Studying and Skiing
Okay folks, I promised a little bit more and here it is.....
I want to say that school is going well and in some ways it is. The class I feel strongest in is Communications 480, "Exploring Social Advocacy," we are supposed to do a project on a social movement, so I am doing a project on Homeschooling. I have about a page and a half of typed notes, plus another page and a half of interview questions for two people who I am going to interview for this piece. It's not that much but once I expand out the interview questions with the interviewees' answers, I expect it to be a lot longer. I just calculated my grade based on my test scores, I am in a high B range. Throw in the fact that I have perfect attendance (which is 30% of my grade) and I basically would have to really screw up not to get a B plus or even an A, which is a nice place to be. The interesting thing is that the class LOOKS easy. All you have to do is show up every day and you are 30% of the way to an A, and there are so many quizzes (one every time we meet) that one can screw up several and still come out with a decent average test score. The killer is the semester project, which makes up 40% of the grade, so I have to do well on that, which means there is still work to be done.
My Anthropology class is also going well, I got a 90% on my first exam. My concern now is my semester project for which I have done virtually no work. My mom is going to write me back and yell at me for that but, hey, that's what spring break is for. Maybe I can get some work done on that at home, since I can dial into the university's website and access a bunch of articles on line.
My two weakest classes are comm 105 and comm 422. The latter class, communications development, I am about to drop. I have failed two tests and it's just a mess. I spoke with the professor Thursday and she told me that while the class is listed as a Comm class, it's really a child development class and that she wishes that comm advisers would stop recommending it. She told me to go ahead and drop the course but encouraged me to take her other comm development course, which focuses on adolescents (this one focuses on infants through about age ten.) The adolescents class will be useful because I am interested in law enforcement and if I ever have to arrest kids, I will understand them better. Right now, however, comm 422 is just dead weight. My brother used to have a CD with a song on it called "Guilty." There was a line in "Guilty" about "throwing off the bodies to cut down on the drag," which is precisely what I plan to do with my 422 class.
Comm 105 is a self paced "intro to major" class which I wish I had taken last semester, but oh well. I'm only nervous about this class because I put it on the back burner for a while while I worked on that darn 422 class, (and watched the Olympics. Guilty!) All I really have to do, though, is catch up on my tests and I will be alright. The instructor allows us to use notes on the tests, so it's just a matter of taking good notes. I have five pages for the latest chapters. I expect to knock out a test on Tuesday or Thursday and that will be three on the semester and only two more for a passing grade, or four to get an A (I want the A). I also have some article reviews to write, but I have two in already and I am almost done with a third. (I need five total).
So, I have two things I have to "worry about" right now, my tests in comm 105 and my Anthro semester project. If I get on top of those, this SHOULD be a good semester.
I went on a really cool ski trip to Ashland OR last weekend with a bunch of HSU students. One day of skiing was all we did but it was still loads of fun. It was the first time I'd ever skied on the west coast. Now I have skied the East Coast, Midwest, Rockies, and the West Coast. I should try heliskiing in Alaska and the wintertime skiing on Mona Kea in Hawaii, then I will have skied every time zone in the 50 states, HA HA.
Being in Oregon was great, I saw some old friends who had me over for a delicious dinner and I got a little tour of Ashland, OR, which is a neat little town that looked HUGE compared to Arcata, but Eureka, CA looks big compared to Arcata.
That's all I have time to write right now, but I do have to say that I am really happy that one of the new Buffalo Nickels has found its way into my possession. It was in the washing machine last time I did a laundry run. I found it in the washing machine. I don't know if it was from my pocket or someone else's but its mine now. Last year, when I went to Yellowstone NP, we saw buffalo and I think they are one of the coolest animals out there, so I am happy to see them back on the nickel.
That's really everything, except that I will start looking into getting a new ID card from the school because the magnetic strip on my current one is wearing out and making things VERY difficult for me.
I want to say that school is going well and in some ways it is. The class I feel strongest in is Communications 480, "Exploring Social Advocacy," we are supposed to do a project on a social movement, so I am doing a project on Homeschooling. I have about a page and a half of typed notes, plus another page and a half of interview questions for two people who I am going to interview for this piece. It's not that much but once I expand out the interview questions with the interviewees' answers, I expect it to be a lot longer. I just calculated my grade based on my test scores, I am in a high B range. Throw in the fact that I have perfect attendance (which is 30% of my grade) and I basically would have to really screw up not to get a B plus or even an A, which is a nice place to be. The interesting thing is that the class LOOKS easy. All you have to do is show up every day and you are 30% of the way to an A, and there are so many quizzes (one every time we meet) that one can screw up several and still come out with a decent average test score. The killer is the semester project, which makes up 40% of the grade, so I have to do well on that, which means there is still work to be done.
My Anthropology class is also going well, I got a 90% on my first exam. My concern now is my semester project for which I have done virtually no work. My mom is going to write me back and yell at me for that but, hey, that's what spring break is for. Maybe I can get some work done on that at home, since I can dial into the university's website and access a bunch of articles on line.
My two weakest classes are comm 105 and comm 422. The latter class, communications development, I am about to drop. I have failed two tests and it's just a mess. I spoke with the professor Thursday and she told me that while the class is listed as a Comm class, it's really a child development class and that she wishes that comm advisers would stop recommending it. She told me to go ahead and drop the course but encouraged me to take her other comm development course, which focuses on adolescents (this one focuses on infants through about age ten.) The adolescents class will be useful because I am interested in law enforcement and if I ever have to arrest kids, I will understand them better. Right now, however, comm 422 is just dead weight. My brother used to have a CD with a song on it called "Guilty." There was a line in "Guilty" about "throwing off the bodies to cut down on the drag," which is precisely what I plan to do with my 422 class.
Comm 105 is a self paced "intro to major" class which I wish I had taken last semester, but oh well. I'm only nervous about this class because I put it on the back burner for a while while I worked on that darn 422 class, (and watched the Olympics. Guilty!) All I really have to do, though, is catch up on my tests and I will be alright. The instructor allows us to use notes on the tests, so it's just a matter of taking good notes. I have five pages for the latest chapters. I expect to knock out a test on Tuesday or Thursday and that will be three on the semester and only two more for a passing grade, or four to get an A (I want the A). I also have some article reviews to write, but I have two in already and I am almost done with a third. (I need five total).
So, I have two things I have to "worry about" right now, my tests in comm 105 and my Anthro semester project. If I get on top of those, this SHOULD be a good semester.
I went on a really cool ski trip to Ashland OR last weekend with a bunch of HSU students. One day of skiing was all we did but it was still loads of fun. It was the first time I'd ever skied on the west coast. Now I have skied the East Coast, Midwest, Rockies, and the West Coast. I should try heliskiing in Alaska and the wintertime skiing on Mona Kea in Hawaii, then I will have skied every time zone in the 50 states, HA HA.
Being in Oregon was great, I saw some old friends who had me over for a delicious dinner and I got a little tour of Ashland, OR, which is a neat little town that looked HUGE compared to Arcata, but Eureka, CA looks big compared to Arcata.
That's all I have time to write right now, but I do have to say that I am really happy that one of the new Buffalo Nickels has found its way into my possession. It was in the washing machine last time I did a laundry run. I found it in the washing machine. I don't know if it was from my pocket or someone else's but its mine now. Last year, when I went to Yellowstone NP, we saw buffalo and I think they are one of the coolest animals out there, so I am happy to see them back on the nickel.
That's really everything, except that I will start looking into getting a new ID card from the school because the magnetic strip on my current one is wearing out and making things VERY difficult for me.
posted by John Imrie at Sunday, March 05, 2006
0 comments
