12 December 2007

Ver(b)ant

Today I continued my studies for the GRE, which is slowly becoming the bane of my existence. I have HORRIBLE memorization abilities, and to me all of the vocabulary words sound the same. Furthermore, I can't look at a word and immediately be able to tell whether it is a verb, noun, or adjective. I mean, the word potentate? Doesn't that sound like a verb? You know, something that should mean "to make more potent"? But no, it means a leader with great power. I've also been exploring the glory that is the mnemonic device. I just have to associate the word with something in order to be able to remember it-- for instance, "pugilism." It means "boxing." Why this is a word vital to my development as a person is beyond me, but I have been remembering it because a "pug" and a "boxer" are dogs that look alike. They don't really look that much alike, but the device has been helping me nonetheless.
Today, though, I realized that maybe I should not be focusing on the verbal. I am pretty good with words. But math...math is another story. I have not taken a math course since senior year of high school, and today I found myself blanking on the concept of slope. I heard the word "y-intercept" and it may as well have been a different language. Special triangles? Volume? What the hell is a sector? I pretty much need to teach myself all of highschool math in a matter of weeks. Maybe I should get this monogrammable shirt from J. Crew and just monogram a bunch of formulas just over the cuffs....Kidding!



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