Ahhhh procrastinating is great.

[Jeff7]

Ah yes, putting off until from now what I should have done yesterday.

Three tests this week, and a 7 minute informative speech due Tuesday.

I selected the Mars Exploration Rovers as the subject of the speech, and I was kind of looking forward to it. Then we had to do surveys of the class to ascertain "baseline" knowledge of the subjects everyone had chosen. My "baseline" amount of knowledge is that Mars is red. With that, I suddenly felt like I was stashed back into fourth grade, where I knew far more about the planets than the teacher did. She was teaching out a textbook, one which I also pointed out was inaccurate, as it was many years out of date. (Thankfully, lunar landings were a reality when it was printed, so it wasn't that bad.)

7 minutes would have been adequate to convey what I'd originally intended. But now I've got to eat up anywhere from 1-3 minutes just to explain why Mars' environment is such a harsh one to work in, even for a robot.

For those interested, Central Thesis:
NASA succeeded in landing two sophisticated robots on Mars, which exceeded all expectations in terms of science return and longevity. They accomplished their original mission, and continued to return incredible data long afterward.

Three Main Ideas:
- NASA and JPL, working with Lockheed Martin and Cornell University, executed two flawless landings of the most advanced robots ever to explore the surface of another planet, despite the fact that nearly two-thirds of all Mars missions ever attempted have failed.
- The rovers were sent to look for signs of water in Mars? distant past, concealed within minerals comprising the rocks on the surface.
- Scientific exploration such as this serves humanity by not only pushing the limits of our capabilities and creating spinoff technologies, it also shows our place within this solar system.


The professor already approved my subject and various info (conclusion, intro, sample quotation, and three main ideas) as "excellent, excellent, excellent," so I'm wary of tinkering with any of it.
And my intro just feels cheesy:
"Imagine yourself outside on an atypical Erie morning, with the sun dipping below the horizon, the sky nearest it a brilliant orange, the sky above a dark blue. Now picture the sun setting, but instead, it is below a blue halo, with a darkening pink sky overhead. You are looking at the very same star, but through the atmosphere of another planet. It is to this view that the extraordinary machines, the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, settle down to each frigid Martian night."

But apparently that's well below the cheese-level that's actually recommended by the textbook and the professor.
Too much of this format is done as though I were giving a speech to a bunch of 3-year-olds while I'm holding an energetic puppy - so much is to "focus" the audience or get their attention. Meanwhile, I'm perfectly comfortable listening to a plain 1hr15min lecture. Can't have that though. It's got to have energy, enthusiasm, dazzling facts and such.

Set up a story, use a "shocking fact," or some such like that for the intro. Use internal summaries and previews to let the audience know where the speech has been, and where it's going. I feel like the next attention-keeping technique is going to be, "Remember, sex sells."

Fortunately, I tend to speak quickly, so I can cram a lot of info into this. The textbook recommends a speaking speed of 120-150WPM. I'd prefer something more along the lines of 200WPM, but if I slow down, I clock in at about 180WPM.

Thankfully, "Effective Speech 100A" is a once and done class. Then I can get back to the material that I'm looking for - engineering classes, equations, things that really feel like they mean something.


Thermodynamics and Advanced Strength of Materials are getting put off because they, like most of my classes, seem to just be rote memorization. Memorize this formula, memorize this procedure, memorize where to apply it. Granted, it's not the same level of "memorize/regurgitate" that public school provided. And most people probably wouldn't consider thermodynamics to be rote memorization. I guess I do. That's just what it's started to feel like.
Third year of a 4 year mechanical engineering technology program, and it's just boring as hell because of the simplicity. That's where the transformation into a college slacker comes in. I just don't feel "threatened" by any of the material, so I never feel like devoting any time to it. And it gets worse with each passing semester. I got a C, my lowest grade yet in any class, in Partial and Ordinary Differential Equations, because I only spent about 1hr/week on it. It was all just mindless practice, doing the same. Procedure. Over. And. Over. And. Over. For a week. Then do another procedure. And so on.
"Today we're going to learn about the number 5, by writing it 500 times. Then we're going to count to 5 300 times."

Just got to keep plugging away I guess. I keep hearing, "Oh, college is worth it, etc etc." I've yet to see any of it. Thus far, even after 4 semesters and maintaining a reasonably respectable GPA, I still feel like I haven't learned much of anything substantial. Don't get me wrong, the information is in there, and I have learned it, as evidenced by my grades, but it just doesn't feel like it's worth the trouble.


