This semester concludes the end of my 2-year stay with Tembusu College. It has been a place where I have made many good memories, and I will certainly miss my time here. Having started my undergrad research project, I finally got around to learning Latex and used it for typing out homework as well. Some other interesting modules I took this semester are:

CS4268 Quantum Computing

I was always interested in quantum physics and computing but never really understood how quantum computers worked despite watching numerous videos. Indeed, it is difficult to explain the intuition in a subject like this without diving into the mathematics. As such, I was really glad to have completed this module early. The module started with a recap of some linear algebra and notation, followed by toy algorithms like Deutsch–Jozsa and Simon's algorithm. The difficulty quickly ramped up as we got into phase estimation, Shor's algorithm for factoring, and continued fractions. There was also a project worth 10% of the final grade, but the project was mostly a light coding exercise, although still a good exposure to Qiskit. Assignments were graded and difficult, and some of the questions in the exams are genuinely difficult to solve in a timed setting no matter how much you studied the content.

Expected Grade: A-, Actual Grade: A

CS3230 Design and Analysis of Algorithms

This module was about designing and proving the correctness and runtime of algorithms. The main textbook was CLRS which I finally found a good excuse to finally read page by page. I enjoyed the programming assignments, and while I did well in the midterms, the finals was only 4 questions which were all hit-or-miss, which made me readjust my grade expectations. The module's content was not a lot more or harder than CS2040S, but some of the written assignments were extremely difficult for many people to solve.

Expected grade: A-/A, Actual Grade: A-

UTC2101

As my final Tembusu module, Time & Life did not disappoint. This module was sometimes philosophical, and other times science-y regarding the invention of time-tracking devices, sleep and work-life balance. The module also had a project which could be pretty much any form you want which was great. I put up a typing speed game to showcase the negative effects of rushing for time. I don't usually score well for modules that require writing, so I am not expecting a high grade here. I would highly recommend this to all my Tembusu juniors, although it is quite competitive to get.

Expected Grade: B+/A-, Actual Grade: B+