Finale

And so the course comes to a close with some review that the professor has put on the slides for preparation. Looking at the topics that will be covered for the exam, it doesn't seem impossible to pass this course yet the amount of time and effort I have put into this course is saying otherwise. Having a sore throat and other sinus problems along with the cold weather isn't helping my case either.

Rant incoming.

To be brutally honest, not getting ontop of the material in this course in a daily basis is now putting a huge burden on studying for the exam. I feel that the hours of help which are office hours and the help center aren't enough and they're aren't enough TAs to help students in need which include me. After seeing the long lineups and ridiculous waiting times, I felt confused and hopeless throughout this course which led to little depth of analysis of material in the course submissions in my blog. I was very punctual with lectures and tutorials but in the lectures I tend to lose concentration with the material presented when the professor makes a witty joke about something, when his handwriting is often unreadable but after a game of 20 questions I can make the word out, and when concepts that aren't related to this course but helpful to remember are used in this course which I still try to understand till this day(i.e. Delta Epsilon Proofs).

Tutorials are no different either: I am extremely exhausted since there seems to be no air ventilation in my tutorial room causing me to almost feeling like passing out where my TA(who hasn't responded to any of the blogs shes responsible for yet seeing my link for submitted blogs on the 165 website) explains concepts that go straight through my head. The quizes given out each week seem simple but not being ontop of material and even when the TA goes over the concept I dont feel confident with my answers to the point where I can explain each step causing me to get at most a 1 or less. The course notes for this course are helpful in a sense of being exposed to the material but most of the time I often ask myself where certain parts of the solution have been made and the lack of certain knowledge in the realm of mathematics often caused alot of confusion in understanding the entire solution of a question, and etc.

This domino effect of not keeping ontop of coursework has caused me to offer little to none in terms of assignments where my other two partners who are both hard-working and amazing in understanding the material had to finish the assignment making me more "useless" after looking at the answers they have made. If my partners do read this, I sincerely apologize for being a burden this semester. I am in their debt. Synonymous to the Term Tests, it felt that the percentage and the marks associated with them was a bit too harsh. It would be nice to have more marks or just even more evaluations to help boost our marks up and at the same time understanding the material as well.

Also taking note of the kinds of symptoms I hinted/said in my entry Redemption, I am at my breaking point: I feel so  unmotivated to review my notes after the awful results I got back this semester. The same goes for CSC148 so that even puts more guilt in me. I do give kudos to the professor in which he acknowledges that students have their bad days and thus by reducing the weight of a term test, the penalty is less lethal but being in this mood the entire semester has left me scarred and I hate to admit it; mentally breakdown often. Rest assured I haven't done anything to myself that would be detrimental to everyone who I met throughout my life. I wouldn't do something that stupid and I regret the times I did.

I often felt that this course was nothing of importance to me; I often question myself time to time where would I even use this coursework to use in my later years and in the professional fields of computer science. This terrible mindset along with the other terrible mindset of being able to get help conveniently to get up to date with the course material has led to poor results.

(End of ridiculous rant. As ridiculous as it may sound in the internet, it felt great letting it all out (minus the vulgarity intended.))


After all the hatred I built up, there still exists some sort of meaning in me that I am grateful that I'm taking this course: It definitely has shown me the obscure, 'vagueness', and 'interesting' aspects of this course from the way we pronounce statements, the visual representation of certain statements through Venn diagrams,  the strange world of proofs, the systematic approach to estimating algorithms, the efficiency of them as well, and the one and only idea of the halting problem and the final concepts after that. I am a very systematic person who likes to go through each step and those steps usually cannot deviate alot to reach the desired solution. Introduction to Proofs have definitely challenged my ideals and ever since then it's an ongoing struggle for me to have confidence to complete a proof with the tools of a systematic approach and some manipulation I rarely used in my years of mathematics.


I am a fan of inspiration whether it comes from someone, a film scene, or even music. Although it has been an excuse for many to post them on their facebook status to gain some traction, the ones I have witnessed have really changed my perspective in general, especially in the theory behind Computer Science.

Always try to see the positives in anything you take.
-Don't Hate what you don't understand. (John Lennon)

Make everyday count. Don't leave things to the end.
If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present. (Lao Tzu)

At this point right now before the submission deadline, I strive to at least pass the course with as much knowledge I can apply until the final examination. This semester has been a really tough one as this semester I have been introduced to new concepts in the realm of computer science (CSC148, CSC165). In the end, it really is myself to blame for all of the trouble I caused onto myself and to others with the exceptions of my symptoms that I still try at this point in time to alleviate it.

For those who are confused by reading all of this since I have been piecing this together in one go:

I need to stop blaming and start doing if given the help I need.

