a mid-autumn night mare

i feel so bloody cheated. i would think for a university exam, they would test you mostly on your conceptual knowledge and not just hard core memory-work knowledge. that it would test higher level order thinking skills.

for all the crap those idiots are talking about how the education system has evolved, i feel so cheated and angry that i was given the wrong impression all this while.

out of 60 MCQ that appeared on my sociology mid term, about half were questions testing you on the nitty gritty of what the textbook, the official readings and what the lecturer said in lectures. it's insane. 3 questions wanted you to recall what the customs of obscure african tribes mentioned in the reading packet. i mean -- what the hell, how would knowing what that the people of nBukmi tribe people do help us understand sociology better? it's just an illustration. if anything, it was like doing a comprehension exercise -- with the expectation that you memorise all your readings.

the essay question was ok. application stuff. but only freaking 10 marks out of 40. and this mid term is 40 per cent of my grade. so much for progress.

if it's due to my inaptitude, i won't have any thing to say. but i feel cheated. cheated because for the last 2 weeks, i have been eating, drinking and breathing sociology. and i didn't do it the 'typical singaporean way' of memorising dead facts. i talked to myself -- people thought i was insane, trying to get myself to see definitions and concepts come to life. and i actually came to enjoy sociology.

it's all crashing down on me right now. i feel so short changed. at this rate, i wouldn't be surprised if i eventually do better for the damn neuroscience module.

society is indeed an illusion. damn.