#mcgillian

[girlincanada]

Last year at McGill?

So this year is supposed to be my last year at McGill. However, I’ve never been fond of goodbyes. I don’t want to be done with university. I don’t want to be done with my friends, this city, and even going to class. I don’t think I’m ready to go to work every day when I can barely make myself go to class. That’s why I have decided to stay here for an extra semester. This way, I can convince myself that this actually isn’t my last year at McGill. I still have three semesters here. I have another summer where I can still call myself a university student. And most importantly, I have another OAP next fall. (Okay, maybe not “most” importantly, but it’s still OAP.) 

Now, the plan is to find an internship for the summer (not an actual job, doesn’t count) and enjoy the three semesters I have at McGill. I’m only taking four classes instead of five, which is a blast. I definitely should have started this way and then went up to 5 classes but whatever. It’s pointless to worry about the past. 

If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be done with my Econ major in the winter, which means I’ll be taking four psychology courses in my last semester. I’m not exactly thrilled about that idea so I’m going to try to figure out a way to switch things around and have a more balanced scheduled. But seeing as I started my Psychology major a year after Econ, I don’t know if that’ll actually be possible. 

One thing that’s kind of sad about staying for another semester is that I keep getting emails about graduation. I technically have to apply for graduation and get my graduation photos taken and stuff like that... But it’s actually too early for me to do any of that stuff. I’m not entirely sure when I’m supposed to do it but I’m assuming next fall? Probably? Hopefully? I don’t really want to worry about this right now, which is kind of the whole point of this extra semester plan. 

Apart from this, there isn’t really anything interesting going on. It’s midterm season (Seasons at McGill: First week of school, midterm season, finals season) and I feel like I’m constantly doing work. But even so, I’m not ready to be done yet :)

[randomactsofclearness]

[girlincanada]

Summer 16

Hello everyone! As you may have noticed due to the lack of snow we’ve had in the past couple of weeks, summer’s finally here and I can’t wait to tell you all about my plans!

So first of all, I’m writing this post in June, basically July. I took a summer class (COMP 202 - Foundations of Programming), which I enjoyed a lot! 

Quick side note about the course: If you’re thinking about taking it, I would recommend NOT taking it in the summer. It feels very rushed and you really don’t want that with this class. It requires you to put a lot of time and effort into it and summer is just not the time to do that. Overall it is a fun class though! I would recommend taking it with Melanie, not Dan, simply because she was much more interactive, which really helps with understanding what’s going on. 

Quick side note about summer courses in general: If you have a class that you need to take but you’re scared to take it (from what I heard, MATH 133 - Linear Algebra), summer is a great time to do it. Usually it’s much easier and they are taught by PhD students. It’s also a good excuse to stay in Montreal to enjoy the city when you can actually go outside without being scared of getting frostbite. There’s a shit ton of stuff going on in Montreal in the summer so you get to enjoy that while learning things. Yaay!

Basically what happened was, I took a summer course, which started right after finals, then I came back to Turkey only a couple days after my COMP 202 final. That was my mistake. Now I’m in Istanbul with nothing to do. (That’s technically not true. I deferred my ECON 330 exam so I have to study for that but shhh) It’s disgustingly hot and barely any of my friends are here. I’d rather be stuck in Montreal than in Istanbul but whatever. Shit happens. You gotta move on. 

I’m going on vacation for 10 days with two of my best friends, so that’s basically the only highlight of my summer. I have 16 days until then, which isn’t TOO bad. It’s just that waiting is much harder when you don’t have anything to do. 

After my 10 day vacation that I’m definitely overexcited about, I have another two weeks of absolutely nothing in Istanbul. BUT THEN I GO BACK TO MONTREAL. I’m going back on August 7, which is going to be amazeballs because my deferred exam is on the 18th. So I’ll have time to chill AND study. Oh I also moved into a new apartment so I’ll get to spend time there. (I probably should mention that my boyfriend is currently in Montreal with basically all my friends. That also may or may not have caused my slightly bitter tone about Istanbul.)

All in all, I have a countdown and I have 43 days until I go back. Until then, my goal is to eat a gross amount of Turkish food so I don’t crave any when I get there. 

I think this was a good enough 3 AM rant about my struggles. I have other stuff to write about and I will actually do that, as I don’t have anything else to do. I’ll see y’all later.

PS. I absolutely love this season of Game of Thrones. Can’t wait for the finale. And yes, I have proudly made “hold the door” jokes. #noragrets

[girlincanada]

(More than) Halfway done!

It finally happened. I’m done with finals, which means I’m more than halfway done with McGill! You’re probably asking “More than halfway? Whaat?”. Let me explain. 

So, I came in with IB credits, which let me skip a year basically. I started as a U1, instead of U0, and I was supposed to graduate in 3 years. This year, I realized that I don’t want to do that. 

First of all, taking 5 courses per semester is a shit ton of work and I don’t want to focus on JUST work. So I decided to take 4 courses each semester and add an extra semester. 

Also, I’m not ready to graduate. On a normal day, I get up at 10 and don’t get out of bed until 12, sometimes even later. I simply don’t get out of bed when I’m on period. (This may or may not have happened today.) I simply can’t see myself waking up early in the morning and going to work. Every. Single. Day. I don’t know how much 1 semester/4 months is going to help with that, but it still gives me more idea to at least get used to the idea of having a job. 

In the meantime, I should also figure out what I’m going to do after I graduate. Right now, I actually have no idea. I’ll probably do something related to marketing? That seems to be a fun thing I can do with a degree in Economics and Psychology. The only thing I know for sure is that I want to stay in Canada. We’ll see what happens...

