School vs. Religion

This last week was an interesting one. This week and next week are the mid-semester break so all last week I had to work on assignments that were due yesterday. Not to mention it was conference weekend for me so I was praying I'd be able to finish everything on time.

The week started out all right on Monday because I skipped my boring Statistics class so I could go to a seminar on the erasure of fear memories. It was a really neat seminar about how children actually recover from conditioned fear situations better than adults. Hopefully in the next week I'll write my blog on it for my class and you can read more details about it. Later the day wasn't as great because I saw my first assignment grade for another class (MRes). I got 70% and my teacher had made comments about how I didn't need subtitles and I didn't have a conclusion. It was a 500 word definition so I couldn't see how I could lose so much for things that I had no idea not to do (we didn't have a grading rubric). I figured I would talk to my tutor about it. Unfortunately my Friday class with her got cancelled because she's sick so I e-mailed her and was grateful she was well enough to respond. Apparently there was a typo and I got 80%. This made me feel better since I have to get 75% or above in my program in order to keep my scholarship and eventually do a PhD. However, I was still frustrated I lost 20% on stylistic things and not the actual writing so I still plan to discuss it.

A few of the other girls in my program were also discussing about our ridiculous writing assignment that was due the next Monday. This ended up being a very valuable conversation for me. I knew that the grading system here is pretty different, but the last time I was here I still got 80-90% on everything. Here 75% and above is a Distinction which is basically getting an A or high B. A High Distinction is 85% and above and is equivalent to an A+ in the US (see table below). This reminded me that I'm still doing well if I get a 75% and above and I should feel lucky if I get above 85%. In the end I feel a whole lot better, but I still get frustrated that I seem to get lower grades than my classmates. Yesterday I finally was redeemed when I got my Statistics assignment back and I got 93%! I spent two full week and loads of time with the teacher so I would have been furious had I not done well. Finally I have a class I can do well at, and hopefully it will boost my average grades in case I do poorly in another subject.

Australian University	U.S. University	Canadian University
7=High Distinction	A+	85-100%
6=Distinction	A	75-85%
5=Credit	B	65-74%
4=Pass	C	50-64%
3=Conceded Pass	D	40-50%
1 or 2=Fail	F	0-39%

The other school frustration occurred last week when my internet suddenly became ridiculously slow! Pages struggled to load, I couldn't get any videos to load at all, and doing online assignment stuff was impossible. I already had to go to the library to get research articles (I still had that issue) so I had to spend a lot more time there. In the end though, I completed my assignments and I didn't even mind going to campus on Saturday to get stuff done. It was a beautiful day and I finished enough of my homework to lay in the sun on the grass and listen to Conference talks on my phone. I even did my skype call with Matt outside that day and he thought I was on a golf course at first. In the end all went well.

If I were to talk about all my favorite talks on Conference this would be a VERY long blog. Instead I'll mention some of my favorite quotes:

Craig A. Cardon - "We must see men not as they are at present but as they may become" 

Richard G. Scott - "Don't rationalize away future happiness by taking shortcuts instead of applying sound gospel principles"

David A. Bednar - "The Lord's truth is not altered by fads, popularity, or public opinion polls."

Thomas S. Monson - "The great test of this life is obedience"

Jeffrey R. Holland - "Hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes"

Bruce D. Porter - "We need not fear the future, nor falter in hope and good cheer, because God is with us."

Over the next 40 days I will be joining my friend Laura Wleklinski in doing a 40 day challenge to read and reflect on one conference talk per day (including priesthood session and Young Women meeting). I am considering starting another spiritual blog to go along with it. We'll see if I have the time. I LOVED conference and I think I got so much more out of this one than any other. Now the next step is to apply it all.

So the week ended on a really high note. I should add that on top of conference and school I had just finished reading Jane Austen's book Persuasion and Sunday night I watched the movie. I'm not sure which Jane Austen book will be next, but I'm also now reading/listening to the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I actually think the book was better for Persuasion, but the movies are better for the Chronicles of Narnia. We'll see if that pattern continues.

Yesterday I went to have FHE with Brock, Kaytlin and Dave which concluded my great spiritual weekend. Brock gave a fantastic lesson on relieving stress. My ultimate favorite though was the video by Amy Cuddy he showed at the end about how you should fake it till you become it (click here to see the video). Ironically this goes in so perfectly with Jeffrey R. Holland's talk on how everything starts with faith and you build upon it. I truly believe that you can be whatever you want to be if you set your mind to it. I've been able to do many things in my life that has proven to me that anything is possible. The Lord will help you to become even more than what you think you can, but first you have to show him you are willing to work for it.