All right, ladies and gents! Like I said last week, I’m no longer living the good life…I’ve embarked on my College Saga! As I also mentioned, it hasn’t really picked up steam yet…I have to take care of some gen ed requirements (“science literacy”), but after I finish up those three courses (basic bio, basic geology, and a biology lab) I should be all set. Aside from that, I’m taking a remedial math course to prepare me for Calculus, which I’ll take next semester, and the only real Comp Sci course I’m taking is my introductory one. But once I do all that, then things should really pick up.
GENERAL GOAL CHECKLIST:
COURSE ONE: BASIC GEOLOGY:
EXAM 1
EXAM 2
EXAM 3
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 1 – DONE!
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 2 – DONE!
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 3 – DONE!
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 4 – DONE!
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 5
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 6
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 7
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 8
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 9
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 10
WEEKLY QUESTIONS 11
DISCUSSION 1
DISCUSSION 2
DISCUSSION 3
DISCUSSION 4
COURSE 2: BASIC EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
EXAM 1
EXAM 2
FINAL EXAM 1
WEEKLY LECTURE QUESTIONS
LAB 1 (All these labs are graded on the basic stuff–safety, cleanup, etc)-DONE!
LAB 2
LAB 3
LAB 4
LAB 5
LAB 6
LAB 7
LAB 8
LAB 9
LAB 10
RECITAL 1
RECITAL 2
RECITAL 3
HYPOTHESIS PAPER
PHYLOGENETIC TREE PAPER
DISSECTION REPORT
CLASS PRESENTATION
LAB NOTEBOOK CHECKS
COURSE 3: PRECALCULUS
EXAM 1
EXAM 2
EXAM 3
QUIZ 1
QUIZ 2
QUIZ 3
QUIZ 4
QUIZ 5
QUIZ 6
HOMEWORK 1 – DONE!
HOMEWORK 2
HOMEWORK 3
HOMEWORK 4
HOMEWORK 5
HOMEWORK 6
HOMEWORK 7
HOMEWORK 8
HOMEWORK 9
HOMEWORK 10
HOMEWORK 11
HOMEWORK 12
COURSE 4: INTRO TO COMPUTER SCIENCE
PROJECT 1 – DONE!
PROJECT 2
PROJECT 3
PROJECT 4
PROJECT 5
PROJECT 6
PROJECT 7
EXAM 1 (OCTOBER)
EXAM 2 (NOVEMBER)
FINAL EXAM
QUIZZES
WORKIN:
Sunday: Set up this weird app on my smartphone I apparently need for the Bio course–it’s how I’m supposed to answer the lecture questions. Most other profs barely let you take your phone into class, but this one requires it? Well, whatever. I also managed to knock out the first three sets of Geology homework questions, so at least that’s a little somethin somethin before class even starts.
Monday: First official bit of class! And…HOLY SHIT, what a day!
I went to my first two lectures alright–Biology and Intro to Computer Science. However, the lecture for Intro seemed a little more technical than I was expecting for just an “intro” class, and then I noticed something on the syllabus–I had to *already have finished* precalculus if I wanted to take the course. So I asked the prof after class, and…it turned out this wasn’t an intro to computer science, it was an intro to programming, which was more advanced!
ARGH! Major messup! I REALLY should have looked at the course descriptions more clearly! I dunno how the system let me even take the course if I hadn’t taken precalc already, maybe it mixed up because I was taking precalc this semester. But whatever the case may have been, I managed to get it cleared up quickly. Just quickly popped by the advising office for a visit, and they got me out of Intro to Programming and got me into Intro to CS! I’ll take Intro to Programming next semester, but for now I should be good. My only complaint is that I missed one day of class, and since I had to reschedule my Intro Bio course to make room for my Intro to CS one (cause they were at the same time), I kinda missed my first Intro Bio class because the other section takes attendance differently. But I guess I can fix that up later.
Lessons learned:
1: TRIPLE CHECK YOUR REGISTRATIONS! In fact, triple check anything you do. This sorta thing can cause too many issues to let go.
2: Don’t give up! This is something that’s really hammered home constantly. I was feeling pretty dumb and discouraged for making such a rookie mistake and signing up for a wrong class, but it was just the first day so it’s not as if I missed that much, and in any case, the advisor managed to solve it super quick, so it was almost no problem at all. So even if you’re on the verge of despairing (as I was), don’t throw up your hands and abandon the fight, try to keep going a little longer. It really paid off in my case!
