UCI Survival Guide: 2022 Fall (2/19/2023)

I didn't do that well this quarter. I'm not really sure what happened, but I just had like no motivation. Perhaps I'm burnt out, perhaps I just don't care, but I never felt as though I was in the best mental state this quarter. That isn't to say that I was feeling terrible all the time, but I just felt incredibly neutral. I definitely could've tried harder in things, but I didn't and that doesn't actually bother me that much for some reason. Perhaps I'm burnt out or something, but I feel as though I would still feel this way even if I wasn't working on school and stuff.

Extracurricular wise, I joined the tricking team, and I started contacting random breakdance clubs in socal, because I wanted to organize something for next year. BBA is having a lot more members this year which is nice, but I still feel like the overall level could be way higher.

Socially, this quarter was pretty much a hard reset. I stopped being friends with Jennifer very early on, but that was something that sort of felt like it was inevitable anyways. This year, I'm also way closer to my roommates, and I also hung out a decent amount with Kyle's little friend group (with Kelly's roommates, etc). I didn't really talk to Jason or really anyone from TAO last year, but I am still close to Emily. I still don't really feel like I have super close friends, but for some reason it doesn't bother me that much.

My breakup with Hana also has to be mentioned, and although I was really scared of it at first, I've been actually taking it pretty well. Perhaps I could also feel this coming (it was very long distance, after all), but I like how we are still friends. Our actual interactions with each other haven't really changed, it's just that we don't have the label of dating anymore, and honestly I'm fine with that.

For the second year in the row, there was also an event that completely fucked me over for the rest of the quarter. Last year it was me getting sick, but this year it was me severely hurting my ankle doing a fucking tornado kick during CATT. That really fucked me up, and I couldn't even walk for like a week. I'm actually writing this midway through winter quarter of 2023, and it's still not even recovered yet. 

Classes Taken:

CBE 120A - Quinton Smith (B)

Smith is a very quirky professor. He's a little bit goofy, but it's in an endearing way. He might have really bad handwriting, and he might also not be the best at labelling things, but I (and most of the class I think) still really liked him. He was very approachable, and our TA Chris was also very helpful in class as he would clarify random things.

Material wise, this class was about fluids, which I found pretty interesting. It was pretty much just physics but with like water and air. I did very well on the midterm (above one standard deviation above average), but then I completely bombed the final, resulting in me getting a B in the class. I definitely feel like I could've gotten an A in the class, but it didn't end up happening and for some reason I don't actually care that much (refer to my talk about feeling indifferent above). Smith was probably one of my more favorite professors at UCI so far. 

CBE 100 - Ryan Lee Hayes (B)

I hated this stupid fucking class. It was about Matlab, but we actually had to code unlike the class I took freshman year. I had the most stressful moments this quarter every week when the homework was due for this class. The midterm was pretty hard, but I eventually could do it, while the final was extremely hard, and I barely was able to bullshit it. This class ended up just being even more evidence for me that coding is possibly one of my least favorite things to do, ever. 

Hayes is a new professor and it shows. He took literally forever to grade things (he didn't grade our midterms and final until way after the quarter finished, and I'm pretty sure he submitted after the grade deadline. That's pretty insane considering that the deadline was extended due to the strikes). Honestly, I feel bad for the guy. He looks like a young Walter White, and he has the classic CS teacher voice that serves as the strongest tranquilizer. His notes were convoluted and hard to read, and I think only two or three people showed up to class during the last half of the quarter.

Perhaps I would've done better if I showed up to class and paid attention, but that felt like an impossible task to do if I'm being honest. The class and the material just sucked. Even thinking about it now puts me in a bad mood. Nothing against Hayes personally, everyone could tell he was trying his best but there's only so much you can do when you are teaching Matlab.

CBE 105 - Elizabeth Read (B+)

I've actually always wanted to take a physical chemistry class. This class was very interesting to me. It was confusing, and you could tell a lot of the stuff was dumbed down for us as it was only a general overview class, but it was still pretty interesting. I won't say it was fun, but I am glad I took this class.

I'm very surprised I even got a B+ in this class honestly. I hurt my ankle the day before the midterm, so I didn't spend like any time studying, and I also had to take it online. I failed it very badly (lower than one standard deviation under average). I studied my ass off and managed to do well on the final somehow, and I ended up with a B+. Honestly, we take those.

Read is a good professor. She has that professor lady vibe, and I like the structure of her classes. Things make sense, and although the homework felt like some random bullshit sometimes, I think that has more to do with the subject matter than it does her teaching. Make sure to not miss any classes (like I did because of my ankle injury), because you will get left behind.

CBE 176 - Sarah Finkeldei (B+)

This class was so boring. I eventually just stopped showing up, because it was at 8am. It started off sort of interesting, but really this class is about like nuclear reactors and the different types of nuclear reactors and stuff and that honestly is a bit boring.

I thought I was into nuclear reactors, but after taking this class I realized that I'm not. We had quizzes every Tuesday, but your lowest 2 scores were dropped, which was a godsend. Studying for them felt kind of weird because there wasn't really a list of things to study really well towards the end, but doing well on them is possible. I only did ok, probably because I didn't put the maximum amount of effort into this class.

I did very well on the first midterm in this class, then well on the second midterm. I had like the two smartest Chem Es in my group for the final project, so I thought I was guaranteed an A, but I guess I just didn't do well enough overall to deserve it. In my headcannon I did get an A in this class, just because I was so above average on all the exams.

Overall though, its a pretty easy class to take for your technical electives and to help with your energy specialization if you are a Chem E.