Well, I knew I did too much other stuff over the weekend and I must say, if you're going to blow a test, blow it in a big way! And...I did, along with most of my classmates. Who ever thought that it would be a good idea to take a science course in the middle of the summer? My advisor, that's who. She failed to tell me that we would be covering four weeks of a fall or spring semester's worth of work in one night! Two and a half hours of lecture surely is hard to sit through and keep your mind and bottom in gear. The amount of memorization is staggering! My advisor thought that with my GPA I would breeze through Microbiology.
There is only one way to fix a goof up and that's to work harder for it not to happen again. I have always tried to work hard but I just let this one slide and I thought my innate love of Science would pull me through. That must have been most of my classmate's attitudes too, because professor said he'd never had a group as a whole fail a test on such a large scale! Tomorrow, out come the books and the internet to look things up that I don't understand in the book.
By the way, why do professors make you buy books that you NEVER use and spend anywhere from $50.00 to $350.00 on them. I have had 28 college classes, I have had maybe five that I really used my books for. They also have to point you to the school bookstore to buy them, where if you are so inclined, you may pay full retail for them. After the first semester of school I learned about Amazon, EBay, Cheap Books, and OZ. I have bought new books for much less than half price. Not only have I learned to blog this summer, I have learned to sell my old books and maybe make enough money to buy my fall books! I may put a little more information with my books than others do and maybe that's why they have sold so quickly! I always tell if there is writing in them. I only use pencil if I do write in them. I mean they are just like new when I say they are like new. I detest buying a book from someone that is NOT what they promised. I have learned to find my professor's web sites and find out what books I need before I take their class. No more full costs books for this girl.
Most teachers have notes on their web sites, plus outlines and their power points. Technology will get you nearly anywhere you need to go in both of the colleges I have attended. There was none when I was in high school. We still had slide rulers for Pete's sake! Hand held calculators were just coming out and did little more than add, subtract, multiply, and divide. You were uptown if you had one that did percentages and the teacher's wouldn't let you use them in class. Now they do the Quadratic Equation and factoring! Now we need a class to learn how to use them. Mr. Forrester and Mr. Blalock spent a great deal of their time showing us how to use them for each section of Alegebra we were in. I got extra help from both of them. I stayed for tutoring every day and when I couldn't remember their tricks for a problem I would stroll to their offices for their advice. I would write detailed instructions, but I couldn't remember them for five minutes. The first quarter I spent with Mr. Blalock, I cried every test. I gave that up when I got to Mr. Forrester's class. They had many a laugh over me. I am Algebra challenged. I just cannot remember formulae to save my life! But I hope that you are impressed that I know formulae is the plural of formula! I pulled a "B" from Mr. Blalock and and two "A's" from Mr. Forrester. That's how far you can go with a little, okay... a lot of determination! I may never be a whiz at Algebra, but I can write an essay in fifteen minutes flat (with references) and read a 400 page book in two days.
This blog makes me sound ancient. I am not. I am 52. I am many times the oldest person in my class. Most of my classmates think I am in my thirties until I tell them differently. I am proud to be the "old girl" in my classes. And with the exception of Ultrasound Physics and Microbiology, I have always been at the top of my class. If you think you are ancient, you probably are. Go out today and do something that makes you feel young. Ride that old rusty bike down the river trails, buy a kayak and paddle the rivers! Go register for those classes you've always said you were going to do. Learn something or do something new everyday. You might just surprise yourself. Love God, Love People, Love Living Life.
