fighting fishball

NOTE: This is also applicable for any college student (not just UPLB students)

As most of you know, I’m a college student in UPLB (search that out on Google if you don’t know where that is) and I’ve been studying here for about 5 years now! I shifted courses that’s why I’m taking long but nevertheless, I’m here to tell you guys all about what’s in my bag for the PAST 5 YEARS (lorde, I want to graduate already). Heads up though, it is not as heavy as other college students backpacks are. It is neither as fully packed and complete as what you see in different youtube productivity videos. The ones that I bring are the ones that I find most essential in your day to day living as a UPLB college student, whatever your course may be. 

Anyway, I’m going to stop myself from blabbering because I tend to do that a lot and list everything that has been very very important or useful to me:

umbrella: PLEASE DO NOT FORGET YOUR UMBRELLA. If you’ve lived in Los Baños long enough, you’ll know that the weather here changes as fast as your exes change their minds. I’m not even kidding because most of the time you’ll be wondering why the heck is it raining when the frickin’ sun is out there shining; or when you go to class sunny and dry and get out rainy and wet. You don’t even want to know what’s it like to be stuck in a very stormy weather or a very sunny one, so just to save yourself the hassle, bring your umbrella and take care of it! Don’t leave it outside of the classroom to dry because there really are students who take those, besides, it’s gonna get wet (or dry) anyway when you use it again.

water bottle: The campus is VERY big. UPLB, has one of the largest campus in the whole UP system, if not in the whole Philippines, and as such, it is very easy to get dehydrated. As most bloggers would say: “Stay hydrated, hunyyyy.” Trust me, you need those liquid to sustain the hell that is college.

FORM 5: This is very important especially during the first to third week of the semester. This is basically your receipt and in here is listed all the necessary details that most professors are looking for: your subjects. Getting a subject is very difficult and is most of the time a competition in the University so your professor or instructor is gonna be looking if indeed, you are enrolled in that subject. If you’re not enrolled and intend to prerog (which is a UP thing), check out my post on the tips on how to prerog to classes.

pens/pencils/eraser: This is common sense. You should always have something that you will write with. Though everything in the University is starting to be automated, it never hurts to have one. For STEM students, it is also important to have a pencil and an eraser. Sometimes instructors don’t give out scratch papers so you have to write your solution on the answer sheet or questionnaire itself however, some of them don’t allow anything to be written on the questionnaire as it is sometimes reused for another section or the same subject. So it is better if you have a pencil that you write lightly your solution with on the questionnaire so you can erase it afterwards.

notebook: ISTG, if you forget one of these, are you even a college student? The notebooks that I use are those very thin ones from MUJI. I also use another notebook that is very very cheap for very very quick notes and scratches so that all the solutions that I have for every pop quiz is in one notebook. For the convenience of it, I always choose a regular sized thin notebook because I think it’s the optimal size. Also, most of the time, my instructors will give out a handout of the lesson so I don’t write that much.

a bunch of yellow paper cut in different sizes: One whole yellow paper and yellow papers cut into half, a quarter, and an eighth are widely used in the University, no matter what your course is. It is usually used for pop quizzes or attendance. Rather than always asking your classmates for one, it is better to have one instead. Don’t be a leecher. Seriously.

a bunch of index cards in different sizes AND colors: Your instructor (especially in CHEM) hands out a Personal Data Sheet where you will put all the necessary details needed. However, sometimes they don’t have this form so they usually ask the students to bring an index card and write those necessary details in it. Usually, they ask for a 1x1 or 2x2 ID picture of you.

1x1 and 2x2 ID pictures: This is needed in addition with the index cards and is usually put because your instructors want to know or get familiar with your face. They’re handling a lot of students already so seeing a picture of you in those index cards helps them identify who you are.

extra bluebooks: You’ll never know when you need one. A lot of instructors use scratch papers for you to show your solution or answers but some of them (usually MATH, CHEM, SOCIAL SCIENCE, and HUMANITIES instructors) require blue books during exams or exercises. Some of them use it as a quiz notebook. So stock up on these, and if ever you catch yourself without one, you can always buy one around those mini convenience stores placed in different buildings. However, most of the time, they run out of it because it is needed by others as well. Again, you’ll never know when you need one. 

handkerchief or fan: The weather in Los Baños is always extreme during daytime. It is very rare for us to experience a good weather when the sun’s out here. So it’s better to bring a hanky or fan if you catch yourself outside of your dorm or apartment room during a very hot day; you’ll have something to wipe off your sweat or cool yourself off. 

your other personal personal stuff: I’m talking about your money (bring coins and bills), make-up kit, emergency kit, all those miscellaneous stuff that you can’t live without. What’s in here is completely up to you. 

