tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58516808913566546502024-03-13T07:55:25.915-07:00Going Back To School At 30The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-47860263831652252122013-02-22T10:10:00.005-08:002013-02-22T10:10:58.786-08:00Bombs away!!Well, hell week was last week. And here's the fallout:<br />
<br />
History wasn't so bad. I had a quiz over federalists vs anti-federalists, and I got a 90 on that, we had our first test two days later and I got a 90 on that also. I really like this class so far.<br />
<br />
I had an online test for my computer class that was just one big cluster. You're only allowed to get into this website that we do our grades on with Internet Explorer. So, I get into my test and take the first half which is just multiple choice questions and I go to to open the other half and... I get an error. I try to fix it, no dice. I get online with my brother who is a computer guy by trade and he can't fix it... Damn!<br />
<br />
I think, "Hey, I've got my work computer!". I grab that and get it running and online. Go to the website... error. DAMN DAMN!<br />
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I think, well, the school is open, let's see what I can do there. I get there and the only part of the campus that's open is the public library. Get a pass and get on a computer, ERROR. WTF!<br />
<br />
FINALLY I go to a friend's house and get on his computer and I figured out what my problem was. I was using Explorer 64-bit which doesn't work for this type of whatever it is that I use to take the test.<br />
<br />
So, short story long, I got an 82 on that test.<br /><br />Now, the elephant in the classroom... Algebra. I don't feel bad about the bomb of a grade I got, because I think I did about the class average on this one. I got such a bad grade, that I'm going back on my promise of full disclosure with whoever decides to read this. Suffice to say it's pretty close to my age. I'm also pretty sure that nobody in my class passed the test.<br /><br />I did notice this week when we were in class that FIVE people did not show up. Almost positive they dropped.<br /><br />But a good thing did come out of this. I think that the teacher realized he was doing something wrong and worked more examples, spoke a little slower, and asked US more questions than he has been before. Apparently one girl in my class (who looks like a tough cookie, pretty sure she could kick my ass if she had to) told the teacher before class, "You need to slow the hell down and explain things better." Looks like he listened.<br /><br />As far as my grade in that class goes, I'm not incredibly worried about it. If I can grasp the new concepts (which I have been) I'll do fine. He is allowing us to use the grade on our final exam as a replacement for our lowest test grade. I had forgotten all about that but when he told us that in class the other day, I almost passed out from relief.<br />
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Life is rough right now. I have a ton of things going on at work, and the hours take a toll on me. Going home everyday and seeing my kid laugh and clap her hands when I walk through the door makes it all worth it. I'm thankful to her for making me get off my ass and do this with my life. She makes all my long days and nights worth it. It's her birthday this weekend and I'm looking forward to our little party and having some fun.<br />
<br />Have a great weekend!The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-14348985389903940872013-02-10T20:36:00.003-08:002013-02-10T20:46:32.144-08:00This Semester SucksSo, it's been a few weeks. I haven't written much on here because I desperately wanted to give this semester and my teachers and classmates a chance. I've come to find out... most of them don't deserve it. I hate to sound so cynical, but I really can't stand being in two of the three classes that I actually have to attend every week. It's absolutely exhausting.<br />
<br />
The one class I enjoy is History. Mr. History is friendly, incredibly personable (he's the only one I have this semester that knows my name) and knows his stuff. He's totally reasonable, but he'll let you know when you're out of line. He had to shut up some people talking in the back row last week. I felt like I was in high school. Although next week is going to suck in that class. I've got a quiz monday (quiz in this class = 1 page essay) and a test on Wednesday. (test in this class = 2-3 page essay) So, that should be fun.<br />
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Here's what I don't like about my other two classes that I attend:<br />
<br />
Government: Oh man, I think I hate this class the most. The teacher is this crazy weird conspiracy theorist/tea party type guy. He has some of the craziest theories I've ever heard. Greatest hits include "The Soviet Union won the cold war" and "WWII didn't end until 1991." It's our right as citizens of this country to raise questions about the government and speak freely... HOWEVER...<br />
<br />
He's teaching a class that has a bunch of 18-20 year olds in it that are pretty impressionable. In my humble opinion he should be teaching the material provided for the class and teaching it on an even keel with no agenda. As crazy and conservative as Dr. Government was last semester, this guy blows him out of the water. (there's nothing wrong with being conservative... I tend to lean that way on the spectrum. It's the conspiracy garbage I have a problem with).<br />
<br />
The class is divided into three groups it seems like. There's people that don't know any better and are buying into his theories, the people that just don't care and sit there and chit chat, and the people that don't buy it, and are just there to get his notes and the information pertinent to the test. Well, there's also Sister John Denver who is totally up the teacher's ass, but whatever.<br />
<br />
Also... our notes? Lord. Our notes are a list of vocabulary words and "facts and figures". F&F being what percent of Texans live in rural areas, or percent of people doing this or that, years things happened. He might as well just have us read the chapters in the book and discuss it in class without the conspiracy garbage.<br />
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As far as Algebra goes, man this guy is something. He works super fast and it seems like he is irritated by us asking questions. He is hell bent on trying to get through the theory of everything just to get to "here's the formula you need to know". Wow, you know how all of this came to be, we're super impressed.<br />
<br />
I've spoken with some of the people I work with, one with a doctorate in mathematics, two guys with engineering degrees and I've described what he's doing in class. They have no idea why he is going this far on a freshman level course. It's ridiculous. I learn more from doing my homework with the online help that is available on the website we do our homework on. I need to work my butt off one weekend so I can get ahead of the game and so I'll know what this guy is teaching us each week.<br />
<br />
Walking out of class this past week, I spoke with two of the people in that class and they were easily as confused as I was. Nobody gets this guy. It's going to be a harsh reflection on him once the final grades come around or if he gets completely crapped on in his course eval. And if there ever was a reason to do an eval, it's because of teachers like this. He needs to change his tune with the way he treats his classes if he's going to keep teaching.<br /><br />Furthermore this was the teacher with the 10 minute rule where he supposedly locks the door. What really makes me mad about the situation this past week is that I asked him politely, and respectfully to keep the door unlocked in case my quiz went long a couple of weeks ago and he tried to give me a lesson on time management. The reason he doesn't want people walking in and out of class is that he doesn't want to be distracted.<br /><br />This past week in class some girl I guess got tired of just standing out in the hallway making faces and trying to whisper to her friend in the front row, so she just WALKS INTO CLASS and has a seat, saying hi to everyone as she entered. SERIOUSLY? I was waiting for him to say something to her but he just said hello and kept on teaching. The whole class was watching her as she walked in and he just lets her in so she can come hang out with her buddy? What the hell is that?<br />
<br />
I'm getting close to having to have a chat with this guy one day. It might not be pretty.<br />
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I'll be back on here soon enough. My week ahead is going to be great. I've got a test in my computer class that I have to take at home, a quiz Monday in history, a test Wednesday in history AS WELL AS a test Wednesday in algebra.<br />
<br />
I did this to myself... but it'll be worth it... it'll be worth it... it'll be worth it...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-16958641675443110162013-01-17T14:13:00.000-08:002013-01-17T14:13:09.079-08:00Totally forgot about this...So, re-living my frustration with Mr. Math reminded me of something that happened before I started my last semester. I meant to write about this over the holiday, but I was having too much fun being out of school AND work.<br />
<br />
I went in for my initial advising appointment. The lady was great, incredibly supportive and got me going with my GI benefits as well as giving me a copy of the course book that I somehow wasn't supposed to have. I go back to the advising office and meet with a lady that was about as personable as a 2 x 4. I told her I was having a hard time deciding what classes to start with and I could use some help.<br />
<br />
Lady: "When during the day would you like to take classes?"<br />
Me: "Evenings, I work during the day."<br />
