So, 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.
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.
Here's what I don't like about my other two classes that I attend:
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...
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
I'm getting close to having to have a chat with this guy one day. It might not be pretty.
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.
I did this to myself... but it'll be worth it... it'll be worth it... it'll be worth it...
Showing posts with label Government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Government. Show all posts
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Tuesday: Texas Government
Yes, 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.
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.
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-
"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"
"I don't see what the point of having a government class is when big brother is just telling the teachers what to teach."
"What does Michelle Obama do, anyway? The first lady always has an agenda, all she does is go shopping?"
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.
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.
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.
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:
Dude: "Why are you going to that?"
Gay guy: "To expand my inner being."
Dude: "Sounds kinda gay."
Gay guy: "Thanks!"
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...
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.
My full name
My school email address
My phone number
Navy Vet
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.
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.
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.
Holy crap this is going to be a long semester.
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.
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-
"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"
"I don't see what the point of having a government class is when big brother is just telling the teachers what to teach."
"What does Michelle Obama do, anyway? The first lady always has an agenda, all she does is go shopping?"
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.
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.
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.
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:
Dude: "Why are you going to that?"
Gay guy: "To expand my inner being."
Dude: "Sounds kinda gay."
Gay guy: "Thanks!"
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...
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.
My full name
My school email address
My phone number
Navy Vet
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.
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.
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.
Holy crap this is going to be a long semester.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
The Calm After The Storm
Well, 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.
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.
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.
"You know what?... F##K THIS! I'm just going to drop this class."
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."
Dude: "Yeah I can, someone told me so."
Girl: "Who told you that?"
Dude: "Someone at the admissions office, they said I can drop until the last day."
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."
Dude: "Oh... S##t." **pages turning**
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I'll post more once I have my final grades for the semester. Have a great weekend!
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.
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.
"You know what?... F##K THIS! I'm just going to drop this class."
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."
Dude: "Yeah I can, someone told me so."
Girl: "Who told you that?"
Dude: "Someone at the admissions office, they said I can drop until the last day."
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."
Dude: "Oh... S##t." **pages turning**
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I'll post more once I have my final grades for the semester. Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
It's about time
I 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.
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.
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.
[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?
Bitchy Girl: No, I hate this class.
[Student] So, you don't like the class which makes it ok if you fail?
Bitchy Girl: I guess.
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.
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.
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.
[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?
Bitchy Girl: No, I hate this class.
[Student] So, you don't like the class which makes it ok if you fail?
Bitchy Girl: I guess.
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.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The Fallout
So, here is the post test-test-paper-paper fallout. Well, the majority of it.
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."
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.
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.
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... "
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.
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.
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.
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.
That's all for now. I'll try and post at least one more time before finals are over with.
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."
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.
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.
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... "
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.
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.
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.
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.
That's all for now. I'll try and post at least one more time before finals are over with.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The New Normal
So, 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.
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.
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.
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.
Government is tonight. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with that class, so we'll see how it goes.
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.
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.
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.
Government is tonight. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with that class, so we'll see how it goes.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Government: 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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."
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.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Odds and Ends
A few more miscellaneous things I didn't mention in my "catching up" post.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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."
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.
Another thing that made me shake my damn head...
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.
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.
I explained to them the whole story and one girl said "Wow, I wasn't even born yet."
To which I replied, "Good for you, man!" My veteran buddy thought that was funny.
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."
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?"
I said "1982.", knowing full well I was not going to be happy with what she said next:
"Wow, that's pretty old."
I was left speechless. Mr. English just shook his head.
*sigh.* Damn kids...
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.
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.
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.
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...
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."
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.
Another thing that made me shake my damn head...
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.
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.
I explained to them the whole story and one girl said "Wow, I wasn't even born yet."
To which I replied, "Good for you, man!" My veteran buddy thought that was funny.
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."
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?"
I said "1982.", knowing full well I was not going to be happy with what she said next:
"Wow, that's pretty old."
I was left speechless. Mr. English just shook his head.
*sigh.* Damn kids...
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Government: Gimmie Three Steps
It'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?"
"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."
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?
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.
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.
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.
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."
"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."
So, naturally one of the idiots, the guy who tries a little too hard to stand out says "Huh? What? Liquor?"
