[Jelkin]

Yeah, at uni no one is a brainbox (well. Maybe in a science subject, some of the time). Mostly people just work hard and pretend they are. I wish I'd learned about this earlier.

I'm not going to bother with this diary thing much until I get going on my other essays/revision in a few days.

[RobbieC]

Today (Friday!)

3 Physics lectures annotated and read-around quite a lot...

Did my laundry and tidied some of the maelstrom of my bedroom...

Did some labwork and had a meeting with my project supervisor....

Did a plan for tomorrows post-nap attack on my project.

Aims for tomorrow are 3 more physics lectures done and finishing the materials and methods section of my project (~4/5 pages).

[isawsparks89]

Friday: I am a disgusting waster. Night ladies and gents

[RobbieC]

Forgot my Saturday 28th update:

I completed the physics lectures I wanted to go over, and then one extra

Unfortunately my project is going slower than expected, as it is very fiddly drawing all the diagrams and locating all the sources... so I only managed ~1.5 pages of that...

So net achievements for Saturday:
-4 Physics lectures completed (13/18 in series)
-1.5 pages of project planning section completed: ~500 words.

Aims for Sunday... Do 3 Physics lectures, and do around 3 pages of project work.

[isawsparks89]

Friday - hmm
Sat - ...what do you think?
Sunday - I am really trying to get motivated and failing miserably quite frankly I'd rather do anything else right now than revise

[chidona]

Monday - Thursday: Did my stats project. Almost resorted to tears numerous times. Lost will to live upon revalation that two of my modules next year are stats.

Thursday - Now: Sweet F all. Hardcore revisions start tomorrow, will be making powerpoint presentations of each topic. No idea what I'll tackle first, probably Micro and first term World economy.

Will probably spend a lot of time eating biscuits and making fridge visits.

[RobbieC]

Sunday 29th

Had meant to wake up at 9am after going to bed at around 5am. However, I had never meant to get out of bed, merely to crast on tsr and nap til 11 in alternation... Tried to do this, but as my lappy woke from hibernation, I fell back to sleep... and then slept through my snooze alarm. I eventually woke up to the porters fixing something in the room downstairs, with a hammer, at 2pm. FML.

I got straight to work after my shower and a big breakfast, which was good for me... and got 2 lectures of my 3 planned done.

I laboured over the third, and was a little disappointed with how late it had gotten... I also ended up chatting to some friends online, which was irritating but fun.

I then, in a rage with myself, marched back to the college library to complete the final 2 lectures of the 18 in my half-module course. I beasted through these and understood a decent amount, so this was good.

So 5 lectures covered, taking me to 18/18 completed for the Lasers and Spectroscopy course...

In terms of overall lectures this year, that meant I had done: 5+5+18 = 28 out of a total 72. Just over a third of the way there in terms of a first run.

Long term aim is now to cover the another 26 lectures while still in Durham, as well as finish the Methods/Results and Analyses sections of my project+the lab work and gather all my references. Will finish the literature review and discussions section when back home and format on my return to Durham.

So tomorrow, first 5 lectures of Molecular Excitations course in Chemistry, day in the lab and some project reference gathering/finishing the methods section (still not done it... FAIL!)

Overall I am reasonably pleased, but it could be going better, obviously.

53 days til first exam. FML.

[arkbar]

(Original post by RobbieC)
53 days til first exam. FML.

It is now 30 days until my first exam, of which I have 9. For which I need to remember a bewildering combination of equations, methods and policies. Oh and my 5 hardest exams? All in the same week.
FMFL.

[isawsparks89]

Can't find the motivation atm, family stuff, which I'm hoping will blow over but it's all a little too much atm.

[RobbieC]

Monday 30th March

Woke up late and had to bolt to labs. Sat around in labs, took down some information and found some references for my report... but the samples were mega-late, and I had to stay at labs til 8.30pm... during my Easter holiday. FML.

I got home and panicked because I had done no revision for the day, which was ridiculous, so after dinner I sat down and highlighted/made notes for my Molecular excited states lectures... I went through 2... and then planned some more of the experimental section of my report.

Net achievements:
-Literature reference values found
-2 lectures of MES revised (2/8)

Plans for Tuesday:
-Get up to 6/8 lectures revised for MES
-Finish the experimental section and all diagrams

[isawsparks89]

Trying my best but I've only finished my italian grammar notes today and done italian verb tables. It's hard to concentrate. I'm doing my best, incredibly behind, but none of it seems to be going in. Gonna stick with the cds, which I'm a quarter of the way through

[RobbieC]

Tuesday 31st March

Woke up at 9.30am and had to go to labs, so didnt have time to wash my hair. Ewww.

