the college life: reprise
I'm sitting here in my kitchen at the counter by the window, listening to some NPR and enjoying a lovely glass of Barefoot's Pinot Grigio that I bought the other day. Tonight I'm fixing myself four cheese ravioli with vodka sauce, and along with the wine, I'm celebrating my first week back in college. It may sound silly, but I'm really proud of myself for seeing this through.
The Classes: You know a class is going to kick ass when, on the first day, you walk into the classroom and the professor decides to put on some music, just for the hell of it. Especially when that music is Buddy Rich.
My first class this week was the New Millennium Studies course, Tuesday at 12:30. And that is exactly what happened when I got there. The professor, Rob (they go by first names here, for the most part), put on some Buddy Rich and started telling us that pretty much every time class meets, he'll have music playing as we're all arriving, playing until class starts. Said that if we wanted to, we were welcome to bring in music of our own - if we got there early enough to give it to him, he'd play it. He explained that he liked doing this because he felt like it helps energize everyone for class - that it's much more fun to get to class to find music playing than to get there and walk in to a silent room and just twiddle your thumbs until it starts.
I can already tell, even after only two class meetings for New Millennium Studies, that I'm going to absolutely love this class. Rob is the greatest kind of professor - he talks with us, not at us. He's engaging and witty, and he absolutely believes that education can and should be fun.
My Intro. to Public Relations course seems like it will be pretty good - the professor is very clear and thorough. I thought it was kind of sad, though, because the majority of the students in my class aren't taking it because they're interested in Public Relations. For most of them, it's a required course that they're just looking to get out of the way, and a surprising number of them said they didn't even really know what Public Relations is - even the self-proclaimed Marketing Communications majors (who had concentrations in other areas - Marketing, Advertising, etc.). Of the 50 or so total students in this class, I was one of maybe 5 or 6 who was actually there because of a focus and interest in Public Relations. Weird.
On Wednesdays, my first class is at 9AM. Which sucks, because that means I have to get up at 6AM, but oh well. Integrated Marketing Communications. Our professor is a hoot - he told us that the only reason we have a required book is because the he got yelled at and told that he HAD to require a book for us, even though in the past, he rarely ever did. And after telling us that, he said, "...so you need a book. And here's what you can do to avoid buying it..." Hahahaha. Columbia also has an attendance policy - three absences, and then you fail the course. His take? "I'm not your babysitter or your parent. If you come, you come, if you don't, you don't. Your work and your tests will indicate whether you learned what you need to."
My English Composition II class is one I'm a little unsure about. The first class meeting for it was on Wednesday at 3:30 until 4:45PM. In that hour and fifteen minutes, the professor talked pretty much the entire time, yet by the end of class, I didn't feel at all that he had clearly communicated the objectives for the course, and the syllabus didn't help, either. He doesn't stay focused very easily when he's talking, going off on tangents a lot, and he interjects with "right?" or "okay?" after every other sentence, or sometimes even before he's finished a sentence. I like the books we have for the class, they look interesting, but even after our second meeting today, I'm having a hard time seeing how he's going to tie it all back to what the class is supposed to be about - English Composition. I'm giving it until the end of next week, and then I'll have to decide if I want to stick with it or if I think it'd be better to drop the course and take it next semester with a different professor. I just have a bad feeling that his manner of communicating just doesn't work for me - I find it too distracting how he constantly interrupts himself with the "right?" and "okay?", and I'm worried that every class is going to be like the first two have been - him talking a lot, and granted it might be interesting, but he doesn't tie it back to English Composition in any way. I feel bad, because he seems really nice and incredibly smart. Hopefully things will clear up next week.
Oh my god, I forgot how much I loved vodka sauce with pasta. So tasty. /random!
Anyway. ;D
The only class I don't yet know about is my Intro. to Advertising course. It meets on Thursdays from 3:30 to 6:20PM, but yesterday when I got there, another professor from the Marketing Comm. department came and told us that our professor had been in a car accident and couldn't be there this week. He gave us a copy of her syllabus from last year so that we could get an idea of what we'd be doing this year (though it'll probably be somewhat different), took attendance, and then told us we could leave, LOL. So I guess we'll find out about that class next week.
Overall, I'm really happy with the classes and looking forward to everything that I'll be doing in them. It is such a different feeling here at Columbia, compared to how things felt at SCSU. The professors are different, the students are different...everything is different, but in such a good way.
I used to avoid going downtown here in Chicago. Growing up, downtown scared me. It was just so busy, so noisy and there were always so many people. It sent my anxiety through the roof back then. But now, god, I love it. I love walking to and from my classes. I have classes on Michigan Avenue and one on Congress. I am right in the heart of downtown. The hustle and bustle is so fascinating to me now. When I'm walking to and from classes or to the bus stop when I get ready to come home, I'm surrounded by not only students, but business people, tourists, residents, etc. I walk past the Harold Washington Library every day I'm there, when I walk to my bus stop. (To understand why I love this, go here to see some pictures of it. It's a gorgeous building.)
It just feels so good. And I love that feeling. :)
So that's how my week has been. I hope yours has been well, for all of you. Much love to you all, and I'll leave you with some pictures I captured with the iSight camera on my laptop.