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.
"Meh, Tequila is better." To which that one new kid has to pipe up and say "Hell yeah, tequila is awesome."
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."
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
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.
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.
Test next week. Standby for results.
"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."
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?
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.
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.
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.
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."
"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."
So, naturally one of the idiots, the guy who tries a little too hard to stand out says "Huh? What? Liquor?"
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.
"Meh, Tequila is better." To which that one new kid has to pipe up and say "Hell yeah, tequila is awesome."
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."
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
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.
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.
Test next week. Standby for results.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Government: Something I've Noticed
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Government: It's beginning
Well, I knew it was coming, I just didn't think it was going to happen this fast. I mentioned in my very first post that "those damn kids" were probably going to get on my nerves, and it's happening.
Monday in government I was a little early. I had to stop and buy a couple of books on my way to class, so I stopped at the bookstore on my way in. It didn't take as long as I had anticipated, so I went and sat on the bench outside of my classroom. "Dr. Government", my teacher, shows up and opens the door. There were about three of us waiting to go in, so I get to have front row to watch everyone come in the door.
Now, I don't think I mentioned the two girls sitting at the table in front of me last week. There's only two of them, and they are pretty young. The one on the left, I'm going to guess is the older one, she looks to be about 21. She's a larger girl, and she said in a conversation that she's married. The other girl is really tiny. She's probably 19 or 20 and short, like five foot flat, probably weighs under a hundred pounds. The little one looks like a spoiled brat, talks like one too. Has a nice new Macbook Pro, nice jewelry, designer clothes... whole nine yards.
These two get to class and start chatting. I guess they know each other somehow. They start talking about almost everyone in class. The dumb blonde, the guy who wears all black, and what bothers me... the teacher.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that Dr. Government is a bit erratic. I mean the guy yells a lot and he's a bit weird, but from what I can tell, he's a really good teacher. He gets a little pumped up while he's lecturing and I think that's pretty awesome. The man is getting up there in years, he's got to be pushing 65 and he's still incredibly passionate about what he's teaching. He could show up every day, put up a power point presentation and say "Here's your notes, there's a quiz next week." but he doesn't do that. It's clear that he loves his job. I only hope that I'm that passionate about ANYTHING after I've been doing it that long.
They talk about him for being a little crazy, yelling about things and just him overall. You know what, I'll bet they remember him for YEARS and, come test time, they remember what he was yelling and going crazy about. It's a good way to get your point across. Personally, I'm glad he's my teacher.
One of these days, I'm sure I'll get tired of these two. It's not like they're talking about people at Starbucks or anything, they do it IN class talking about people right in front of them. I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out.
Aside from that, class was great. I learned quite a bit about the early forms of government our country had before it was really The United States of America. It's pretty interesting to see, or I suppose, to learn, what I wasn't taught before. I mean I couldn't take a test on the government class I had when I was in high school and expect to pass it right now, but things come back to me as I hear them. Certain things he was telling us I never knew. I think I like this class.
We are going to be getting out of this class around 10 o'clock every week it looks like because government in college has been reformatted in Texas recently. Now, essentially, we are taking a two semesters worth of class in ONE semester. Late nights on Tuesdays it looks like.
We leave class and as I head out into the parking lot, the little girl in front of me gets into her car... a nice new Infinity. I wonder what her Dad does for a living. Or maybe she's a... nah, if that were the case she wouldn't be in night classes.
Monday in government I was a little early. I had to stop and buy a couple of books on my way to class, so I stopped at the bookstore on my way in. It didn't take as long as I had anticipated, so I went and sat on the bench outside of my classroom. "Dr. Government", my teacher, shows up and opens the door. There were about three of us waiting to go in, so I get to have front row to watch everyone come in the door.
Now, I don't think I mentioned the two girls sitting at the table in front of me last week. There's only two of them, and they are pretty young. The one on the left, I'm going to guess is the older one, she looks to be about 21. She's a larger girl, and she said in a conversation that she's married. The other girl is really tiny. She's probably 19 or 20 and short, like five foot flat, probably weighs under a hundred pounds. The little one looks like a spoiled brat, talks like one too. Has a nice new Macbook Pro, nice jewelry, designer clothes... whole nine yards.
