Comics about mathematics, science, and the student life.

Audiobook Presentation

Student 1: "Crafting a presentation takes so long! Getting the right balance of story and technical details is super challenging." Student 2: "Oh, I'm already done." S1: "How? You only started yesterday!" S2: "Sure, but presentations are easy once you're done your paper. You just treat it as the audiobook version!"

I think we’ve all sat in for this kind of presentation before.

18 Dec 2019

Wrong Preparation

Runners gather near the start line for a race. One is enthusiastically waiting for the 5K, but it turns out that this is an ultramarathon. A metaphor for preparing for the wrong test.

This is one of the most frustrating experiences you can have in school. You spend all this time studying and - suprise! - you weren’t looking at the right material.

16 Dec 2019

Luxury of Worrying

Student 1: "Ugh, I'm so stressed out about my tests! How do I worry less?" Student 2: "Easy, take more classes." S1: "Won't that make it worse?" S2: "Nope. You will have so much work to do that you won't have the luxury of worrying. Problem solved!"

Unconventional, but I can vouch for the effectiveness of such a strategy.

13 Dec 2019

Test Results

Siz panels depicting various behaviours students exhibit before receiving their results. Praying, sweating, calm, stressed, denial, and resignation.

Not pictured: biting nails, pacing back and forth, and obsessively checking their school’s site to see if the teacher posted grades.

11 Dec 2019

Balancing Act

A student tries to balance a bunch of dishes on their head, hands, and foot. A metaphor for memorizing before tests.

Just a little bit more to go, and then everything can come crashing down!

09 Dec 2019

Exam Worry

A graph depicting the amount of worry a student has with respect to their exam over time.

Whenever I get out from a difficult test, I tell myself, “Just get to that three month mark!”

06 Dec 2019

Cooking Up

Student: "Professor, why do you make the problems so hard for us?" Professor: "Hard?! If you think this is bad, wait until you get to grad school. We are like chefs here! We cook up perfect problems for you. It only gets worse."

“From what we give you, it might be possible to think that you could solve any problem in the world. If only!”

04 Dec 2019

Big Numbers

Person 1: "Look at all those stars! Do you ever step back in awe as a physicist at all of the mind-boggling numbers you deal with?" Person 2: "No, we physicists have figured out a way to get rid of that feeling. The speed of light? We set it to 1. The distance from here to the Sun? 1 A.U. The trick is to always redefine big numbers into smaller numbers." P1: "Now I see why you don't do any scientific outreach."

If it was possible, I think physicists would like to exclusively work with the number 1.

02 Dec 2019

Two Types of Tests

On the left, a student ascends a rollercoaster, feeling comfortable. On the right, their cart does a midair "jump" across a gap. The difference between knowing what to expect and having a teacher throw a curve ball.

Just like a rollercoaster, the one consolation is that they both have a fixed time.

29 Nov 2019

Mapping

A function from reality to reality. As an input, an unsuspecting student. As an output, a proof machine.

Warning: this function is not invertible.

27 Nov 2019