As you may notice, I am posting about every 3 ½ weeks. Although not as frequent as I’d like, it seems to coincidentally fall on block break, when I have the time and mind space to digest and reflect. So, appropriately, I’m going to reflect on my last block, Spherical Trigonometry.
Going into the course, I was excited to break away from papers, but also afraid of the intensity that I had been warned about. The first week was inarguably intense. I seemed as though almost every waking moment was spent trying to figure out the homework problems, if not physically, you were mentally. In fact, even non-waking moments, while sleeping, I was dreaming about math and be trying to find the solution. As the course went on, we continued to face daily challenges, sometimes even impossible, but of course, we would still have to prove that they were impossible. However, I think the course became easier, and at times, I was pleasantly surprised with the clarity I found, which I think proved that we were learning how to think mathematically. As Andrew Wiles describes about solving Fermat’s Last Theorem, it seems as though you are wandering in a dark room. You can feel your way around, slowing figuring out the shapes and positions of individual pieces. And eventually, you find the light switch and you can see everything and it becomes clear. Now, I won’t profess to have a complete understanding of spherical trigonometry, but I did experience this sense of understanding when proving certain formulas or making applications to the celestial sphere.
A proper reflection would not be complete without mentioned Glen, our tutor. As part of the Foundation program at Quest, every student is required to take at least one mathematics block. Even students who have considered themselves not to like math become completely engaged and fascinated during Glen’s class. At the start of every class there is a Calvin and Hobbes comic being projected. Another defining feature of Glen’s classes is that he challenges the students to catch him making 10 mistakes. If they prove to be successful, he buys them pizza on the last day. In Spherical Trig, we got him up to 15 mistakes, so yesterday we had a pizza party. To accompany the pizza, we made a spherical trig cake, complete with labels of the equator, ecliptic, the poles, declination, right ascension, equinox, and the Sun, much like the diagram of the celestial sphere we had used countless times. Now, you may be thinking, what kind of university is this? Pizza parties? It sounds more like elementary school. I prefer to think it sounds like the kind of university where each student is an individual. We have names and faces and for three and a half weeks, we become a family. We spend time together after class, helping each other solve the homework problems and yes, we also get together for pizza. Don’t worry, we also watched Nova’s “The Proof” while eating the pizza.
Off to Vancouver tomorrow, then onto Victoria for the weekend. When Monday rolls around, I will step into Political Economy, my next class, and get to know a whole new group of people.
