about me, as an undeclared student living on campus. My favorite part of this experience is the roommates. We decided for no reason what so ever on a Wednesday night to eat ramen at around 2 am, then eat a whole fresh avocado by itself, and then proceed to go skating around the resident halls. It was the wildest night we had and we still had class in a few hours. For that problem, I simply had to deal with it. Sometimes you would just have to force yourself up with an alarm or two. Other problems that might arise can be dealt with using proper channels of communication, such as emailing a professor or directly talking to a roommate. If you find yourself living in Mesa Court, a major facility you might take advantage of is the study hall right across the Mesa Court mail room. Your key card can get you in and it is usually quiet, making it a great place to study. The easiest way to navigating this campus is to know where each educational wing is where. These serve as general landmarks, making finding your classes easier. U/U staff are also a great resource to use when you are confused. They are located right next to a Starbucks and the campus book store. They are there to help make your transition to the college setting smoother, giving even more tips and tricks along the way.

 

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Maximus Relaximus

For spring break, I decided to stay at the dorms. Since The Anteatery is down for the break, I made food preparations so I didn’t have to leave my room for the entire week. These preparations included many packs of instant ramen along with eggs and some beef patties. There was a kitchen downstairs to provide hot water to fuel everything, so I was ready to camp out in my dorm room for the week. My roommates went home for the break so I had the entire dorm to myself. It was fun not having to wear headphones and blasting my music, since I was used to that kind of setup at home. I also had my computer to keep my company for the entire week, which I used to catch up on my video games. Overall, my spring break was pretty much just me by myself in the dorm room having a good time playing video games.

As my final quarter of my first year starts, I have set a few decently hard goals for myself. The hardest goal for me is to pass all my classes with at least a B. It is rather difficult because I decided to take 20 units which also include some difficult classes like Math 2B and ICS 31. I need these classes to be done so I can graduate on time, but the course load is quite large. Another thing I want to accomplish by the end of this quarter is to find time to return to Micro center so I can get some new parts for my computer. That means I would also need to save some extra money as well, which wouldn’t be too hard if I’m frugal enough. Overall, I’m aiming for a good final stretch for the end of my first year of college, and if things went as smoothly as they did before, it would be a piece of cake, although the cake would be baked by me which means it would be overly sweet and hard to the point where it is crunchy.