Fred's First: A bit about me and QM Prep

Hi ~ I’m Frederick Plan but I go by Fred, Erick, or any other less-formal
variation of the name =) I’m new to UCSD but not San Diego, talkative
online but not so much in-person, and according to the GRE I’m decent at
math but I’m a great hater of numbers. This last part is probably what
figures into my attending the QM Prep session =)

First though ~ a quick about-me: I’m a military brat so I grew up
overseas, mostly in Europe. This sounds extra-exciting but at the time I
was more interested in Transformers and Lego so I missed probably a lot of
what I’d be appreciating more today (although I recall Legoland Billund
with great fondness). I did speak fluent German at one point, but slipped
way out of that when I took up Spanish which I then also gave up when I
pursued other languages but that’s a different story…

My dad completed his Army tenure in California so I took the opportunity
to attend San Diego State University (SDSU), just a couple clicks from
UCSD. I majored in International Security and Conflict Resolution (yes,
real major) with an emphasis in Global Systems. What this really means is
that I was avoiding anything math-intensive so that I could sink deeper
into cool stuff like cultural studies, negotiation skills, and the role of
nuclear weapons on the international stage. Mathematical karma has bitten
back sooner than expected =(

“Luckily” QM Prep is somehow managing to recapture what parts of my brain
might have once held any mathematical talent. The professor is an absolute
genius which in my case, works two ways:

1) for the math mumbo-jumbo that I was friendly and comfortable with, his
lectures were strong reinforcement
2) for the stuff that I did [not] know too well, I cried in confusion and
waited anxiously for my TA, Nora =)

The TA sections (which as an undergrad I admittedly would’ve shrugged off)
are immensely helpful. Besides giving us an honest as-a-student
perspective on what-things-work-how at IR/PS, she taught useful tips and
shortcuts that helped us navigate the maze of numbers and long-forgotten
symbols. On the list of things that will help students succeed in QM Prep,
the TA section would definitely be on top ~ maybe tied with proficient use
of Microsoft Excel.

So far, QM Prep has been challenging but a good warm-up for this coming
quarter. It makes me a bit nervous about what’s to come, but I’d much
rather get into the pace now so I don’t trip up later =)

--Fred Plan--