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March 29, 2024, 10:06:01 am

Author Topic: My Uni Journey  (Read 7467 times)

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Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #15 on: May 04, 2020, 02:55:41 am »
+6
UPDATE
I have the biggest 'productivity high' right now.

I've stopped going on all social media for the past 3-4 days (Facebook and Youtube) - and it is great.

I feel like studying isn't as much of a chore as I once viewed it as. I guess that's because studying is better than doing nothing (since now I have removed things that provide me with instant gratification, the only thing I can do when not studying/reading/'doing something productive' is nothing).

Restraining myself from sources of instant gratification has made me realise how much society forces us to be consumers, and how, as a result, it becomes hard for us to be creative. In the past couple of days, I've had so many project ideas come to my mind, and it's all because now I have time for myself and my thoughts. I guess the biggest thing that's come out of this new way of living is I feel much more creative, much more energized and more fulfilled.

uni

Uni work is okay, I am on top of everything.
Accounting
I have an accounting assignment which is the most mind-numbingly boring assignment ever. I spend 5 minutes on it and it feels like an hour has gone by because time goes so slow when you are doing something as menial as data entry.

Economics
Good. Getting interesting. I have an exam next week so I am planing to allocate some time everyday this week to study for it. It is open book, so I am just going to try and do as many practice questions as possible.

Maths
Maths is good. The lecturer is awesome and makes all the concepts easy to understand. The stuff we are learning is okay. Not boring, but not extremely interesting. I don't have a mid-sem exam for this which is good.

Computer Systems
So terrible.
The content is really interesting.
The lecturer and tutors are really shit.
Like really really really really really shit.
Have an assignment due this Friday. I reckon I'll get it done by Wednesday and then spend some time Friday looking over it before I submit it.

Mental Health
Still not feeling too great. Feeling better. I've developed good coping mechanisms for when I feel down, so hopefully when shit gets bad in the future, I'll be able to deal with it better.

__

Kinda want to change uni degrees into Engineering/ComputerScience because I recently discovered that I'm interested in software engineering and doing CompSci won't allow me to do that. I still feel like I'd enjoy data science though and I know that it will be really useful for what I want to do in the future.
I guess I can learn software engineering by myself. Anyway, so far, I've realised that Uni is definitely not worth what it costs. So far from what I've experienced, if you are given the curriculum, then you can learn everything by yourself with resources compiled on your own from the internet and books.



Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #16 on: June 02, 2020, 01:31:59 pm »
+4
Long time no update.

Things have been going well.
I have got a really good workout routine going and a good diet. Eating lots of lean meat and vegetables.
I'm bulking right now and working out hard as fuck at the gym and it feels great. I'm also doing a bit of running and going outside a lot more doing cardio exercises.
My goal, which I'll definitely achieve if I don't injure myself or die before the end of the year, is to bench 100kg and squat 120 and be swole asf. 

Uni work is meh. Just doing what is required. Nothing less nothing more.

quick rant - FIT1047 is the worst taught unit ever. I hate my tutor and the lecturers. They are so incompetent. A 10 year old could teach this unit better than these lecturers.
 

I have been trading the ASX market and have developed some programs to help me make investment decisions.
I allocate time to researching/programming every day from about 9 to 11.

I'm working along side a friend from school who is pretty smart. It's really good to work and triangulate ideas with other smart people because the output is far greater than that which would be achieved if I was just working by myself.
I can't wait to get another smart person on board to help us do research and make better decisions.

That's it. Hopefully things continue going as good as they are now.

Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #17 on: June 17, 2020, 08:34:29 pm »
+8
Exams are coming up soon.
I am kinda stressed tbh. 
I think I should do fine though.

I am not really feeling to happy about Uni right now.
I feel like doing this accounting unit has been a waste of time because it's so boring and completely irrelevant to me. If I was planning on majoring in Accounting then yeah, it would be okay, but I'm not, so it's just so draining and annoying to do.
We aren't even doing analysis and interpretation of financial statements, which is the only thing I liked about VCE accounting, because you actually have to think, and the thinking part is fun.

