My First (and second) Day of School

Classes began again today. This is my junior year at Tech as a Biology major, and I'm happy to say that my major has and will remain the same 'til the end. I really do love where I am right now, my job, my classes, my friends. I'm taking difficult classes this semester: Organic Chemistry Honors, Physics II, Ecology, Design II. They are time consuming classes, but I am determined to manage my time more efficiently than the last. Time management is not only a highly valuable skill, but a hard one for me to, well...manage. I'm easily distracted and I forget things--small, medium, important things--at the drop of a hat, all the time. I'm steadily getting more efficient, though, and I really have my moments of glory. Thursday of last week I must have done a thousand things. Anyhow, better time management is one of my goals this semester. Also, increasing my GPA. Not that it is bad, by any means, but it is what I know it should be. I am capable of much better.

Being secretary to HHMI's service organization has turned out to be a lot of fun. It puts me in the center of things, I am getting to know people much more quickly, and my responsibilities are just enough to occupy me but not overwhelm me...

THE NEXT DAY

...so the second day of classes was interesting, the good kind of interesting. I have an 8 o'clock 3D design class which I am pretty psyched about. There will be all sorts of medium: clay, wood, wire, etc.. It sounds time consuming though. I hope that's not a huge problem. I also had Ecology, which looks simple, straight forward, and a little dull. I have a friend in the class which helps, though. At five I had a swimming class. I'm looking forward to it, definitely. It's two times a week, not just one, and it appears that it is going to be just what I need. Hopefully I will learn just enough to turn it into an actual work-out ability, not just the occasional recreational swim.

My first day of classes included Organic Chemistry honors and Physics II. Physics I was a bad experience, but I'm determined to learn from my mistakes (and I've made a few). My professor is probably the oldest I've ever had, barring Mrs. Watson in 2nd grade (that woman must have been 90! I remember she made us sing 4-5 patriotic, uplifting, really cheesy songs every morning. She was nuts). Anyhow, he apparently is running for County Commissioner and likes to talk about his wife in class, using her vehicle in some of the examples. He speaks in a very loud, very deliberate voice and makes thousands of typos on all of his exams (which appear to have been created on a medieval type writer). All in all, he is an archaic character who creeps me out and doesn't seem to grasp the ways of the current educational technique best suited for college students, such as myself. No, it is I who must adjust. I just realllllly wish someone else would have been teaching this course!

Organic chemistry turned out to harbor many of my fellow HHMI'ers, which bodes well. Can you say study group? They are all people I enjoy being around and who get me, for the most part. Many don't, which is why I say that. The professor seems to be very capable, amiable and well-spoken, with good ratings from past students. Chemistry was a forced subject for me--as is physics, French, and calculus--so I am apprehensive. The last time I had chem was my junior year of high school, in Mr. Palmer's class (who, if I do well in this course, is getting an e-mail with thank you thank you thank you in it). I think I will be ok. Lots of time, effort and concentration is required, but it's happened before. No sweat.

Here I am, babbling about dumb classes. Time to scatter.