All those stuff, I can fit into a small bag. I always carry light especially since my apartment is just very near the university, so if ever I need an extra thing or two, I can always go back to my apartment and get it. However, for those of you who live far away from campus, I suggest you bring extra stuff just to be sure. The ones I’ve listed above, are the BASIC stuff you need to survive your regular school day. However, if you’re a student like me who is already doing her thesis, you’ll need your laptop wherever you go so that you can be productive and read related literatures and write your thesis (which I totally need to do by the way). If you have a blog, you can also type it out wherever you are in campus if you bring your laptop with you.

Again! This is not necessarily for a basic UPLB student. Most of the stuff here is also applicable for other college students wherever you may be. 

Half of 2019 has already passed and it’s my first time logging back in on this account after more than a year. I don’t know what happened and why I suddenly lost motivation but at least I am still able to write again. So far, 2018 has been pretty bad for me. A lot of things, both personal and academic happened. I wasn’t prepared for the worst year of my life (nobody ever is), so far, and it has really been hard to cope and keep up with a lot of people.

Anyway, I’m just here to say that I’m back! It’s been more than a year so I’ve also moved forward with my subjects. I’m now taking a lot of majors and doing my thesis. School starts on Monday and I have never been so excited! Losing motivation last year wasn’t exactly what I want to experience but honestly, it’s okay. I’ve learned a lot from the heartbreaks and tears so now I’m more focused and so much more ready than ever, especially now that I’ll start doing my thesis.

01/19/18

I’m actually kinda worried on how I’m gonna manage my time this semester since I have three Engineering Science, one Chemistry, and two major subjects. Plus, I have a role to fulfil in my school organization. BUT, I’m really positive about it and I hope that I would be able to manage it well. I really need to bump my grades up. Anyway, I’ve been using this HUJI app on my phone and it puts old-ish and polaroid-ish effects on my photos which is really cool. You guys need to try it. It’s kinda mainstream here in the Philippines, though.

Hey there!

If you have a math, or science related subject (like I always do), you’ll find that you really can’t escape analysis and problem solving, especially if you’re majoring in something science or maths related. So I am here to share some tips that actually made studying technical subjects a little bit easier and manageable for me in college:

Practice solving. If you have a subject that requires you to solve, you really have to practice solving, there is no easy way out of this one. This allows you to develop your own technique in solving the problem. You can start by doing the problems you did in class, then venture out to some examples in textbooks, then further into the problems in the textbooks until you get the hang of how the concepts and theories are applied. 

Listen during class. I know, it’s boring. But you have to do this. This way, you’ll be able to understand the topic once it is presented to you. In my opinion, it’s better if you let an expert explain it because they know the important bits in the lesson. Then study it afterwards on your own to develop your own techniques.

Ask your professors. Don’t be afraid to ask questions in class. Or if you’re shy, you can ask them after the class. However, it’s important that you ask them about the lesson when you already did your part; meaning: you already studied the material/solution over and over again but there’s just something that you can’t seem to grasp. 

Study before the class. Studying the lesson in advance doesn’t hurt. Plus, it works because you already have an idea about it. However, I don’t do it usually. What I do is that prior the discussion, I study the lessons that are going to be essential to the next topic. Example: Say that our topic later will be about introduction to thermodynamics (which includes derivation of various thermodynamic formulas); what I’m going to study instead is the different integration and derivation techniques, and different basic thermodynamics concepts like laws of thermodynamics. This ensures me that I know the prerequisite lessons of the next topic in class.

Absorb the conceptual parts of the topic first. Before diving into the problems itself, try to digest the concepts or theories behind it first. This way, you can understand which information is important and easily think of a solution because you know the problem’s framework. Even when your professor gives you a problem that seems different from your other sample problems, the concepts will still be the same throughout.

