Week One Done
Last Thursday was my first class of the semester. As of tonight, I've finally attended each class at least once. The observations so far:
I'm glad that I took so many web based classes before this semester. They force a student to be much more disciplined about studying. As a result, with four on campus classes, I already have myself trained on a schedule of sorts to get my work done.
One of the benefits of managing the meal prep kitchen is one I didn't realize until last Thursday. It ends up that being surrounded by so many native Spanish speakers and having to find ways to communicate with them trained my ear without me realizing it. The pronunciation part will be a little easier, thanks to them!
When you're chatting with a classmate and professor after class about statistics and comment that it's 'real world math, but applied to psychology', the professor nods and agrees. The fact that he is as sarcastic as all get out is going to make those lectures better.
Everyone was trying to put the fear of God into me about the class, but I am the strange person who LIKES stats and number crunches things for fun sometimes. Please don't throw anything at me, there's a subject you love that I hate, I promise.
The Tampa campus class is taught by an Assistant Professor who is extremely energetic and irreverent. When a slide in this morning's lecture displays "I blog, therefore I am", you know I had a good laugh. If the auditorium full of students is laughing at the crazy early 8am class, that's a good sign.
Finally, tonight's class. I took this professor last semester and liked her teaching style. A known quantity for a course that is probably the hardest in this semester's schedule is a good thing. Apparently, a full third of my peers from that class agreed-it was like a reunion tonight. This time, we have group projects, but we got to choose our groups and I know all the others from two classes last semester. There won't be a repeat of that Ethics class on group work!
Five classes is not going to be a walk in the park. Unfortunately, the thing that's going to give me the most trouble has nothing to do with the course work. All week, I have been hurting after sitting in chairs. No matter how I sit, one of the incisions in my leg is affected OR the RSD (it now affects the whole stupid leg below the knee).
By the second class on Tuesday, I realized that this might present a problem, so I informed all the instructors that I need to get up and walk off the pain before it gets out of hand. One professor suggested propping up the leg on another chair, and I'll try it.
In trying to come up with solutions that can be carried in the backpack, I was thinking my cervical pillow might come to class. Then I got a free tee shirt on campus this afternoon and as I rolled it up to fit it in my bag, inspiration struck. It got placed under my leg and while the pain isn't gone, it wasn't as bad. Propping up my leg can't happen in at least two of those classes, but I will see what I can do so that I'm not miserable during those three hour lectures.
Fifteen weeks, seventy five chapters, and eighteen tests to go...
I'm glad that I took so many web based classes before this semester. They force a student to be much more disciplined about studying. As a result, with four on campus classes, I already have myself trained on a schedule of sorts to get my work done.
One of the benefits of managing the meal prep kitchen is one I didn't realize until last Thursday. It ends up that being surrounded by so many native Spanish speakers and having to find ways to communicate with them trained my ear without me realizing it. The pronunciation part will be a little easier, thanks to them!
When you're chatting with a classmate and professor after class about statistics and comment that it's 'real world math, but applied to psychology', the professor nods and agrees. The fact that he is as sarcastic as all get out is going to make those lectures better.
Everyone was trying to put the fear of God into me about the class, but I am the strange person who LIKES stats and number crunches things for fun sometimes. Please don't throw anything at me, there's a subject you love that I hate, I promise.
The Tampa campus class is taught by an Assistant Professor who is extremely energetic and irreverent. When a slide in this morning's lecture displays "I blog, therefore I am", you know I had a good laugh. If the auditorium full of students is laughing at the crazy early 8am class, that's a good sign.
Finally, tonight's class. I took this professor last semester and liked her teaching style. A known quantity for a course that is probably the hardest in this semester's schedule is a good thing. Apparently, a full third of my peers from that class agreed-it was like a reunion tonight. This time, we have group projects, but we got to choose our groups and I know all the others from two classes last semester. There won't be a repeat of that Ethics class on group work!
Five classes is not going to be a walk in the park. Unfortunately, the thing that's going to give me the most trouble has nothing to do with the course work. All week, I have been hurting after sitting in chairs. No matter how I sit, one of the incisions in my leg is affected OR the RSD (it now affects the whole stupid leg below the knee).
By the second class on Tuesday, I realized that this might present a problem, so I informed all the instructors that I need to get up and walk off the pain before it gets out of hand. One professor suggested propping up the leg on another chair, and I'll try it.
In trying to come up with solutions that can be carried in the backpack, I was thinking my cervical pillow might come to class. Then I got a free tee shirt on campus this afternoon and as I rolled it up to fit it in my bag, inspiration struck. It got placed under my leg and while the pain isn't gone, it wasn't as bad. Propping up my leg can't happen in at least two of those classes, but I will see what I can do so that I'm not miserable during those three hour lectures.
Fifteen weeks, seventy five chapters, and eighteen tests to go...
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