A Freshman At 39

I have to stop by the bookstore in route to class this afternoon... seems that in my haste, i picked up 'volume II' of a text of which i needed 'volume I'. It's on the way, so i won't have to make a special trip anywhere. The only assignment that i had for that class was to start reading the intro and the first chapter.

bravo... go me.

my tip-off that it was the wrong book?
When i opened it, flipped past the table of contents, and ran into large red type that said "Chapter 12".

*exasperated sigh*

Yeah... i changed my schedule yet again.

Well, WE changed it... i now have COMM 122, HIST 101, POLS 220, and POLS 240.
We worked out all of the schedule conflicts, and such, and i think it's all going to work just fine.

Got my books today... $210 for everything, plus an extra $5 for a day-planner for the year, so i can keep track (at a glance) of all my assignments and exams and such.

I've attended one class in each, and i think the one that i'm going to enjoy most will be State & Local Gov. Mr. Berch seems pretty cool, and i've already made a couple of acquaintances in there to bum notes from, if i do happen to miss a class.

I have some reading to do in the morning for History, but i already completed the reading for POLS. Then, after classes, it's home for an hour and then off to work.

Remind me to thank oktoberain again for working this all out so that i don't have any classes before 10am... that's going to be a huge relief, plus give me extra study time here at home.

For the 4th time in as many weeks, my class schedule has taken a major overhaul.

It's only 12 hours, because i have to be able to work as well, but they are well layed out to accommodate the massive amounts of reading that is going to be required.

As it stands, my schedule is as follows:

M-W-F
12:00-12:50pm - POLS 220-002 State & Local Government
(Evansdale campus)

T-TH
10:00-11:15am - POLS 240-001 Intro to Public Administration
11:30-12:45pm - POLS 103-004 Global Political Issues
1:00- 2:15pm - COMM 122-001 Human Communication in Contemporary Society

Even though the 'global issues' class is only a 100-level course, i'm quite possibly looking forward to that one more than the others. It's taught by Chrissy Estep, the same prof who presided over my POLS 101 in my first semester. She and i developed something of a rapport, and she's an involving lecturer, so this class will most likely be a lot like the off-topic discussions that our 101 class found ourselves in on occasion.

The lovely supervisor at the FinAid office wrote me back before 4pm, explained the problem AND what i needed to do in order to become eligible again for that grant NEXT academic year ('07-'08), and then set-up additional loan money to offset the lost grant money!

whew...

o.k... things are gonna be alright...

In the first time that i've logged into the student MIX system in the past month, i noticed something of some concern.

A $3k grant that i was supposedly eligible for had been 'canceled'.

I called the grant-issuing agency, and they told me that i had been approved.

I called the financial aid office here, and they told me a different story.

It seem that i am 1% below the level of completion that i needed for the last academic year (69% of my credits earned, instead of 70%), and as such, this grant was canceled.

The admin in charge of this program wasn't in her office when i called (though the general FinAid assistant was very helpful), so i obtained the e-mail address of the 'out of the office' admin, and wrote her a letter, asking her about the possibility of appeal, explaining my 'good grades despite extenuating circumstances', and asking her about any other programs that might be able to help (should there be no 'wiggle room' on this one).

I'm really hoping to hear something, one way or the other, before the weekend. Otherwise, i'm going to worry.

In the meanwhile, i have to figure out what other class i'm going to take, because i'm not going to take more than 12 hours this semester. I can't afford (academically or financially) to keep trying to take too big a course-load, and then dropping things. I need to find a happy medium where i can get good grades and keep up, without working myself to death.

The "good": grades were posted for the semester (posted a day early, too, i might add), and i ended up with 2 'A's and 2 'B's...

Because of the credit value differences of a couple of the classes, that gives me a 3.4 GPA for the semester, and a 3.04 for the year!!!

The "bad": i am 3 credits shy of 'officially' being a sophomore, and i have neither the time nor the $ to do a summer-session class to make it up.

Oh well... that means that oktoberain and i will technically be in the same class.

The "ugly": despite it being one of my days off, and nothing of real consequence to do around the house, today has been one for the shitter.

I owe my oktoberain about a zillion more apologies...

so if you all will excuse me, i think i'll start delivering them in person, instead of here!

Two of my three finals are in the box, and both will bear results with which i am rather happy. The POLS one may well net me my first A of the semester.

