Midsem Break? More like midsem breaking… (I don’t think I’m allowed to finish that joke).
I’m not sure what I was expecting during midsem break, I thought I was gonna be really productive and finally be able to do my other hobbies.
That’s not the case when you’re a computer systems student who chooses pai– loves learning 😄. To be honest I was actually super sick the first week so I didn’t do any work, but the stress was there 😭. Also, if you’re sensing a theme, at this point, these blogs are just my life experiences and I happen to be a computer systems student. Sorry, not sorry.
My midsem break started with my final revue performance (epic show I was in). It was exciting but I also got deathly sick the day after and still had to come to uni on Monday for ‘cool optional task intro 😎’. (also an interview about analogue and software understanding but I’d like to pretend that didn’t happen) We (ppl who don’t like having a life apparently) got to see what ‘SMT’ components were like and tried soldering them. We were also promised a lab tour but apparently Duleepa (Course Coordinator) had to feed his dogs. It’s ok though, we eventually got one later in the break and we witnessed $2 of Liquid Nitrogen just poured onto the floor. It was indeed very cool.
For context, in 209 this year we got to choose between 3 optional tasks (firmware, software, hardware). These optional tasks are meant to be learning opportunities that you can challenge yourself with during the break. You can get some assistance but it’s mostly self-learning. I was quite interested in designing an SMT PCB.
If you are considering the optional tasks yourself: It is a lot of work and self-learning, it’s totally okay to see what you’re going to be putting yourself through and then realise “I don’t think this is right for me anymore” . Also, it literally does take your whole break.
Let me have 1 sentence to explain that I was absolutely not functioning on Tuesday – Thursday. There were very fruitless attempts to catch up on lectures. PSA: If you’re sick, lemon + honey is the GOAT.
I think on Friday I went back into labs to do work. Did I actually do work? I have no idea. But I remember being very confused because like I mentioned I feel like they don’t really give you step by step info or anything, and we didn’t finish the practical design lectures.
My weekend was actually pretty chill, I helped run a Robogals workshop in a library. I tried to teach a bunch of primary students how velocity works with these little Sphero bots and an epic race track. It was tiring trying to manage a group of children and I could have chosen not to do it since I complain about barely having a break, but it’s something that I totally recommend doing. Despite all the chaos, it was kind of fulfilling and reminded me to approach things more lightheartedly and have fun.
On Monday, I bought avocados from a friend of a friend of a friend. They were 10 for $5 with free delivery to uni. I bused home with them and they were super heavy but also super worth.
The rest was just spending time in labs which can be cool if you’re with someone but not much to say so booo 🖐 tomato 🖐 tomato (I dread the day this meme becomes irrelevant).
In conclusion, if you do electrical or computer systems, you can still have a life. You can make complaining about going to labs a lot part of your personality if you wish, and hey, I guess spending a lot of time in labs is proof that you get to learn cool stuff you can’t just do at home… for the most part.