I also feel like the computer systems unit was a waste of time because it was taught so poorly. I know I should've made more of an effort to do well in it and to be on top of things from the start of the semester, but I didn't really know the best way to study for it, which lead me to continue watching the terribly incohesive and incoherent lectures instead of just reading the online textbook and learning more from online sites. I realised that I was learning in the wrong way, too late, so I don't feel like I got as much value out of this unit as I know I could have. The blame is definitely on me, but I also know that the unit is really poorly taught, which should definitely change considering I'm paying upwards of $1000 for it. I might purchase a proper textbook though on the holidays on computer architecture, so hopefully some of the stuff that I've learnt in this unit will help me there. 

At least the economics and math units are taught well. They are enjoyable and the math unit is definitely relevant since I know the content is very useful for my future computer science units.

My exercise and fitness has been good. Still exercising almost daily and eating well. I want to get a six pack I'm gonna incorporate ab exercises into my workouts. I also want to dedicate a day to just running. I went on run the other day at night and it was awesome. It feels so good to be outside at night.

I've also been reading a lot more lately, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. 

I wish I could just read all day, cook and eat, workout, work on personal projects, and be outdoors running/hiking/bike riding everyday. But alas, I am in University for the next four years, and I'll be working for the next 20 years after that. How depressing.
I hope I have my own business by the end of university so I don't have to get a job. That means I have to work extra hard now.
I know if I have my own business doing something I enjoy I'd be happy working heaps.

I guess I must get back to work. Gotta do some FIT1047 revision, then workout, then do some maths, then read and sleep.
 

Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #18 on: June 27, 2020, 07:40:10 pm »
+9
My uni holidays have kinda arrived and I'm taking my plan for the next 3.5 years of uni seriously now.

So in addition to starting my own projects on the side, I want to ensure that I get really really good grades for all my units. I think I did alright this semester. Now that I know how the whole uni thing works (to some extent), I feel as if I can do a lot better in the following semesters.
I also want to try to get internships on the summer holidays. I know this is more for students in their penultimate year, but even if I can just get any sort of experience in the finance or tech industry these summer holidays then that'd be good for my resume and something that I'll put effort into trying to get.

What I've realised from the end of year 12 till now, is that there are more smart people on this planet that I had once thought - my previous assumptions that there weren't many smart people was due to me living in a small town for most of my life.
So because of this, i kinda gotta put a lot more effort into being part of that 0.01%.

Anyway, in terms of work after uni - I want to do something with long hours, in a fast paced environment and something that's related to capital management and the financial markets.
I am kind of leaning towards investment banking. It would be good because you earn a lot, you are in a fast-paced environment, and you're working with very rich clients. So it defs would be good for making connections for when I get out of the industry and pursue my own business ventures.

This is kinda the main realistic plan which will act as a backup if my projects/business ventures during my time at uni don't actually become something successful.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Gym is still going good.
My diet is aight. Had a massive cheat day yesterday and that was awesome. Now I gotta get back on the healthy food.
I can finally get back onto my projects now which is good.
I stopped reading as much during the past couple of days before my exams because I would read for too long, get tired, and then fall asleep, which kinda fucked up my schedule. I'll defs keep reading a lot more these holidays.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --



 

Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #19 on: July 09, 2020, 08:57:20 pm »
+8
UPDATE:

Things are currently very good.

These holidays so far have been getting very productive.
I am learning a lot through wokring on my trading algorithm. It is giving me exposure to much faster and efficient methods of anlaysing securities.

This is what I like about doing these projects - it's all active work. It's not like school where you have to read, answer theoretical questions, and memorise shit. It is all application and all problem solving.

I have also obtained resources for a hard unit that i'm taking next semester, so I have started going through those materials to help me get ahead and help me do well next semester hopefully.

Finished a book yesterday, and I might start another tomorrow. However, I am not sure if I will have time given the projects I am working on...

Diet is going well. I'm eating well. Adding more carbs to diet (pre-workout meals) to give me more energy during workouts, but ensuring I don't have any carbs afterwards, and instead just lean meat and vegatables.
I am seeing big improvements which is motivating.
It is not about the short-term pump that you get while working out. It's about the small gradual progression that comes with consistent working out and consistent discipline.

It's been great working alongside my friend on our project. I love being around driven people.
I also have a new workout partner who is very disciplined and very motivating in the gym

I have realised that we are very much the product of the people we surround ourselves with. I am glad I have these smart and driven people around me.

Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #20 on: July 15, 2020, 12:20:59 am »
+10
Small Update:

I am currently feeling a bit uneasy.
Throughout my life I have always tried to do well in school.
However, even when I did manage to get good grades, I would always feel as if I didn't deserve them. I thought that it was much harder for me to achieve the grades that I did, compared to other people who also got the same grades.
I think the term for this feeling is 'Impostor syndrome'...

I am feeling this more than ever now that I have nearly fully coded my own trading algorithm. I never really thought that I could. And now looking at the (nearly) finished product, I am overcome with a feeling of disappointment rather than the joy and pride that I thought I would have felt when I was finished with the project.
The program is running exactly as I had planned, which is great. But I can't help but feel as if I didn't write it fast enough and didn't work on it as productively as I should have.
I feel like I could have easily finished it in half the amount of time that I actually took....

I don't know. Maybe I am saying this because in hindsight I realise how simple some of the problems that I challenged were. Maybe I did work productively and I am just putting myself down - I would like to believe this to be true, but I am pretty sure that the reason that I didn't finish it faster was because I was letting my perceptions of my capabilities limit me from operating at my full potential.

Maybe I have just finally realised that we are really actually more capable that we believe.

I hope I can learn from this experience and work a little bit smarter and a little bit harder from now on. 

brothanathan

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #21 on: July 15, 2020, 10:17:07 am »
+7
Small Update:

I am feeling this more than ever now that I have nearly fully coded my own trading algorithm. I never really thought that I could. And now looking at the (nearly) finished product, I am overcome with a feeling of disappointment rather than the joy and pride that I thought I would have felt when I was finished with the project.
The program is running exactly as I had planned, which is great. But I can't help but feel as if I didn't write it fast enough and didn't work on it as productively as I should have.
I feel like I could have easily finished it in half the amount of time that I actually took....

I don't know. Maybe I am saying this because in hindsight I realise how simple some of the problems that I challenged were. Maybe I did work productively and I am just putting myself down - I would like to believe this to be true, but I am pretty sure that the reason that I didn't finish it faster was because I was letting my perceptions of my capabilities limit me from operating at my full potential.

Maybe I have just finally realised that we are really actually more capable that we believe.

Don't wanna get lost in analysis paralysis. You might've been overwhelmed about being high performing. I believe you have an answer to that already.

 Hang in there Seamus, you got this mate

Bri MT

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #22 on: July 15, 2020, 10:24:19 am »
+5


It can be easy to beat yourself up over not hitting 100% when you're trying to improve yourself (and so critically analysing the gaps) but I firmly believe that aiming for progress is far more productive than aiming for perfection. You're learning from yourself - you wouldn't have the journey if you were already at the destination.

It's great that you're developing and growing but I hope that seeing the spaces to grow doesn't keep stopping you from celebrating and enjoying the successes you're earning along the way.

Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #23 on: July 15, 2020, 06:56:56 pm »
+5
Thanks guys :)
I guess as long as I am moving forward then I shouldn't feel too bad about myself.

Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #24 on: July 28, 2020, 12:35:56 am »
+7
UPDATE

General

Holidays are unfortunately nearly over :(
I am definitely going to miss this casual and relaxed schedule that I have had over the past month.

I'm pretty excited for uni to begin again actually - I am very very very keen on starting FIT1008 - Introduction to Computer Science. I got given all the resources for this unit from a friend, but I didn't really go through much of it at all as I was focusing on my own projects. I think I might get into the material this week.

I really hope we get to go back on campus after lockdown - though I don't think that is likely going to happen given the case numbers lately.

I don't think I'll mind online learning though tbh since last term kinda got me used to how lectures and labs/tutes functioned online, and I wouldn't mind not having to worry about packing lunch and commuting and waking up early etc.

Semester 1 results also came back yesterday. I did meh. I was happy that I didn't fail FIT1047 and surprised that I got the mark that I did, but I still wasn't satisfied with my overall performance because I know that I really really really could've easily done a lot better. This semester hopefully should go a lot smoother and I should get some better marks.

PRODUCTIVITY

I've been quite productive lately.
I haven't been reading books as much as I wanted to, but my day is always occupied with productive work - mainly programming and reading material relevant to my programming projects.
I am no longer drawn to my phone or to YouTube or to Facebook or to talking online with friends, and this really has helped in 'decluttering' my mind - I can think more clearly, refocus much easier, and I really feel so much better at the end of the day because I don't regret anything that I did during the day.

