Destination Berkeley III; The Maths
It was only two weeks into my trip when I both begrudgingly and keenly opted for a laptop instead of a camera; class had started. The subjects I had chosen were solely to gain the credit I required back at home, with a slight, zesty, twist: Physics 110A Electromagnetism & Optics, Math 110 Linear Algebra, Math 113 Abstract Algebra and Global 132 Conflict Resolution (Theory and Practice). Despite this being a reasonable subject plan at Melbourne Uni, I quickly discovered that here this constitutes quite a demanding semester, even for a domestic student. This was largely because my subjects were all content-heavy, all upper division (juniors or seniors only) and I had all up quite a few units (15).
Abstract was the subject I was looking forward to the most, purely because it was novel and I really wanted to learn group theory. I don’t think I’ll ever forget my reaction after the first lecture: I was smiling, like crazily, almost maniacal, because I literally couldn’t believe how much I did not understand despite sitting there intently, probably INTENSELY concentrating for the 1.5 hours straight. There was even a guy from the next class who noticed my odd, out of place expression prompting him to ask, good class right? Unfortunately, it’s not as though this class has become exponentially easier; I’m still met by (multiple) insurmountable problems where I need to look at solutions, just to get a start. On the other hand, Linear has been colourised by a celebrity lecturer who casually linked his numberphile video as supplementary material for, and I quote, ‘the importance of choosing a basis’. He’s been not bad, but he does hold regular and unnecessary ramblings where I swear he temporarily transforms into a blind man and cannot see raised hands. As for my impulse subject choice, the classroom for Conflict is always about 30 degrees so, naturally providing the ultimate conditions for sleep. However, the interactive aspect of the subject in conducting negotiations on bagel businesses and not-for profits, mediations between politically conflicting groups and more have been eye-opening and fairly enjoyable.
Here, lectures have a completely different dynamic: people legitimately turn up (I guess we all would too if lectures weren’t recorded), offer answers to questions AND manage to stay attentive for the entire 1 – 1.5 hrs. The front few rows are designated first class seats, with the actual theatres themselves too small to fit the ardent class. And to top it off, during the lectures I feel as if I’ve been implanted into one of my parent’s lectures (30 years back); blackboards mollify rooms, lecture “desks” (they’re tiny) are right-side only, there’s barely a computer to be seen in a 50-metre radius, and provided lecture notes are absent. This has been quite frankly a bit too traditional for my liking.
