Fall Semester Review

My grades are final for fall 2010 semester. I ended up getting 2 A, 1 B, and 1 C. My core GPA decreased from 3.44 to 3.38. In the 15 college level courses I've taken, the tally is 9 A, 3 B, and 3 C.

Here's my review of the four courses I took this past semester.

Trigonometry
I made an A in this course. This was part 2 of a set of classes to prepare for Calculus. I had never been exposed to Trig before, only heard of it on occasion. At the onset, I was actually a little flustered by the content, but thanks to a student solutions manual, I was able to comprehend the material smoothly. The class consisted of several quizzes, 4 tests, and a final exam. I did well throughout, never scoring less than a 90 on any grade. My final average was 96. The class lasted more than 2 hours per period, twice a week. I found myself looking at the clock frequently as the material was delivered rapidly from start to finish. However I feel math is my strength, and looked forward to doing homework after each session. I was able to form a study group and that increased the appeal of the class. The course was instructed by a PHd Ivy League graduate, which was quite different from my previous two math courses at community college.

Western Literature
This was a 200 level English course, required for attaining an Associates Degree. The textbook for the course was quite large, and alot of reading was assigned through the semester. I didn't have the book at the beginning, but was able to utilize the net to get the stories. The class covered material starting from the Old Testament, and then through Greek stories like the Illiad and Oedipus. Later we studied medieval works, and also several poems were talked about. The instructor used several historical contexts in her teaching which catered to my taste for history. Most grades were over the readings, and journals were required asking our opinions and analysis of them. We had two writing papers, one covering a sentry character in Antigone, and the other a 4-6 page over Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The latter I had the most trouble with, as I could not think of anything original to write about. Along with the writings, there were also a mid-term and and final administered. I didn't do great in the course, but alot was due to my lack of enthusiasm, consequently not giving a top notch effort. I was lucky to receive a B in the class, quite different than my expectation of doing really well before the class began. I skipped several classes, totaling 5 throughout. The fact that this was the earliest class I've had so far (8 AM) contributed to that fact.

Spanish II
Again this class was a prerequisite in graduating from community college. My attitude was quite lacking, as I did poorly in Spanish I a year earlier. That C grade had to do with the hybrid nature of the class, and a substandard performance in studying and reviewing on my part. Before Spanish II began, I planned on getting no better than a C, and was wary of failing altogether. As the course began, my fruition was accurate, as I felt deficient compared to my classmates. I did not do homework at the start, and this would cost me points as it was sporadically taken up for grading. Once the quizzes were given, I actually did well on them. I studied using a website which was of great help. Had I utilized it even with the first course, I would have scored higher. The instructor for this course was an American, and actually very fair and competant. I made about a 75 in this class, and I could have gotten a B had I did all the homework and not miss some writing assignments. I also was penalized for missing classes, again 5 in total.

Intro to Computers
This was an interesting class. Showing competancy in computers was required for graduation. I was under the impression that this class could be tested out of, and I planned on doing so. I took the placement test a week into the class thinking it would be no problem, and ended up scoring a 56 out of a 100, needing a 90 to grade out. The material was completely specific and covered details I had never heard of. I was stunned that I would have to attend the class, which made me come to campus on Mondays and Wednesday nights just for it. Towards the end of the semester, I was made aware that a placement test could be taken before the class, which would have negated the need to even register for it. The test I took was an exam for credit, which explained the difficulty of it. Needless to say I was displeased of this new found fact, especially since the course was absolutely the most useless I've taken. It was broken into two sections, lecture and lab, taught by seperate instructors. Both of them were teaching the course outside of their day jobs. The lecture course was simply a powerpoint presentation, and the only interesting part was listening to some classmates talk. However I learned nothing from it. The lab was very basic, and went through the Office applications. The people in the course were not traditional students at all, and overall one of the least brightest of any of my classes. I didn't do too well on my tests, but made good grades on everything else. Amazingly, I was given a 97 on the lab even after bad tests, and my lecture teacher actually ASKED me what I should get! That perfectly typified the amateur nature of the class. I made out with an A regardless of all the nonsense.

Fall 2010 Semester Complete

Well, truthfully, I have to finish up the second half of my degree at a four-year school, but getting the through the first portion is a huge step. That penultimate step before getting my Associate in Arts was completed as of 3 PM Tuesday afternoon.

I completed four classes this fall semester, totaling 14 credit hours. Assuming I passed each class, which isn't official until later this week, I will be sitting on 50 total credits. Again, you must attain roughly 64 credits to earn a two-year degree. That essentially leaves me with 4 classes left for the spring semester.

A few more updates regarding my transition to a four-year university in 9 months. I had to submit an 'graduation application' to my community college so they could review my transcript to make sure I'm on the correct track. Secondly, I officially applied to my first four-year school this past weekend, North Carolina State, and received feedback on Monday. A very quick turnaround than I expected. I am expected to submit both my community college and high school transcripts for review.

I will post my thoughts on the four classes I completed once my grades are posted. The feeling of closure is shortly coming about as I'm heading down the last stretch, two years after I submitted this blog.

