I remember being such an undergrad at UC Berkeley. I'd walk into Physics 7A at the beginning of the semester with wide-eyed admiration for the teaching staff, u

I remember being such an undergrad at UC Berkeley. I'd walk into Physics 7A at the beginning of the semester with wide-eyed admiration for the teaching staff, undisguised interest to learn all about Townes's lasers, Smoot's universe, etc., and a wild wondering of "when can I do that stuff?" Then I'd get put in my place by the first few homeworks. Then would came the midterms, which all happen at 7-10pm so I got to walk out of the Dwinelle Hall into appropriately hopeless darkness and a gnawing fear I might not make it out alive. And, as the Fall semester continues, the days get shorter while the material gets harder until even the basic equations of the class seem to be hinting that My Ass = F'd. But, after a lot of flailing and struggling, most of us survive the class with a renewed respect for how hard physics is, how inexplicable gyroscopic motion can be, how brilliant the profs are, and also how willing they are to spend their time teaching dumb undergrads like me the ways of the universe.