FITNESS

I no longer am working out with my friend and it sucks because it was so motivating with him.

Anyway, I'm still working out consistently. I am getting quite bigger and much of it is muscle and not fat which is good (I'm 'lean bulking' which means I eat a lot more food than usual, but it's mostly healthy low fat high protein meals).

I try to run twice a week as well. I'm slow asf but I make sure that I never stop while I'm on my runs, even if it means I have to 'run' at a pace slower than walking lol.

I like running more than weight lifting - I run at night and it's always so calm. Kinda helps with refreshing my mind actually. I want to get bigger tho so I have to lift and not run as much.
 
Food is not good atm. I am seriously slacking with the frequency of my meals. I mostly eat healthy stuff, but I don't eat enough throughout the day because I cbf cooking. I need to stop being lazy and cook more or else my gains are gong to go away. Diet is the most important thing when it comes to building muscle or losing weight.

Projects

My projects are going well atm. Don't really have much to say about them yet. All I can say is that this algo trading project that I worked on during these holidays has been a very very good learning experience, and I am planning on making some more.

-------------------

That's it - I am feeling pretty 'zen' atm. Hopefully I can remain in this state as the work piles on during Semester 2.

Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #25 on: August 03, 2020, 08:54:48 pm »
+4
SEMESTER 2: FIRST DAY

Semester 2 of uni has officially started today.

My fit1008 (intro to compsci) workshop today was really fun. The lecturer and tutors were very engaging and made the already interesting content even more interesting.
We did some problem solving exercises in python - optimising a program to run more efficiently, and then played around on the forums to get used to how it all worked. I am definitely excited for the rest of the semester. Though I must admit, it is going to be quite difficult so I need to ensure I stay on top of everything.

I also did some of my ETC (Economics and Business Statistics) work today. The lecture videos just went over basics of plotting data and adjusting the presentation of plots on excel. We also covered normalisation of data, and adjusting data to be expressed in 'real' terms so as to remove the effects of external factors on the change in the data over a time series - e.g. taking into account inflation when considering the growth in profits of a company over an extended period of time.
We discussed pivot tables as well, and we looked at how data in these tables could be related - through calculating conditional probabilities and independence of events. It was all interesting stuff. It obviously got a bit boring after a while because I was staring at excel sheets for hours, but I like the idea of it all and I know that as the unit progresses, we'll learn more complex and more interesting stuff.

This unit is kinda like an introduction to Econometrics I think. I really like it, and I looked through the material and realised that I was using some of what was taught in the unit, in my own personal projects that I did at the start of the year and during these past holidays.

It kinda makes me think that I should choose Econometrics as my Commerce Major.... I don't know though, I really want to do finance. I guess I'll have to do some more research and make up my mind soon.

I didn't touch any Maths or Marketing work today. Both of those units seem pretty interesting so I'm excited to start on them. I assume Marketing will be really easy, which is good because it'll mean I will have more time to devote to FIT1008 which is likely to be the hardest unit this semester for me.

This semester will be a lot harder than last semester I think because last semester I really didn't have to do much work for Accounting and Economics because most of the content was similar to year 12.
I know I'll be more focused this semester though so I hopefully should be able to do better despite the increase in difficulty. I managed to average a HD (80%) across my units last semester but I really want to see it go into the high 90s by the end of my degree - I know it's possible.

Anyway, I gotta workout now (Back, Shoulders, Triceps), then eat something, then plan my day for tomorrow, clean my room, read and sleep. 

Adios

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #26 on: August 03, 2020, 11:15:32 pm »
+5
This semester will be a lot harder than last semester I think because last semester I really didn't have to do much work for Accounting and Economics because most of the content was similar to year 12.
I know I'll be more focused this semester though so I hopefully should be able to do better despite the increase in difficulty. I managed to average a HD (80%) across my units last semester but I really want to see it go into the high 90s by the end of my degree - I know it's possible.