Tomorrow, i have to meet Mrs. Rodabaugh at 1pm, so that i can take care of that last one. My little mishap on Tuesday prevented me from getting that one out of the way.

I'm hemming and hawing about selling my books back. We need the cash, but i have no idea yet if any of the ones i have will benefit oktoberain in the fall, so i'm in a bit of a quandary.

oh well... almost done. One test to go.

I think i am going to give my ankle one more healing day (i'm scheduled to work all weekend, starting tomorrow night). It's been tight, and sore, and not able to bear much, if any, weight, except for just on the ball of my foot, and then only for the purposes of balance. I think i need it to be able to function more than that in order to to go 8 hours in the office.

I've had to do these in two of my classes thus far, though i either missed out on doing Mrs Rodabaugh's, or she hasn't done them yet.

On DiClerico and Hammock's, i gave them good reviews, though nothing in the comments. They are both capable instructors, but there's nothing that stands out.

I did Dr. Weiner's today, and i DID have something to say.

At the beginning of the semester, you told us that you would likely say things that would "make us mad", or challenge our conveniently held ideas and opinions with your observations and thoughts. In the last few weeks, your answer response from controversial topics in class has been, in so many words, "I'm not going there... you can, but i'm not".

What happened? Have you been threatened academically for your less-than conservative views? I used to look forward to getting to class at 8:30am.

I hope that he recognizes my handwriting, so that we can talk about this sometime. I hate to see a good, engaging lecturer hold back because of the perception that he may get into trouble, and he doesn't strike me as someone who would suddenly change his mind about sharing his views, and self-censor.

I am kicking myself repeatedly right now.

I hadn't meant to slack off this past couple of weeks, but that damned toothache, and now the residual jaw pain has left me with little energy and motivation.

I keep telling myself that it's just two more weeks until the semester is over, so i have to buckle down and get ready for finals...

"Dead week" is this week, and hopefully i can get my reading and such caught up, so that i'm not cramming next week. I cannot express how glad i am to see the end of the semester looming large on the horizon, especially since i've been in such physical discomfort for what's now been almost 2 weeks.

Today, i have to go to the lab, or to work, and print out the 'take home' exam for "Killer Angels", as well as the study guide for my history final (since she sent them in WORD, which i don't have on here... maybe i should go and buy that instead of having to go elsewhere?! ya think?!?!). I downloaded the "SparkNotes" for the book (to help out), though i really, truly need to sit down and read the danged thing...

I don't have another day off until Monday... grr...

T-minus 12 days until my 'summer' begins...
no summer session classes for me, either... i couldn't do that to Brendan and Brandy, who have been looking forward to me being HOME, so that we can do some fun stuff together, even if it's just a picnic at Coopers Rock, an occasional two-day camping trip at Chestnut Ridge park, or a weekend in DC.

"Tough" to get out of bed this morning would be understating.

Even tougher to actually go to History this morning... i seriously considered skipping, in order to have just a little extra time to review for that POLS exam.

Glad i went to class, though... it de-stressed me.

The exam itself was tough, but i think that i did better on this oone than i did last time. I need a couple of A's to bring up the B's.

I have another of DiClerico's infamous exams in the morning, so this will be a 'no sleep tonight' sort-of night for me.

I was smart this time, though, and took a nap for about an hour, so at least i'm not all drowsy-headed, like i was when i was prepping for my history exam last week.

I'm about to hit the books hard, save for a quick e-mail check; palegreenstar may be sending me additional class notes, from a couple of days where i wasn't there. If not, i'll get through on just re-reading, and absorbing my own notes.

This was a section that contained a lot of material that i went over in 101... i am confident in not only being able to pass it, but perhaps even managing my first A in that class. If i can do that, and manage an A on the (non-comprehensive) final at the beginning of May, i may well pull of an A for the semester.

go me!

or so they tell me it is, anyway...

I have to work for at least the next 5 days - most likely 7 in a row - but i will be off next weekend. I'm really hoping that th weather is nice then, because oktoberain, Brendan, and i have plans to go to Washington DC for a couple of days, and enjoy springtime amongst the marble monuments and history.

This time last year, Brendan's favorite movie was "National Treasure"... i wonder if he'll remember all the fuss about the "Declaration of Independence"? The National Archives will be one of the 'definite' places we'll go, because both oktoberain and i very much wish to get to see the Declaration, as well as the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We'll likely also go to the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the Holocaust Museum. Anything else will be dependent on how everyone is feeling, and how much time we have (B's mom might be going with us, and she has to be on oxygen, so her capabilities will determine a lot).

