[Developer, Graduate School] 5. Master's 1st Semester Assignment Hell + Should I Skip the Thesis..?

It feels like just yesterday the semester started, but it's already coming to an end (Time flies...ㄷㄷ)

I'm a freshman this semester, but I haven't been able to go to school even once. Due to COVID-19, all classes have been online, and I haven't had a reason to visit the campus..ㅠ

I've come here today to briefly share my recent updates and my feelings about graduate school life.

1. Assignment Hell

First of all, there are just way too many assignments! ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Since in-person attendance and exams are limited due to the online format, most midterms and finals are being conducted as assignments, leading to an even larger number of them..

With work and school, I've been trying to squeeze in time to work on them after work, but the time pressure and the need to do well are leading to a cycle of writing and erasing. OMG (Unlike undergraduate studies, graduate school requires incorporating your own opinions and thoughts, and supporting them with evidence, making it even more difficult... Difficult life of a first-year graduate student...)

I hope I can get an A...?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

2. Thesis

There are two ways to graduate with a Master's degree.

• Complete 24 credit hours + thesis
• Complete 30 credit hours

There's an option to graduate without writing a thesis by taking 6 more credit hours.

This semester, as a kind of practice or exercise, we had to write a thesis proposal, and while reading various master's theses, I felt the burden increase even more. ㅋㅋㅋ

First, I need to choose a topic... How do I even conduct research...? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Most of the topics that seem decent have already been covered in existing papers, and the popular keywords (AI, machine learning, deep learning, smart city, etc.) have already generated numerous papers. I'm still struggling to grasp the concepts, so I'm unsure what to research... ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Well, it's only the first semester..................................................

It's only the first semester.........................................................................................................

I can think about it and decide next year, right...? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