NTU course modules review

This is my review of all of the modules that I took for Yr 1 Sem 1:

HE1001- Principles of Microeconomics (3AU)

Lecturer: Associate Professor Eko Riyanto

Tutor:      Ms. Jayasri Dutta

Course Assessment

Quiz 1                                   15%

Quiz 2                                   15%

Class Participation                10%

Final Examination                 60%

Principles of Microeconomics is 1 of the foundation courses taken by all yr 1 Economics students during semester 1. Prior economics knowledge is not required for this course but it is highly recommended to read up before hand if you do not have a background in economics as knowledge of key concepts such as demand and supply is the key foundation to fundamental concepts in this course. Being good at calculations (dealing with algebraic manipulation and basic calculus) is extremely useful for this course, especially dealing with utility and production functions. This course also introduces game theory applied in economics which I feel is very interesting (One can learn how to win games using backward induction and other sorts of techniques! :-)) Quite a few people might have the misconception that economics in university will be somewhat similar to JC economics (Essay based format) but this is certainly not true :/. Examination format is mostly in the form of short structured and calculation questions. The 2 quizzes given is in the form of 10 MCQ questions so in a way, one must be careful as getting even 1 question wrong will cost 1.5% of the entire grade O_O! For my year, finals was very calculation intensive(~80% of the paper is based on calculations imo.). A lot of people were thrown off guard with the rigorous algebraic manipulations. However, all in all, quite a manageable module if you do your tutorials consistently and clarify doubts with your teaching assistant. My lecturer is very detailed and dissects concepts meticulously. So if you manage to get him as your prof, try not to skip his lectures or at least his recorded lectures. My tutor is a nice lady who knows her material well. Not recommended as an extra elective unless you have prior economics knowledge. Note that the bell curve can be pretty steep too as most people taking this course has a background in economics. 

HE1002- Principles of Macroeconomics (3AU)

Lecturer: Assistant Professor Laura Wu Guiying

Tutor:      Loh Han Zhou Lyon

Course Assessment

Final examination:              60%

Tutorial presentation:         20%

Quiz:                                   10%

Participation:                      10%

Principles of Macroeconomics, like microeconomics, is a foundation module for economics students in year 1. But it has very weak ties with microeconomics (it is a whole different subject matter but some economic concepts do apply across disciplines.) Like microeconomics, being comfortable with basic algebra and basic calculus is important here. A background in economics will help greatly as well. For example, aggregate demand and aggregate supply are important concepts in this course so being familiar with such concepts will provide you with an advantage in understanding the various chapters in this module such as monetary and fiscal policies. I would say the most difficult part of this course is the chapter on money supply as it is difficult to understand how money supply can be altered without increasing it's physical form. There is only 1 quiz for this course which is a 10 question MCQ quiz .There is tutorial presentations so every week, every group will be assigned a question each week.and 2 team members will present their answers in front of the entire class (certainly a good way to train our presentation skills :p). Attendance is taken every tutorial with participation marks taking up 10% of the entire grade so it is extremely unadvised for one to skip tutorial as marks on presentation and participation will be lost. My tutor is very knowledgeable and experienced having worked in MAS before. He is also very approachable so it is easy to clarify any doubts we have. My lecturer is a very nice lady who constantly encourages us by giving inspirational quotes. She explains economic concepts well and always encourages us to clarify any doubts we have. She also posted the names of top scorers for the quiz and even offered to reimbursed us money we spent on coffee if we get an A for this mod O_O!!. I think she is joking but it sure was motivational :P.  Because of her excellent teaching methodology, this module is one of my favorite modules XD. The final paper set by her was also extremely manageable as it consisted of mostly tutorial questions that we have attempted before. But, it made the bell curve very steep though with every careless mistake being extremely costly. All in all, an very manageable module if one does all the tutorials and revise all the lecture notes and tutorials. Like HE1001. I wouldn't recommend it  as an extra elective unless you have prior economics knowledge.

Anime Review: 5 centimeters/second

Hi all! I am sorry that I have not updated my blog regularly, I have just been very busy lately.

So recently, while taking a break from my studies, I decided to watch '5 centimeter/s'. It's an anime movie that had been out for quite some time and it has rave reviews from movie critics and viewers.

