Hey guys,
As I had mentioned briefly last week, I did not get the boost I would have liked after taking our second test for Fluids. I spent most of my time over the last month playing catch-up with my course work, and although I felt confident going into the exam, once I got there I froze up.
I believe that I was overconfident in my preparation for the test, and I did not spend the amount of time that I usually do in the days leading up to the exam. I lost time while preparing for an Advanced Thermodynamics exam, and unfortunately my performance in both tests suffered for time management reasons. I fell behind in Thermo, and had I kept up a better schedule then I could have split more time between preparation for that and Fluids (while I wasn’t behind in Fluids, I lost time to prepare as thoroughly as I usually see fit).
The 5/6 combination problem was devastating for me, because I spent too much time trying to solve 5, and the answer for 5 directly contributed to solving 6. I know that I am learning, and I know that tests grades are not always an indication of knowledge, but personally, it was a rough few days for my confidence.
I feel like I have had a successful semester for the most part, but I feel like I am capable of much more. Hanging in is proving to be difficult, but we are almost there.
Thanks for reading,
TM
timpalamcmuffin 
Three more weeks! That’s my slogan for this week. The good part is you have one more chance for redemption. After next weeks classes, there is just review and no more classes for a few days and a weekend to prepare for the final. Hopefully, you can find a better result on the final. Each test is only 10% of the grade, I think the final is 20%? Problem 5 and 6 was tricky, I know I didn’t get it completely right, but in general I went about the process in solving it correctly. Anxious to see the scores.
I had a similar problem when it came to preparing for the second fluids exam. I knew i was not that confident going into the exam because of other activities and course work I had to complete. I put studying off to the last minute and did not accomplish what i wanted too. But, I was very surprised to see my test result. He must of gave a good amount of partial credit. Hopefully, things went better than you think. The end is near!
While things did go better than I had expected, I’m not happy with the grade I received. Just from a personal expectations standpoint of course. But the group project went very well and I’m confident that my final grade will be good!
Hey Tim, sorry to hear that the second midterm didn’t go as planned. I really hope that you got a good grade and that it wasn’t too rough on you. Don’t let is discourage you. Keep your chin up. As I’ve stated before, I really like the way that you blog. If I were you, I would try to keep your blog alive and well outside of this class. Write about life experiences, especially those related to engineering. When doing this, make the posts look as professional and informative as possible (which you’ve already done a pretty good job at). You might be able to show this thing off to an employer one day and impress the hell out of them. Keep up the great work Tim. Kick the final’s ass.