life is hard, we should all celebrate small wins. but sometimes a win is smaller than small… it’s mini.
i am taking an elective mathematics course, where i am the only non-mathematician and also the only non-German in class. the materials are all in English, although the lectures are held in German (huh?).
i was quite worried about the maths intensity because i am not all that great at writing formal proofs; sometimes i also have trouble understanding them. but i really want to take a course taught by this professor who has a reputation of being strict (not the reason why i decided to torture myself). i just kind of like graphs and am interested in the sadistic things mathematicians do to innocent graphs.
we are required to solve two tasks and present the solutions in class as an exam admission requirement. obviously, i was nervous af but i managed to “procrastinate” due to my surgery but now there is no more running away. a few weeks ago, i was fortunate enough to get assigned a problem that was not that complicated so i got by quite well.
this time, i thought i got lucky again. there is a graph and i had to show if three different cases work. according to the manuscript, two should work and one might be impossible. it seemed like i just had to follow some rules to solve the problem. so i did and got the desired results. niceeeeeeeeeee.
nope.
for the case that does not work, the teaching assistant commented “this is not a proof”. SIS WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I HAVE EXPLAINED WHY. well, i have no choice but to amend it. i tried my best to elaborate on this one concept that i believe is the key.
fast forward to the next day, when the professor explained about a similar topic… for me to realise that i came to the same conclusion as some pro mathematicians! (well, it is just logical thinking) and also the tutor said now it looks more like a proof. (but is it really a proof?) (idk) it is a mini win anyway. ^^
feels nice to have something after the recent setbacks.
meanwhile while i obtained the wanted outcomes for the other cases, i apparently did not correctly use the method… gosh… mathematics. so i just spent almost the whole day today trying to follow these confusing rules and had to audibly sigh COS WHY ISN’T IT WORKING???
well, cos the method described only works for this one particular case and i spent hours trying to make it work for something else.
kbye.
i don't like kwy 