These two get to class and start chatting. I guess they know each other somehow. They start talking about almost everyone in class. The dumb blonde, the guy who wears all black, and what bothers me... the teacher.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that Dr. Government is a bit erratic. I mean the guy yells a lot and he's a bit weird, but from what I can tell, he's a really good teacher. He gets a little pumped up while he's lecturing and I think that's pretty awesome. The man is getting up there in years, he's got to be pushing 65 and he's still incredibly passionate about what he's teaching. He could show up every day, put up a power point presentation and say "Here's your notes, there's a quiz next week." but he doesn't do that. It's clear that he loves his job. I only hope that I'm that passionate about ANYTHING after I've been doing it that long.
They talk about him for being a little crazy, yelling about things and just him overall. You know what, I'll bet they remember him for YEARS and, come test time, they remember what he was yelling and going crazy about. It's a good way to get your point across. Personally, I'm glad he's my teacher.
One of these days, I'm sure I'll get tired of these two. It's not like they're talking about people at Starbucks or anything, they do it IN class talking about people right in front of them. I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out.
Aside from that, class was great. I learned quite a bit about the early forms of government our country had before it was really The United States of America. It's pretty interesting to see, or I suppose, to learn, what I wasn't taught before. I mean I couldn't take a test on the government class I had when I was in high school and expect to pass it right now, but things come back to me as I hear them. Certain things he was telling us I never knew. I think I like this class.
We are going to be getting out of this class around 10 o'clock every week it looks like because government in college has been reformatted in Texas recently. Now, essentially, we are taking a two semesters worth of class in ONE semester. Late nights on Tuesdays it looks like.
We leave class and as I head out into the parking lot, the little girl in front of me gets into her car... a nice new Infinity. I wonder what her Dad does for a living. Or maybe she's a... nah, if that were the case she wouldn't be in night classes.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday Night: Federal Government I
Well, after a pretty vanilla first day I make my way out to campus number 2 and my first day of Federal Government. Now, this part of town, or this particular suburb is pretty... well, it's pretty country. I was expecting more blue jeans and cowboy boots and got a bunch of saggy-ass pants and backwards ball caps. It was really a pretty diverse crowd, more so than it was eleven years ago when I first came to this school. Pretty much any social or ethnic group was well represented. This should lead for some pretty interesting conversation in my government class to say the least.
My class starts at 7, which is fifteen minutes later than I thought. I found my class and took a seat in the hallway. Surveying around, I look to be the oldest person waiting for this class. The teacher shows up at 6:55 and says for us to go in and grab a seat, he'll be back in a minute... this guy, seems interesting. He's probably in his 60's, slightly hunched over and walks with a shuffle. He's very energetic and friendly it seems. He's wearing a red flowered shirt with black slacks and white tennis shoes. Hell yes! I go in and sit in essentially the same place I sat the day before.
While waiting for the teacher to return, the rest of the class files in. We have a big jock wearing a black tank and some gym shorts, the two popular girls who won't shut up and seem quite bitchy. A dumb blonde. I'm not being mean, judging by the conversation she was having with the guy next to her, she's dumb as a post. Seriously. "Oh my gosh, I was so hungry on my way here, so I went to Sonic, but the line at the drive through at Sonic was long, so I ordered and I was waiting. And then I got tired of waiting and I told Jennifer I didn't want to be late for class so we got out of the line and came here. I wonder what happened to my food? I could be eating my food right now. It was so funny when we out out of that line." She was one of those girls that says everything like it was a question. Pencil, meet eyeball...
Eventually, we also had about a 50 year old lady that was too spunky for her own good. She must have just left Starbucks, there is no other explanation for her perkyness. She was also friends with the bitchy girls and gave them hugs when she got to class. That was weird.
Then THIS this guy comes in. Younger, I'd say around 20 and tall, around 6'3" or so. Wearing all black, and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he came from work at a restaurant or something, because he had a black button up shirt, black slacks and black shoes on... and sunglasses. Black aviators. No explanation there, just... weird. He moved slowly across the room and took a seat at the end of the row next to me. I also noticed he was a little scruffy in the face. No big deal, as I usually am too about five days a week. The problem with this guy is that he didn't quite have it all coming in yet. Think Joe Dirt's facial hair. It wasn't trimmed up this way on purpose, it was all this guy had.
