Reflection and Renewal

Happy new year!

Having now spent the last two years(ish), blogging my path through maths and physics study; It is sometimes too easy to loose a little perspective.  The daily or weekly difficulties and bumps in the road, can make you think that you are not learning anything.

But, it only takes a glance back for me, through posts from 2011,  to help me realize that I could not have hoped for a better start to my journey into academia.

There have been kinks in the journey.  For starters, I based this experiment on some slightly shaky assumptions.  For example, who could have known that my interests and skills appear better suited to pure mathematics, rather than physics or applied maths?

It certainly took me by surprise, and I did have a period, in December, where I thought that I had cocked up my study path, messed up my plans and panicked about not being able to complete studies in quantum mechanics and electromagnetism, next year.  However, it often takes an outsider to make you realise, with fresh eyes, exactly how far you have come.

It was on speaking with a good friend, that I found myself maudlin about how I couldn't stomach two years of applied maths, and pined for some pure maths modules; but had left it too late to get on the courses for 2013.

At that point, my friend halted my diatribe; "let me get this straight.  You just scored distinction level marks on two university applied and pure maths course, after studying just a GCSE in maths, and you are f*****g moaning about it?"

Ah, point made!

You see, I remember a cold February night this year, when I was lying in bed, worrying and almost in tears, as I couldn't understand any of the M208 material on equivalence relations.  Yet, after 9 months, it is now second nature.  It just goes to show, that Perspective is everything; time is a wonderful teacher; and I am now reinvigorated and excited about 2013.

A very happy new year to you all.

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men:

  

"[He] walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, way a bear drags his paws.  His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely."

I revisited the O.U library last week, as I seemed to be loosing some sleep over my module choices for February (Electromagnetism and Quantum mechanics).

I am comfortable with the maths required for both courses, but I was just feeling really unsure about the physics.  Also, my gut was telling me that there was a disturbance within the force, and it is very rarely wrong, in that regard.

No, I hadn't been eating cheese before bed, or fallen asleep whilst watching a late night ITV re-run of Star Wars.  Something just didn't feel right.

So, I put on my hat and scarf, and braved the Ice and wind, to revisit the OU at Milton Keynes.  After I finally found a parking space (there was a Xmas lecture that day, so the car parks were full!), I found the reference copies of Electromagnetism and The Quantum World.  They were exactly where I had left them, so I guess no one else had looked at them since I was there, last.

And, after I tuned out the din from two O.U employees gossiping rather loudly about a co-worker, I sat down and studied the first two chapters of each book.

What did I find?  Well, I ended up with a gargantuan list of physics that I needed to study before attempting these two courses.  And that was just from the first few chapters.  So, it dawned on me, that I have completely underestimated the amount of physics that I don't know, and also the size of the task ahead of me, to learn it all sufficiently, before the end of January.

So, I went home, miserable.  I emailed Chris, my mentor, to seek his advice, and then I lost some more sleep.

This time, the thoughts running through my head were: you are not going to pass those two courses in January; you have only two other viable choices for Feb 2013, and they are both taxing, in their own ways.

Those other two courses are Astrophysics, and Cosmology (The Relativistic Universe).

Having read the reviews on both courses and also looked at the course materials for both, I have come to the conclusion that I could easily be ready for Astrophysics in Feb 2013.  I have already completed level 1 courses in this area, I have an active interest in Astronomy and I have planned a viable course of study that would cover all the physics and astronomy needed for this course, before Feb 2012. 

The Relativistic Universe looks a lot harder, it is anecdotally claimed to be the hardest of all level 3 OU physics courses, due to the mathematical and conceptual difficulties, combined with some poor set books.  I could also comfortably cover the additional material required before February, but the course is very difficult to obtain a grade 1 pass in, so it is on my maybe pile.

So, I have cancelled my Quantum and electromag modules, which I may pick up in October;  I have registered for Astrophysics in February; and I am waiting until January the 2nd, to decide whether I finally register for the cosmology course (depending on how my pre-study goes.)

This will mean that I then need to take 2 x 30 point modules in October, to complete this stage of my studies.  Whether they will be physics or maths, will be decided later on in the year.

K.B.O