Due Wednesday, May 22
Congratulations on making it to the end of the semester! Do you feel like a different person from who you were at the beginning of the semester??? You’re so much more knowledgeable and mature!
For this assignment, pretend you could get into a time machine and visit yourself from January. What do you know now that you wish you knew then? Write a letter to deliver to your past self explaining how this semester went for you and how you figured out what it takes to succeed in this class. Include any tips you have for your past self and anything you wish you had done differently this semester. How would you motivate your past self to work hard for their upcoming 17 weeks? What do you want your past self to know about where you are now?
Submit your letter as a comment on this post. Your letters may be used for future students of this class!
You may submit your comment any time you like, but if you submit it by 11:59pm on Wednesday, May 22, you will earn one more participation point.
To Past Me,
Linear algebra is not as scary as you think it is, despite what everyone has told you. Stay on top of your homework, even if that means finally getting medicated for your ADHD after months of doctor’s appointments.
Focus on working in vector components; it will help a lot in your other classes. Also, get comfortable handling matrices, because you will panic and blank on many a test otherwise.
Try to have fun! This class can be really enjoyable if you stay on top of everything.
Love,
End of Semester Liz
Thank you for the tips! I will keep that in mind throughout this class
Hey Liz! My name is Iqra and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter has given me an idea of what I should look out for in the future of the class and I will make sure to focus on the vector components and get familiar with matrices.
Hi Liz. My name is Hosain and I am a currently taking MAT 2580. This letter to your past self is helpful to me because it highlights the topics I need to focus on, such as vectors and matrices. I will try to incorporate matrices, when I’m studying for tests. In addition, to doing extra vector related problems. In other words, completing the homework and practicing extra problems related to vectors and matrices should help me be successful in this class.
Hey Liz! Im currently enrolled in MAT 2580 and I really enjoyed your advice. Throughout my college endeavors, Ive always struggled with timing out my work and delegating time for those things. Also after not taking a math class for a while, I have to get back into the flow of things for sure and try to get ahead of the curb!
Linear algebra is very fun! It’s a super useful tool that will make a lot of the problems easier. It has tons of applications, like machine learning or computer graphics.
Make sure to do your homework and practice the questions regularly. This will keep you on track and help you succeed!
Enjoy the process and know that you’ll become more knowledgeable and confident by the end of the semester.
Hello Tsz Yan! My name is Paul and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself is helpful to me because learning math is mostly based on practice and developing intuition in solving problems. Your point on practicing problems consistently is right on spot! Personally, I have always had some difficulties with certain concepts, but always came around developing an intuition by solving a lot of problems. The relevance of Linear Algebra cannot be ignored to the CS fields as well, especially for those concepts like array and matrix computations on Machine Learning models.
Hello Lam, my name is Daniel. I am a currently taking MAT 2580. This letter to your past self is helpful to me because it tells me how I have to keep up with my homework and do a lot of practice questions in order for me to be successful at the end of the semester.
Hi, Tsz Yan. I am a student in MAT 2580 now. Thanks so much for the advice, and linear algebra really does have great applications, especially for those who are majoring in computer science or engineering!
Hey you! I’m you but from the future. I’m here to help you out. Linear Algebra is very scary but I need you to listen for I don’t have much time nor the words to help you out. Alright, so I got Exam 1 that you’re gonna get in the future, here are the answers and how to get them. You better master RREF and all these other concepts. This semester was rough for me so I’ll make sure it’s not as rough for you. Oh no, I’m running out of time. Just always do your homework before the next week. You have more time than you think, just dedicate a time slot to it each week, and you can definitely do that. The teacher will not extend the time for anything, not even Webwork! (Sometimes you gotta lie to yourself to apply more pressure so they can get things done). Ok, I gotta go, take care!
Hello Joseph! My name is Angel, and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself is helpful to me because it emphasizes the importance of staying on top of assignments and managing time effectively. I often struggle with procrastination, especially when it comes to challenging topics like Linear Algebra. Your advice to dedicate a specific time slot each week to homework is something I’ll definitely adopt this semester. By doing this, I can avoid the stress of last-minute work and ensure that I have a solid understanding of the material before exams. Thanks for the reminder about the importance of mastering concepts like RREF early on.
Hello Joseph, my name is Titus and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself is helpful to me because I know for a fact that some of these concepts are complicated. I have taken this course before but I don’t remember much. There are many terms that I remember but don’t know the exact details of them like eigenvalue, eigenvectors, linear transformation, and as you mentioned, RREF. Also, thank you for the heads up on the stuff regarding WebWork (even though it seems it might not be true. Self-inflicted pressure works but shouldn’t be a constant).
