So concluding today, I took my sonnet to my English class for a workshop (basically a peer edit group). My two partners loved it, and the guy even said that he was planning on reading it again later when he had more time. I was finally encouraged. I had written this poem that I really liked, and felt as though maybe I really could get by with this creative writing class.
Then my teacher walked by.
Looking over my partner's shoulder, he said, "You're trying too hard. Why is it so archaic? You're trying to be poetic, and ... eh, it just doesn't work for me. Maybe if you can try being normal contemporary type, that might work, but trying to sound poetic makes it not very good."
What.
The.
Crap.
Seriously. Am I supposed to throw my voice away so I can take on his just to appease him?
That's what has been suggested by a few people -- but I'd rather fight the system than give up the beautiful, olde tyme language I am used to assimilating into my various expressions of writing, whether they be poetry, journal entries, or essays. My last semester's English teacher said that the best way to write well is to write like yourself!
So. Maybe... I won't make it through this class.
At least, the one redeeming part of this day is, when the teacher walked away, my group said, "It's ok. We don't like him either."
Showing posts with label annoyances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label annoyances. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Something Different
Something I am not quite accustomed to has been happening lately. I've been taking a creative writing class, something I thought I would enjoy, and yet so far I have been confused the past few classes. Throughout my career as a student with writing assignments, since fifth grade in fact, teachers and peers alike have praised my work as "very accomplished". Lately I have been almost annoyed and hurt, yet, to my benefit, humbled somewhat.
Today we did what is called a poem imitation. We had to imitate this poem in every way we could besides using all of the actual words:
This Is Just To Say
This was my version...
I have questioned
the thoughts
that were in
your black eyes
and which
you had probably
never
meant to share
Forgive me
you are intriguing
so sweet
yet so cold
My teacher said to me, "It's ok... it's kind of too abstract... and not enough sensory images. You need to add more..."
Well, I'm sorry I like to write about emotion rather than "the tree is green."
Here is another example that I'm slightly confused about because I've never had this reaction after I read something in class:
*shrug of the shoulders* "Yeah.... ok... pretty good.... Any other volunteers?"
Now it's not that the teacher is unresponsive. Shortly after my apparently pathetic offering, someone else will raise their hand. In my opinion, their work is not much greater than mine, and yet the teacher laughs and praises them with much enjoyment.
I honestly don't get it -- partly because, in my last class, my college level teacher thought I was 100% material. She found my writing extremely creative and poetic, and told me so many times. In contrast, I feel as though I am completely uninteresting to this teacher. I feel as though he thinks I am bottom-rung fish-food as far as the world of writing goes. I also don't understand because, in his syllabus, my teacher wrote, "There is no right or wrong way to be a writer. If it is structured well, and it is creative, you will receive credit." I have never, before these past two weeks, had anyone who found me completely uncreative and boring.
I suppose everyone has a nemesis that can help you be stronger someday.
Something positive -- I have been tutoring for the American Heritage class. So far this week, I have tutored around 14 people.. and it is the most rewarding job I have ever had! I love being able to help students understand the material -- and it isn't boring to me at all. Some may think that hearing 14 - 20 hours a week of the same history may seem monotonous and repetitious, but I have found it interesting and stimulating. I also love being able to see the light come on in students' eyes as they begin to understand more and more what they need to and want to know. It has convinced me that I definitely want to teach.
However, if I can't pass my creative writing class with a more than satisfactory grade....
Today we did what is called a poem imitation. We had to imitate this poem in every way we could besides using all of the actual words:
This Is Just To Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast.
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.
-- William Carlos Williams
This was my version...
I have questioned
the thoughts
that were in
your black eyes
and which
you had probably
never
meant to share
Forgive me
you are intriguing
so sweet
yet so cold
My teacher said to me, "It's ok... it's kind of too abstract... and not enough sensory images. You need to add more..."
Well, I'm sorry I like to write about emotion rather than "the tree is green."
Here is another example that I'm slightly confused about because I've never had this reaction after I read something in class:
*shrug of the shoulders* "Yeah.... ok... pretty good.... Any other volunteers?"
Now it's not that the teacher is unresponsive. Shortly after my apparently pathetic offering, someone else will raise their hand. In my opinion, their work is not much greater than mine, and yet the teacher laughs and praises them with much enjoyment.
I honestly don't get it -- partly because, in my last class, my college level teacher thought I was 100% material. She found my writing extremely creative and poetic, and told me so many times. In contrast, I feel as though I am completely uninteresting to this teacher. I feel as though he thinks I am bottom-rung fish-food as far as the world of writing goes. I also don't understand because, in his syllabus, my teacher wrote, "There is no right or wrong way to be a writer. If it is structured well, and it is creative, you will receive credit." I have never, before these past two weeks, had anyone who found me completely uncreative and boring.
