A Good, Stiff Kick

Written by J David Smith
Published on 1 May 2014

This semester may be the first semester that I get a grade less than an A in any in-major class (read: CS, MA). I am taking the graduate-level Numerical Analysis course with Dr. Wasilkowski this semester. Dr. Wasilkowski is a good teacher – I actually went out of my way to make sure I took this class with him because of that and because it is his research area.

I've not done poorly by any means. My grade on the first exam was 18.75 / 20. I consistently earned good grades on the homework. However, I was barely keeping my head above water. Having counted on my good luck and general intellect to get me through without much effort, I found myself wholly unprepared for the failure of both.

The Exam

The second mid-term exam had 4 problems plus an extra. We could choose any 3 of the normal problems and solve the extra for bonus points. The exam was scored on a scale of 1-20. I solved the first two problems easily. And then I bombed the third. I did not do the extra.

My mistake on the third problem was not due to lack of knowledge, but a simple misunderstanding of the problem on my part. The problem wasn't particularly opaque either – everyone I spoke to had solved it with the correct method. Everyone but me. I did not have the padding in my grade to take such a hit. As it stands now, I am 3.2% below the requirement for an A.

The Final

Dr. Wasilkowski gives his students the option to not take the final. If you are happy with your grade prior to the final, you can take it as-is and skip the final. If you are not, you can take the final to try to improve it. There is one catch: if you take the final and do poorly, you can lower your grade.

In order to raise my grade up to an A, I have to earn 38.25 / 40 points on the final. My reaction upon seeing that went something like this:

"I must've done something wrong"
"Well damn, that's high"
"Is that even possible?"
"Oops."

Then I looked to see what the minimum I need to keep a B is: 28.25 / 40. I can do that, it's only a minimum of ~70%. Actually, I am quite confident that I could earn that without studying for the exam at all. But that isn't what I want.

A Bit of Context

This is not the first class I've taken with Wasilkowski. Previously, I had taken the CS Discrete Math course under him. (This was how I knew prior to registration that he was a good professor). In that class, he gave out quite a lot of extra credit. One person even managed to earn 140% as their overall grade – though he would not say who. I did quite well on the exams, and was easily able to qualify for skipping the final with an A.

The Kick

Today, I went to his office hours for advice. Up to this point I had been leaning towards taking the exam, but I wanted to know what he thought about taking the exam vs not. After listening to my explanation, he told me that he couldn't give me advice – it had to be my own decision. Then he said something like this:

You know, I was really disappointed with your performance this semester. You have a lot of potential, you were one of the best students in my other class, but I didn't see the effort this semester.

Boom. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Wasilkowski and his opinion, so I take what he says seriously. And he's right, ya ken? I haven't put the effort in this semester. I haven't been sufficiently familiar with the material, I've spent far more time on reddit (in and out of class) than in previous semesters, and I have relied far too much on luck.

My Semester in Review

Throughout this semester, I have been frustrated by my performance. I screwed up the first homework, but have made up for it. During the first exam, I wrote more guesses than answers. Still, I got a very good grade. Yet it always feels weird to be the hat that Indy grabs from under the door: scraping through no worse for the wear, but not by one's own doing. I mean, technically it was my own doing, but I have put forth very little effort in this class and most others this semester.

The only extra credit I've earned has been from turning in well-formatted & printed rather than handwritten homework. I did not even attempt most of the extra credit problems; minimum effort was all I gave. That's a big part of my present problem.

Two contributing factors are general tiredness and a simple experiment that I took far too long to give up. Tiredness is easy to understand, as I have a lot of stuff to do and just enough time to do it. However, my little experiment ended up hurting more than I had anticipated: I used my phone (a phablet) as a notebook. Digital distractions abound. One moment I'm taking notes – then suddenly class is over, I don't remember anything from that lecture and my notes are horrifyingly incomplete. Oops. Ultimately, these are both excuses, and the fault still lies with me.

My Resolve

As I left his office, I turned and told him that I was going to take the exam. I have resolved to both take the exam, but also to ace it. Will I fail? Probably – I am prone to silly little errors – but I will try. Even if I do fail, I am no worse off.

I am thankful for teachers like Dr. Wasilkowski. He is an excellent teacher, to be sure. Energetic, interesting, funny (he tells the best jokes that I've ever heard from a teacher) while still covering the material clearly. It is easier to pay attention in his classes than in any other I've been in. Clearly, he also isn't afraid to teach outside of the classroom – even when it involves a stern rebuke. More than his in-class capabilities, I am thankful for that. Sometimes a stiff kick in the gut is good to bring me to my senses. And by sometimes I mean often. And by often I mean pretty much always. Without the pretty much. So just always? Yea, always.

UPDATE: I got an A! ^.