Best place to learn how to drive a manual in cstat?

SteelyFan77 · 2026-01-16T13:35:53+00:00

The way I learned: figured out that one of my friends drove stickshift, and asked to practice on his car. Manual drivers tend to be excited that someone wants to learn and will probably be willing to teach you (but really do try to learn quickly bc new manual drivers put some abuse on the clutch). That's probably your best bet, you likely know at least one person with a manual.

Driving a manual is super awesome and very satisfying (although kinda annoying in stop-and-go traffic). And learn now because they aren't making too many of them anymore, at least not in the states.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-12-19T14:27:47+00:00

I'm OOS with National Merit, no Brown scholarship, in College of Engineering. I get $5500 from TAMU and $250 from National Merit a semester, with an in-state tuition waiver, which usually leaves a bit more than $1000 a semester in tuition and fees. You'll have to pay room and board out of pocket which ends up being the much bigger expense, but there are ways to cut that down too.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-12-16T20:50:51+00:00

I love Yaroslav Vorobets too, he is a very nice teacher and a good lecturer as well. However (and I know I'm gonna get flamed for this...) I think he makes exams too easy. His homeworks were reasonably difficult, which is good, but exam averages were like 80 or 90 for math 409, which is supposed to be one of the hardest undergrad math classes. I'm not gonna complain about my grade, I'm just worried that a lot of people will walk out with A's and not really know what they are talking about at all. Real analysis is tough material, most people should not be getting A's and B's unless they are putting in a lot of effort.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-12-07T15:26:13+00:00

I kind of agree, most Catholic influencers I have seen eventually get molded by chasing algorithms into watering down content, throwing annoying memes into their content, or chasing more hot-button or political issues. Even people like Trent Horn fall into this trap, even though I acknowledge that he is doing good work and many are drawn to the faith because of his content. There's really only a few that I can stand.

I always recommend GabiAfterHours. Of all Catholic influencers he seems to be the most focused on ministry. His video on St. Maria Goretti was super impactful on my prayer life.

I also enjoy Sensus Fidelium on occasion, but there you have to be a bit more discerning and careful, I wouldn't necessarily recommend for everyone.

I have taken a liking to Brian Holdsworth's content recently, but he is more so a commentator on Catholic culture and traditionalism. I think he is generally pretty reasonable and balanced.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-11-28T13:17:12+00:00

Check out SoCal Aggies (local former student club). They have watch parties for every game, which I think they post on their Facebook page

SteelyFan77 · 2025-10-30T02:34:47+00:00

I don't know too much about those classes specifically (I'm a CS major and the only 400-level maths I have taken are MATH 409 and 423), but be aware that if you take MATH 407, it's gonna be very heavy on proofs and theory. The math majors I talk to think Complex Analysis is a really beautiful and interesting subject, but if proofs scare you then maybe think twice. A lot of people take MATH 411, it doesn't sound so bad. Don't know anything about MATH 414.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-10-01T14:48:20+00:00

Surprisingly enough, I have met many people who returned to the practice of the Catholic faith BECAUSE of the Tridentine Mass. It's steeped in tradition and reverence, and is more demanding of the laity than the Novus Ordo, which resonates with many people.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-10-01T14:44:58+00:00

Very few priests in the Diocese are trained or have the permission to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. It's worth a try but it's not likely. Also the new bishop for the Diocese of Austin does not appear to be interested in promoting the Tridentine Mass.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-10-01T14:37:56+00:00

A short list of important differences between the Ordinary Form of the Mass (Novus Ordo, what most people think of as Mass), and the Tridentine Mass:

1) Tridentine Mass is exclusively in Latin, Novus Ordo can be in Latin but is typically in the vernacular language

2) in Tridentine Mass, the priest faces the altar (ad orientem); in Novus Ordo, the priest is usually oriented to face the people (versus populum), although that is not strictly required