The one thing that i can't let myself do is to be a lazy bum around the house all week. There are chores to be done around the house, and a lot of reading that i need to catch up on. I have two exams in the week that we return to classes, too, so i MUST make myself do the reading.

i really, REALLY have to get that software soon...

methinks that Dr. Weiner must have included something about NOT having class today in the attachment that i couldn't open last night.

So, of course i went to class, sat there until 8:30.

There was one other peoson in the room... he didn't egt the memo either, obviously.

Grrr... should have stayed in bed.

But, i guess i needed some writing time, since i had two things to turn in for UNI 101. It's the last day of that class, and though the 'final' will be lame, it will at least be over with, and as long as i go to the two "Festival of Ideas" presentations that i'm planning on, i'll get an A in there, and won;t have to deal with that ever again.

Oh... note to self: I have to stop by Acadeic Services tomorrow, so i can gert my registration term PIN for this coming fall.

Since i wasn't in class yesterday to get my latest PoliSci grade, i slipped in there on the way6 home today and took a peek at the wall.

88%!

That's a B+, which is about 7 points better than the last test.

I also got my grade for Human Geog, and that one was a 93%! I was tied for second-highest grade in te class, although someone got a perfect score. There were a lot of Ds and Fs as well... this could well be because Dr. Weiner doesn't test from the lecture notes; he tests, for the most part, straight from the textbook, and i suspect an awful lot of the folks in that class have never even opened it.

Next week will be the last of my remedial UNI 101 classes. We're cutting it a week short, taking the final next class period, and handing in any last-minute 'festival of ideas' reaction papers, as well as our reactions to our advising sessions, sometime between next week and the end of the semester, when the grades are actually filed. Thusfar, i haven't missed turning anything in, although a few things have been late. The last things i still have to do are to attend the presentations by Kim Campbell (Canada's first female Prime Minister) on the 21st, and then Anderson Cooper on April 17th. At least those will be interesting... goddess knows the class itself has been a cross between an annoyance and a snore.

~*~*~*~*~

Speaking of my UNI 101, today got a little too exciting for me in there. A gentleman from the Office of Social Justice came in to do a presentation on 'diversity', and how we should all show respect for each other, etc... Obviously, the issues of race and religion came up often, and it wasn't until near the end that he even mentioned 'sexual orientation'. When he did, his spiel went something like this: "Now when y'all are seniors, you may just find yourselves in a class or a work group with one of these people."

I raised my hand, and he acknowledged me, assuming that i might have a question.

What i said surprised him.

"They won't have had to wait that long. They're already in a class with one. Me."

He apologized for the way in which he had phrased his statement, saying that he hadn't meant it 'that way'. In my heart, however, i had heard it the same way that a person of color hears the Klan say "nigger".

Methinks that this lecturer needs to be recycled for a little more diversity training himself, to work through his issues and biases, because he obviously can 'talk the talk' sometimes, but doesn't 'walk the walk'.

we'll be discussing the exam itself in class later in the week.
For now, she gave us our grades.

98% !!!

yay me...

Pursuant to a conversation that she and i had this morning after class, on Friday i have to take in some notes and such, in order to add to her lecture materials. We'll be discussing Alexander Hamilton, and i had mentioned the research pertaining to his duel with Aaron Burr, and how his dueling pistol had a 'hair trigger', and had merely misfired... (not the 'fired into the air, and was then gunned down bu Burr' story that i had heard as a kid, to be sure).

This morning, I found a 1976 issue of "Smithsonian" online to back me up, and they had done the legwork, and even dismantled and examined the guns, to prove the theory.

o.k....so i'm an academic wuuss right now.

I went ahead and dropped that CompApps class.

Over the summer, i'm going to get the software, and some 'idiot' or 'dummy' book to tutor me through it, so that i can take it again this fall, and maybe, just maybe, not feel like such a fool for not knowing this stuff.

In the meanwhile, there's no point in wasting my time getting a headache from it just to get a "D" or an "F" for my time and trouble.

In other news, i've had laryngittis for the last week, and can barely talk at all... and i have to be a part of a group that is giving an oral presentation in class at 1:00pm.

i wonder if i can use sign language?!




before you go looking it up... it says "fuck"...