I suppose everyone has a nemesis that can help you be stronger someday.
Something positive -- I have been tutoring for the American Heritage class. So far this week, I have tutored around 14 people.. and it is the most rewarding job I have ever had! I love being able to help students understand the material -- and it isn't boring to me at all. Some may think that hearing 14 - 20 hours a week of the same history may seem monotonous and repetitious, but I have found it interesting and stimulating. I also love being able to see the light come on in students' eyes as they begin to understand more and more what they need to and want to know. It has convinced me that I definitely want to teach.
However, if I can't pass my creative writing class with a more than satisfactory grade....
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Ridiculous -- A Mockery and Annoyance of and with America's Inept Teachers
I may sound conceited, but I know a good paper when I have read one and I know a good paper when I have written one. I am currently angry with uneducated teachers, they not being my own, but Paul's. Now this might sound ridiculous that I care so much, but Paul's English teacher has made me very annoyed.
When Paul was here last weekend (or was it already two now?), he had a five page paper he needed to write, and since we were pressed for time to spend together, I helped him with it by helping him reword some things, find some resources, and by editing it for him. Sure, there were a few things I would have written differently, but I know enough about peer editing (reading and editing others' papers), that I know how to be honest and fair. I would have given his paper an A-, or perhaps a B+ if I wasn't feeling very nice;)
He waited a week and a half in anticipation for a grade sure to be better than his previous papers. However, we were both disappointed and dejected when he logged on to his class website, only to find he had gotten an 80%. A B-? Ridiculous! Now, I know I am not the most accomplished writer, and I also know that I am 18 and a freshman in college, but like I said previous, I know a good paper when I have read and written one, because my overall grade on my papers this semester has been 99%. This is not to sound as if I am above reproach and that, because I helped him, he was guaranteed an amazing paper. However, this was ridiculous. The paper was not a barely-above-C-level paper.
I would have perhaps been mollified had the teacher left a few good comments concerning weaknesses and strengths, and perhaps a few changes that he felt could have made. However, when this morning I finally was able to read the comments he typed into the margins of Paul's paper, I felt even more annoyed -- hence the post.
My favorite of his comments was, "We use the word 'people' today." Paul's sentence had been something to the effect of, "Since the beginning of the sporting world as man knows it, ....." (Is there anything wrong with that sentence? Is it too archaic for your post-modern, uneducated mind?) My second objection, overall, to this mediocre teacher is the fact that EVERY one of his comments after that said something to the effect of, "Good usage of...." Then at the bottom, "80/100", shortly after the, "STRONG Works Cited Page!" comment.
Let's be honest. This teacher is a perfect example of today's inept group of teachers. Anyone who knows how to read would have found Paul's paper at least relatively well-written, even if it was not an interesting subject. Which, by the way, it was not, which leads me to my next problem with this teacher.
For everyone who grew up with parents who sheltered you from inappropriate media, this teacher decided to get revenge on your family by making you pay back those years of being careful. So far, Paul has had to read books concerning the selfishness of men and the amazing "Generation Me" that concerns women on the rise (oh, feminism, how I abhor you!), a book about the sex and violence in an L.A. gang, and a book about the war crimes in Africa, and how a child learns to shoot up the town without regret -- all written from a triumphant standpoint, of course.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have been home schooled and private schooled for a good portion of my recent years that makes me so ridiculously upset with the public school world; perhaps it is the fact that, from my A+ view, I can see the biased glasses teachers don when they feel a student is not the best, and consequently never grade above a certain average. Whatever the answer, I despise the lack of propriety in the morality and intellectual ability of the public school system.
I walked to school this morning, the snow swirling around me, but I did not feel the cold. The passion and annoyance I felt for this topic was boiling in my veins. I apologize to you, dear teacher, for my having learned to read the works of Jane Austen and the King James Version of the Bible at the age of ten or less. However, on the contrary, I beg you to read the words and literature that have blessed, shaped, and molded the world since its very foundations, before you believe you are such an authoritative figure in the literature and writing world.
When Paul was here last weekend (or was it already two now?), he had a five page paper he needed to write, and since we were pressed for time to spend together, I helped him with it by helping him reword some things, find some resources, and by editing it for him. Sure, there were a few things I would have written differently, but I know enough about peer editing (reading and editing others' papers), that I know how to be honest and fair. I would have given his paper an A-, or perhaps a B+ if I wasn't feeling very nice;)
He waited a week and a half in anticipation for a grade sure to be better than his previous papers. However, we were both disappointed and dejected when he logged on to his class website, only to find he had gotten an 80%. A B-? Ridiculous! Now, I know I am not the most accomplished writer, and I also know that I am 18 and a freshman in college, but like I said previous, I know a good paper when I have read and written one, because my overall grade on my papers this semester has been 99%. This is not to sound as if I am above reproach and that, because I helped him, he was guaranteed an amazing paper. However, this was ridiculous. The paper was not a barely-above-C-level paper.