Hello Lam! My name is Zu Jia, and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself is helpful to me because I strongly believe that math is all about practice and time spent on it. Personally, for me, I’m a slower learner, so I always try to practice as much as possible. Also, thank you for the warnings, I will remember them as I take this course. It sounds like RREF is no joke… I shall go finish my Webwork now!
Hello Joseph my name is Xin and I am a current student in MAT 2850 for Fall 2025. Your letter to yourself was really helpful to me because it showed me how important it is to put time aside and get work done early. I often start to procrastinate as we I go further into the semester because of burnouts and stuff but what you said today showed me that I have to be consistent with my time and work, and to not fall behind I really have to manage my time well. Thank you for the heads up on needing to master the concept of RREF.
hey me! Stay consistent by reviewing notes after each class and keeping up with assignments. Focus on understanding concepts instead of just memorizing them. Practice regularly by solving as many problems as you can, especially challenging ones. Don’t hesitate to ask questions in class or during office hours. Keep your notes and materials well-organized for easy review. Balance your studies with rest, nutrition, and exercise. Form a study group early, and remember it’s okay to make mistakes.
Hello Gurpreet! My name is Alyssa and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself is helpful to me because I struggle with not understanding some of my classwork and not staying behind to get clarification. Instead I would go home and stress about the work or the lack of understanding my work and try doing it on my own. I will really take your advice about joining a study group or even going to the tutoring center with the time I have between classes. How were you able to stay motivated in your classes??
Hello Gurpreet! My name is Kaylah and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself is helpful to me because it emphasizes the importance of consistency and truly understanding concepts rather than just memorizing them. I’ve often focused on memorization, but I realize that understanding the material deeply will help me in the long run, especially with problem solving. I also like the idea of reviewing notes right after class, which i haven’t done but I will start this semester to reinforce my learning. The reminder to balance studies with rest and exercise is something I need to prioritize more. I’ll be incorporating these tips to stay on track and succeed this semester.
Hello Gurpreet! My name is Ivan and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself is helpful to me because in my Differential Equations class I took last semester I applied most of the things you said in order to succeed. It’s good to know that I can continue to apply those techniques in order to pass this course. I’ll try attending office hours if I have any questions.
Hello Gurpreet! My name is Vaughn and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself is helpful to me because it points out mistakes that I have made in other classes. I did used to rely on memory of different formulas but not all of the concepts I understood which got me stuck on some exams. I will also find more practice problems to study to make sure the concept is something I fully understand.
Study for all the tests, and there will be material in the tests that will not be on the review questions/material learned in class. Always go to google for extra learning in this class.
This class may seem easy at first, but moves to different materials very fast so do your best to keep up, you got this!!
Hey Hussain. Thanks for the encouragement. I am honestly pretty scared of this course and am already on the edge of deciding whether or not I just want to give up and try again a different semester. I’ll try first though. All the best.
Hi Hussain! My name is Jess and I am a current student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself is helpful to me because I was definitely thinking that this course seems easy at the moment. Hearing that it moves to different materials very fast allows me to be prepared for when it does. I will definitely be using google for extra learning when it comes to this class. I’ll try my best to keep up by doing all the homework. The encouragement you gave your past self motives me to encourage my current myself.
Not just study the textbook as you do for your other math classes, but watch youtube demonstration videos as linear algebra requires imagination. Learn how to visualize given problems and see it in space. Before jumping to webwork before the deadline, try to deeply and completely understand the chapter. When it comes to study do not let things going on in your personal life get in the way because this class moves fast and it requires consistency. Eventually you will grow to love this class, because you love math and linear algebra is the basis of the field you are so interested in.
Hi Roza! My name is Alan and I am currently a student in MAT 2580. Your letter to yourself helped me because it gave me some really good advice on how to handle many of the problems I may encounter during this semester.
Hello, Roza Amanzhol! My name is Yihua Mei and I am a current student in MAT 2580. I agree with the way that you learning linear algebra. It is difficult to learn something only from the textbook. sometimes, we need to open our minds and use different ways and angles to learn more knowledge from other resources.
Hello Roza, my name is Esrat. I am definitely looking into you advice because I am a visual learner. When it comes to textbooks, I get more confused so thank you for the advice. I will look at videos and broaden my imagination.
Hi Roza, thank you for sharing this advice! It really helped me think about how I should approach this class, especially the part about staying consistent and using videos to better understand the material, because I’m also a visual learner.
Hi, Roza. I am a student in MAT 2580 now. I found your advice helpful because I think I’m like you. I like to rush through things that I don’t deeply understand, but I’ve learned that’s not really helpful in the long run. I’ll definitely look into finding videos so I can learn how to imagine in higher dimensions. Hopefully, I can stay consistent and pass this class as you did. Thanks for the advice.