Time to get serious

I admit I’ve been a bit of a laggard this past few weeks. This is partly due to a number of class suspensions because of bad weather and also because of the lack of structure in my current schedule. I’m just taking one graduate course this semester. I would have taken another subject if it were not for the terrible schedule that would ensue (about an 8-hour interval between the two subjects).

Still, the subject that I’m currently taking, Advanced Probability and Martingales, is not easy. I’d say it’s at par with Advanced Calculus, arguably the most difficult undergraduate math course. The mathematical maturity of the student will be developed and tested with courses such as this. This is indeed my case.

Right now, I’m having some trouble understanding and appreciating the course. Online notes such as the MIT equivalent of this course do offer some help. The official textbook is a bit too concise, quite difficult for self-study (I do see the enthusiasm of the author with the style of the book, so this encourages me to plod through the concepts). Still, it may be the case that I’m not just giving an all-out effort.

Therefore, I’m resolving to study hard for this subject, an average of at least two hours per day. Probability is one of my favorite subjects in math, and although my focus is on the applications, I’ll struggle with the foundations. I’ll attempt to see the elegance in the abstraction.