Phoenix

I'm reviving this blog, which should never, properly, have been retired ... but, well, life intervened. I have been away from the math, diddling with pleasure reading, enjoying an infusion of personal life, etc., etc., etc.

But things are heating up again.

In short, I've decided to go for a Master's in CS with an emphasis on Mathematics and Computation ... and I've decided to take Multivariable Calculus this fall as one of the three courses from the program I need to successfully complete in order to apply.

Wow.

A considerable rub is that I have to get a B or better in order for this to count as one of the three courses. And I got a B- in my first two calculus courses ... which, I might add, I finished a year ago. So I have my work cut out for me.

The rest of the summer is essentially devoted to math study, with me going back to my signature early-rising-to-study plan of getting up at 5am (or thereabouts -- preferably, even earlier). I'm starting with pre-calculus, since one of the things that bit me grievously in the first two courses was weak algebra, and especially weak trigonometry. I'm up to my knees in trigonometry at the moment, trying to not be too impatient about diving right back into the calculus.

I'm setting my sites high, but my hopes are high, too. I'm really having to re-learn how to learn, because degrees in the humanities do nothing to prepare one for this kind of work. I've tried to draw on my high school experiences, but I graduated high school 32 years ago -- a lot of that is just gone.