Yeah yeah, not a blog, blah blah whatever. I don't make many posts. So sue me. Maybe fighting a legal battle will be interesting.
Oh, and don't forget to rate my rant.

Update, for those who care
Worked on the speech Monday night and then Tuesday morning and afternoon - the class was at 4pm. Got 34/35 points on the speech. During rehearsals, I consistently went over the 7 minute time limit, and just couldn't squeeze any more out of the speech without detracting from its core ideas. I had to truncate the conclusion a little bit, which detracted from it slightly; that was really the only problem the professor had with the speech.

I did screw up, though no one noticed - I went right from talking about the landing of the rovers to the mission itself. I completely forgot about the section about their autonomous driving capabilities. So, I looked at the timekeeper; I had two minutes left, and was "ready" to start the conclusion. Two things came to mind right then: 1) I screwed up, 2) I did so by forgetting a substantial portion of the speech.
During the 1-2 second pause that ensued, I first tried to figure out what I'd forgotten, and then I worked out a way to segue into the missing section. Apparently, no one noticed.

It went over reasonably well with the audience, too. It wasn't at all technical, but was still interesting and informative.

It sucked though, I wanted to interrupt one of the other speeches. It was about alternative energy. One source he reported on could supposedly get more energy from burning hydrogen from water than would be used to extract the hydrogen by electrolysis. A violation of energy conservation laws, in other words. The bond between hydrogen and oxygen takes a certain amount of energy to break. There's no way you'll ever get more energy out of recreating the bond through combustion.


Cliffs:
- Was looking forward to doing a speech about the Mars Rovers. Found out that most people don't know anything more about Mars than that it's red. Result: Blow away half my speech just to talk about Mars.
- My major (second one I'm in) is boring me to tears. Engineering seems to cause many dropouts due to the amount of work. I'm considering it because of sheer boredom and the simplicity of the material.
- As a result of this, I put off assignments as they don't "threaten" me in any way.
- I will not pull all-nighters. There's no other way to put this: I get "giggly" when I'm really tired, at least initially. Then I get irritable and short. I imagine I'd progress to hallucinations and violence after much more than 36 hours awake.
- I don't really feel that I have anyone to say this stuff to, so I direct it at an unsuspecting ATOT crowd, who will just say, "Cliffs?"

 

[Exterous]

I shall put off reading your long post. It looks like work

*waits for cliffs*

rant: unrated

 

[Juno]

i have to do 15-20 color sketches for my product due 9am tomorrow and i haven't started yet.

 

[sandorski]

Yup, it's away of life and life philosophy all in one

 

[Juno]

regarding my post above, i'm gonna sleep soon and wake up at 4am so that my roommates won't bother me that can help me to concentrate on my sketches. i always do that and that is my new habit. it's terrible because i have classes from 9am to 9pm tomorrow.

 

[Exterous]

At least you figured out your major was boring before you graduated. I, sadly, did not

 

[MrPickins]

In the time you used to make that long ass post, you could have prepped your speech and studied for all your tests.

 

[Nikamichi]

Originally posted by: MrPickins
In the time you used to make that long ass post, you could have prepped your speech and studied for all your tests.

:thumbsup:

also, tl;dr

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Exterous
At least you figured out your major was boring before you graduated. I, sadly, did not

Problem is, this is my second major. I finished two years at a community college before deciding that I hated that major (Cisco Networking).

Originally posted by: MrPickins
In the time you used to make that long ass post, you could have prepped your speech and studied for all your tests.

Not even close. I'm writing up the speech now and revising my original plans. A full third of the original outline is being tossed out so that I can explain a bit about Mars. I had already watered it down more than I'd wanted to. Now it's getting drenched again. With any luck there'll at least be something substantial left.

 

[dugweb]

From what I understand you were able to choose your subject from whatever at all you wanted. No restrictions?

Did you read your central thesis to your professor when he told you it was "excellent excellent excellent"?
I mean no offense when I tell you that that is one of the most bland thesis statements I have ever read. From reading that, all I know about your speech is that you're going to say a bunch of facts about mars and us landing there, which doesn't really matter. If I'm listening to you tell me something, I want to hear why it is important to me, and to you, and why I should even bother listening to you tell me it. Unless, of course, this is supposed to be just a simple report.