The professor comes back at about 7:15 with a GIANT fountain drink. We're talking your big 44oz-er here. He comes in and starts speaking with a bit of a stutter. Oh man, that's going to drive me nuts. I wish there was a way that I could get a profile of everyone I'm about to meet a day ahead of time. Yesterday, with the teacher with the mysterious "back lump" and now this character. Physical deformities and speech impediments get my curiosities and imagination going. I have no problem with it, I mean I'm not going to not shake your hand because you have a scar on your face or something, I just can't help but think about it and be distracted at the same time you're trying to tell me important information.
Luckily that was NOT the case here. He starts with "I'm not going to pass out a syllabus, I'm not even going to start talking about government. You see, friends, we're here also to learn about.. ROCK AND ROLL!"
As he goes on, I can't help but think, as the night before, "Who does he remind me of?" Someone from TV or a movie... then it hits me. He looks just like "Doc" from Fraggle Rock! If you don't get the reference, perhaps you know this one. He also played the bartender in the movie Boondock Saints. Yes, my government teacher is "F*ck-ass" from Boondock Saints.
So for the first hour and a half of class, we had rock and roll trivia, going from the start of rock and roll up through the 70's with a couple of things coming after that. This was a chance to earn up to four points on my first exam. I managed to get all four points pretty early, and got to sit back and observe the lack of knowledge of the younger people in the class, which wound up being pretty funny.
One of the questions I answered was "Who was the African-American guitarist who wrote 'Johnny B. Goode'. I answered with Chuck Berry and got it correct. He then went on to say that Chuck Berry had all of his songs go straight to number two, but he broke that barrier with what risque song in 1968?*"
I raised my hand... "Would that be 'My Ding-A-Ling?"
He replied with an enthusiastic "YES!!" and wrote down my extra point in his book. What happened next was simply great. He sang the entire first verse of "My Ding-A-Ling". I've sen lots of things, I've been lots of places, but I never thought I'd go back to school to have my professor stand at the front of the class to sing that song. Mind. Blown.
So he moves on through the 60's and he starts to talk about Led Zeppelin. He asks the class what their most famous song was. Guy sitting next to the dumb blonde answers with "Hot for teacher". The professor doesn't even know who sang that. Once I told him it was Van Halen, he scoffed at them like they were Nickelback or something. One of the bitchy girls answered with "Welcome To The Jungle" and I almost lost my mind. Freakin' kids.
Amazingly enough, the dumb blonde got the answer correct! There may be hope for this chick yet. This went on for a while longer before we took a break.
After the break class was pretty uneventful. We wound up taking some notes, which was great. We were told what to write down and once we were done he'd tell us to put our pens down. Simple enough. He didn't even pass out that syllabus he promised us because the office they were in was locked up for the night. He did assign us a one page paper for bonus points on our second test. Looks like I'm going to be +2 on that test also.
This class should be fun. I no longer have anxiety about Government. Composition and Rhetoric 2 is tomorrow at the same campus. I took the first class 11 years ago. This is going to suck.
*According to what I looked up online "My Ding-A-Ling" actually came out in 1972, but the original version "My Tambourine" came out in '68. I should tell him this in case some nerd comes out and corrects him.
My class starts at 7, which is fifteen minutes later than I thought. I found my class and took a seat in the hallway. Surveying around, I look to be the oldest person waiting for this class. The teacher shows up at 6:55 and says for us to go in and grab a seat, he'll be back in a minute... this guy, seems interesting. He's probably in his 60's, slightly hunched over and walks with a shuffle. He's very energetic and friendly it seems. He's wearing a red flowered shirt with black slacks and white tennis shoes. Hell yes! I go in and sit in essentially the same place I sat the day before.
While waiting for the teacher to return, the rest of the class files in. We have a big jock wearing a black tank and some gym shorts, the two popular girls who won't shut up and seem quite bitchy. A dumb blonde. I'm not being mean, judging by the conversation she was having with the guy next to her, she's dumb as a post. Seriously. "Oh my gosh, I was so hungry on my way here, so I went to Sonic, but the line at the drive through at Sonic was long, so I ordered and I was waiting. And then I got tired of waiting and I told Jennifer I didn't want to be late for class so we got out of the line and came here. I wonder what happened to my food? I could be eating my food right now. It was so funny when we out out of that line." She was one of those girls that says everything like it was a question. Pencil, meet eyeball...
