I fell apart completely. I could not get myself to blog last week and did not get even an hour of study. My frequent companion – episodes of laziness and demotivation – visited all week and counting. This post I manage to write by 9:55 pm on Sunday – the very last day allowable for each week’s blogging – I have thus failed to meet the requirement of three blogs per week.
My companion, whom I just decided right now to call Unoka, the father of Achebe’s famous character, Okonkwo; visits me quite often. I name him Unoka because Unoka the father of Okonkwo was described as a lazy man, unwilling to work, complacent, and loving idleness. He only loved to play his flute, made just meager amounts, and was always in debt, which he borrowed without an intention to pay back. My periodic mood swings (I call it so for lack of a better word) that get me flat, lethargic, and inattentive come with major costs – broken deadlines, numerous works in progress, and unfinished projects. I could not blog, nor could I revise concepts learned in class – data analytics especially.
The week before, we had learned linear forecasting methods based on regression analysis. Doctor Okoye did great work explaining and demonstrating the models. I understood all he taught but they required practice and review for them to stick. Unoka could not let me sit and practice. This week, Prof. Adi taught us normal distribution. He did Excel spreadsheet demos that made use of functions such as NORM.DIST, NORM.S.DIST, and NORM.INV. I understood him quite considerably but since Unoka did not permit me to practice, I have retained almost nothing. Indeed, I have anxiety about my progress in the data analytics course; I have never practiced all we have been learning.
Doctor Atinuke Adelakun pinned us again! We were to prepare presentation slides and pitch ourselves for 120 seconds! Unoka allowed me some breath of air to make ready my presentation. We got to class and listened to class members pitch themselves within the allotted time. I could observe that my classmates had really improved their oral presentation skills. Sadly, half of the class could not make their speeches that day, and so was adjourned till the next class. I anticipate my own presentation and work towards eliminating my use of fillers – erm, uhm, and others– in my speech.
Prior to Doctor Adelakun’s class, we had three sessions of corporate financial accounting. Prof. Owolabi make us write reviews of critical lessons we had learned in the sessions so far, then we take a class exercise and discuss the answers. The exercises helped cement the concepts we had learned so far. Although I still need to spend time on the exercises – especially those that were assigned to other groups – the whole corporate accounting story has taken decent shape.
How am I doing with Unoka, my companion? He has gone on recess for an unspecified time. I hope he does not return too soon – I have got a lot of work to do. Starting off my desk time with a podcast from John Piper running in the background has been of immense help in kicking Unoka out. The audio background soothes and relaxes me, completely wiping out inattention and hurried frenzy.
Class Learning Reflection (14)