Reverse engineer the solution. Reverse engineering is reading and understanding your solution from bottom to top. I do this to make connections while going through the solution. I usually ask myself “‘where did this come from?’, ‘why did this happen?’, or ‘why is the answer like this?’” It allows me to look into the parts that I missed which are usually concepts or theories that I forgot to apply in solving the problem.

Look for key terms or phrases. There are some problems that put in information that may seem unimportant, but actually is really important. Examples such as the phrases constant velocity, constant acceleration, starting from rest, accelerate uniformly, reversible isothermal, adiabatic conditions, isobaric/isochoric compression/expansion, etc., are easy to miss but actually gives you vital information especially when solving a problem.

Try to ask yourself how or why it happened in every step of the solution. You can do this to gauge your mastery of the lesson. If you can answer yourself confidently, then you’ve studied well enough. But, if you can’t or if you feel that it’s not enough, then you better get your pen, paper, and calculator to practice some more.

If you have to draw it, draw it. Some problems need the use of your imagination, and these problems are the ones that get tricky most of the time. It’s easier to draw each of the time frames that are important so you get the sense of what’s going on between these pictures. This way, you’ll know which information you’re missing and which ones are you failing to take into account.

It’s okay to be messy and slow while practicing. Not all of time you can solve in a tumblr-esque manner because, dude, tumblr notes or solutions are soooo pretty to look at, BUT, what’s more important is that you understand each step of the solution and how the answer came to be 8.0658 m/s directed 32° south of west. So it’s okay to have dashes, strikethroughs, and crosses on your scratch paper, as long as you’re learning, a messy solution on a paper you’re not going to submit to your professor is fine.

IF YOU’VE REALLY GOTTEN THE HANG OF SOLVING IT, try to solve a fresh set of problems as fast and accurately as you can. Try to solve as if you’re in an exam. This is also to gauge how well you’re prepared for it, but you need to do this accurately. I repeat, accurately. It doesn’t work if you’ve finished it in less than an hour but all of your answers are wrong.

21.12.17

Note: I AM BAD AT FLATLAYS. I AM SORRY.

Going over and solving some dynamics problems because I have to be prepared for an exam in January. I still have four topics to study--four topics, my friend. I honestly don’t know how I’m gonna do the learn-unlearn-learn thing (which I heard is very effective) but all I know right now is that I need to study so frekin hard because I really really need to pass that exam. 

Listed here are the books that are usually used as references of different chemistry courses that I’ve taken in my university (University of the Philippines Los Baños). I’m taking up chemical engineering so my subjects are more math and science-y. So, if you’re an incoming BS ChE freshman or upperclassman at UPLB, BS CHEM or any other degree program that’s going to take the courses in this list the next semester, you can search and download the reference textbooks I’ve mentioned here to get ahead and prep yourself for it.

I’ve also included my experiences with these subjects so you can read up on what to expect on the course you’re gonna take soon.

Enjoy!

CHEM 16.0/CHEM 16.1 (General Chemistry I; General Chemistry I-Laboratory)

Reference book: Chemistry, 11th Edition: Chang and Goldsby

Any General Chemistry book would do, but Chang’s is the most used reference book in any General Chemistry subject. 

This subject is just a recap of your high school chemistry, which is supposed to be easy for you. If you’re not that good with it, it’s okay, but then, you have to brush up your skills on balancing equations, basic thermodynamics, drawing lewis and resonance structures of molecules, and all other chemistry stuff you’ve learned in high school.

CHEM 17.0/CHEM 17.1 (General Chemistry II; General Chemistry II-Laboratory)

Reference book: Chemistry, 11th Edition: Chang and Goldsby

Chang’s Chemistry textbook is also the reference for this one though the course tackles more about reaction kinetics and equilibrium itself rather than the basic ones.

Note that General Chemistry II is where chemistry becomes more ‘college-like’ as you’re not going to deal with balancing equations, drawing structures, and any of the stuff you’ve learned in CHEM 16.0 and CHEM 16.1 anymore. Honestly, this is not a difficult subject; you just have to give just enough time for studying this subject in order to pass it with flying colors.

As mentioned, you’re gonna be looking more into reaction equilibrium and kinetics. For this subject, it’s better that you invest in a calculator that has linear regression function (e.g. Casio FX-991ES and Casio FX-991ES Plus) because you’re gonna be plotting lots of points and getting the slope of lots of data points in this subject, both in lecture and laboratory classes.