[girlincanada]

U2 Fall classes reviewed

Macroeconomic Theory, ECON 330 - I took this class with Daniel Barczyk and the most important thing to do is to attend lectures. He writes everything on the board and he has a tiiiiny writing so you have to go early and get a good seat. Otherwise don’t bother going. He is really nice and funny! One of the few professors that made me laugh in lectures. His exams are pretty straightforward and very similar to what we do in class. 

Overall, ECON 330 gets a 7/10. (Kinda low because I really don’t enjoy D1/D2 courses)

Economic Development 1, ECON 313 - I think this was one of my favorite classes at McGill so far. The Econ classes I’ve taken are all requirements so this was like a fresh breath of air. Unlike Micro, Macro, or Stats, it has context to it, which is why I enjoyed it so much. I took it with Eesha and I really liked her as a prof. She’s a fair grader and her exams are pretty straightforward. 

All in all, ECON 313 gets a solid 8.5/10. 

Introduction to Behavioural Neuroscience, PSYC 211 - Britt is bae. After my first lecture with him, I genuinely thought to myself that I’d be down to go to a bar and just have conversations with him. While it’s a very interesting class, there is a LOT of material to learn and memorize. He is a good lecturer but that really helps to a certain point, especially because there’s stuff in the textbook he doesn’t go over in the lectures. When I took it, it was a three hour long lecture so it was impossible to actually go to lectures and be focused for the entire thing. However, as it’s in Leacock 132 like almost all required Psychology classes, it’s recorded. I believe NTCs are available too so you might find that helpful as well. 

Overall, PSYC 211 gets an 8/10 from me. 

Human Cognition and the Brain, PSYC 311 - I had a love-hate relationship with this class. The material is extremely interesting. The professor and the TA are amazing. BUT there are no lecture slides, recordings or a textbook. You have to go to class and listen to the professor very carefully but his accent makes this a bit hard. I also tend to lose my focus towards the end of a lecture (which I’m assuming is quite common?) so that wasn’t very helpful either. The exams are quite hard too. The prof asks VERY tricky and detailed questions. But as I said, the material is just fascinating. I’d say it’s a must-take if you’re interested in psychology. 

So I’d probably give PSYC 311 an 8/10.

Statistics for Experimental Design, PSYC 305 - I took this class with Amsel and I just loved her. Overall, the course is very straightforward. There are 3 assignments, a midterm, and a final. You’re allowed to resubmit your assignment after it’s corrected, which is amazing. They’re also very helpful in understanding the material. I didn’t take PSYC 204 so I can’t say it’s easier or harder than that, though I heard it’s easier. 

This one gets an 8/10 as well. 

[girlincanada]

End of U1

I’m finally done with my first year at McGill and it was quite possibly the best year of my life. I finished the year with a GPA that’s much MUCH lower than I expected because I failed one of my classes. (Physics... What a bitch) I’ll have to take the supplemental exam in August, which means I have to spend my summer studying for my favorite ( :) ) class. It was still an amazing year though. So #noragrets. 

Because I failed physics, I decided going to medical school is probably not the best idea. (How am I going to deal with harder classes, even Organic Chemistry, if I can’t pass Physics 102? Right?) So I decided to let go of the Pathology minor. I’m currently double majoring in Economics and Psychology and I’m pretty happy with it. I don’t really know what I want to do after I graduate. Maybe marketing? I don’t know. I have time... Kind of...

I'm going to be a frosh leader for the arts frosh this year. If anyone who’s reading this is going to attend arts frosh, let me know! I’m super excited because frosh last year was so much fun and now that I actually know what to do in Montreal, I’m assuming it’s going to be even more fun.

Even though I just got back to Istanbul about 2 weeks ago, (I took a summer course for 5 weeks - Introduction to Psychology) I have 42 days left until I go back to Montreal. (Yes, I already have a countdown because I want to go back, move into our apartment and see my boyfriend. Sue me.) I literally have no idea what I’m doing in those 42 days. Still haven’t figured out if I’m doing an internship or not. I don’t know if/when I’m going on a vacation. All I know is that 42 days is not a long time and I feel like it’ll be over before I get to figure everything out. I really hope that doesn’t happen...

After we go back (I’m going back with my best friend/roommate to be), we’re going to move in and it’s going to be awesome. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am about our apartment. It’s perfect and we get to decorate it ourselves and THANK GOD we have similar tastes. I’ll try to remember to post pictures when we’re done. It’ll be amazeballs. (yes, amazeballs.)

I’ll post more stuff about my first year, my summer and what I’m doing next year soon. I literally don’t have anything else to do...

[girlincanada]

Update

It's been about four months since I last posted something on here. That's ridiculous. Okay. Time passes EXTREMELY quickly in college. Actually. In less than a month, I'll be done with my first year. What?! I'm genuinely having trouble believing that. I was worried about getting my visa, and now I'm apartment hunting with my best friend. (Yes. Apartment hunting. Am I adulting right?)

My first semester at McGill was amazing. I had so much fun and I actually studied and stuff as well. I met and befriended wonderful people, discovered Montreal... 

Right now, I'm almost done with my second semester and so far I've been doing well academically. I'm happy. Finals start next week, so I’m mostly studying. (I’m going to two concerts next week but meh. YOLO.) 

I’m aware that I haven’t posted anything since November but I decided to use this blog as a stress relief during finals. I’ll write about apartment hunting, La Nuit Blanche (which was amazing), I’ll review the classes I took this year and write about the ones I’m going to take next year. And of course I’ll write about the concerts because Kodaline and OneRepublic. I actually promise I will post more stuff. I kind of just forgot about this blog entirely but all is well now. Get ready for more updates!

[chandra1mcgill]

Sir William Macdonald was the greatest McGillian