Lady: "How many hours a week do you work?"<br />
Me: "Full time. Forty hours."<br />
Lady: "How many semester hours are you wanting to take?"<br />
Me: "Full time. Twelve hours."<br />
Lady: "It's not going to work. People who think they can do that wind up not doing well."<br />
Me: "...Great. Can we sign me up for classes?"<br /><br />Had I said what I wanted to at that very moment, it wouldn't have been very nice. I'm not your typical student at this school. I'm not eighteen trying to save a few bucks on tuition and working my way through school. I'm old enough to manage my time wisely and get through school. I'm not out partying, or anything like that. Pretty sure I'm a grown up. She should change careers because after meeting me for ten minutes and figuring out what I'm capable of and weather or not I'm going to succeed at this thing is an amazing talent. I feel like her time is being wasted in the advising office of this little college.<br /><br />And on her remark about people can't do it? My dad, my wife, several coworkers, my cousin and many MANY other people I know have pulled off the working/school thing. In your face.<br /><br />I mentioned this to the veteran's advisor on campus between semesters when I went to check out things for this semester. I brought it up and she looked on her computer to see who I spoke with. This lady is super cool:<br /><br />"Well, I'm sorry this happened. She should not have made this assumption about you. That situation she described does happen a lot with our younger students, but my veterans have a great success rate with similar situations to what you're going through. I'll bring it up to her directly, and at our next meeting that we do not need to lump people in as a whole, and we do need to take people on a case by case basis to ensure that we can accommodate them. I'm just glad that you didn't take her advice, and that you proved her wrong with your grades this semester. Keep up the good work."<br />
<br />
That made me feel much better about that whole situation. I haven't seen that particular adviser again. I hope I don't. I might not be very polite...The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-1431667556185605862013-01-17T13:50:00.000-08:002013-01-17T13:58:06.528-08:00Wednesday: More History and MATH.So, back to history. Professor is still nice and friendly. Kid is still wearing his tail, douche is still a douche.<br />
<br />
Sit in class and take some notes. He gives us an assignment to look up some events, we have a choice of The Great Awakening or Bacon's Rebellion and write a short essay in class as a quiz grade towards the end of class. No big deal. I think I can handle that.<br />
<br />
So, history lets out and I make my way downstairs for Algebra. I'm a little nervous, because I have not been able to find ANYTHING on this teacher. I've checked ratemyprofessor.com to see what people are saying about my teachers and everything has been positive so far. This guy is nowhere to be found on any website or anything. Which leaves me wondering if this is a bad sign. Oh well, I didn't have a choice. I need to get this class out of the way.<br />
<br />
We settle down and Mr. Math comes walking in. Young guy, probably about my age. He waits patiently for everyone to get in, and has us sign a sign in sheet. No big deal, not the first teacher to do this. As we're signing in, a blind gentlemen comes in with a helper that helps him get through his class. I think it's great that he's taking this on. Good for him!<br />
<br />
After the sign in process, he wanted everyone to move up into the first few rows. Sitting in the row ahead of me is the blind man, and his helper. She tells him everything that is going on. Even though she is whispering, I have to listen through her to hear what's going on with the teacher. This might not work out.<br />
<br />
So, we get our syllabus and I start reading ahead. You've got to be freaking kidding me. This isn't your typical classroom. Most people in here are better than 25 years old I'd say, and he's lined this out like we're fresh out of high school. Here are some highlights-<br />
<br />
-You have ten minutes from his arrival time to get to class, after that he locks the door. (This is because it's distracting to him mainly, but also the other students)<br />
-You must sign in and out of class (If you fail to sign out, you are absent)<br />
-Your belongings must remain at the front of the classroom during exams.<br />
-No make up tests<br />
-You cannot use ipads or computers in class.<br />
<br />
Regarding the arrival time, it raised a question, so I raised my hand.<br />
<br />
Me: "So, the door is locked ten minutes after your arrival?"<br />
Him: "That's correct."<br />
Me: "Ok, I'm in another class before this one that ends at 6:50. If that class runs long and you get here at 6:45, I'm late if I show up right at 7?"<br />
Him: "No, it'll be ten minutes after 7."<br />
Me: "Ok, thanks."<br />
<br />
So, we finish up with the syllabus and that's the end of class. Then I remember... oh crap, I have that quiz at the end of class next week. I'll email him in the morning and let him know I might have a time issue.<br />
<br />
So, I write an email to him today. Asking him if I can move one row back, to avoid the distraction from the interpreter/helper lady for the blind guy (which he was fine with), and then I wrote this:<br />
<br />
"<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;">Also- I do have a class prior to yours on Wednesday nights. Next week I have a quiz at the end of class and I'm hoping it does not run late. If it does, I would appreciate your consideration in letting me into class should I not make it quite on time."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;">I got this reply to that part of my email:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;">"</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> I do remember you telling me that you leave class at 6:50pm and well my class starts at 7pm giving you a a 10 minute grace period, thus giving you 20 minutes to get to class. Make sure you time yourself accordingly so that you do not arrive late (after the 10 minute) grace period. Good luck on your exam."</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
Luckily, I didn't reply back to him immediately, or I might not be enrolled in his class anymore. Seriously? You're going to talk to me about time management? Pretty sure I've got that under control, friend. I'm not fresh out of high school, I'm 30, and I think I may have picked up the importance of being on time when I was in the Navy FOR FIVE YEARS.<br />
<br />
Time myself accordingly? It takes less than one minute to get down the stairs from my other class and get down the hall to your room. I was trying to be respectful to his time rule, but I'm not going to sacrifice a grade in my other class just because this guy wants his class to start on time. If he didn't want me to take this remark as an insult, he shouldn't have made it sound so condescending. I'm not looking for a break, just for him to be reasonable and aware of my situation. It's not like I'm asking him to leave the door open so I can sleep in and show up whenever the hell I feel like it.<br />
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I'm debating if I should say something to him face to face, email him again, or just bide my time and mention this on his course evaluation. If I do the eval thing, I'm going to save the text that I put in the comments block and email it to him with a "by the way, this was me" email after finals are done.The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-49605699514466840962013-01-17T13:14:00.000-08:002013-01-17T13:14:33.759-08:00Tuesday: Texas GovernmentYes, I'm from Texas. No, we're not so stuck on ourselves that we think we have to have our own special government course. We've got our own toast, that's enough.<br /><br />Government in college has been switched from two semesters of Government 1 and Government 2, to one semester of federal government and another of local and state government... and since this is the great state of Texas, it is named Texas Government.<br />
<br />
So, this course is at campus #3 where I had music last semester, just in a different building. I get to class and there's a couple of people sitting around. No big deal. I take my usual seat next to the wall, third row back. Some lady comes in who knows one of the girls on the same row as me, but other side of the class. This lady is kinda short, pretty round and well... looks like John Denver's little sister. Glasses and all. This chick, is something else. Here are some things that were actually said-<br />
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"I think I want to go for a minor in political science. The president makes me so mad, I just want to punch him in the face"<br />
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"I don't see what the point of having a government class is when big brother is just telling the teachers what to teach."<br />
<br />
"What does Michelle Obama do, anyway? The first lady always has an agenda, all she does is go shopping?"<br />
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Ok, fiirst, go ahead and try that and see how far you get, or rather how quickly you wind up with your ass in the slammer. Second, It's regulated by the state, not the federal government. Third, um, she's trying to get kids back into shape by eating properly and exercising. Something you might want to look into.<br /><br />I'm sorry if that last comment seems rude, but I have no tolerance for people who make things up to try and steer people towards their own beliefs just for the sake of doing it. I appreciate that she wants to change things, and that's great! However, when you're ignorant (this happens on both ends of the spectrum, folks) and try and push your agenda, it makes you look bad.<br /><br />Few more people filter in and some dude sits at the end of my row. No big deal. Then one of his buddies from last semester comes in and sits next to him, puts his backpack on the chair next to me and says, "This seat is saved." Wow, ok.<br /><br />This guy is gay. Seriously, I'm not bashing or making fun of him, I'm stating a fact. He's talking to the other guy and says that over spring break he is going to some yoga school or something for the week. Here's the conversation that followed:<br /><br />Dude: "Why are you going to that?"<br />Gay guy: "To expand my inner being."<br />