Summer school recap

Today was the last day of summer school, which began on May 17 2010. I only enrolled in a single class, which was pre-calculus math. The class was fairly easy, due to just having completed a remedial math course in the spring, and every test given had nearly identical pre-test beforehand.

I'm at 36 credits now, only 30 way from finished community college. The plan is to enroll for 15 credits in each of the next two semesters, and sometime before that to begin the process of selecting a four-year school to transfer to.

As for the fall, I have my classes set, and my financial aid in the books. All we need to do is buy a coupld of books, and we'll be ready for August 16th!

Third semester in the books

The grades are in.

Three classes were completed for the spring 2010 semester, sans a public speaking course I dropped in March. Of the three classes that I did survive in, only two will transfer to a four year school.

The math course was a remedial level, and although the grade is factored into the GPA, will not serve any purpose in attaining a bachelors nor associates degree.

Here are my grades for the three classes:

Intermediate Algebra - A. The class was rather elementary at times, until the very end. The instructor did not present a challenge in the 9 exams either, but I paid very well to do every homework question assigned. I was awarded at least a 98 on every test, although the grades were inflated and not particularly accurate. Nevertheless, I'm quite comfortable in navigating to the next level of math, which I will attend in the summer of 2010.

Western Civilization II - A. I had taken part one of this course in my first semester, and enjoyed it tremendously. The second part did not let me down. I can say I'm much more attuned to the historical facts regarding Reformation, European civil and religious wars, and the lead up to the Great War in 1914. The class provided a general overview which has allowed me to read more in-depth works with greater interest. I'm disappointed I will not have the chance to attend a similar class in the future.

American Music Appreciation - B. This class was my weakest of the semester, and I absolutely stole the grade I received. I rarely studied for any of the exams, which were quite thorough, and proceeded to receive grades in the 60's and 50's for my effort. I was only saved by attending concerts and by a great deal of extra credit that was offered. The instructor was very kind to me indeed.

So the tally is now 32 credits, and including the non-transferable math course, my school has me listed with 36 and a GPA of 3.444.

I'm still not decided on which college to attend, but hope to do so in the fall of 2011. I'm but 9 classes short of attaining an associate degree, and plan on completing them accordingly over the next three summer, fall, and spring semesters. As far as a plan of study, I have chose to follow the arts path, with either accounting or economics as the major.

Onward and onward, progress is being made, though light it was in the previous segment. If all goes well, I will focus on school predominately starting in the fall.

First week of school

Ok here we go again, for the third time. I've attended my four classes twice each, Monday through Thursday. All four classes were full or close to the limit.

My music appreciate class is being held in an auditorium setting, with stadium seating, so that's new for me.

As far as books, I've ordered two online, and a cancelled a third book on account of it being an international edition, and also I'll try to skate by without a book for my public speaking class.

The library carries all textbooks that can be looked at in-house, so this a good way to review text without having to spend a lot of money on buying a book. I've learned that you can certainly take your time when it comes to getting books.

For the public speaking course, on the second day we had to get up in front of the class and give a brief paraphrasing of the last two president's inaugaral speeches. I was the only student who tried to speak without reading verbatim from the text.

I've found I'll having very little time to get major studying accomplished on school days, so the bulk of it will be done Friday through the weekend. I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester.

Third Semester - Spring 2010

After the completion of 2 full-time semesters, I have amassed a total of 26 credits towards attaining a bachelor's degree. Given that a typical degree amounts to 120 credits, I'm roughly a fifth of the way towards that end.

For the Spring 2010 semester, I have enrolled in four courses: Western Civilization II, Music, Public Speaking, and Intermediate Algebra. The math course is a remedial class designed to get me up to speed in order to properly complete a pre-calculus course, and therefore will not be a transferrable course. Given that, I will accumulate 9 credits in total for the other 3 classes.

I'm still utilizing online marketplaces to purchase textbooks and supplies, and have been satisfied with this method. Just to recap, I was awarded $2100 in financial aid for this semester, similar to fall 2009.

Classes begin on Monday, January 11. I'll be attending four days a week for the first time, Monday through Thursday, with 2 classes per day. I'll be taking the city bus to and fro for the duration of the semester, as I did the last one. On a personal note, this may be my biggest fret, as at times there is a 2 hour time frame in getting from one destination to the other. Aside from that, I am confident I can and will revert to attaining similar success that I achieved a year ago in my first semester - all A's -and will expect that to be the result.

Stay tuned...

Fall 2009 recap

I ended up taking a total of 14 credits for fall 2009, after having to drop a pre-calculus class from lack of proper knowledge combined with what I deemed an overload of course work. Here are my final grades:

English 2 - C
Spanish 1 - C
Biology 1 - A
Philosophy - B

The GPA came out to 2.79, and the cumulative GPA from Spring 2009 is now at 3.35.

My lackluster grades in the two language courses were due to my lethargic attempts at writing papers in the online English class, and overall difficulty in incorporating foreign language studying. I've resolved myself to spend the next semester reviewing my Spanish textbook in hopes of a smoother and more successful attempt in the next Spanish level.