Godspeed to everyone in the final examination.

Galvanize

This week we were introduced to halt. It is strange how that a recursive function call assume it halts implies that it doesn't halt based on the halt function. But after tracing through the code, it does imply that. Another topic covered was reductions. Seems to be some terminology so it wasn't hard to grasp. And finally onto counting which is a concept I thought it was already mastered in kindergarten... I was wrong. At first the idea that the number of odd integers which has the same number of even integers is also the same number of integers overall. At first this confused me but seeing that if you were to arrange every integer to its odd integer, then the one to one correspondence of them is true for all integers.

On the topic of the last assignment, the first two proofs didn't seem that difficult after seeing the various examples and my partners working on it. The proofs with the definition of the limit seem very strange to me but after working on it, it shouldn't be a challenge.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. -  Martin Luther King Jr.

Strain

Got back results from the second term test. Definitely could do better. After realizing that the input I wrote down for the second disproof of a modulo statement did not actually disprove it, I lost a significant amount of marks. Nevertheless, I didn't do terrible. This week we ave learned about Big Oh proofs. After many trials of proofs before, the proof doesn't seem that troublesome. The only difficulty I see in the proof is working backwards to show that the antecedent implies the consequent. With a few weeks left of school, it's about time to study the curriculum from the beginning to be prepared for the final exam although catching a fever during the weekend isn't helping...

Problem Solving Episode: Pascal's Method Part 2

Since we cannot make it to the red squares, I imagine them being 0. I then simple add the moves as normal:

And finally to answer the question, simply add the numbers in the top row:

3 + 6 + 6 + 3 = 18 paths to the top of the board.

Review/Extend:

This was a fairly easy question, by remembering to follow the rules of the question and the theory itself, the path was calculated perfectly.

Endurance

With a few weeks of class left, I hope to continue to do better until the exams are finished. The term test was actually not that bad as I expected. Having practicing and understanding the proofs from the lectures, tutorials, and the internet, these proofs are not impossible. At first I was really worried that I could not even understand the most simplest proof such as the ones in the assignment. But once I started redoing them, it started to make more sense. A colleague I met through my astronomy tutorial also had the same predicaments as I had with proofs. He had told me that one of his classmates asked how the professor was able to do these proofs like it's nothing and he responded "hours, hours, and hours, or practice." I feel more confident doing proofs and now which is a relief. Now onto the material covered this week, the proofs of Big O and Omega don't seem that hard but once again, practice makes perfect. The topic of algorithm analysis does seem strange in how people have calculated the steps in the while loop. The loop guards, 'initialize' variable and the codes under the while loop are understandable but the while loop will take some time to fully understand why the formula is calculated like it. In the end, I feel more confident and motivated to work on the material covered in this course than to brush it off to the side in hopes of not doing this material again (which I know I have to do since the specialist degree requires 3 courses of these.)

Every calamity is to be overcome by endurance. -Virgil

Problem Solving Episode: Pascal's Method Part 1

In paying homage to my dedicated data management teacher who unfortunately got laid off in his first time teaching at my school, I present you the following problem:

A checker is placed on a checkerboard as shown. The checker may move diagonally upward. Although it cannot move into a square with a red square, the checker may jump over the X into the diagonally opposite square. How many path are there to the top of the board?

Understanding the Problem:
I am asked to determine the number of paths at the top of the board. This is calculated by determining the number of steps at each square.

Devise a Plan:

Pascal's method: Created by an iterative process, each term is equal to the term of the two terms immediately above it.


Carry out the plan:

Using Pascal's method, I will start by putting down the patterns that can only be made ONCE and considering the red squares as well which I cannot make a move:

Now, time to calculate the terms above by simply summing them:

Unpredictable

With Assignment 2 finished, looking over it and understanding each step has calm my nerves about the concept. Initially before I thought it was impossible to do any sort of proof at all but just reading over notes in lecture and other sources in the internet has prepared me or at least given me the scope of what kinds of proofs to encounter in this course. On with algorithm analysis, at first writing down the steps beside each line of code helps in the sense to collect all the familiar steps and to finally make an equation for it. What strikes me difficult is the algebraic expressions in a loop (while) since you may get different expressions than what the solution provides (n....n-1) As always I end up reading the notes after the entire lecture so I may be putting on more pressure than necessary to understand the course material. Having heard that 3 proofs to do in the next term test I feel both relieved and stressed at the same time. Relieved that it only consists of proofs but also stressed because of the fact that I have 3 midterms on the week (they don't call this month march madness for no reason!) It's time to redeem myself after having that horrendous mark on my last term-test.

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.
 - Albert Einstein