Exam nerves

I have been home from the cruise for a while now (we disembarked the ship in Australia, which gave us a long journey home - way outside my comfort zone for flights). We are in lockdown like everybody else. Because of our ages, we are not shopping for ourselves and are reliant on scarce and unreliable delivery slots. This is very stressful for a control freak like me and my concentration is very short. Not an ideal way to study quantum mechanics and the theories of the universe.

Fortunately the exam is cancelled but we are to do it at home over a period of 24 hours. No exam conditions required, so I will have access to the course materials, which means that it is no longer a memory test. A huge relief!!

I am also helping in a very small way to educate a couple of locked down children (ages 4 and 6). So far we have looked at the Big Bang and the solar system. Not as nerve-racking as the exam but they still terrify me as an audience. Next week - space craft. About which I know absolutely nothing.

Can I do this?

So I am half way through the OU physics and space course (still the equivalent of 1st year undergrad). Strange course - a mixture of topics I covered in A level physics (1969) and some very tough quantum mechanics. I looked at a past paper for the exam which I will be taking in June and couldn't find any question I could fully answer. So there is a huge amount of work to do.

But the marks for my assignments so far have been very acceptable so with a big push on revision I could be OK. And I am currently on a cruise ship which is having problems docking anywhere because of covid-19. No-one is ill as far as I know and the ship is taking many precautions. But I have my work with me.

Delighted

So I have the Distinction - I got 96% in the exam. I really am thrilled to be able to do maths like this after 45 years of working in another field. I hope I can keep this up with the physics.

We will be visiting our favourite restaurant to celebrate.

Going into space

The maths course is finished and the examination taken. The whole thing was much harder than I expected but I enjoyed it greatly. Sometimes I think I was born to do maths, so why have I spent all my working life in IT? Simple - for the money!!

I hope that I have passed but my assignment scores have been high and I am hoping for a Distinction. Fingers crossed!

I have signed up for the next course on my path to the stars. This one will involve some quantum mechanics, which is a new area for me. And a new computer language - Python.

First assignment on Maths course

94%. Phew, that's a relief. Since I already have a maths degree, I feel under a lot of pressure here. But I am still so slow compared with how I was at 18, 19, 20 ….. But I suppose that is normal. I just don't like it.

Just got results from S111, the OU introductory Science course. Distinction. What a nice surprise! But it increases the pressure on the new module - Maths. Which I used to be very good at. My 18-year old self is looking over my shoulder and laughing at how slow I am.

Maths unit

This is me back in my comfort zone. Mostly algebra so far. I need to improve my accuracy because I keep losing minus signs. Maybe I should just be neater.