The College Life, Part Two

Well, since I've gotten nice and settled into things at college now, I suppose it's finally time to sit down in this short break I have, and tell you what's been going on.

 

At this current quarter, I only have four classes: English, Engineering Mentoring, basic Computer Science 10, and Math. I have classes on Monday through Friday, where Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are when I have the most time, and Tuesday and Thursday are my most busiest days. On Tuesday and Thursday, I have 3 separate classes, starting at 11:00 AM and ending at 6:30 PM, with only an hour and 20 minutes between each. It's good enough to go for a quick bathroom break or eat, but not enough to actually get something done. I'm sure some students would probably kill to have as much time as I do between classes, so I'm counting my blessings and this is one of them.

 

English is relatively easy. I'm stuck in a limbo class, between the idiot one and the standard one, used as a quick route into the regular second quarter English class. I do realize why I'm here:  I completely and totally digressed on my analytical writing placement exam, and I got stuck into that class. The TA who does mandatory tutoring for the class was surprised that someone of my caliber would actually end up in such a class. And for peer review of the first essay done in our class, I received positive remarks on the structure and content of my essay. Normal day in the English class for me.

 

Engineering Mentoring is mostly a course about teaching freshman about the do's-and-don'ts of college life. Mostly, we do things like basic programming using a 3D animation program, listen to guest speakers talk about their computer/science-related field of study, and take weekly clicker quizzes on what everyone thinks on a certain subject. It's a pretty nice class to take as it helps those freshman who missed mentoring sessions during the first week of school.

 

Computer Science 10 is just about as hard as the Dean said it to be. He'd told us college of engineering students that "while the other students are out partying and playing, you guys will be hard at work and studying in your rooms." Well, he wasn't kidding. Just today, our professor announced that anyone who did not receive a mark of 55% or higher (minimum 9/15, but continuing on the minimum will require extra effort not to fail) on the latest quiz (which was brutally hard, by the way) to submit a withdrawal from the class and take it next quarter. The news left the class shocked. My friends, my brother, and I all immediately checked our scores. My friends received relatively good scores, mostly 10-11. I myself barely passed with a 9.

 

Anyways, we've mostly been focusing on things like basic graphics programs and C++ programming, and are now just starting on control structures. I intend to use this knowledge in the future to help as a tech intern for a private server I know of, if not only to stress my programming skills.

 

Math, overall, is as hard for me as usual. As it usually is when it comes to this, I always end up feeling very stupid and downright idiotic. Math is very hard for me to grasp, and I have lots of trouble trying to keep up, even with help. I can't help but think I'm a snail-slow learner when it comes to math; I'm trying to get as much help as possible as out of an average of 60-70 percent on the first midterm as stated by my professor,  I scored 52. I'm scared to death that my slow comprehension of math will kill my chances of passing, and doubly so since our next midterm is next Tuesday. We're currently on limits and derivatives and it's just ripping me apart.

 

As of this time, I have:

-English online quizzes on reading comprehension and grammar due this Friday

-Standard online Math homework due Thursday

-Massive 80-question Math homework assignment due before Math midterm next Tuesday

-Engineering Mentoring animation project due Monday

-Weekly Computer Science programming homework due Monday

-Math Midterm next Tuesday that I'll be damned lucky to barely pass

 

The life here at college is pretty swell. I find myself pretty fortunate that my hallmates are not all idiots and assholes and are generally nice people to be around. The food is better than the crap they served in high school, and I enjoy bi-weekly Panda Express. There's a local mall and shopping center within driving distance and a local boba tea shop just down the street from the university proper. The independence is something I enjoy greatly, finally being stripped of the shackles to my parents (and the idiotic ranting of my dad).

 

Yeah. So that's that. I've got my week cut out for me.

 

-Delta