My first days at a new University
Going to a new university has been interesting to say the least.
First day, I expected there to be limited parking. My old college, on the first couple of weeks of the Fall and Winter semesters, you usually had to park at the farthest parking lots, which were just outside the farthest buildings. Here, I epected the fact I had a permit would mean I'd be able to park in a lot that had at least some space. That day I was lucky, I caught someone leaving their spot and parked there, within eyesight of my building.
I knew which building the class was in, it's the building the entire Computer Science (CS) department is in. However, my schedule didn't say anything about WHERE the class was located, and because it's the second tallest building on campus at 7 stories, looking for it would be difficult. I found an eccentric, Mac-obsessed liberal CS teacher who showed me where it was, and I got to class 20 minutes late, just as it was ending early.
That class is easy. It's internet web design, and the teacher's a 40ish female who's a geek. She even admits to MUCKing and taking apart radios as a child. Win!
Second day I was not so lucky with parking. This time I had to park at a pothole-and-weed infested lot on the edge of campus. Sure it's right next to half the dorms, but the campus is huge, and it took me 15 minutes to walk (late) to class...which is ironically in the same room as ALL of my classes, room 301.
This class is Computer Science II, and will be my most difficult for several reasons. First off, I did take programming classes before, but I forgot half of them. Not only that, but for some odd reason, the main programming language of the school is Java....
yes... JAVA.
This makes little sense. The main programming language of the industry is the C family (C, C++, Visual C, C#), yet C++ is only briefly studied. At my old school, C++ was the MAIN language. Also, I took a class in Java at WCC, and I hated the language. I only got a C in the class, and I've forgotten how to program in that evil language. And now I'm forced to not only remember how to program in a language I dispise, but actually program in it for the rest of my time at the school? God must hate me!
Just as a note, the third class is a class on hardware language, in a sense. We learn stuff like Binary, how RAM works, and basic Assembly Language. Compared to the Java class, that sounds easy.
Some other things to note about why I'm having trouble liking this campus:
- At my community college, I got a full ride. Sometimes I'd have up to $2000 extra leftover money to do with what I wanted. Here, tuition's so high, even after my grants, I owe the college $700. I have no money for books either. I've applied for a loan, but haven't gotten word if I'm accepted or even getting that loan yet. And here I wanted to never be in debt for more than a few months...and I have to take out loans. Shit.
- The campus is large. And annoying, if it's cold outside and you have to walk half a mile to the library, an eatery, or my car.
- At the old school, all the ATMs were of my bank. At the U of M, they have ATMs of multiple banks including my own. At EMU, all the ATMs are of LaSalle bank, which is NOT mine. The nearest ATM of mine is 3 miles away. Fuck.
- Everything on campus is butt-fucking expensive. For instance, nothing in any vending machine is under $.90, and most are over a buck. This pains me, as at the old college everything was under a buck, and if I wanted to eat something, all I needed was a BUCK, and I didn't need any spare change. Fuck those $1.50 chips and pop. This isn't a fucking movie theater.
First day, I expected there to be limited parking. My old college, on the first couple of weeks of the Fall and Winter semesters, you usually had to park at the farthest parking lots, which were just outside the farthest buildings. Here, I epected the fact I had a permit would mean I'd be able to park in a lot that had at least some space. That day I was lucky, I caught someone leaving their spot and parked there, within eyesight of my building.
I knew which building the class was in, it's the building the entire Computer Science (CS) department is in. However, my schedule didn't say anything about WHERE the class was located, and because it's the second tallest building on campus at 7 stories, looking for it would be difficult. I found an eccentric, Mac-obsessed liberal CS teacher who showed me where it was, and I got to class 20 minutes late, just as it was ending early.
That class is easy. It's internet web design, and the teacher's a 40ish female who's a geek. She even admits to MUCKing and taking apart radios as a child. Win!
Second day I was not so lucky with parking. This time I had to park at a pothole-and-weed infested lot on the edge of campus. Sure it's right next to half the dorms, but the campus is huge, and it took me 15 minutes to walk (late) to class...which is ironically in the same room as ALL of my classes, room 301.
This class is Computer Science II, and will be my most difficult for several reasons. First off, I did take programming classes before, but I forgot half of them. Not only that, but for some odd reason, the main programming language of the school is Java....
yes... JAVA.
This makes little sense. The main programming language of the industry is the C family (C, C++, Visual C, C#), yet C++ is only briefly studied. At my old school, C++ was the MAIN language. Also, I took a class in Java at WCC, and I hated the language. I only got a C in the class, and I've forgotten how to program in that evil language. And now I'm forced to not only remember how to program in a language I dispise, but actually program in it for the rest of my time at the school? God must hate me!
Just as a note, the third class is a class on hardware language, in a sense. We learn stuff like Binary, how RAM works, and basic Assembly Language. Compared to the Java class, that sounds easy.
Some other things to note about why I'm having trouble liking this campus:
- At my community college, I got a full ride. Sometimes I'd have up to $2000 extra leftover money to do with what I wanted. Here, tuition's so high, even after my grants, I owe the college $700. I have no money for books either. I've applied for a loan, but haven't gotten word if I'm accepted or even getting that loan yet. And here I wanted to never be in debt for more than a few months...and I have to take out loans. Shit.
- The campus is large. And annoying, if it's cold outside and you have to walk half a mile to the library, an eatery, or my car.
- At the old school, all the ATMs were of my bank. At the U of M, they have ATMs of multiple banks including my own. At EMU, all the ATMs are of LaSalle bank, which is NOT mine. The nearest ATM of mine is 3 miles away. Fuck.
- Everything on campus is butt-fucking expensive. For instance, nothing in any vending machine is under $.90, and most are over a buck. This pains me, as at the old college everything was under a buck, and if I wanted to eat something, all I needed was a BUCK, and I didn't need any spare change. Fuck those $1.50 chips and pop. This isn't a fucking movie theater.