Dude: "Sounds kinda gay."<br />Gay guy: "Thanks!"<br />
<br />
So the person he was holding the seat for comes in and it's this bubbly chick who works at a health food store. I know this because she mentioned it like four times during the course of the class. She comes in with some food... effing SUSHI. Really? You're going to sit next to me and eat sushi in class? Effing kids man, I tell you...<br />
<br />Instructor comes in and holy crap. Normal looking guy but him and Sister John Denver over there are very like minded. He wants us to all fill out index cards with this long list of information. Name, phone number, address, email address, where we work, work phone, if we have a family at home, if we're a veteran... Here's what my card said.<br /><br />My full name<br />My school email address<br />
My phone number<br />
Navy Vet<br /><br />
The only reason I put that I was a vet on there is because he mentioned that he was a former Chief in the Navy. Now, I believed him at first, but some of his ramblings don't quite add up. Maybe he WAS in the Navy, but I don't believe some of the things he was telling me. I'm going to investigate this further, and see what I can find out. I'm not going all investigative reporter on him, I just will ask him some questions to see what he says. I have the feeling he was a lower rank. He said he got out after his time in, he didn't want the pension, he just wanted to serve. I have a hard time swallowing that one.<br /><br />This guy is something else. He is incredibly opinionated and sounds very conspiracy theory-y. I just made that word up, feel free to use it. There's no other way to describe it. I could have gone back and taken Dr. Government's class, but I hated his test structure and really felt no use in memorizing verbatim all of my notes just to spew them back onto the paper and forget it all the next morning. I could have stayed with a known evil, but I chose to go to a different one. C'est la vie.<br />
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Hopefully this class gets a little more serious next week. There were three conversations going on at any given moment which caused my ADD to spiral out of control. I might move to the front of the class just so I can get the information I need to study with.<br />
<br />
Holy crap this is going to be a long semester.The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-49260698898309015272013-01-17T12:37:00.000-08:002013-01-17T12:37:28.816-08:00First Day Back: US History IWell, here it is. The first day of the rest of this semester... or something like that. I'm back at campus number one, but a bit earlier this semester. Since this campus is much closer to where I work, I will just leave work and hang out there since my class starts at five. Makes no sense to go home, I'd just have to turn around as soon as I pull up in the driveway.<br /><br />So I get there and find a seat next to the window and play my favorite new game on my phone. (Hill Climber. Look it up, it's tons of fun.) After waiting and having a soda, I get to my classroom. I even saw Mr. Geography from last semester on the way there. He's in the same classroom this semester.<br /><br />I get in, and it's just the instructor. Nice enough guy, has a voice that sounds like a radio DJ. We talk for a second and he teaches history at the high school around the corner from my house, which is one of the other high schools in the district I went through. Sitting there and people start to filter in. Why is everyone so late, it's like ten after five!<br /><br />Turns out... class starts at 5:30, not 5:00. Awesome. Well, at least I'll have some quiet time twice a week to study or catch up on homework should I get behind somewhere.<br />
<br />
So, sitting in class and another kid comes in... probably fresh out of high school, the kid is kind of chubby. I notice he's wearing a red dog collar with a tag on it. Ooookkk... whatever dude. Then, he turns to find a seat and the kid is wearing a bright orange fluffy tail. What the... ok. I'm not sure what that's about, but hey, whatever floats his boat. One day, I'm going to wind up asking him what this is all about.<br />
<br />
The class winds up being absolutely PACKED. Full house of 32 students. The guy sitting next to me is sort of a douche. Reeks of Abercrombie cologne (Yes, THAT cologne.), and is wearing a short sleeve shirt when it's about forty degrees outside. This was probably by design so that he could show off the asian symbol tattooed on his arm. He probably thinks it means 'strength' or 'power' or something along those lines. I'd be willing to bet it means 'princess' or something. You laugh, this happened to a friend of mine.<br />
<br />
We cover a few things and are out of there on time It's just an hour and a half of class, I have it twice a week. Traffic on the way home is BULL at 7pm. Freaking Houston...<br />
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Work tomorrow, then Government.<br /><br />The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-11077841602580791562013-01-04T11:48:00.003-08:002013-01-04T11:49:00.231-08:00Been a while!Hi people! Been a while, I know. The semester ended and I was off of work for quite a while, so I took the time to relax, hang out with my wife and baby girl and do the whole Christmas and New Years thing with the family. It was a very nice break. I'm back at work now, and I have one more week of "easy street" and just having to worry about work before school starts again in a little over a week.<br />
<br />
Here's the "report card"-<br />
Geography- A<br />
Government- B<br />
English- B<br />
Music Appreciation- C<br />
<br />
A freaking C!!! WTF, MAN!?<br />
<br />
Got in touch with the guy after my grades posted online and apparently my essay for my final wasn't up to par, and neither was my journal that I have to write in and discuss all of the music I was listening to for the class. Whatever. C's transfer and it's a BS class. I got D's on those two grades, and with the final weighing so much, it drug me down. I'm not saying he was wrong for giving me the grade he did, he has his reasons. In other words, I earned that C, he didn't "give me" a C. I'll move on to the next semester and focus on what has to be done.<br />
<br />
Speaking of next semester, I got registered this morning and well, my schedule could be WORSE I suppose. Monday I have US History I (Everything up until 1877, I think?)<br />
Tuesday is Texas Government. They broke up government from just being two semesters that explain everything to one semester that does federal and the other to do state and local.<br />
Wednesday is the second half of my week in History and it's also... COLLEGE ALGEBRA! That's the gorilla in the room this semester. Hopefully I can manage it, I think I'll be ok.<br />
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I'm also doing into to computers as an online class. The adviser took it and said it's simple, so did someone in my office actually. It's just Microsoft Office. The teacher will email assignments and say I need these pages done by such date. You go to those pages and it tells you step by step how to create the document they want. Easy-peasy. Watch though, I'll get a C in that class like I did my "easy class" for last semester.<br />
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Be back when I have my first days in my new classes, hope you all had a great holiday and a good start to your new year.The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-32180028450248459852012-12-15T06:21:00.000-08:002012-12-15T06:21:19.618-08:00The Calm After The StormWell, I survived finals week. It was a long tiring week and the decompression is in full swing. Needless to say, my brain is tired. It wasn't too rough, I mean I don't want to do it again until I have to or anything like that, but hey, it could have been a lot worse.<br />
<br />
Monday's Geography exam was incredibly easy. I didn't even study for it. After all, I needed at least a 68 to maintain an A in that class, and I'd probably wind up with another 94 on my test. Exam started at 7, I was home BEFORE 8 o'clock. Keep in mind the campus is about 30 minutes from my house.<br />
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Tuesday... Government. Holy crap, where do I begin. I studied my face off for this exam and by the time I got to class to wait for the exam, I didn't even want to open my notes I had read them so much. As I'm sitting, I made small talk with my Air Force friend and one of the other people in my class. We were sitting there and I hear this statement from the table around the corner, where a few of my classmates were sitting.<br /><br />"You know what?... F##K THIS! I'm just going to drop this class."<br /><br />I came real close to calling this idiot out, but a random girl studying at another table set this guy straight for me. "You can't drop this class."<br /><br />Dude: "Yeah I can, someone told me so."<br />Girl: "Who told you that?"<br />Dude: "Someone at the admissions office, they said I can drop until the last day."<br />Girl: "Well, I work in the advising office and the last day to drop and not receive an F was over a month ago. Whoever told you that LIED and if you decide you're going to drop this class you're going to get an F and have to re-take it."<br />Dude: "Oh... S##t." **pages turning**<br /><br />One of the girls that the dude was sitting with just flat out said, "Forget it, I'm leaving" and WALKED OUT. I think I need to mention that the dude in question here is the musclehead guy that I think I described in my first post about my Government class, and the girl that walked out is one of the bitchy girls that sat near the front on the other side of the room from me.<br />