Yesterday was both bad and good (not getting into it, but there are definitely parts of yesterday that i would like to rewind and tape-over), and i finished the night with a multi-hour study-thon for my HIST 152 mid-term this morning.

The test itself was 51 questions (the 51st being an extra-cred question), and took me all of 20 minutes to complete (half multiple-choice, half "answer bank"/which-one-goes-where questions ). I don't think i aced it completely, but a score of at least 95% would not be outside the realm of possibilities.

palegreenstar, where were you?!

I walked out of Woodburn at about 9:00am, and decided to scrap the rest of my classes for the day, so that Brandy and i could have some much needed 'us-time' today, since i have to work tomorrow, and i have another 'middie' (in Human Geography) coming up on Thursday.

At 7:30pm tonight, we're going to be attending one of the programs that's part pf WVU's "Festival of Ideas". Tonight's program will involve a round-table discussion of the faults and failings of the news media with regard to the Sago Mine disaster earlier this year. It will be broadcast live on C-SPAN, so if you happen to be channel-surfing, stop and take a peek for us in the audience!

~*~*~*~*~

on a side-note: There was a student murdered on Beechurst on Saturday night. According to the campus news report, it happened when two groups of students living in a big, old, sub-divided house got into an argument. The victim was found laying on the porch with a kitchen knife sticking out of his chest sometime after the altercation.

This wasn't someone that i knew, but it's still weird, and gave the campus this morning a weird vibe.
I was almost glad to be going home early today.

RIP to a lost student, whoever you were.....

i decided that it's much warmer, and more comfortable, to sit in here for a few minutes and type, rather than sit on the cold floor in Armstrong for an hour.

Weirdly, Jared (my former night-time assistant manager) is sitting across the aisle from me, though i don't think he noticed me when i came in. Or if he did, he didn't say anything.

I think i'll steal his hat on the way out...

Although oktoberain and i weren't out all that last night (we were at Weezie's, watching the game, of course), i feel like i'm mentally dead, and would love nothing more than to just go home right now, and go back to bed.

That really can't happen, though, if i'm going to catch on to the stuff that we're doing in CompApps. I really need to get that software bundle ordered next week, after the tax refund arrives.

o.k.... gonna check my e-mail, and then make to walk down all those stairs (that i have to come right back up at 12:30 *L*).

o.k... so i admit that i was a lazy-ass, and didn't study the least little bit while we were travelling, even though i brought all of my books with me, taking up valuable trunk space.

I arrived back here the day before my first tests in CompApps (all about using WORD, which i only use on campus - here, i use Works, which was pre-installed), and just a few days before my first PoliSci midterm.

AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Seriously, though... i managed B's on both my in-class and do-at-home CompApps tests, as well as a B- on DiClerico's first exam... plus, now i understand exactly HOW he tests. His are not these multiple choice Three of these answers are absurd, so pick the one that's not tests; he expects us to THINK, for goodness sake.

Whodathunkit?!

So... now i just have to deal with the up-coming HIST 152 middy, and then the one i have for Human Geog (plus the homework that's due before Valentine's Day), and that'll be that for a bit.

Methinks that this semester will go just a little easier than the last, somehow...

I was sitting on the bed and reading my American Government book while Brendan was brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed. Tonight, I decided to 'tell' him a bedtime story tonight, instead of reading one from the compiled book of Children's stories from which we usually glean his bedtime fare.

The story i told him was about a king who sent out ships full of settlers to a new land, then wouldn't let them make rules for themselves, and even sent soldiers to make them do what the king wanted. I told him that the people in the new land were mad about this, made up their own army, and made the king's soldiers leave and go back and tell the king that they were a NEW country, and were going to make their OWN laws, and that everyone in their new country would help decide on who the leader would be, and that they would all be FREE.

Yes... it's an over-simplified version of history... but for a 5 year old, it's the best kind of story of all. One with a REAL happy ending...

I asked him if he knew where this new land was, where the people were free to be anything they wanted when they grew up? He smiled, but said he didn't. I asked him what country that "pretty flag with the red and white stripes and all those stars" belonged to... he smiled bigger and said, "it's 'merica's flag!"

I'm not electable in West Virginia, or anywhere else except perhaps suburban Massachusetts, California, or maybe DC. But our son could grow up to be anything,... even President.