January 21, 2003
First Impressions (Take One)
Below are my first impressions for my classes this semester.
Chem 3B
So my first impression of Chem 3B lecture was not too great, because the GSIs just dumped a box of syllabuses in the front of 2050 VLSB and then the entire, filled to capacity and more, crowd of people rushed to get it. Rather disorganized. However, Pedersen turned out to be pretty cool. My first impression of his teaching style was good, and he seems like a professor who will cut the crap out of the class, which is always awesome. As for the material, it was rather annoying to start off with Molecular Orbitals. Let me digress for a moment. This will be my fourth chem class since sophomore year of high school, and in each of these damn chemistry classes, I have learned about Molecular Orbital theory. None of it has ever made sense, but I don't think it's supposed to. Molecular orbitals inherently make no sense. They are just insanely difficult to comprehend for any molecule larger than H2 and really, I think secretly no one understands them. I have similar feelings when we learn some abstract things in physics. For example, I have my doubts on anyone really understanding what the hell magnetism is. But as you go deeper into a specific subject, you just learn to lie like all the professors do. Oh yeah, magnetism makes sense. So do molecular orbitals.
NO DAMMIT! NO! This doesn't make sense. It's just a lie concocted by bored physicists and chemists. Lying bastards! Seems like this class will be similar to Chem 3A in both difficulty and work invested.
English 166
My first impression of this class was rather skewed by it's location: 102 Wurster. Yeah, you know how Wurster is the ugliest building on campus? Well, the inside meets those requirements too! Boy, was it a shitty room. The desks were just too big, there were random pillars in the middle of the room obstructing board view, and the entire place smelled funny. And by funny, I don't mean good. The teacher reminded me slightly of Mrs. Jelnick, my AP English Lit teacher, but not as hyper, but similar humor. Also, I saw more white people and girls in a single class than I have in any other class in Berkeley, individually or together. The workload doesn't seem too bad: 2 papers (one 3 page and one 8 page), but there are eight or nine books to read. However, the reading list generally interests me, and this gives me an opportunity to read all those books I've wanted to, but never really got around to. I might go talk to the teacher and see if it's like a hardcore English class, and if so, just switch to P/NP. Definitely beats taking four tech classes in one semester though!
Chem 3B Demonstration
CANCELED. Had to walk all the way to Lewis, only to find it canceled and thus kill another hour in semi-rainy weather. Oh well.
Chem 3B Lab
Nothing special about this lab either. The equipment was identical to Chem 3A. I hate lab. What a waste of time! But it's a necessary evil, so why dwell on this?