I would have perhaps been mollified had the teacher left a few good comments concerning weaknesses and strengths, and perhaps a few changes that he felt could have made. However, when this morning I finally was able to read the comments he typed into the margins of Paul's paper, I felt even more annoyed -- hence the post.
My favorite of his comments was, "We use the word 'people' today." Paul's sentence had been something to the effect of, "Since the beginning of the sporting world as man knows it, ....." (Is there anything wrong with that sentence? Is it too archaic for your post-modern, uneducated mind?) My second objection, overall, to this mediocre teacher is the fact that EVERY one of his comments after that said something to the effect of, "Good usage of...." Then at the bottom, "80/100", shortly after the, "STRONG Works Cited Page!" comment.
Let's be honest. This teacher is a perfect example of today's inept group of teachers. Anyone who knows how to read would have found Paul's paper at least relatively well-written, even if it was not an interesting subject. Which, by the way, it was not, which leads me to my next problem with this teacher.
For everyone who grew up with parents who sheltered you from inappropriate media, this teacher decided to get revenge on your family by making you pay back those years of being careful. So far, Paul has had to read books concerning the selfishness of men and the amazing "Generation Me" that concerns women on the rise (oh, feminism, how I abhor you!), a book about the sex and violence in an L.A. gang, and a book about the war crimes in Africa, and how a child learns to shoot up the town without regret -- all written from a triumphant standpoint, of course.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have been home schooled and private schooled for a good portion of my recent years that makes me so ridiculously upset with the public school world; perhaps it is the fact that, from my A+ view, I can see the biased glasses teachers don when they feel a student is not the best, and consequently never grade above a certain average. Whatever the answer, I despise the lack of propriety in the morality and intellectual ability of the public school system.
I walked to school this morning, the snow swirling around me, but I did not feel the cold. The passion and annoyance I felt for this topic was boiling in my veins. I apologize to you, dear teacher, for my having learned to read the works of Jane Austen and the King James Version of the Bible at the age of ten or less. However, on the contrary, I beg you to read the words and literature that have blessed, shaped, and molded the world since its very foundations, before you believe you are such an authoritative figure in the literature and writing world.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Immaturity and Direction
I know that the title of this does not seem to agree with itself, but the past few days have brought a few subjects to mind. In fact, the immaturity I speak of is not my own, but rather part of the psychotic personalities of two of my room mates.
At almost any private college, they have something similar to what we call the Honor Code at BYU-I. This includes not having boys in your bedroom or over past curfew, not wearing spaghetti straps on campus, etc. It also includes being active in whatever church you are a part of (there are non-members here who go to other churches), and quiet hours from 10pm to 8am.
Unfortunately, not everyone who is in a private school believes in the letter, let alone the spirit, of these rules. Four of us in our apartment, Emily, Courtney, Kat, and I, have had problems with two of our room mates, Amy and Kaycee, throughout the semester concerning the Honor Code. Several times, we have had to ask boys to leave when curfew is already past, and had to ask them to not sit in the girls' rooms and socialize, especially when they close the door. It also eventually got to the extreme of Amy's boyfriend spending the night and taking a shower in our bathroom.
Obviously we had reached a problem, and someone, we're actually not sure who, called the Student Honor Office on-campus, who then called each of us into their office for individual meetings.
Two nights ago, things escalated from bad to worse. Amy and Kaycee were obviously angry with us, although it isn't our fault that they broke the rules, and that we told the truth. However, they began doing immature things such as tearing off the paper Valentine's Day hearts Emily had put up on everyone's doors. They continued to rip them up and throw them in front of Emily's door. They also ruined the paper cranes that Courtney had made, throwing them on the kitchen floor.
Since curfew is at midnight, none of us really ever ask for the tv to be turned down, or voices to be lowered until after that time. So, because I'd been unable to go to sleep for the noise coming from Kaycee's room, I finally walked out of my bedroom and down the hall at 12:15 to ask her, Amy, and their friend (who was over past curfew), if they could please be a little more quiet. They all stared at me, then Kaycee very shortly said, "No. We're awake so too bad. Get over it."
I walked back to my bedroom in shock. I wondered if possibly her attitude had been an April Fool's Joke, but it turns out it wasn't. Over the next hour, their noise level increased, as another friend came over. They began fake screaming, laughing loudly, and yelling back and forth to one another over the extreme noise of the tv. I talked to one of my other room mates, and she told me I could call the R.A., which I did immediately. The R.A. said she couldn't really do anything, but that she would talk to them over the phone, and so I walked out to the living room and up to Kaycee. As I handed her my phone, she demanded, "What's this?" I told her it was our R.A., and she scornfully said, "Are you serious?"
