I'm currently between classes right now. I've got a half-an-hour break between my first two classes today followed by a two-and-a-half hour break between my last two classes. Today is my longest day.
From 8am to 4pm.
I realize that this is basically an eight-hour day. Most normal working people go to work for this long day in and day out.
But clearly I'm not normal. In fact, I'm spoiled. I only have five classes. And they're spread out pretty well. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I start late. My first class, Calculus III, is from 1:20-2:40 and that's followed closely by my Elements of Physics Class at 2:50-4:10. Yes I finish late on that day as well, but I start in the afternoon and I'm only really on campus for about 2-3 hours (depending on whether I have a test on that day or not). Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays (initially) I had Microeconomics at 8:00-9:20 (although we usually end a little after 9 but before 9:15 because of the professor's stamina. His words. Not mine). Then I have my first break, the break mentioned above, followed by Abnormal Psychology from 11:00-12:20.
Which by the way, I love. I love learning about all the different disorders: the symptoms, treatments, I even enjoy learning about the statistics. If I had the choice, and it either didn't matter if I got a job or not or I had a job lined up right after college, I'd want to major in psychology. I don't know what branch though, I was thinking about psychiatry but I'm not sure. And I'd also love to minor in photography. I definitely don't like being in front of the camera. Some people are just photogenic and I am just not one of those people. I can't quite figure out how to smile without making my eyes disappear. It's a work in progress. I much prefer being behind the camera and taking the perfect shot. Freezing a moment in time, keeping it forever, what's not to love about that?
But it's irrelevant at this point. I am attempting to become a civil engineering major. And I really want it. For me and my parents.
That's the one thing I really want. To make my parents proud. Above all things, I want to make them happy and proud of me.
Disappointing them would definitely fall under my fears category. Along with spiders and being generally unhappy with my life. I'm a deep person, I know.
And after that long tangent, let's get back on topic.
Note that I put "initially" in italics. That's because that's how my schedule was previously. It is no longer.
But to be honest, only Tuesday changed. I still go home after Psychology on Thursdays (which is perfect because I have Fridays off, so my weekend starts early).
But on Tuesday, I had to add Calc III Recitation.
Imagine my surprise when I went into that class I learned that recitation was required.
WHAT?! (dramatization)
I thought that if you were registered for the lecture, you were automatically registered for recitation. But of course, Rutgers likes to be different. And naturally I find this out after the add/drop date passed so I had to fill out a form and get it signed by multiple people and then have the Registrar register me for the class.
All I might add while I made the decision to break in my new boots on campus. I'm clearly a genius.
So now, on Tuesdays I have to stay after Psychology for another two-and-a-half hours for a recitation from 3:00-3:55. I know it's only 55 minutes long. But it's the longest 55 minutes, I'm certain. The teacher doesn't wait for people to raise their hands, no. He goes down each row and makes each person answer a question. If I knew all the answers and was actually studying for this class, then it wouldn't be an issue. But I don't study. I hate it and I hate that I sound like an idiot when I can't answer a simple question that everyone else in the class seems to know.
That's pretty much why I didn't go to class last Tuesday. I didn't want to deal with it and I'm just not happy with that class. If we didn't take quizzes in that class and it didn't count towards our final grade, I wouldn't go. That's how it was with Calculus I, the recitation wasn't mandatory, they only went over homework questions (I didn't have the book, ergo I didn't do the homework) and at the end of the semester, recitation only added a few extra credit points to your final grade. But they've caught on. Now they're making recitation part of your final grade. So I'm forced to go really.
I feel like such an idiot in that class. I feel like I'm the one stupid kid in a room full of students who know what they're doing.
Although, last Wednesday, we had our first exam and I thought everyone else knew what they were doing because they never had any questions in lecture and there were a lot of people who finished their exam quickly, so I thought I was screwed. I knew 5 out of 8 questions on that test (which I'm happy to report I got the 5 questions I knew right and the 3 questions I didn't know wrong. I'm calling that a win). I thought I was going to bring the average down.
But then to my surprise, when I got to class on Monday everyone was talking about not knowing what they were doing on that test and that they got such a bad/low grade on the test. I heard that one person got a 31! 31%!!
You have no idea the relief I felt at that point. I'm not the only one struggling.
Well. Struggling is a harsh word. It's not that I'm struggling. For the most part, I'm understanding what's happening in class right now. And the homework, except a few questions, I can answer pretty easily (although I do refer back to my notes). So I get what's going on in lecture, but then during the exam I just blank. I'm just not a good test taker. I'm human.
Oh and if you're wondering about my grade. I'm not telling. But let's just say that it's pretty much the same mark I got on my Calc II first exam. Clearly, I'm nothing if not consistent.
So today is Tuesday. And my longest day. *sigh*
I hate these long days. And having a long break before recitation is both good and terrible. It's good because I have the chance to go over my notes in hopes of not sounding like a complete airhead in class. But at the same time it's terrible because I have a whole two hours to mull over whether or not I should go to class.
I just don't like this class.
I don't.
What else can I talk about...
Oh, Sunday I went to Church, as per usual. And Father John was presiding. And while he's young, I feel like he's trying a little too hard to be funny (during the homily) and some of his jokes don't exactly hit it out of the park. But this Sunday was different. He started his homily with a joke which was funny, even I laughed. And then he kinda lost me, I'll admit that. But then towards the end of his homily, he says "on a completely unrelated topic" and I got a little concerned because I thought that he wasn't finished and was going to keep talking. But then he talks about the brain and how it reaches its peak at the age of 22 and starts its cognitive decline at the age of 27. Then he goes on to tell us that's he's 31, "four years into his cognitive decline" (his words, not mine) and that his memory isn't what it used to be or something like that. Then he starts to talk about how one of the altar servers filled up the baptismal font really well and then he mentions that he forgot to bring the "book." Now I'm sure there's a name for this book and I know he said it, but I can't remember. I haven't even reached my peak and already it's not looking good. Anyway, then he says that he needs to get the book because the altar server doesn't know where it is. And promptly leaves the altar to retrieve the book after our laughter.
I thought that was a BRILLIANT segue. Brilliant. I was very impressed.
Anyway, my hands are cramping from the typing. So I need to wrap this up.
It's been real. And it's be nice.
Until next time!
-- JoAnne
**Note: I'm lazy, so if there are any mistakes or something that could be worded better or something that doesn't flow as easily as it should, just deal with it, figure out how to say it better, say it in your head and then keep on reading. I'm only human.
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