A Quick Update – Lance Schonberg

Been awfully quiet here so far this year, and I’m sorry about that.

Not that that changes anything or that the relative quiet is going to shift much until the term is over.

I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself to do well this time around at university. You know, actually live up to my supposed academic potential. It’s working out so far, but it usually means that if school is in session, I’m not doing much else. Really, I should have figured that out before now, but every term is a new one, right? A new one with higher level courses or new material that’s sometimes hard to wrap my head around. Some of each this term, so the words have slowed to a trickle. The keyboard is more concerned about formulae, coding, and projects, and I don’t remember the last time I plugged the microphone in. So much for the plan

But for reference, I am doing well academically even though it doesn’t always feel like it. My term work is generally very good. Yes, I screw something up once in a while, but given time and persistence, I usually come out of the term with a good mark on the stuff that’s supposed to build my knowledge.

But final exams and I are not often on good terms, and that can change things a bit.

Oh, I’ve had a couple of them go very well, but I’ve had more of them go in a mediocre direction. Exams nearly always bring my final mark down. They provide the wrong kind of time stress for me. I don’t mind deadlines if I have the resources I need to get the job done properly. Exams don’t necessarily allow for that. At least, not for me. If I can’t retrieve it in the moment, even if I did something exactly like it yesterday, and there’s no opportunity to reference something that will turn the light bulb on, that question probably isn’t going to go well. Put a couple of those on one exam, and the overall experience will be less than pleasant. I had one exam last term with that exact problem – I’d done an extremely similar question while studying the day before, but couldn’t retrieve how to start it. Whole bunch of marks lost there even if the rest of the exam was good.

But like every term and every course, every exam is a new one, so there’s always a chance for things to go right next time, isn’t there? One hopes.

Either way, I’m going to try to do a little better blogging and writing for the rest of the term, but my productivity will probably still be very low until the end of April when finals are over. For the summer, well, I don’t want to jinx anything in my head, but I’ve got high hopes for a couple of possibilities and a solid backup plan if none of those become reality. Either way, I should have more writing time. Also more family time, more sleeping time, more relaxation time.

Until then, I’ve pressed pause on a bunch of creative stuff while I try to make sure I’m at least scribbling something now and then.

Right now, I have to go finish studying for my Statistics midterm.

Stay safe and be well, everyone.