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The test was standard Dr. Government where we had to just write down, word for word, what he had us write in our notes. As much as I loved his passion for what he was teaching, I hated his method. I didn't learn much of anything in that class and what I did memorize, I've already forgotten and it's only a few days later. Test was hard, but I did well.<br /><br />English final wasn't bad either. I had my notes and prepared for it a few nights ahead of time. We had to write a three page paper, HAND WRITE, in class, analyzing three poems using three different lenses. This was probably the thing about this class that I enjoyed the most, and I'm glad that final wound up being this particular subject. It's fun to see what you can turn a poem about something random, like a tree, and make it be about sex or two different classes of people fighting or something strange like that. After the final, I felt confident in my paper, and I also felt a really dull throb and cramping in my hand. After all is said and done, I enjoyed this class the most out of all of them.<br /><br />THURSDAY. FINAL FINAL! Here it was... we had to listen to five pieces of music, identify the title, go on to name the composer, time period, genre and any other info to prove our point. Then we had to select two of those to write a short essay about. I wrote about a page and a half and it really hurt to write ANYTHING after that, my hand was killing me. It's Saturday morning now and my hand still hurts. I'm not incredibly confident in my essay, it was totally not my best work, neither was my essay that I had to turn in in this class about the last concert I went to. I think I lost my motivation in this class a few weeks back. It really started to suck there for a while.<br />
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So, I took Friday off of work. Slept in. Made myself a badass breakfast and had the house to myself for a while. I broke out the ol' Nintendo and jammed some Mario 3 and hung out on the couch with the dog for most of the day. It was incredible to sit and do nothing, not have to study, not have to go to work, not have to write an essay or do anything at all. Today, will be more of the same. I'm really looking for my time off over Christmas and New Year's.<br /><br />I'll post more once I have my final grades for the semester. Have a great weekend!The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-33024362135030531322012-12-04T20:34:00.002-08:002012-12-04T20:34:32.714-08:00It's about timeI can't tell you how ready I am for this semester to be over with. I am halfway through what I guess you would call a "review week" before finals next week. Today in government, I almost lost my mind.<br />
<br />There's some weather blowing through town, standard stuff for this time of year. When we get a cold front through, it's usually preceded by a thunderstorm or two. Sitting waiting for Dr. Government to give us the last of our notes, the lights flickered and went out. That was the last thing I wanted to happen. I don't NEED a good grade on this exam to pass or anything, but I have enough pride in my school work to want to do well, and also, well, my school will not be paid for if I don't maintain my GPA.<br />
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Knowing this is probably... ok this IS my hardest class right now, I need the review. When the power came on, one of the bitchy girls in class said "I hope it goes off again and we get to go home." I almost lost my mind.<br />
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[Student]"Really? So you don't want to review for the exam we are having next week that is worth a good portion of your grade?<br />Bitchy Girl: No, I hate this class.<br />
[Student] So, you don't like the class which makes it ok if you fail?<br />
Bitchy Girl: I guess.<br />
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Ok, I don't like to wish bad things on people, but now I HOPE this chick fails. Why don't people care? I guess she'll just have mommy and daddy pay for another semester when she fails this class. Few more review days, and it's finals time. I'll be busy all weekend and until next week after finals are done. I'll be sure to pass on my thoughts on the exams as well as grades once I have them. Full disclosure here, people! I'll be taking some much needed time off of work once this is over.<br /><br />The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-71267759033384659582012-11-28T20:32:00.000-08:002012-11-28T20:32:06.930-08:00The FalloutSo, here is the post test-test-paper-paper fallout. Well, the majority of it.<br /><br />Geography test was one of those where after I took it, it felt way too easy. It was on Oceania (Australia and all of the Pacific islands) and all of east and south Asia. Whenever I was unsure of an answer I did the process of elimination thing with my answer choices. It can't be A because of this, or B because of that... most of the time the answer wound up being Indonesia. I walked out of the room thinking "Man, Indonesia was either always the correct answer, or Indonesia really screwed me."<br /><br />Result: I got a 94 on this test. Before any bonus points or anything on ALL of the tests in this class I've gotten a 94. I hope he doesn't think I'm cheating.<br />
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The following week, the week of Thanksgiving I turned in a paper and I got a 93 on it. We had a book report due on the five themes of geography that are contained in the book we had to read. The book I had to read was really good, and his main critique of my paper said that I basically should have spelled out the theme I was going to write about.<br />
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I'm pretty sure this is college, and I shouldn't have to say "The next theme I am going to write about is interaction with the environment." All of my changes of themes went something like "One instance of place contained in this book is... "<br />
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Meh. Either way, I got a 93 on that paper. He also handed us each a sheet that had our grades on it and what we need on the final to to make an A, B, etc... I can get a 68 on the final and still get an A in his class. I rule.<br />
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Government test was a hideous bitch. LOTS of memorization and it was really just one big pump and dump. I filled in what I could where I knew things, and for the most part I knew it. The following week when we went back to class he told us a breakdown. The class average went DOWN by about 15 pts if I remember right and he broke it down by grades. There were 2 A's, 1 B.... and the rest were C's, D's and F's.<br />
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I got the B. Once I read my grade I almost did a backflip. That test was awful. Apparently this was the hardest test he'll give out, so the final should be easier.<br />
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I handed in my second and THANK GOD final paper on Hamlet today. Not my best work by any means, but hey, it got handed in. I'll do real well on the final, which is a poetry analysis that we have to do in class. Hopefully that pulls my grade and I can maintain a B.<br /><br />
That's all for now. I'll try and post at least one more time before finals are over with.<br />
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<br />The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-16183242068287341322012-11-14T20:10:00.002-08:002012-11-14T20:10:51.262-08:00Analyze This. Tonight's English class was really interesting. We've left Shakespeare safely behind (Paper is due after the holiday, but we're not covering it in class anymore) and we're moving on to poetry. Tonight, was all about analysis. Mr. English eased us into this with some familiar material, moving on to some more difficult things.<br />
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One of the things he had us analyze were some common nursery rhymes. One of which was Jack and Jill.<br />
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Jack and Jill went up the hill<br />
To fetch a pail of water.<br />
Jack fell down and broke his crown,<br />
And Jill came tumbling after.<br />
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Same thing since you were a kid, right? Well, I had a different take on it. Jack is in a position of power. Jill is his mistress. They run off (went up the hill) to engage in some extra-marital activities (to fetch a pail of water, water is satisfying) Jack got found out (Jack fell down) and lost his power (broke his crown) and then Jill was chastised for participating in this affair as well. (And Jill came tumbling after)<br />
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It's not wrong if you can somehow back it up, apparently.<br />
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So, then we did a couple of other nursery rhymes, and a few actual poems. Then, he decided we we were going to do a song. So, he brings up a video with the lyrics for... Hotel California.<br />
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I hate The Eagles.<br />
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I groan and he stops in his tracks and says "What, you don't like this song?"<br />
Student- "No. I don't. I really can't stand this song."<br />