3: This uni is MUCH better than where I got my first BA. Not gonna say too much about it, but if the same issue popped up at my undergrad college, it woulda taken a week to get fixed. My advisor here fixed it in 15 minutes! Yeah, I think this place has officially earned my loyalty.
So yeah…I’ll admit it’s not the most auspicious start to my new college career. However, the fact that what otherwise might have been a severe problem was so easily dealt with does give me a bit of hope for the rest of the semester…more than a bit, in fact. Even if I do mess some things up, if this is any indication, some persistence and quick thinking can allow me to find success in the end!
Tuesday: Not much to say about this one, had my first math class and that was it. It seems pretty tough, but it oughtn’t be impossible…
Wednesday: Good day! Went to the right compsci class this time and it seems I didnt miss much at all, first class was just reviewing the syllabus. Same thing with bio, got some easy marks on the in-class questions. Then I spent a few hours seeing what sorts of clubs and whatnot were available to undergrads at the student union, then went home and played the Blasphemous demo that just came out! 😀
Thursday: Decent day. Got my first bio lab done, which wasn’t too hard, but…damn, I had a tough time in remedial math! Nothing graded, but when we got into long division of polynomials, that was pretty tough. And even worse, it seems like the quizzes and tests will be closed book, so I’ll have to memorize a lot of equations…given my poor memory, that’s bad news. Well, I wanted a challenge, and it sure seems like I got one…
Still, the best part of this day was that I was able to knock out a couple more Geology homeworks 😀
Friday: Very chill day. Introductory CS got out early and then for evo bio, the prof had a great skit where he dressed up as Charles Darwin to talk about evolution. Fun times! Also got a much bigger Blasphemous demo for backers only ;D Also managed to get my first Compsci homework done. Feels good man!
Saturday: GOD DAMN!
Managed to blast out the first math HW, got 100% on it, but…man, the difficulty of it didn’t augur well, at least at first glance. It took me nearly 5 hours to crank out 15 questions! However, the math itself wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle for me. I managed to get the hang of most of it after not too long, although long polynomial division was a little tough. The annoying thing was that I had to put in the answers online, I wouldn’t be able to write out the hws and hand them to my prof. And the online submission form is pretty annoying…missed keystrokes and trying to see where the actual answer fields were (the website was sorta finicky) REALLY rustled my jimmies! But I did manage to get the hang of it by the end, so I think I just may be able to survive. And Sunday’s nice and open for me, because I finished all of this week’s work a damn while ago. Guess getting ahead really paid off. And Monday’s Labor Day, so an extra day of enjoying myself and lazing about! Well, I suppose I could also get a leg up on studying…and I also wanna make a Blasphemous lorecrafting vid~
Miscellaneous Goals:
Went to the career counseling center for a bit of advice. Figured out how to work my new uni’s proprietary job search thing, that might come in handy later on.
FUN STUFF:
In general, I found myself oddly hanging around my uni a lot of the time after classes, not exactly talking with people, but wandering around, checking out the stores, and seeing what sort of stuff various student organizations are up to. Maybe I’ll join one…even though I’m quite a bit older than the typical student, I am an undergrad, and like I said, I wanted to do college right this time, so why not enjoy myself? And in more practical terms, the more people I have in my network, the easier it might be to get a jerb…
WATCHAN:
EATAN:
TIMAN:
w0000000t!
msubsreleases.wordpress.com/2019/08/30/metal-armor-dragonar-episode-38-arrival-ultimate-metal-armor/
Damn, that felt good to get out! Time for the next one…
PLAYAN:
Blasphemous demo!
Well, that was just a small public demo, there’s an even bigger one that came out for us backers…And I got it too ;D SPOILERS:
READAN:
Nothing aside from what I was studyan.
WRITAN:
As above.
Overall, I’d say this was a fantastic week! College is pretty cool. I haven’t been overwhelmed by work and it seems like I’ve managed to knock out a respectable chunk (though not that much) off of my responsibilities. Homework doesn’t seem to be much of a problem at all. Also, the little oopsie with my schedule was taken care of extremely efficiently, which really cheered me up. However, homework (especially when paired with studying) will probably increase in weight greatly, and also, as I imply above, math looks to be EXTREMELY difficult for me. Also on the bad side, I didn’t get THAT much “extracurricular” stuff done, other than a brief meeting with a career counselor. Not that big a deal though, next week has plenty of time too. So yeah, overall, I think the first week of my return to college has been a smashing success! On to the next…
Gunlord500 