Went to the lab, spent the day taking images, ******* around with microscopes and discussing project issues with numerous people. Managed to get out by 3pm and go to iceland to do one final shop... it's cheap and I need to survive!!!

Having not eaten since the day before at 9pm, I finally ate dinner at 5pm, lamb hotpot... from a frozen iceland tray... but still

I set down to doing some revision work at around 6.30 when my coffee kicked in, and worked on and off til 2am.

I managed to go over 4 lectures worth of material in that time, as I had hoped... but still managed to avoid properly doing the analyses I had hoped.

Planned an allnighter, but then decided it would be better to catch 4 hours, coffee up tomorrow and make an assault on it then, along with finishing off the rest of the chemistry notes...

So achievements:
-4 lectures covered with 2000 words of notes typed up for the day.
-New and improved slide images to put in my project report.

Tomorrow plan:
-do the final 2 lectures for my physical chemistry revision...
-Do the ******* analysis on the lifetimes for the first 2 parts of my experiment and finish experimental section... wont happen. FML.

[isawsparks89]

Life is better. A few days ago, we thought my granddad was on his deathbed so it was uberly difficult. He's still in hospital, but since then, his collapsed lung healed itself (I'm really shocked that this has happened! I don't know how on earth that happened!) so I have faith that he's a fighter much better than he was
ANYWAY
So my head's clear pretty much, so I've been able to finish grammar notes for italian and finish and sort out my italian verbs. I'm thinking either spanish grammar notes or italian vocabulary next. I don't sound like I've been doing much at all really, but compared with my friends who've either barely started or not started at all, I'm doing alright I suppose.

And I have beautifully organised notes Now POSTERS.

[RobbieC]

That's good that things are better sparks. As for me, I've finished my lab work now and can spend all day everyday (lol yeah right) revising and whatnot.

So far have done 36 lectures out of 72 for first run through and in total have around 10000 of my 18000 word project. Needs to all be finished and gone over again thought.

Day off today for TSR football meet in London. Might work tonight though. But serious shiz kicks off tomorrow...

[chidona]

Alright, 11 straight hours of revision, done.

F*** Tony Cleaver and his ****** ******* tit****ing lecture notes.

[isawsparks89]

GOSH must do this before I go to bed, so I'll keep it brief - done my verbing, made several copies of verb endings, to get them into my head (which, more or less, has succeeded - still testing myself on the irregulars), tested myself on vocab which is rusty but I'm writing out again tonight and crossing them off one by one once I know them

Must do spanish grammar notes tomorrow - still going a bit slowly but I'm still at it!

[RobbieC]

Oops I failed again. And Chidona 11 hours straight? How the **** do you maintain concentration?!?!? I hate people who manage that... because I can't.

I am updating for Mon/Tue:

Monday:
-500 words on project and some data analysis done.

Tuesday:
-5.5 lectures of 9 lecture course covered, 20 A4 pages of notes made. Vague conceptual grasp obtained, but need to read into/go over again.

Plans for tomorrow:
-Finish the 9 lecture course notes... maybe dig up some supporting articles and improve the notes... but that's a bit keen.
-Do the ******* goddamn project ffs!
-File the next 9 lectures ready for finishing the second half of my polymers course, which i plan to do by sunday (this is the second 9 of my 18 lecs).

[isawsparks89]

I have failed today. Still testing myself on vocab but admittedly, shamefully, have done pretty much **** all today, I've been unbelievably lazy work-wise.

Tonight going for the "**** it, 40%" attitude. My family's my priority atm

[RobbieC]

So...

Wednesday April 8th

I finished the 9 lecture course as planned, doing the last 3.5 of them and then helping mother with the dinner (ffs, I cooked the previous two nights, but I do love to cook!). But yeah, 11 more A4 sides of notes, along with 3 annotated A4 printouts from the coursenotes of fiddly diagrams I needn't draw. Thus my 34 A4 page pamphlet for these 9 lectures is now ready for condensing.

I decided that rather than try and finish the goddamn ******* project ffs, I would break it down a little and do the necessary research tonight to take a chunk out of the bastard thing tomorrow, which I am in the midst of doing, but feel I am in a good position to crack on after breakfast (giving my mind the night to compute the information). Sounds like a plan, is probably a fail.

As for filing those lectures, I can't find the notes to organise and order them. I will try again before bed. FML.

So given the end of that lecture course, I have now gone over 45/72 total lectures. Definitely on course, but the information isn't going in too well yet. I guess it needs another bash, but that'll be easier now I have proper notes.

Plan for tomorrow:
-Write some project and throw in my new references I've found.
-Start this next 9 lecture course... get as far as possible. Maybe do 2 or 3.

If I have been good, I get to go out for the pub quiz and some dinner

[isawsparks89]

Robbie, I hate you for reminding me of work I should be doing but am not.