i'm at war!
My book is finally open. I’m getting back on old Leighthold with a vengeance. With renewed spirit I burn the mid night oil. Acceptance has helped me keep sane, but effort is at long last keeping me at this intellectual battle with the ultimate enemy of all engineering majors - the dreaded calculus.
It’s too early to say who the odds favor. I’m less than half way through the coverage of my exam on Monday, but I still have two more days. This guy’s tough. He has a unique technique. He hits me with heavy problems and I get cornered in a dead end. Boom! A tricky equation! I take a hard blow and start thinking. Minutes pass and I drift into daydream! Oh no!
But wait! I have a weapon of my own! I turn to my PC and unleash a powerful weapon - loud music! Aha! I got you Leighthold! Your complicated problems won’t keep me in space for long! I’m back at it! Loud music and striving determination!
And then…
As if calculus sabotages my plan, “the very thought of you” by Nancy Wilson starts playing! WTF! How’d that get in there? Almost simultaneously, another tedious problem is fired at me! Damn! I’m stuck again!
My eyes start to ache…
This guy’s good. No wonder engineering students fear it so!
I’m slowing down; it’s taking me hours for so little solutions. And then out of nowhere, another enemy…. But how? How’d it come so fast? It’s the feared ally of mathematics - the conniving sleepiness. Fuck! Now I’m sure to loose.
Aha! It is time to call upon my own ally. Drowsy, I rise from my chair and approach my secret lair - the kitchen. With primitive but effective technology, I conjure up fire on our stove and heat water. With all my concentration and remaining consciousness I carefully and accurately measure the right amount of Nescafe to summon my strong ally - the powerful coffee!
A few sips of my coffee and I’m back in the game! Leighthold better be ready now because this time I’ve got caffeine in my veins! With sleep out of the picture and loud music playing once again, I’m sure to win this fight! I light a cigarette and like wild fire I solve equations one after the other.
I’m up and running! I can feel the lively music tapping on my feet. And though the caffeine really doesn’t help anymore, it has a psychological effect that keeps me awake. I’m confident this time! I could make it!
And then it happened. A wrong turn! A tripped wire! A serious miscalculation! How could I have done such a careless mistake? I flicked the ash of my cigarette in my cup of coffee!
With Nescafe down the drain and more complex problems to solve, the tables turned. Here comes the feared sleep coming in for the kill.
Alas, I am in dreamland once again. I have lost.
Calculus is a worthy adversary. He may have won today’s battle, but not the war!
Two more days till crunch time…will I make it?
"there is no shame in defeat as long as the soul remains unconquered"
It’s too early to say who the odds favor. I’m less than half way through the coverage of my exam on Monday, but I still have two more days. This guy’s tough. He has a unique technique. He hits me with heavy problems and I get cornered in a dead end. Boom! A tricky equation! I take a hard blow and start thinking. Minutes pass and I drift into daydream! Oh no!
But wait! I have a weapon of my own! I turn to my PC and unleash a powerful weapon - loud music! Aha! I got you Leighthold! Your complicated problems won’t keep me in space for long! I’m back at it! Loud music and striving determination!
And then…
As if calculus sabotages my plan, “the very thought of you” by Nancy Wilson starts playing! WTF! How’d that get in there? Almost simultaneously, another tedious problem is fired at me! Damn! I’m stuck again!
My eyes start to ache…
This guy’s good. No wonder engineering students fear it so!
I’m slowing down; it’s taking me hours for so little solutions. And then out of nowhere, another enemy…. But how? How’d it come so fast? It’s the feared ally of mathematics - the conniving sleepiness. Fuck! Now I’m sure to loose.
Aha! It is time to call upon my own ally. Drowsy, I rise from my chair and approach my secret lair - the kitchen. With primitive but effective technology, I conjure up fire on our stove and heat water. With all my concentration and remaining consciousness I carefully and accurately measure the right amount of Nescafe to summon my strong ally - the powerful coffee!
A few sips of my coffee and I’m back in the game! Leighthold better be ready now because this time I’ve got caffeine in my veins! With sleep out of the picture and loud music playing once again, I’m sure to win this fight! I light a cigarette and like wild fire I solve equations one after the other.
I’m up and running! I can feel the lively music tapping on my feet. And though the caffeine really doesn’t help anymore, it has a psychological effect that keeps me awake. I’m confident this time! I could make it!
And then it happened. A wrong turn! A tripped wire! A serious miscalculation! How could I have done such a careless mistake? I flicked the ash of my cigarette in my cup of coffee!
With Nescafe down the drain and more complex problems to solve, the tables turned. Here comes the feared sleep coming in for the kill.
Alas, I am in dreamland once again. I have lost.
Calculus is a worthy adversary. He may have won today’s battle, but not the war!
Two more days till crunch time…will I make it?
"there is no shame in defeat as long as the soul remains unconquered"