Why are you complaining that your audience isn't up to your level of understanding of Mars for you to effectively speak to them about it? It sounds like you're missing the point of the class.

edit: but if your audience happens to be a group of NASA scientists in training then I can understand your frustration

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: dugweb
From what I understand you were able to choose your subject from whatever at all you wanted. No restrictions?

Did you read your central thesis to your professor when he told you it was "excellent excellent excellent"?
I mean no offense when I tell you that that is one of the most bland thesis statements I have ever read. From reading that, all I know about your speech is that you're going to say a bunch of facts about mars and us landing there, which doesn't really matter. If I'm listening to you tell me something, I want to hear why it is important to me, and to you, and why I should even bother listening to you tell me it. Unless, of course, this is supposed to be just a simple report.

Why are you complaining that your audience isn't up to your level of understanding of Mars for you to effectively speak to them about it? It sounds like you're missing the point of the class.

edit: but if your audience happens to be a group of NASA scientists in training then I can understand your frustration

(She.)
Yes, she read my entire little paper, which included:
Specific purpose
Central Thesis
Introduction
Conclusion
A relevant quote

The thesis statement is supposed to be bland, at least for this class, and for this assignment. It's purely informative, not at all persuasive. Here are some samples from the textbook:

"The five major Hawaiian islands run from Kauai in the northwest to Hawaii in the southeast."

"The major alternative-fuel cars now being developed are powered by electricity, natural gas, methanol, or hydrogen."

"Stage magicians use two common methods to perform their tricks - mechanical devices and sleight of hand."


Yes, the topic was quite open, able to choose any subject, though it was to be something with some personal significance. I thought the Mars Rovers would be a decent thing to do, because I remembered what things we were taught about the planets throughout my time in public school, and I figured there'd be at least a very basic amount of baseline knowledge. I was unpleasantly surprised.

It's going alright though, I think. The problem I was speaking of was that the speech needed some extensive reworking to allow for a description of Mars. One of my major points will be relegated to my persuasive speech, next month.


Relating it to the audience is another matter, which unfortunately was my third point, and that third point, that scientific exploration serves humanity, is perfect for the persuasive speech.
I wasn't sure what else to do the informative speech about. I considered nuclear fusion or fission, but I didn't feel like doing a lesson on subatomic particles. I don't really have many interests that would relate to an audience of typical college students. The MER program had another thing going for it - lots of visual aids.


So, I don't know if I want to try to choose a totally different subject, or if I'm even permitted to do that, now that I've got "approval" to go ahead with this MER speech, based on what the teacher saw. Link, this is what she read, and said "Excellent....." about. She especially liked the introduction, and said that it was a better outline than most that had been submitted. Outline is not quite the right word, but whatever that is right there, that's what it was supposed to look like.)

My first two speeches were also challenges to relate to the audience. They were "ice breaking" speeches, to be written about their author. The first one was a sort of an overview, a "This is who I am" speech. The second was "Me at my best, worst, or my most embarassing moment."
My first speech dealt with my interest in technical/electromechanical things. I presented a video of my Tesla Coil in action, talked about a voltage booster I built, and mentioned the Mars Rovers. I don't think much of it "related" to the audience, but it did certainly get the point across - my interests aren't exactly mainstream.
The second speech was about me getting my apartment, and how it would supposedly let me feel that I would be "at my best" because it gives me my own place, away from the partying, the loud dorm rooms, and all that stuff which college students seem to revel in. Again, it doesn't quite relate to the audience in the right way - some of them in the class were the reason I wanted so desperately to get off campus.

The informative speech seems like it might follow in those same footsteps far off the banks of the mainstream.

 

[everman]

Mars is harsh because it's dusty, windy, and you have extreme temps both hot and cold. done. That's all you need to say in that respect.

 

[KillerCharlie]

What year are you? Engineering does get more challenging and interesting.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
What year are you? Engineering does get more challenging and interesting.

Third year.

Originally posted by: everman
Mars is harsh because it's dusty, windy, and you have extreme temps both hot and cold. done. That's all you need to say in that respect.

It doesn't set the mood though to show what an unforgiving place it is. "Dusty" doesn't exactly explain it. The dust storms can cover the entire planet, and make daytime look like very late evening, which is kind of a bad thing for solar powered rovers. Plus the dust itself is mildly corrosive.
"Cold" means, "Colder than Antarctica." And the atmosphere is 1/1000th the density of Earth's.