Girl sitting next to me- "WHAT??!? How can you NOT like The Red Hot Chili Peppers!?!?"<br />
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Mr. English and I both laughed. Like, loud and a lot. I'm not sure if that's better or worse than the other girl that though that Led Zeppelin wrote "Welcome To The Jungle".The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-32824458503952848112012-11-12T10:17:00.001-08:002012-11-12T10:17:26.641-08:00I feel five pounds lighter!No, the title of this is NOT a poo joke, but it would have been funny, wouldn't it?<br /><br />Last week was a lot of prep for this horrific week I have in front of me. Test, Test, Paper due... Last Wednesday night was a great relief for me though, thanks to Mr. English.<br /><br />Roll into class and the first and only thing on my mind was that paper we turned in the week before. Once he gets to class and starts setting his things up, I had to ask. "So, how bad were those Hamlet papers?"<br /><br />"Surprisingly not too bad. I'll be handing them out shortly. I was pretty easy on people for the most part, but should you have gotten an A on this essay, you deserved an A on this essay."<br /><br />That wasn't too harsh, I'm still expecting a C or so on this thing. Once we get started he pulls the papers out of his bag on his desk and puts a slide on the projector with a short list of about six items, saying "If you screwed up on the paper, here's what you probably did." As he explained what each item was I realized, I had done none of the mistakes listed on here. Maybe I got a B.<br /><br />I get my paper back and to my SURPRISE I got an A+ on it. Hot diggity damn! That makes me feel much better. After those all got passed out he changes the subject to the next paper we have due on Hamlet.<br /><br />"I know I said this longer essay was going to be due on the 15th, but I'm going to change that. Your papers are due on the 29th, the week after Thanksgiving."<br /><br />HALLELUJAH, PRAISE THE LORD! This gives me TWO EXTRA WEEKS and a whole lot more time to study for geography and government which I desperately need. Well, at least for government, I'm pretty sure I've got geography nailed down.<br />
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I've also figured out a new study tactic. I was reading through my government stuff on Saturday when I realized... Hey, I've got this nifty voice recorder app on my phone, I should record myself reading my notes and listen to it all day at work on Monday and Tuesday! Why didn't I think of this earlier. So here I am at work, blogging, and listening to my notes on congress. Suppose I should get some actual work done. I'll post how my tests went once I get grades back.The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-90710328674895288432012-11-06T07:31:00.000-08:002012-11-06T07:31:07.105-08:00Let's see what else I can have in one month..So, it's been a while. Here's what's up.<br /><br />It's the start of a new month and the semester is winding down. Naturally, that means I have EVERYTHING possible going on as far as school. Here's what I've got:<br /><br />Today is Nov. 6.<br />Test in Geography- Nov. 12<br />Test in Government- Nov. 13<br />Major paper due on Hamlet in English- Nov. 14<br />Book report due in Geography- Nov. 19<br />Final concert report due in Music- Nov. 29<br /><br />Yeah, that's what I've got going on. Next week with the two tests and the paper is going to be killer. I've got off tonight because it's election day and Dr. Government has decided to throw a party at his house instead of teaching class, so, I'll be studying and possibly writing that Hamlet paper.<br /><br />On top of all that, I have a wedding to attend next weekend, company in town THIS weekend and well, work. I knew this was going to be like this for the next few years. I can handle it... I can handle it...<br /><br />As far as dumb stuff happening in class, nothing really major has happened since I last posted, and I'm quite surprised. I guess all of the idiots have dropped. It's about that time where you can drop a class and not get penalized for it. I think it's this week, actually. Hopefully the herd thins out and the dumber ones get lost.<br /><br />I'll be sure to post again when I can. I really didn't think it would get to the point where I would be this busy, but hey, this stuff happens!The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-49947259658882295092012-10-25T06:59:00.001-07:002012-10-25T06:59:39.843-07:00Da BombSo, everything is pretty much status quo. Nothing out of the ordinary over the past week and a half or so since I've been on here. Dr. Government is still crazy. All the damn kids in my classes are still damn kids. I haven't had any grades come back since that last Geography test that I totally kicked in the balls. I did have that Hamlet paper to turn in, but it didn't quite get ALL THE WAY turned in... and here's what this blog post is about...<br />
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So, Mr. English has this thing, where he sends a text message to a someone, and then his whole class gets a text from him. I guess that's for his own liability purposes or something, so that people can't say he's texting them directly or something like that... anyway.<br /><br />Usually his texts consist of something like "Expect a quiz on your reading tomorrow." or "Don't forget to turn in your papers online." Yesterday, I received a message saying "Bomb threat at campus. Please stay away from school until further notice. Class is cancelled unless you hear otherwise from me."<br /><br />Wow, really? Who calls in a bomb threat to a community college in this freaking part of town? What's more disturbing is that there have been a rash of these going on in Texas for some reason. UT, A&M, TSU, Sam Houston State, and now my little college. What the hell, man? I mean, it was probably an empty threat, but at the same time, we cannot afford to take this lightly. Because even if it's bullshit 90% of the time, there's still that 10% where people get hurt. Gnomesayin?<br /><br />My thoughts on that are this: Someone had a test, or an assignment due that they weren't ready for and had to buy themselves some time. So, what's a student to do? Stay up late? Not watch TV or play video games? Not go hang out with your idiot friends? Of course not, I'll just call in a bomb threat! Brilliant!<br /><br />Look, I mean I'm not one to say I wasn't there at one point in time. My first attempt at a post high school education, I blew it big time. I probably had a similar mindset as a lot of these other people, but dammit... DO YOUR WORK. I stayed up late the night before this paper was due and got my stuff handled. It sucked and I was tired the next day, but hey, it's worth it. And you aren't just screwing over the people in your class, but the WHOLE CAMPUS.<br /><br />So, my paper is turned in online to the anti-plagiarism website, and I need to bring a hard copy with me next week when I go to class. It really irritates me that this happened, we have a test that he was supposed to prepare us for, and I'm wondering how that's going to play out now. I'll just have to start studying all of Hamlet. Balls.<br /><br />
On the plus side, I did get to stay home, relax and spend time with my family last night. It was kinda nice. It reminded me of, well, not being in school. It'll be nice when this is all over with and I don't have to spend twelve hours away from them almost every day.<br />
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<br />The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-82748223709617294442012-10-16T12:32:00.002-07:002012-10-16T12:32:33.963-07:00The New NormalSo, life is crazy sometimes. For me, right now at least, that's ALL the time. Last week and weekend was hectic so I got a bit behind. Had some crazyness at work, Saturday I had the little one all day by myself (totally don't mind, she's awesome) and I was up way early... and by that I mean I didn't really go to bed Saturday night because I was smoking a brisket for my birthday bbq. So, here's what I need to catch up on.<br /><br />Read some Hamlet in class on Wednesday in English. I really hate... HATE reading Shakespeare. I understand the man was brilliant, and there is a reason we are still studying his work today. I get it. Reading his work however, is incredibly hard for me. I just can't seem to wrap my brain around what is going on. Even with the study guide and the online help that Mr. English turned the class onto, it's hard for me to really "get it". I've got a paper due on Hamlet two weeks after this class took place, so we'll see how that goes. We wound up watching what would be the first act of the play on the Mel Gibson movie version of Hamlet in class that night.<br /><br />Thursday's music class was boring once again. I think we had like five people including myself? I don't know how we are still having class every week. I have a concert report due AND my "listening" journal due on the following Thursday and I need to play catch up, bigtime! Hopefully I can get this all done by this week's class. Looks like some late nights for me.<br /><br />Had my test in my Geography class last night in... Geography class. We took the test, and watched a movie about Australia while he graded the test. The movie is called "Rabbit Proof Fence" if you're interested in watching the MOST DEPRESSING MOVIE EVER. Got my test back and got a 94. Same grade as last time... waiting to find out if there is a curve for this test or not. So, I'm still kicking ass in that class. That rhymed. Unintentional.<br /><br />Government is tonight. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with that class, so we'll see how it goes.The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-40533810388405103122012-10-10T07:15:00.000-07:002012-10-10T07:15:46.729-07:00Government: Slightly Worrisome Monday was geography, and literally nothing happened. Seriously, we went over the notes for Russia, the former Soviet Union and Central Asia. Nobody said anything stupid. (I know, I was surprised, too.) The only highlight was that my teacher said "Russia is like Canada on steroids." I thought that was funny<br /><br />Anyway, Tuesday was Government. I get to class, and I notice that Dr. Government is running late. He's never late. He comes in at about five minutes after. No big deal... we get to work.<br />
