The first day of the last semester.
Since yesterday was the first day of the last semester I will be at Parkland College, I thought I would treat myself to something special. I woke up and I prepared myself a big breakfast. It consisted of one fried egg, three strips of bacon, a bowl of cereal, OJ, and coffee. I thought it was pretty delicious. Little did I know that I needed that big breakfast to carry me through the whole day.
I hate the fact my classes start in the late morning, instead of noon. Transit time takes too damn long to get to school, and I need the extra time to get to my classes on time. I couldn't block off my classes completely in the afternoon, which means I have to leave the house at a ridiculous time in the morning just to allow myself enough breathing room if public transportation is running late. I really wish the weather would warm up a little bit so the roads and sidewalks would clear themselves of snow and ice.
I get to school just barely in time for my first class. I was almost late due to my latency and public transportation. At least I wasn't late on my first day! Urgh! The professor for this class started off really dry and uninteresting; then, I had a vision of me trying to stay awake and pay attention to this man for the next five months. Eventually he did pick up steam and show his personality. I am not so worried about that class anymore since the professor does have some charisma. I go to my next class, and it is the same thing: The professor is really dry and uninteresting. Unlike the previous professor, his personality is dry and uninteresting. He read the entire "Statement of Policies" packet, which is a multi-page document that was single-spaced and had printing on both sides of the papers. That excursion took around thirty minutes. We then filled the next ten minutes with far-out logic problems that most students -- and me -- could barely comprehend. OK...I know I'll be fine in that class, but I'll have to stick to my guns and not give up so easily when things get tough.
My third and final class was next. I look on the schedule print-out I was given by the academic adviser. It said my third class was held in this annex that was clear across the parking lot. So, me thinking the schedule was correct, I go traipsing across the parking lot, through snow and over ice, to get to the "S-Building." I explore s-building, and my class isn't there. I find a group of students and ask them where my class is, and they tell me it is probably back in d-wing. I knew something was amiss. Instead of heading towards d-wing I head towards the administration wing!
Since it is the first day of school, the academic advisory section, financial aid section, and admissions section have really long lines. I knew my schedule didn't require me to do anything extensively invasive with regard to my classes: I just needed to ask someone what happened to my class and what could I do to remedy my problem. I look around and notice the payment office does not have a line, so I make a bee-line for that place. I ask one of the pay clerks what happened to my class, and she tells me my class got canceled! Oh shit. I only have three classes I have to take before I can transfer out of this school, and now I am down to two!
WTF happened to that class? I don't know. After asking a few admissions counselors, I can only assume that section -- the section I enrolled into -- was the only class that got canceled. Why? I guess I'll never know. I did manage to enroll back into that same class, but into a later slot. Instead of all of my classes being blocked off, I now have a two hour gap between my second class and my third class. I'm not terribly aggravated. I just prefer efficiency.
After my last class, I went down to the Parkland College book store and bought my books. Since I have never sold back my books to the bookstore, and never managed to re-sell them to prospective students, I decided to buy used instead of new. Fuck it, right? Last semester I bought new books and my total bill was $232. I thought to myself, "Hey, that is fairly expensive." I buy my used books this semester and the bill is...$232. I am not pleased at that price. At least the used books I chose were in very good condition.
I think yesterday was a good day. I wonder what my academic future holds for me. I wonder if I really can transfer to the University of Illinois. I was, at best, a mediocre student, and the UofI is a little bit elitist. I'll find out soon enough.
⊗
I hate the fact my classes start in the late morning, instead of noon. Transit time takes too damn long to get to school, and I need the extra time to get to my classes on time. I couldn't block off my classes completely in the afternoon, which means I have to leave the house at a ridiculous time in the morning just to allow myself enough breathing room if public transportation is running late. I really wish the weather would warm up a little bit so the roads and sidewalks would clear themselves of snow and ice.
I get to school just barely in time for my first class. I was almost late due to my latency and public transportation. At least I wasn't late on my first day! Urgh! The professor for this class started off really dry and uninteresting; then, I had a vision of me trying to stay awake and pay attention to this man for the next five months. Eventually he did pick up steam and show his personality. I am not so worried about that class anymore since the professor does have some charisma. I go to my next class, and it is the same thing: The professor is really dry and uninteresting. Unlike the previous professor, his personality is dry and uninteresting. He read the entire "Statement of Policies" packet, which is a multi-page document that was single-spaced and had printing on both sides of the papers. That excursion took around thirty minutes. We then filled the next ten minutes with far-out logic problems that most students -- and me -- could barely comprehend. OK...I know I'll be fine in that class, but I'll have to stick to my guns and not give up so easily when things get tough.
My third and final class was next. I look on the schedule print-out I was given by the academic adviser. It said my third class was held in this annex that was clear across the parking lot. So, me thinking the schedule was correct, I go traipsing across the parking lot, through snow and over ice, to get to the "S-Building." I explore s-building, and my class isn't there. I find a group of students and ask them where my class is, and they tell me it is probably back in d-wing. I knew something was amiss. Instead of heading towards d-wing I head towards the administration wing!
Since it is the first day of school, the academic advisory section, financial aid section, and admissions section have really long lines. I knew my schedule didn't require me to do anything extensively invasive with regard to my classes: I just needed to ask someone what happened to my class and what could I do to remedy my problem. I look around and notice the payment office does not have a line, so I make a bee-line for that place. I ask one of the pay clerks what happened to my class, and she tells me my class got canceled! Oh shit. I only have three classes I have to take before I can transfer out of this school, and now I am down to two!
WTF happened to that class? I don't know. After asking a few admissions counselors, I can only assume that section -- the section I enrolled into -- was the only class that got canceled. Why? I guess I'll never know. I did manage to enroll back into that same class, but into a later slot. Instead of all of my classes being blocked off, I now have a two hour gap between my second class and my third class. I'm not terribly aggravated. I just prefer efficiency.
After my last class, I went down to the Parkland College book store and bought my books. Since I have never sold back my books to the bookstore, and never managed to re-sell them to prospective students, I decided to buy used instead of new. Fuck it, right? Last semester I bought new books and my total bill was $232. I thought to myself, "Hey, that is fairly expensive." I buy my used books this semester and the bill is...$232. I am not pleased at that price. At least the used books I chose were in very good condition.
I think yesterday was a good day. I wonder what my academic future holds for me. I wonder if I really can transfer to the University of Illinois. I was, at best, a mediocre student, and the UofI is a little bit elitist. I'll find out soon enough.
⊗