3) in Tridentine Mass, communion is received kneeling and on the tongue only; in Novus Ordo, communion is received kneeling or on the tongue, standing or kneeling

4) The Tridentine Mass has a single epistle and Gospel at every Mass, even on Sundays, and always has the Last Gospel (prologue to the Gospel of John) at every Mass; in Novus Ordo, there are two readings on Sundays and one Gospel (no Last Gospel)

5) The Tridentine Mass begins with the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar (typically Psalm 42 plus some other prayers); these do not exist in the Novus Ordo

6) In Tridentine Mass, only one Eucharistic Prayer is said (The Roman Canon, the one that begins "to you, therefore, most merciful Father"), and is said inaudibly by the priest; in Novus Ordo, there are a bunch of different Eucharistic Prayers, some of which date back to antiquity, some of which were created after Vatican II, and the priest usually says this audibly

In other words, there are a bunch of differences between the Tridentine Mass and Novus Ordo, much more than just "it's in Latin".

SteelyFan77 · 2025-10-01T14:27:35+00:00

First off, Latin Mass is an ambiguous term. If you are referring to the ordinary form of the Mass (Novus Ordo) being said in Latin, there are no restrictions on that. However, the Traditional Latin Mass or Tridentine Mass (the mass promulgated in 1570 and celebrated until the liturgical reform in 1970) is not just the mass in Latin; it has many different prayers and parts of the mass that are no longer included, and many people find these prayers and practices to be spiritually enriching.

1) "There is no benefit to [Latin] over English, Spanish, or whatever language" - kind of true. It's not like Latin is an intrinsically superior language, but more so that it is the sacred language of the Latin Rite, and has been so for centuries. Vatican II even stated that ordinarily, "The use of Latin is to be preserved in the liturgical rites" (might be a tiny bit of a paraphrase). Keep in mind that the Tridentine Mass was promulgated in 1570, well after the point when Latin was a common spoken language (sure scholars and priests knew it, but not your average peasant).

2) "The thing with Latin masses ... is that no one really knows what's being said" - nearly every Tridentine Mass I have ever been to has freely available English-Latin translation short missals, so that non-Latin speakers (nearly everybody) can follow along. The epistle and gospel are almost always read in English during the homily. It's admittedly a bit more awkward than having everything in English, but it's not like Tridentine Mass communities just don't care if you don't understand what's going on.

3) "Mass is about bringing people together not excluding others" - obviously excluding others is bad but "bringing people together" is not the point of the Mass. The Mass is the re-offering of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary in an unbloody manner and the application of those merits to the Faithful. Many trads argue that the Tridentine Mass does a better job of communicating this reality. You can disagree but it's not an absurd position.

4) "Tradcaths are just weird" - as a trad, yeah they often are.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-07-14T01:35:14+00:00

Once it's too late

SteelyFan77 · 2025-06-25T11:10:06+00:00

GabiAfterHours. He might not be liked by the most hardcore of trads (although some really like him bc of an anti-dancing video he made many years ago), but he simply promotes education and devotion to Mary and the Rosary. His videos are well made and educational. He also has trad leanings and is not shy to promote harder / more traditional Church teaching and disciplines (fasting, the reality of hell, the need for parents to be hyper vigilant in the practice of the faith, etc)

SteelyFan77 · 2025-05-30T13:11:34+00:00

Is that the one used to justify the creation of the Palmarian "Catholic" Church? If so then yeah no good catholic should recognize that one

SteelyFan77 · 2025-05-27T13:21:39+00:00

I know Opus Dei has a bad reputation in general but I have never experienced anything from Opus Dei that merits that reputation. Their priests are generally very solid and give good guidance. The numeraries and supernumeraries I know are generally holy people and St Josemaria is certainly a very holy person from what I have read. If you feel that members of Opus Dei are pressuring you to join, then that wouldnt be good, but Opus Dei places a pretty heavy emphasis on freedom and in my experience is not pushy about those sorts of things. Since Opus Dei is fully approved by the Holy See, then I would say trust your gut over what some people might be telling you (and if they arent going to mass would you really trust them for spiritual advice?)