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As he goes on, I notice that he seems a bit off tonight. He's not his normal energetic self and he's quieter than normal. I mean, everyone has an off day now and again, I get that, but he's forgetting things and mumbling and stuttering a lot. Way more than usual.<br /><br />He's an older dude, I understand that, but he's just way off. I hope he's ok. We go on our break, and he takes longer than normal. Usually, he's back in a prompt 10 minutes and tonight he stretches it out to about fifteen. THEN he forgets his drink, so he has to go all the way back to his office on the complete OTHER side of campus to retrieve it. There goes another ten minutes.<br />
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Class is just dead tonight also. Nobody wants to participate, people's heads are down, people aren't taking notes. (That makes me not feel bad when they bomb the test, which is really just reciting your notes.) One guy actually fell asleep. Just before our break, so we had been in class for over an hour by this point... someone SHOWED UP TO CLASS. Really? The lack of effort is baffling.<br />
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I'm a little concerned about Dr. Government. I like the guy and I hope it's just him being a little worn out and not something going on upstairs.<br /><br />There was one dumb moment in the class. I'd say it was one of the damn kids, but it wasn't. The older lady in class wanted Dr. Government to cancel class on the day of this years presidential election because, as she put it, "We're all going to be too preoccupied with that and we won't be able to concentrate on class."<br /><br />Dr. Government just said, "Maybe I'll bring in a TV and we can leave it on mute so we can just see the updates."<br /><br />That's totally reasonable. I don't want to have to play catch up and wind up being later in class for a few weeks to play catch up. The election is NOT going to be finished by 9pm or whenever it is that we're usually out of class at night. In fact, I'd be shocked if all the votes were in by midnight. Weather it's a landslide or a neck and neck race, we won't probably know until after class is done. Aside from that, I'm sure she and I are probably two of about five people in that class, the teacher included, that really give a crap about what is going to happen and what it means for the country after Nov 6, 2012. Nice try, lady.The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-76100964481731662532012-10-09T07:22:00.000-07:002012-10-09T07:22:13.156-07:00Odds and EndsA few more miscellaneous things I didn't mention in my "catching up" post.<br /><br />One of the requirements in my music class is that we have to go and see a concert, and write a report about it. Well, two concerts, actually, but one of them is due at the end of October. Our teacher has been good of letting us know when there is one coming up that we can attend for free, the problem with that is, that they're mostly during the week. That really doesn't work for me as I work every day and I have class mon-thu.<br />
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I emailed him asking him if there was anything he knew about that was during the weekend, and I didn't mind paying for admission. We get to class that week and he said he had gotten my email and had a solution. He offered to go to a local high school THAT NIGHT for a concert, but the whole class had to agree to go. They did, we went.<br /><br />It was a local HS orchestra, and they were really good. The sound coming off of the stage for the amount of musicians on stage, was HUGE. I was very impressed. Afterward we went into the orchestra hall to discuss the music, and to hopefully talk to some of the students that played.<br /><br />So, we talk to someone who played each of the different instruments, and the string bass player... was definitely my favorite. Mr. Music asked the kid what his favorite piece was, what his instrument was, was there anything special about it... blablabla. Then it came to what was awesome about this kid. Keep in mind he's talking to a man that has a masters degree in music education...<br /><br />Mr. Music asked him what his plans for college were, and if he wanted to get some sort of music degree and keep playing. The kid very matter-of-factly replied with "Well, I enjoy playing, but I don't think I'll get a music degree. Music majors don't get good jobs or have careers."<br /><br />The room got real quiet, real quick. Then it was followed by the sound my laughter. I pretty much lost my shit when he said that. Mr. Music, who has a pretty quick wit, said "Yeah, and what am I? Chopped liver?" He understood what the kid was saying, but he could have said it better.<br />
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Another thing that made me shake my damn head...<br /><br />So, my two siblings are significantly older than I am. They went through this same college system before moving on to a larger university about twenty years ago. Keep in mind, they're older than I am, and I graduated high school in 2001. What I learned from my brother, is that both he and my sister had Dr. Government in the early 90's. THE SAME Dr. Government.<br /><br />So, my brother wanted me to ask him a question about a female country singer that he was in love with. I asked him after my test a couple of weeks ago, and he laughed when I told him my siblings had him about twenty years ago. So, the following week, someone asked me what made Dr. Government laugh.<br /><br />I explained to them the whole story and one girl said "Wow, I wasn't even born yet."<br /><br />To which I replied, "Good for you, man!" My veteran buddy thought that was funny.<br /><br />
So, that's not the only time that happened to me that week. The very next night in English, Mr. English the movie buff mentioned that on that very day, the movie "The Princess Bride" turned 25 years old. The girl next to me said "Wow, I wasn't even born yet."<br /><br />Being the idiot that I am, I said "I was born the year E.T. came out." and she JUST HAD TO ASK... "When was that?"<br /><br />I said "1982.", knowing full well I was not going to be happy with what she said next:<br /><br />"Wow, that's pretty old."<br /><br />I was left speechless. Mr. English just shook his head.<br /><br />*sigh.* Damn kids...The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-48610712244776871012012-10-04T07:22:00.000-07:002012-10-04T10:22:26.491-07:00Playing Catch UpTo my dear reader (s?)<br />
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Sorry I've been lacking in posts, so here's what's been going on. When I left off, I had a paper due the following week, and two tests on the two nights before that. No big deal right, I can handle that. The plan was, to study for a few hours Saturday morning, and Sunday morning, and to write the paper a few hours each of those days. It's only a 3-5 page paper, no problem, right?<br />
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The best laid plans of mice and men....<br />
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Friday evenings I usually take the night off. After working all week and going to school for four nights previous, leaves one tired old dude at the end of the week. So, I usually take it easy. Maybe cook dinner, watch a movie with my wife, play with the baby... whatever's clever.<br />
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I come home Friday, crack open a cold beer and relax. I sit on the floor and I'm having a grand old time with the baby playing with her on her blanket. I turn to say something to my wife and turn back around and the baby is throwing up, a lot. I've never seen a baby throw up this much. She starts crying and I hand her to my wife and she gets her cleaned up and comforted while I clean up in the living room. That was sure weird.<br />
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A little while goes by, I fix some dinner and then she throws up again. And again.. and then the diarrhea starts. We have one sick baby here.<br />
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She threw up a few more times overnight, but in the morning she seemed fine. I managed to get some studying done and she was her normal happy self. Then... she started throwing up and vomiting again. After a call to the pediatrician, we were off to the ER. Turns out there had been an outbreak of Rota virus at the daycare the little one goes to. It's at the church my wife works at, and it's cleaned very well every day, but a few kids and some of the workers got really sick around the same time.<br />
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So after our fantastic trip to the ER, we come home, my wife goes to bed early and I start to clean up around the house, thinking I'm going to sit down and write some of my paper afterward. I start cleaning some dishes and then... **grumble**. Oh hell no. I've got it.<br />
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So, I spent most of my Sunday on the couch, or on the toilet (I'll spare further details) and feeling just God-awful. I called in sick the next day and studied my ASS OFF for this Geography and Government test. I got home both nights and wrote my paper, putting the final touches and turning it in online before class on Wednesday.<br />