Hahaha, the iSight camera is way too much fun. All the crazy effects you can do in the Photo Booth program, man, I'm just amused as hell. ;D
The view off to my right as I was writing this entry and eating my dinner, hahaha. They always have to be near me.
Cheers!
The Classes: You know a class is going to kick ass when, on the first day, you walk into the classroom and the professor decides to put on some music, just for the hell of it. Especially when that music is Buddy Rich.
My first class this week was the New Millennium Studies course, Tuesday at 12:30. And that is exactly what happened when I got there. The professor, Rob (they go by first names here, for the most part), put on some Buddy Rich and started telling us that pretty much every time class meets, he'll have music playing as we're all arriving, playing until class starts. Said that if we wanted to, we were welcome to bring in music of our own - if we got there early enough to give it to him, he'd play it. He explained that he liked doing this because he felt like it helps energize everyone for class - that it's much more fun to get to class to find music playing than to get there and walk in to a silent room and just twiddle your thumbs until it starts.
I can already tell, even after only two class meetings for New Millennium Studies, that I'm going to absolutely love this class. Rob is the greatest kind of professor - he talks with us, not at us. He's engaging and witty, and he absolutely believes that education can and should be fun.
My Intro. to Public Relations course seems like it will be pretty good - the professor is very clear and thorough. I thought it was kind of sad, though, because the majority of the students in my class aren't taking it because they're interested in Public Relations. For most of them, it's a required course that they're just looking to get out of the way, and a surprising number of them said they didn't even really know what Public Relations is - even the self-proclaimed Marketing Communications majors (who had concentrations in other areas - Marketing, Advertising, etc.). Of the 50 or so total students in this class, I was one of maybe 5 or 6 who was actually there because of a focus and interest in Public Relations. Weird.
On Wednesdays, my first class is at 9AM. Which sucks, because that means I have to get up at 6AM, but oh well. Integrated Marketing Communications. Our professor is a hoot - he told us that the only reason we have a required book is because the he got yelled at and told that he HAD to require a book for us, even though in the past, he rarely ever did. And after telling us that, he said, "...so you need a book. And here's what you can do to avoid buying it..." Hahahaha. Columbia also has an attendance policy - three absences, and then you fail the course. His take? "I'm not your babysitter or your parent. If you come, you come, if you don't, you don't. Your work and your tests will indicate whether you learned what you need to."
My English Composition II class is one I'm a little unsure about. The first class meeting for it was on Wednesday at 3:30 until 4:45PM. In that hour and fifteen minutes, the professor talked pretty much the entire time, yet by the end of class, I didn't feel at all that he had clearly communicated the objectives for the course, and the syllabus didn't help, either. He doesn't stay focused very easily when he's talking, going off on tangents a lot, and he interjects with "right?" or "okay?" after every other sentence, or sometimes even before he's finished a sentence. I like the books we have for the class, they look interesting, but even after our second meeting today, I'm having a hard time seeing how he's going to tie it all back to what the class is supposed to be about - English Composition. I'm giving it until the end of next week, and then I'll have to decide if I want to stick with it or if I think it'd be better to drop the course and take it next semester with a different professor. I just have a bad feeling that his manner of communicating just doesn't work for me - I find it too distracting how he constantly interrupts himself with the "right?" and "okay?", and I'm worried that every class is going to be like the first two have been - him talking a lot, and granted it might be interesting, but he doesn't tie it back to English Composition in any way. I feel bad, because he seems really nice and incredibly smart. Hopefully things will clear up next week.
Oh my god, I forgot how much I loved vodka sauce with pasta. So tasty. /random!
Anyway. ;D
The only class I don't yet know about is my Intro. to Advertising course. It meets on Thursdays from 3:30 to 6:20PM, but yesterday when I got there, another professor from the Marketing Comm. department came and told us that our professor had been in a car accident and couldn't be there this week. He gave us a copy of her syllabus from last year so that we could get an idea of what we'd be doing this year (though it'll probably be somewhat different), took attendance, and then told us we could leave, LOL. So I guess we'll find out about that class next week.
Overall, I'm really happy with the classes and looking forward to everything that I'll be doing in them. It is such a different feeling here at Columbia, compared to how things felt at SCSU. The professors are different, the students are different...everything is different, but in such a good way.
I used to avoid going downtown here in Chicago. Growing up, downtown scared me. It was just so busy, so noisy and there were always so many people. It sent my anxiety through the roof back then. But now, god, I love it. I love walking to and from my classes. I have classes on Michigan Avenue and one on Congress. I am right in the heart of downtown. The hustle and bustle is so fascinating to me now. When I'm walking to and from classes or to the bus stop when I get ready to come home, I'm surrounded by not only students, but business people, tourists, residents, etc. I walk past the Harold Washington Library every day I'm there, when I walk to my bus stop. (To understand why I love this, go here to see some pictures of it. It's a gorgeous building.)
It just feels so good. And I love that feeling. :)
So that's how my week has been. I hope yours has been well, for all of you. Much love to you all, and I'll leave you with some pictures I captured with the iSight camera on my laptop.
Hahaha, the iSight camera is way too much fun. All the crazy effects you can do in the Photo Booth program, man, I'm just amused as hell. ;D
The view off to my right as I was writing this entry and eating my dinner, hahaha. They always have to be near me.
Cheers!