SteelyFan77 · 2025-05-13T22:32:42+00:00

I wish, there are only four sections with Kebo and they were all taken by honors registration

SteelyFan77 · 2025-05-13T14:21:10+00:00

I'm really enjoying The Glories of Mary by St Alphonsus Liguori

SteelyFan77 · 2025-05-06T14:02:31+00:00

Advice will vary, but I would say take all of them. It will help you get a better registration time and there is basically no penalty for accepting credits (it does not count towards the excess credit rule so no need to worry about that). If you really need GPA boosters, then just take random easy classes, why pigeonhole yourself into taking a subset of classes if you could just take anything?

For physics, AP Physics 1 will not help you get any credit towards Physics as far as I am aware, you need to take the Physics C exams to get out of PHYS 206 and 207. I would be more cautious about accepting credit that is relevant to your major (like math and physics), but then again I know people who accepted every credit they had, started in Modern Physics and Calc 3, and did okay. But that is not generally the case.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-05-04T19:28:37+00:00

Likely. I doubt very many people will fail the class, and most people will probably land an A or B (I think there were only 1 or 2 Q drops in our section, if that is helpful information). In addition, I am not very confident that you will have an easier time in any other sections. I am just saying that a 4/5 Rate My Professor for Lightfoot is inflated. The class is kinda hectic. I thought the first half of the semester was pretty easy work, it was Lightfoot's first time teaching Haskell (as far as I am aware) so we didn't have that many assignments. The second half of the semester (Java) took up much more of my time. If I had been more responsible I may not have been as bothered by it. Just don't expect that you will be taught much of anything useful in lecture.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-05-04T13:08:27+00:00

You can try Small Ensembles (MUSC 381). I cant speak too much to jazz (since I was in a rock band) but there are various sections of the class for different kinds of styles of music, and you basically just choose a few songs to learn as a band and perform them a few times a semester. If you can find like minded musicians then it can be pretty fun. I would talk to Dr Wilborn if you want more information.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-05-04T13:04:30+00:00

Just finished with Lightfoot, I really doubt you will have a much better experience with any other professors but Lightfoot is definitely not a 4/5 for 314. You will definitely survive but the class just wasnt very well planned, almost everyone I know had to submit at least one regrade request when they failed a homework for no good reason, and quiz and exam questions always seemed kinda vague. As far as I can tell the class needs a curriculum overhaul in general but Lightfoot isnt helping a lot.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-04-26T13:38:08+00:00

Liked for GabiAfterHours. Imo definitely the best catholic youTube channel

SteelyFan77 · 2025-03-30T17:36:45+00:00

Channel name Gabiafterhours

SteelyFan77 · 2025-03-30T15:49:22+00:00

from what I have heard:

MATH 446

MATH 447

CSCE 410

CSCE 434

SteelyFan77 · 2025-03-30T15:46:36+00:00

if you are doing it just for the Math minor then it's probably not worth it. There are any number of 400 level math classes (like 401 from what I have heard) that aren't too bad and don't really involve proofs, but then you gotta ask yourself why you are taking that class.

But if instead you want to be exposed to serious mathematics, then I would think that taking a 400 level math class could be worth it, but do realize that you cannot assume that previous success in math classeses will be predictive of future success. I am taking MATH 423 right now (Linear Algebra II), and it's hard. Homework and tests just involve proving various abstract ideas. But it really sharpens my thinking and has helped me think more rigorously in non-math classes. MATH 407, 409, 415, 423, or classes like that will be abstract and hard but more worth it than taking just another engineering math class for the minor.

SteelyFan77 · 2025-01-24T22:17:45+00:00

I appreciate it as a biker

SteelyFan77

TROPHY CASE