Anyway, I gotta workout now (Back, Shoulders, Triceps), then eat something, then plan my day for tomorrow, clean my room, read and sleep. 
Good luck for semester 2! Also, I don't know much about uni scoring but a high distinction sounds amazing, keep up the awesome work! How much overlap did you find your degree had with accounting and economics? I've always wondered the extent to which different degrees have overlapping content because I have this preconceived perception that the content learnt in uni is 10x harder than high school (not sure if it's true though). And have fun working out (or if you've already done it, then I hope it was fun) and have a great night.
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Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #27 on: August 04, 2020, 07:37:11 pm »
+4
Good luck for semester 2! Also, I don't know much about uni scoring but a high distinction sounds amazing, keep up the awesome work! How much overlap did you find your degree had with accounting and economics? I've always wondered the extent to which different degrees have overlapping content because I have this preconceived perception that the content learnt in uni is 10x harder than high school (not sure if it's true though). And have fun working out (or if you've already done it, then I hope it was fun) and have a great night.

Thanks for your kind words :) Workout was pre good, was super tired tho. I think it's probably best I start exercising earlier cos at the end of the day I am so dead.

In relation to Economics and Accounting, there was only overlap for the start of the course (first half of the semester). But the thing is, if you already have a background in a subject, the new content that's taught is easier to grasp. For example, there was new and a little bit more complex stuff in Accounting in the second half of the semester, but I didn't struggle in understanding the concepts since I already had built a solid base of understanding in VCE. The same applied to Economics.

I can't comment on other units though.
The content definitely is 'harder'. In general, the it increases in difficulty to an extent, but this is exaggerated further by the fact that the rate at which the content is delivered is much faster than in VCE. Looking back, VCE was definitely a lot easier to keep up with - though I didn't do subjects that were as difficult as most people here - e.g. Spesh, Chem, Physics, etc., so my year 12 experience was probably not as difficult as others'.

Seamus Wong

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Re: My Uni Journey
« Reply #28 on: August 11, 2020, 09:58:17 pm »
+5
WEEK 2

Uni has been going awesome so far. I am actually really really enjoying being in the same sort of mindset as I was in year 12 where I was just really focused on doing well. It feels great.

Introduction to Computer Science
Introduction to Computer Science is by far the most enjoyable unit. It currently has a pretty big workload - the largest out of all my other units.
I have one 1 hour workshop for it every monday, a 2 hour tute every Tuesday, and a 3 hour lab every Thursday.
I really like how there are lots of classes - for two reasons:
1. We get the opportunity to socialise a lot, both with other students and with the tutors who are really fun.
2. We really get to solidify the concepts taught in the lectures through doing lots of questions and lots of discussion.

I am praying that the rest of my computer science units will be as fun and interesting as this unit has been so far.

Currently we're learning about an assembly language, MIPS, which is the language that gets directly translated into machine code (zeros and ones) that get executed by the CPU.
I am finding it pretty intuitive so far.
One thing that I promised myself I'd do this semester is to always ask questions, even if they sound dumb.
Sometimes in the middle of writing up my question, I figure out the solution - probably because when I am writing it out, I am logically laying out all my ideas (as opposed to them being cluttered everywhere in my brain) which enables me to highlight my misunderstanding or gap in my knowledge much easier.

Continuous Maths for Computer Science
Maths so far is okay. We are learning about vectors. I don't remember much about them at all from high school so it is kinda new to me. They are definitely interesting. I definitely need to allocate a little more time to this unit as I want to ensure I am 100% confident with every concept so that I can do well on the exam.

Marketing
Marketing is meh - it's just assigning labels to basic ideas and concepts. Nothing that interesting so far. I hope it gets better. Given its relative lack of complexity, I will be so mad at myself if I don't get 95% for this unit.

Business and Economic Statistics
We just went over data distributions today. Nothing too interesting.
The lectures are just pre-recorded videos uploaded to Youtube. I really like this format, because we have access to the lecture material instantly at the start of the week, and we're able to work at our own pace.

Other

Gym has been good. Diet is okay - still not eating enough. I am struggling to find the time and energy to cook and eat cos I am studying all the time.

Haven't been reading at all. Really gotta try and get back into it. Again, I just don't feel like I have much time. I know I can make more time though.
That will be my goal this week - to make more time for myself to do things like reading and working on my own side projects.

Anyway, time to workout now (soo late god dammit I really gotta workout earlier)