CHEM 32.0/CHEM 32.1 (Quantitative Inorganic Analysis; Quantitative Inorganic Analysis- Laboratory)

Reference book: Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry, 9th Edition: Skoog, West, Holler, and Crouch

This is honestly one of my favorite Chemistry subjects of all time but it sure is challenging. Personally, I like a chemistry subject that has a lot of calculations and this subject is exactly that. With CHEM 32.0 and 32.1, you’re going to use the linear regression and stat function of your calculator though the real challenging part of the subject is understanding the calculation problems since the exam and quizzes are gonna be so full of it. 

The real key to passing this subject is by practicing lots and lots of problems, familiarizing yourself with techniques on how the problem is solved and keywords used in the problems, and asking a lot of questions. 

**for real though, don’t be shy when asking a question; I always tell myself that it’s okay to look stupid before the exam than during the exam itself**

CHEM 40.0/40.1 (Basic Organic Chemistry; Basic Organic Chemistry- Laboratory)

Reference book: Any organic chemistry textbook would work

At first, I didn’t like Organic Chemistry that much because it involves a lot of memorization; I would honestly take a calculation heavy subject rather than a memorization heavy subject BUT my instructor was great that I got more interested in it and honestly it’s one of the most practical subjects I’ve ever taken. 

However, I’m not kidding with the memorization because you really have to remember a lot of molecules, reagents, reactants, catalysts, products, and the--most important of them all--reactions.

CHEM 111.0 (Physical Chemistry I)

Reference book: Physical Chemistry: Atkins (any edition)

This is a challenging subject but, as I’ve said before, I love calculations in chemistry, I learned to love this subject as well. Although, it really really is difficult, it is one of those subjects that has a high mortality rate (in our university, mortality rate is a slang for failing rate, opposite of a passing rate). Even though, I got a fairly low grade here, I’m quite happy that I got to pass this subject because the exams in this subject are really difficult. 

The course tackles in-depth discussion of thermodynamic concepts, including but not limited to enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs’ free energy. It is also handy if you know the different values of the gas constants.

Like CHEM 32.0, you have to practice and familiarize yourself with the concepts in order to pass. There are lots of sample problems/problem sets available online so it wouldn’t be really difficult to find study materials for this subject.

CHEM 160.0 (Introductory Biochemistry)

Reference book: Any biochemistry book but it’s really advisable that you get a copy of the Biochemistry handbook made by the Institute of Chemistry

Same with CHEM 40.0, this subject really needs you to memorize stuff, like the 20 common amino acids and its structures, different cycles, etc., BUT you’ll surely learn a lot when you take this up. 

In my opinion, my interest in the subject depends on how well the instructor teaches the subject and fortunately, she did well! I was able to soak up the information she taught and through enough study time, I was able to pass the subject! The secret is to just study the cycles in advance or at least try to get a picture of what’s going on in it.

You might be wondering what in the flying h*ckery does my URL mean? 

You see, fellow tumblr person, a fishball is a very very VERY popular street food in the Philippines. I hope it comes across as a very popular street food because it really is a popular street food in our country. It is one of the greatest and universal street food of all time here in the Philippines (ironic haha).  

Fishball is the food that unifies all of the Filipinos together. I’m kidding haha it’s adobo (I’ll talk about adobo and other Filipino cuisine in another post), but you rarely see a street food stand in the country that doesn’t sell fishballs.

Now, you may be asking a little while earlier: “What in the flying h*ckery does my URL mean?” and now, you may be asking: “What in the flying h*ckery does my URL mean?” 

I know, I know, we’re getting there, random tumblr person. You see, I’m a HUGE ASS fan of Filipino street food and that includes--yep, you guessed it--fishballs!!! I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite street food of all time but it’s the one that I always get. I just have to say that it’s the food that’s very very dear to my heart. 

I think you guys already know the context behind ‘fighting’ (if not, then read this one), which leads us to ‘fishball’, because, why ‘fishball’? Honestly, I don’t know why I chose fishball. Initially, I wanted it to be kikiam (another street food) but fishball sounded more catchy with the word fighting, so I stuck with it and here I am, having fightingfishball as a username and URL for tumblr! 

I hope that clears out some confusion about the word ‘fishball’ for you. I also really hope that you get fishballs if you ever get to encounter a food stand that sells Filipino street food (I highly recommend it; 12/10 stars).