5. That This Is 'Higher Education'
Strange way of wording that I know, but it serves to point out just how much backtracking there is within the first year of an undergrad course, or the first few months of a Masters. It seems the overall idea is to put all candidates on a level playing field before diving into the deeper stuff, yet all that does is serve to question why, in the name of all that is Holy, you bothered dragging your half-carcass in at 9am. Should you actually glean any information from these introductory sessions, the majority of what's to come is a further exercise in retreading well-worn ground, especially given the manner in which the lecturers speak is more reminiscent of how to address a primary school. Seriously, although this may seem like some insane exaggeration, I'm sure many of you have sat in a lecture questioning the ridiculously plaintive way many teachers explain their theorems.