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THE RESULTS:<br />
96 on my Geography test.<br />
86 on my Government test (which I thought I had failed, go me!)<br />
C on my paper (once again I thought I had bombed) but he is allowing us to correct formatting issues (not content, just formatting) with a chance to bump up a letter grade.<br />
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Not bad, I think. I'm pleased with myself thus far. I have an A in my music class as it stands right now, so things are going quite well. I really hope I can keep up this momentum, it'll give me the confidence I need to start tackling the more difficult classes I have to take in the future.The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-47687347180092785932012-09-20T10:57:00.002-07:002012-09-20T10:57:33.852-07:00Government: Gimmie Three StepsIt's time for Dr. Government's class! I look forward to his class, I really do. But tonight was just irritating as hell. I got there and was waiting in the hall. Some kid another young one, who I had never seen in the class ONCE sits next to me in the hall and says "Hey have there been a lot of notes in this class?"<br /><br />"Well, yeah. It's the fourth week of class dude, and we have a test next week. So, you're missing a whole tests worth of notes. Good luck with that." In other words: "No, I'm not giving you my notes, because you should have BEEN IN CLASS." <br /><br />We get into class and he says he has an important rock and roll lesson for us. He played a couple of Lynyrd Skynyrd songs, one of which was "Please Mr. Banker" and I forgot what the other few were. We basically listened to Skynyrd and talked about it for half an hour. And by WE talked I mean HE talked. ... What am I doing here, again?<br /><br />So we went over the "project" he assigned us the week before which was to sort of interpret one of James Madison's Federalist papers. I spent ALL of Sunday morning doing this. Took my time, got it done right, and then he doesn't even take it up. What the hell, man? We discussed it, but that's about it. Also, by discuss it, I mean he asked questions and nobody answered them. <br /><br />Nobody in this class wants to participate. I find myself constantly with my hand in the air because I don't want the class to stall, so I can GO HOME. Once again I've found that nobody gives a crap. <br /><br />We take a break before we review for our test. I've had a cold all week and one of the girls in front of me asks me what my "damage" is. I just tell her it's a sinus thing, and I'm not contagious or anything. She proceeds to tell me what I NEED to take to clear it up. Whatever. I just told her I'll take some NyQuil and probably be better in the morning. <br /><br />The thing about NyQuil is, is that's it's one of those things in life that people hate or the LOVE. I love the stuff. She asks how I can stand the taste and I tell her "I don't mind it, it reminds me of Jaeger, which I absolutely love."<br /><br />"What's Jaeger?" asks the high school girl. Wow, even as a senior in high school, I may not have tried it just yet, but I was familiar with what it was. I just tell her, "It's a liquor."<br /><br />So, naturally one of the idiots, the guy who tries a little too hard to stand out says "Huh? What? Liquor?" <br /><br />Trying not to get into a conversation about how "cool" he was, I just try and get out of it by saying "She was asking what Jaeger was." Hoping he'd just nod or end it there. Naturally, because he's an idiot, I wasn't that lucky. <br /><br />"Meh, Tequila is better." To which that one new kid has to pipe up and say "Hell yeah, tequila is awesome."<br /><br />I couldn't help it. I don't care if this kid thinks I hate him, I couldn't keep my mouth shut. "Really dude? How old are you? How much experience have you ACTUALLY had with tequila? I can guarantee you I've PISSED more shots of tequila than you've had in your life. Call me when you're allowed in the bar."<br /><br />My veteran friend next to me was dying. I think I'm going to make it my mission to shut kids up. Student - 1 Damn Kids - 0<br /><br />Dr. Government comes back in and pretty much lays out the test question for question. All of the answers are in our notes, assuming you wrote down everything he told you to write down, which, if you didn't it's your fault you are going to do so poorly on the test. <br /><br />That review took about half an hour. After the review he just had us listen to ANOTHER HALF HOUR OF SKYNYRD. I mean, I like me some Skynyrd as a good southern fella should, but I'm here to learn government, not the lyrics to Freebird, which I already happen to know. I wasted an hour of my time tonight. Furthermore for a teacher who is so concerned about not having enough time to complete the lessons he has planned for us, he's sure wasting an awful lot of time. <br /><br />Test next week. Standby for results.The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-19588289797978975282012-09-19T07:37:00.000-07:002012-09-19T07:37:07.953-07:00Geography: We don't need to worry about CanadaMonday! Geography! I'm missing football!<br /><br />Roll up to school and make my way to class. We had a warm up activity that consisted of questions about The Olympics and how they relate to geography. I keep having to remind myself that this is more than just where a country is located on a map. One of the questions was "Why does the United States consistently do so well in the Olympics? <br /><br />His answer upon reviewing these questions: "We're supposed to!"<br /><br />Sounds conceited, but think about it... aside from places like China, and the former Soviet Union where they had or have people whose sole purpose on this planet was to compete in these games, nobody really has the "luxury" of doing nothing but training full time for this stuff. Plus we have the resources available to do it. In your face, world.<br /><br />We go on to cover our chapter that we are having a test on NEXT WEEK and it's all about the U.S. and Canada. We're starting out in a familiar area so that we can learn how he wants us to look at maps before we move on to the rest of the world. Makes sense. <br />
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We talk mainly about the U.S. and climates, different regions and things like that. We spent about five minutes talking about Canada. He told us what we would need to know and what we would need to recognize for the test. "All in all, we don't really need to worry about Canada." <br /><br />Well, that's good. I usually don't. <br /><br />Half of the test is identifying each state on a map of the U.S. I did this with the one I printed out with my notes during a break in class. Got 'em all. At least I'll get a fifty on this test! USA! USA!The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-19252741906126546342012-09-19T07:24:00.002-07:002012-09-19T07:24:44.935-07:00Music: Is this thing on?Trying to get caught up on my posts here, so hopefully I can get all of these done while I'm at work... "working". Shh, don't tell the bossman.<br /><br />So Thursday's music class rolls around. I walk in, sit down and there is music playing. Mr. Music is sitting listening, not saying anything. This sort of surprises me as he is usually very social. So, I get my book and notebook out and just wait for class to start. Time for class rolls around and he turns off the music.<br />
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He begins, "I'm at sort of a crossroads as to what I'm going to do here, and I guess I'll have an answer for this once we are done here tonight. I need to figure out what I'm going to do about last week's homework assignment. Only one person in class did it."<br /><br />That one person was yours truly. I sort of inadvertently let out a chuckle and said, "Really?! Wow."<br /><br />He gave the standard nice guy "Don't mistake my kindness for weakness" comment and started teaching. This is yet another class where it feels like nobody gives a crap. It's an easy A that requires very little work. Why are people not even trying? Nobody participates or seems to take notes or anything. One kid walked into class almost AN HOUR LATE with no materials. Not even a freaking pen. Seriously?<br /><br />He wound up taking pitty on everyone. The homework he was talking about is an online quiz that goes alone with the chapter in the book. It's incredibly easy and like 10 questions. He can sort of "turn on and turn off" the quizzes online. What he also does, is allow you to take it twice and he'll average the grades and for crying out loud YOU CAN USE YOUR BOOK. The questions are in ORDER with the chapter! IT'S AN EASY GRADE and people aren't doing it! He gave them one attempt at the overdue quizzes and had until midnight the following day to finish them. <br /><br />I have no sympathy for people who fail this class. The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-80063960447212889302012-09-14T11:34:00.004-07:002012-09-14T11:34:40.901-07:00English: Discussion And CupcakesBack to English! I think this might be my favorite class. It's just challenging enough, and it's interesting. It also is probably my only class where just about everyone participates. I like that. I'm not usually one to talk to people, but I think it's necessary for classes like this. <br /><br />As we wait for class to start, the couple with the computer come in and the girl places a box on the front table. A cake box. Someone asks, "So, is that like... food or something?"<br /><br />Well said, Shakespeare. Turns out they are cupcakes that were leftover from a football party at her work. It was a cake box with a bunch of cupcakes laid out like one big football. Laces and everything. I went to pick one up later on and said "Laces out, Dan!" Nobody got it and I was slightly embarrassed, but more disappointed, really.