Eventually, we also had about a 50 year old lady that was too spunky for her own good. She must have just left Starbucks, there is no other explanation for her perkyness. She was also friends with the bitchy girls and gave them hugs when she got to class. That was weird.
Then THIS this guy comes in. Younger, I'd say around 20 and tall, around 6'3" or so. Wearing all black, and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he came from work at a restaurant or something, because he had a black button up shirt, black slacks and black shoes on... and sunglasses. Black aviators. No explanation there, just... weird. He moved slowly across the room and took a seat at the end of the row next to me. I also noticed he was a little scruffy in the face. No big deal, as I usually am too about five days a week. The problem with this guy is that he didn't quite have it all coming in yet. Think Joe Dirt's facial hair. It wasn't trimmed up this way on purpose, it was all this guy had.
The professor comes back at about 7:15 with a GIANT fountain drink. We're talking your big 44oz-er here. He comes in and starts speaking with a bit of a stutter. Oh man, that's going to drive me nuts. I wish there was a way that I could get a profile of everyone I'm about to meet a day ahead of time. Yesterday, with the teacher with the mysterious "back lump" and now this character. Physical deformities and speech impediments get my curiosities and imagination going. I have no problem with it, I mean I'm not going to not shake your hand because you have a scar on your face or something, I just can't help but think about it and be distracted at the same time you're trying to tell me important information.
Luckily that was NOT the case here. He starts with "I'm not going to pass out a syllabus, I'm not even going to start talking about government. You see, friends, we're here also to learn about.. ROCK AND ROLL!"
As he goes on, I can't help but think, as the night before, "Who does he remind me of?" Someone from TV or a movie... then it hits me. He looks just like "Doc" from Fraggle Rock! If you don't get the reference, perhaps you know this one. He also played the bartender in the movie Boondock Saints. Yes, my government teacher is "F*ck-ass" from Boondock Saints.
So for the first hour and a half of class, we had rock and roll trivia, going from the start of rock and roll up through the 70's with a couple of things coming after that. This was a chance to earn up to four points on my first exam. I managed to get all four points pretty early, and got to sit back and observe the lack of knowledge of the younger people in the class, which wound up being pretty funny.
One of the questions I answered was "Who was the African-American guitarist who wrote 'Johnny B. Goode'. I answered with Chuck Berry and got it correct. He then went on to say that Chuck Berry had all of his songs go straight to number two, but he broke that barrier with what risque song in 1968?*"
I raised my hand... "Would that be 'My Ding-A-Ling?"
He replied with an enthusiastic "YES!!" and wrote down my extra point in his book. What happened next was simply great. He sang the entire first verse of "My Ding-A-Ling". I've sen lots of things, I've been lots of places, but I never thought I'd go back to school to have my professor stand at the front of the class to sing that song. Mind. Blown.
So he moves on through the 60's and he starts to talk about Led Zeppelin. He asks the class what their most famous song was. Guy sitting next to the dumb blonde answers with "Hot for teacher". The professor doesn't even know who sang that. Once I told him it was Van Halen, he scoffed at them like they were Nickelback or something. One of the bitchy girls answered with "Welcome To The Jungle" and I almost lost my mind. Freakin' kids.
Amazingly enough, the dumb blonde got the answer correct! There may be hope for this chick yet. This went on for a while longer before we took a break.
After the break class was pretty uneventful. We wound up taking some notes, which was great. We were told what to write down and once we were done he'd tell us to put our pens down. Simple enough. He didn't even pass out that syllabus he promised us because the office they were in was locked up for the night. He did assign us a one page paper for bonus points on our second test. Looks like I'm going to be +2 on that test also.
This class should be fun. I no longer have anxiety about Government. Composition and Rhetoric 2 is tomorrow at the same campus. I took the first class 11 years ago. This is going to suck.
*According to what I looked up online "My Ding-A-Ling" actually came out in 1972, but the original version "My Tambourine" came out in '68. I should tell him this in case some nerd comes out and corrects him.
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