Before watching the movie, I had no idea what to expect as I have not seen any of the summaries of the movies online. Ok, careful for spoilers from here on out! Here we go: 

Chapter 1: Cherry Blossom
The story starts with the protagonist (Takaki Tōno), befriending a girl named Akari Shinohara. They are very much alike, both are newly transferred to the school and they have very similar personalities. They hang out together, reading books in the library. My heart just melts when they clicked together so well and I felt so envious of their synergy. There was a pivotal scene they shared where Akari tells Takaki that cherry blossoms fall at a rate of 5cm/s, they make a promise to watch cherry blossom fall together next spring. But alas, after elementary school they were seperated when Akari's parents moved to a new prefecture. The scene where Akari Shinohara breaks the news to Takaki really wrenched my heart. At that moment, it was like their grief flowed out of my computer screen and diffused into the pores of my skin. The possibility of not being able to see your best friend again, that grief, is something which really hurts, like a knife stabbed deep in the chest and yet all we can do is to wave goodbye and embrace those beautiful memories as close to our heart as possible and hope that, even these will not fade away. The movie then phases into the next few scenes where Takaki takes a train ride to see Akari. The train ride encounters multiple hitches, with each delay, the possibility of seeing Akari slowly fades away. To make matters worse, he lost the letter he wanted to give to Akari. I really felt for Akari in that he spent so much effort just to see Akari one more time and yet it was like the heavens acted against him and all the odds stacked against him. The feeling of loneliness that he felt at that moment is unimaginable to me. However, before dawn, the sky is always the darkest. He finally gets to meet Akari at the designated station. They share a kiss under the blossom tree under pelting snowflakes and hold each other in warm embrace. It was admittedly, 1 of the most romantic things I have ever seen in 21 years of my life. The next day, Takaki leaves for home but just as he boards the train, the scene transits to Akari holding a letter that was written to Takaki. In it were the words that Akari said to Takaki
'You will be fine from now on.'
Akari likely wanted Takaki to move on because I guess, she had known then that their relationship was not destined to bear fruit. Sadly, Takaki held on to his emotions....

Chapter 2: Cosmonaut
Takaki is now in a high school in Tanegashima. Kanae Sumida, a classmate of Takaki's, has a crush on him but Takaki still thinks of Akari most of the time. He types messages on his cellphone and is constantly distracted, seemingly living in his own bubble of sorts. Although Takaki is nice to Sumida, it is apparent that Takaki will never develop feelings for Sumida because of his longing for Akari. It is sad given that Takaki and Akari could have been together as they were so close to each other. They had a real chance but yet Takaki's inability to move on prevented that. Maybe in another parallel universe in the anime....or just maybe happy endings are not meant to be?? Whatever it is, I feel sorry for Sumida, given all her emotional investment in Takaki just having zero results. It is fortunate though that Sumida had the wisdom of not pursuing Takaki given all of his emotional burdens. This chapter truly metaphorized Takaki, him being a cosmonaut, on a journey in the middle of a large empty vacuum towards an unreachable destination.

Chapter 3: 5 centimeters/second
Takaki finds work in Tokyo as a computer programmer and works tirelessly day and night. His longing for Akari takes a toll on him as he finds himself slipping into depression to the point where he indulges in alcohol and cigarettes. His life takes a turn for the worse and he finally decides to quit his job. Akari, on the other hand, is about to get married and finds a letter addressed to Takaki from a long time ago. The movie finally transits into a dual dream by Akari and Takaki back to the past where they shared their first kiss under the blossom tree. It must have been such a bittersweet moment for Takaki and I just can't imagine waking up from such a dream to find myself back in reality again. It must really feel surreal and to have experienced such an intimate bond with another person, it is truly an extremely unique and rare experience. The movie finally ends near opposite ends of a train track where Takaki sees Akari for a brief moment. A train passes through and cherry blossoms start to fall. When the train left, Akari was gone. It symbolises that Akari has moved on from their childhood and Takaki smiles and walks away. This scene was a masterstroke in my opinion. It provided resolution to Takaki having experienced sharing the view of cherry blossoms falling with Akari, thus fulfilling their promise and also helped to show Takaki's transition towards letting go as we see Takaki walk away with a satisfied smile. 

The theme of this movie, I feel, is about regrets. Never live your life in regrets and do what you want to do. If you like a person, tell him/her before it's too late and try to work something out. True love is rare and exquisite, you may never acquire such strong feelings for an individual ever again. Besides regrets, it reminds us that sometimes we have to let go. Circumstances are not always within our control. If Takaki had moved on, he could have accepted Sumida and they could have been happy together. It is nice to hold on to wonderful memories but we should move forwards and look to building new relationships if previous relationships don't work out. Overall, the movie's deep meanings and its ability to tug at your heartstrings makes it 1 of the best anime movies I have ever watched and the 1 hour I invested was one of the most well-spent in my entire life. If you are looking for a movie with feels and valuable life lessons, I will definitely recommend this one. 

My rating: 10/10.

Reflection on post mid term exam blues.

'Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.' Epicurus, the great Greek philosopher once said. Indeed, in our everyday lives, we tend to feel jealous of others for things they possess that  we do not have, often these things are materialistic in nature. In Singapore's educational landscape, this often translates to a competition of who has the best grades. Having been through numerous continuous assessments, tests, exams (i.e., GCE O levels, GCE A levels), from my observation, after every exam, without fail, there will be a ritual of comparison of results after they are released. People never seem to be satisfied with their exam results. They often look up to people who scored the higher grades with envy and when this happens often enough, negative emotions pent up and feelings become suffocating. 

I feel it is normal to feel envy whenever you don't do as well as others but we shouldn't let ourselves slip into a negative emotional state. For instance, with the passing of the recent midterm exams, some people explicitly express disappointment in their results even when they did better than a lot of people. What these people fail to realize is that they can cause a negative domino effect. By their expression of negative emotions, people who did worse in an exam than these people will naturally feel worse. That is why I feel it is important to adjust one's attitude and take a leaf from Epicurus's book.

For those people that are still feeling down from the midterm exam results, always remember that 'what you have now was once among the things you only hoped for.' When we were young, many of us aspired to enter a prestigious university but how many of us actually get an opportunity to do so? To be here, studying your butt off, is a dream of many but you out of that selective few of many have achieved this dream. Look back at your personal struggles in life and how you overcame them, you are already a winner.

Of course, one should not be easily satisfied and what I am advocating is not that of course, but rather to correct one's attitude. Morph your envy into motivational energy, challenge yourself to keep doing better and never give up. Attitude determines your altitude. So instead of desiring of what we have not for example, better midterms grades, we should instead focus on what we can change such as working hard for the next exam.

In conclusion, don't fret and delve into negative emotions if you haven't done well for midterms or any other exams you encounter. Epicurus himself suffered from immeasurable pain during his final days having been afflicted with kidney stones and yet advocated cheerfulness and optimism. Remember, no problems are unsolvable, attune to a more positive mindset and look forward to a potentially brighter future ahead.

Siempre avante!
Signing off.


  

Review: My first 7 weeks in NTU

Time flies when you are not paying particular attention to it. In a blink of an eye, It has been already 7 weeks since I enrolled into Nanyang Technological University. Although it has been only a short period of time, my time at NTU has been very enriching and an eye-opening experience.

 First off, there was the orientation week. Orientation week is the first week of the first semester. There are no lessons, only orientation programs planned to help the incoming freshmen familiarize themselves with the environment at NTU. I still remember how apprehensive I was on the morning of orientation. My past orientation experience hasn't particularly been the best being a more introverted person in nature but I decided to just go for it mainly because it will be good to meet more people from the same course so we can help each other out in the days to come (Little did I know how true this will be!). In addition, I thought of how much effort the seniors have put in to organize such an activity. It won't be very nice to plan a certain activity only to have very few people show up. So I just went for it :-).


Before I came to NTU, I have always heard rumors about how ulu the place was. It was infamously nicknamed 'Pulau NTU' by many seniors.

I finally got to experience how true it was on my first day school after taking a gruelling 2 hour MRT ride from the east to the west and then having take a bus into campus. The first day of orientation was quite a pleasant one. We got to meet our friendly SPMS buddies which were seniors studying courses from the same faculty as us. We were given a tour of NTU, the venues for our tutorial rooms and the various lecture theatres. NTU is huge and without guidance on the first few days in campus, it is very easy to lose your way.  Fortunately, because I study Mathematics and Economics, it isn't very difficult to travel in between tutorials as HSS (School of Humanities and Social Sciences) and SPMS (School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences) are in very close proximity to each other.

Besides the tour around NTU, we were also introduced to STARS planner by our OGLs. In the past, people used to nickname the system 'STARS WARS' for its infamous way of allocating electives based on first come first serve basis. Fortunately, they changed the system to make it a balloting system so students who are unable to select electives early will still get a chance to take up that elective.

Other than the tour and trying out the STARS planner, we also had orientation games which I wasn't a big fan of. It was still quite fun though with laughters all around. I could tell the GLs weren't particularly liking the games as well but they just tried to be more enthusiastic so we can have fun which I am so grateful for :-). Seriously, without the guidance from my OGLs, I would have been so lost for the first few days and I am really thankful for there is the SPMS Buddies scheme which has made my first few days so much easier.

Overall, I was glad I attended O week as I not only familiarized myself with campus, I also made some close friends which I currently hang out with everyday.(Just awesome:p).

Well, after orientation, we had the freshman welcome ceremony where we took an oath in robes which was pretty cool :p. There were selfies all around and excitement in the air. With that, began a new chapter in our lives.

After matriculation, thing started to really pick up. Lectures started...then tutorials...then work started piling up...
 

















And now, here I am in a flash.  So that's all about my first few weeks in NTU and I will be posting more update hopefully in the days to come.