<br /><br />Mr. English came in and we got right to work with some notes. He assigned a paper that is due in two weeks, but I could probably have it finished this weekend if I really wanted to. Its supposed to rain all weekend, so hey, I just might! Finally, we got around to discussing the stories we read.<br /><br />Mr. Laptop in the back gave his perspective on what he thought the end of a story which was valid, I'm not knocking the guy for giving his thoughts, but the dude did RESEARCH on the author and went on to tell his thoughts. I don't know why, but that bugged me. They just lost the cool point they got for bringing in cupcakes. <br /><br />Furthermore, Mr. English GAINED some cool points because he didn't rub in the fact that his favorite NFL team beat mine the previous week. Also, he dissed the Cowboys. Well done, sir.The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-70949906405025347132012-09-13T11:39:00.003-07:002012-09-13T11:39:54.880-07:00Government: Something I've Noticed<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Government is always going to be an interesting class, if for no other reason than my teacher, Dr. Government. I find him very intriguing if you can't already tell. He's a good teacher, too. Like I mentioned before, I can only hope I'm that passionate about what I'm doing if I'm still doing it at his age. Having said that, I look forward to going to his class on Tuesday nights. <br /><br />So, riddle me this? Why are there so many people late to class? Either you, or your parents or someone is paying for you, PAYING, to have your ass sat in this class, so why be late? We have this one guy who tries too damn hard to be different. He's like, half punk rocker, half hipster. He wears the big earrings with a big shaggy beard, plaid pants with some "ironic" t-shirt. He had one this week that said "Not Cool" on it. Whatever, dude. He shows up fifteen minutes late, doesn't bat an eye. Just sits in the back. Three or four other people showed up late, causing a distraction also. I turned around at one point to listen to a question that someone was asking and glanced at someone's note pad. Blank sheet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nobody seems to give a shit. Dr. Government mentioned several times during his lecture that tonight's lecture was in fact, the most important lecture that he would be giving for about the next three or four weeks. Yet, most of these people don't bother to so much as pick up a pen. This guy doesn't have notes online, he doesn't hand out cheat sheets or anything, and he's not lecturing from the book. Think you should be writing this down? Even at my failed attempt at college years ago, if someone said "This is important and it will be on your test" I would have picked up a pen and written this shit down."<br /><br />It's frustrating to say the least, probably because I'm actually TRYING here and I'm tired of seeing people, even in these first few weeks that just don't give a crap. I understand it's in the evening, and you may have been at work. I work from 7-5 everyday, come home, eat dinner, and I'm off to class. I come home and study for like an hour or so, hit the sack and I'm up in the morning to do it all again. I get it. But GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. I have the feeling, that some of these people are ones who feel they "get" grades and not "earn" them. Responsibility, people. Get some.<br /><br />Dr. Government did have an interesting lecture that night. It was all about how the first draft of the constitution came about, and all of the compromises that they had to come to, and the secrecy of all of it. Apparently it almost came to guns being drawn at these meetings. Our forefathers were gangsters, yo. </span>The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-39585533115193669052012-09-12T13:08:00.002-07:002012-09-12T13:09:06.927-07:00Geography: Back To ClassMissed a week of geography because of the holiday, so I get back to campus #1 and start walking down the corridor to the building where my class is. On the way there, I'm looking out the windows of the walkway and I hear a girl walking towards me talking on the phone. "Well, I'm about to leave, so I'll see you in a few minutes. Ok, ciao" <br />
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Ciao? Really? You're not that cool, friend. I'm also almost positive this isn't Italy. Maybe this is just some attempt to make that word cool again, and if it is, I don't get it.<br />
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I get to class ad Mr. Geography (in an effort to keep people's names out of this, I'm just going to call all of my teachers by Mr. or Dr. and their subject, seems to be working thus far.) is unloading his bag onto the desk. Takes a few minutes and people start to get there. <br />
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Here's something that I don't understand. This guy has all of his notes that you need for the test, on his blogsite. He even ENCOURAGED people to print them out and just use those as notes and to follow along with them as he teaches. Still, there are people hauling ass with pen and paper, in fact MOST of the class. I don't get it. Work smarter, not harder. <br />
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We talked about things like why a country is considered 'developing' or 'first world' or whatever the case. The reasons behind the title, and what type of industry and things we can expect from those countries. I like the way he teaches. Show up and have a few questions on the board to answer... lecture, few more questions, lecture, questions, go home. Good way to re-cap what we just went over, I think. But what do I know.<br />
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During one of these Q and A sessions, he asked "What country would you LEAST want to live in." I responded with a pretty good answer of North Korea. Because well... Communist dictatorship, famine, horrible weather, military state, etc. One of the girls in the front row raises her hand and lets out an emphatic "QATAR!" <br />
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Mr. Geography says, "Why? Because it's hot? They have a good government, they're not poor. Life is pretty good there." <br />
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The reason she didn't want to live in said civilized country, you may or may not be asing? "Well, they have these camel spiders! Have you seen them? They're the size of a basketball and they can JUMP!"<br />
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OMG SPIDERS! Seriously? I found black widows in my backyard and my garage last year and you don't see me moving. I seriously HATE spiders, but I'm not going to avoid somewhere because there is a chance I could run into one. Chicks, man. The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851680891356654650.post-80532740253310473862012-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:002012-09-07T09:29:04.077-07:00Music: Damn Kids And Their Music<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get home from work Thursday and check the mail, and to my surprise... my music appreciation book and cd's FINALLY came in the mail! Still unsure if my class is cancelled, though. Jump on my school email, and sure enough, it's on. Hooray! <br /><br />Head up to campus #3 and walk into class, got there RIGHT at 6pm, and was a little surprised to only see three other students in my classroom. The three</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">idiots behind me didn't show up, only their buddy on the back row. I'm going to sound like a total old man here, but how do you expect to pass your class if you don't show up? Seriously. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />So, class starts. We start talking about music, which, I suppose is to be expected in this class. He explains things like tempo, rhythm, tone, etc. He goes on to talk about how scales work and things like that. I knew these things having been in band and playing music for years as a kid. He started to talk about syncopation (which, if you don't know, is what happens when you don't play a note on a downbeat, so if it's not on 1,2,3 or 4 but in between, it's syncopated. Got it? Good.) and he asks if anyone can think of an instance in a song of syncopation. He looks at me and says, "What about you, you play drums, can you think of anything, maybe from your personal library of music?"<br /><br />"Well, pretty much anything by Rush would have something. You could play anything that Neil Peart does with the Buddy Rich Orchestra as well." I had him look up one of the Buddy Rich tribute concerts with Neil and he showed a clip from you tube of them playing "Cotton Tail" (Check it out, it's great.)<br /><br />So he points out a few things and we listen for a minute or two. He then asks the class if anyone knows who Neil Peart is. Silence.<br /><br />He asks if any of them know who Rush is. Once again, silence. This is one of those instances where I'm not really surprised, but I'm disappointed. Mr. Music, being the guy that he is, felt it necessary to educate the class on who Rush is, and I'm glad he did. He pulled up the video for "Tom Sawyer" and let it play through. Nobody knew who they were. <br /><br />I'll bet if he played a Travis Barker video they would know who he was. Damn kids and their music...<br /><br />We started to get into the music that we are going to be listening to in class and he played a Gregorian chant that just made me feel like I was at church. He explained some of the history behind it and we took some more notes. Not too much else to class that night. We have a little bit of homework on what we went over in class, but it's nothing I can't knock out pretty easily. Pretty good end to another week of school. Looking forward to the rest of this class.</span>The Studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420819529478030502noreply@blogger.com0