so I haven't been very responsive lately

[jinian]

Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 15:23:41 -0500
From: kalmn
To: jinian
Subject: dear bears


please to give my friend jinian back. i miss her, and
she cannot write me email if she has been eaten by
you all.

love and kisses,
kalmn.


Here's what was up.

I haven't been really sure what I need to take to get my AS degree completed. Normally it's a two-year degree, but I had some credit coming from when I went to Mt. Holyoke right after high school -- of course, getting so sick I had to leave didn't do great things for my memory of what I'd taken. So I've been doing best-guess approximation of what I need to take, without having a coherent overall plan. Reading the summer course catalog a couple of months ago, it looked like I needed to take Bio 101 to get into the 201-202-203 track needed for my degree program, so I registered for that and for Botany 112 this quarter.

Last week, the course catalog from North Seattle Community College (which is affiliated with Seattle Central, where I go) showed up in the mail, and I was looking through it. Their Bio 201 didn't list 101 as a prerequisite, and investigation revealed that it wasn't actually one for Central's 201 either -- there'd been a misprint.

I'd been unhappy in the Bio class since it started. The teacher was a younger, slightly less annoying version of Mr. Garrison from "South Park" (stereotypical gay mannerisms, whiny voice, goes "mmkay" (really.)), and he clearly didn't care about the course material much or the students at all.

Lucky for me, eub had come down for lunch with me on the day I figured all this out. With his encouragement and advice, I looked at a bunch of different options for dropping the class or switching it with another one, and came up with the idea of switching to Physics 101. I've never taken physics before, and I was scared to talk to the professor (which obviously I needed to do, since summer quarter is eight weeks and it'd been almost two of them -- I couldn't just hop into the class without her approval). I did go talk to her, though, with my support person waiting outside the door, and she is a darling. She let me add the class, I dropped the other one, and I instantly felt better.

Last Thursday, I went to the class and struggled through some problems, and felt reasonably good about it. All of last weekend was spent catching up with the homework and course material. (Well, last Friday I went biking and tried to donate blood and took my belated birthday field trip with rubricity and coyotegirl, and boy was I cursing myself for it on Sunday. I also went out to dinner Sunday with lj users too numerous to list, but that was an attempt at sanity retention and had to be done.)

Monday there was an exam in physics. Yes, I am crazy. However, despite staying up too late Sunday trying to pound projectile motion into my head, I felt pretty good about the test when I took it, and I managed to figure out one important point while I was taking it. Remember how I said the teacher was wonderful? She got the tests back to us on Tuesday. (And made an overhead showing the average score with standard deviations. I want to take her home.) I got 95%!

So I'm all caught up in physics now. It's still taking a fair amount of work, but I can definitely handle it. The next test will be harder, since most of us did very well, but I think I can take it.

Also, I've been really busy since the beginning of the quarter because I've been following an independent study program that I worked out for precalculus. When I took the math placement test on entering school again, I hadn't touched any math beyond basic grocery-shopping algebra in about seven years, so I placed lower than the maximum. I refuse to take second-quarter precalc; it'd be a waste of my time and my money, and an insult to the dignity of someone who first took precalc in eleventh grade. So I've been working on that every day of my three-day weekends.

Having chemistry to study will make all this even more fun, I'm sure. One of the goals I worked out while bouncing things off eub was to start the chemistry 140-150-160 track next quarter, too, so I need to score reasonably well on the placement test for that. (Taking chem is what will give me a very good case for being allowed to take Bio 201, since its real prereq is college chemistry. Probably the placement test would be enough, but I am still scared enough of teachers that I want to have the best case I can for being allowed in.)

I'm feeling like I have a much better idea of what I need to do now. My somewhat dismal grade transcript from Mt. Holyoke is being evaluated by Central now, so when I finish my math and chem studies I'll be able to go take the placement tests and talk to an advisor. There's still no way to tell how long it'll take to get the AS, but soon I will have a plan! And I definitely have more tools to use to get what I want now that I've learned a bit more about how things work at this school.

I don't promise prompt emails, but the response rate should be a little better from now on. :)

Comments

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

I'd been wondering how you were doing; it sounds scramblingly full but worth it. Glad it seems to be coming together, and hope it continues to do so.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's definitely busy, and it's a little hard to see important people who don't live with me, but I'm really happy.

[elisem.livejournal.com]

Oh, coolness! Those are splendid things to be taking up one's energies and time, and I am delighted to hear that physics is going well for you. Go you! (King in no time, very likely.)

[elynne.livejournal.com]

Have I mentioned that you are a tremendously cool person? Well, you are a tremendously cool person. :)

Also: (And made an overhead showing the average score with standard deviations. I want to take her home.) Geekslut! ;D

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

you forgot the part where lj-user=snout came over AND CHASED AWAY THE BEARS THAT WERE SNACKIN' ON YOU!

*cough*

so cool about the physics grade (and the standard deviation)

yay! update!

[rubricity.livejournal.com]

Sad that our Kylee fixes are limited but glad it sounds like you are really enjoying your academic experience!

I like how you are both still somewhat fearful of teachers and want to take your physics instructor home with you.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Well, Anne is no longer generalized Teachers. :)

[mittelbar.livejournal.com]

I was *just* wondering what was up with you.

Thanks, kalmn!

[rubylou.livejournal.com]

I also went out to dinner Sunday with lj users too numerous to list, but that was an attempt at sanity retention and had to be done.

I think that crowd was Eli (eub), Deb(thatmathchick), Sean (drakemonger), Jane (jeliza), and myself. I can't speak for everybody, but I know that Sean, Jane and I had a marvelous time. We'd love to hang out with you and Mr. Wim more often. :)

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't mean I didn't remember you lovely people, just that I was in a hurry and not up for typing all the tags. Wim's hattifattener, by the way, not that he writes much. We should definitely get together more often. Halfway through next quarter sound all right? :)

(Actually will prob. see you Wednesday, yay.)

[baratron.livejournal.com]

That is an extremely amusing email, and I wish I had someone to write that sort of thing to me. Of course, that would require that I ever replied to email in the first place...

Let me know if you need help with chemistry, and maybe if you need help with physics (though there are probably better brains around for that).

thanks!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I am inundated by people who if anything need to be forcibly restrained from poking their noses into my physics homework, but I'll certainly pester you if I have trouble in chem. The placement test bit is just what I've already had in high school, so it shouldn't be hard to refresh my brain on it, but you never know. :)