I don't happen to know if the R.A. and Kaycee are good friends, but from what I overheard, they must be. Kaycee started laughing and saying how ridiculous it was, and how the R.A. didn't need to be sorry, and they'd see each other later. As the phone call finished, I walked up to Kaycee and held out my hand for my phone. She began yelling at me about how stupid I am and how I do this to them every night, and they aren't ever allowed to make noise if I don't want them to.
I must admit I began yelling back. I was incredibly angry. I told her that I have NOT said anything in the past two months, because I normally take sleeping pills and am knocked out whether there is light or sound. She proceeded to say, "Well shutup and go to your room! Put your stupid ear plugs in and shutup about it!"
I was afraid to leave my room the next morning, for fear of confrontation. I was so unhappy with the fact that I was made to feel so uncomfortable in my own home, that I carefully looked out of my room to make sure Kaycee and Amy were not awake yet, threw on some shoes, and ran down to the manager's office. I told them the entire story, but I'm not sure if they will do anything.
Thankfully, there are only 8 days left with these horrors. While I am on my way to California next Friday, they will be leaving my apartment and moving somewhere else. They may even be getting kicked out; I am not sure yet.
All of that said, there are a lot of people here that are really wonderful. My other room mates are really fun, and while of course they have their own faults, they tend to be more on the normal side of humanity. I suppose I just don't understand why people like Kaycee and Amy are at this school. Similarly, if I had gone to Master's or Biola as originally planned, I'm sure I would have found people there about whom I would have wondered the same things. I am sick of people saying that, "My parents made me come here." You are an adult, no one can force you to come to a school or institution that you disagree with. Stop blaming mommy and daddy, start paying for your own schooling, and go where you want to go. Just don't ruin it for the rest of us.
Anyway, that rant is over... for now.
So as I've continued to consider my major and direction in life, my room mate helped me come to a wonderful conclusion. I could be an English major, psych minor, still get my master's in counseling, and then have the freedom to choose between my two ideal jobs. It will take the same amount of time, have much interest for me, and will end in a wonderful conclusion. I have to be honest, I'm fairly excited about this course. I am glad to slowly be figuring out my wants as far as education go.
The snow is continuing to melt away, although the weather is still not up to par with my expectations of spring. Although temperatures are supposed to be in the high 40's today, it is currently 17 degrees. How I wish I could have seen spring in California. By the time I get there in mid-April (thankfully, coming so soon!), it will nearly be summer:)
Finals are beginning, and somehow I am not frightened. My English final was nearly a joke, no pun intended even though it was given on April Fool's Day. We were given the prompt, "What is one thing you have learned from this class that you believe has benefited you?" then told to write two pages, handwritten. I really believe that was the easiest final I have ever taken since junior high.
I have also rearranged my class schedule a little bit:
M: 1:15-2:45 Interpersonal Communications (3 credits)
T: 9-10 Trigonometry (2 credits)
10:15-11:15 Religion (2 credits)
11:30-1:oo Geography (3 credits)
3:15-4:15 Creative Writing (3 credits)
Wednesday and Thursday are the same as those days, although I also have a 1 credit Geography lab.
Also, yesterday I had an interview and was hired for a tutoring job on-campus for next semester. I am really excited, because the job allows you to make your own hours and it will be good experience for me if I do ever become a teacher. Also, the pay is fairly good for Idaho, at 7.50 an hour.
More exciting than all of that is that Paul found a very good job up here in Rexburg for the summer. He is going to be selling church DVDs through referrals, and can make up to 30k in 14 weeks! They also pay for his rent, and possibly even some of his gas money. I am so excited that he will be here this summer, as will Breanne.
Life is definitely looking a little more promising for the future:)
At almost any private college, they have something similar to what we call the Honor Code at BYU-I. This includes not having boys in your bedroom or over past curfew, not wearing spaghetti straps on campus, etc. It also includes being active in whatever church you are a part of (there are non-members here who go to other churches), and quiet hours from 10pm to 8am.
Unfortunately, not everyone who is in a private school believes in the letter, let alone the spirit, of these rules. Four of us in our apartment, Emily, Courtney, Kat, and I, have had problems with two of our room mates, Amy and Kaycee, throughout the semester concerning the Honor Code. Several times, we have had to ask boys to leave when curfew is already past, and had to ask them to not sit in the girls' rooms and socialize, especially when they close the door. It also eventually got to the extreme of Amy's boyfriend spending the night and taking a shower in our bathroom.
Obviously we had reached a problem, and someone, we're actually not sure who, called the Student Honor Office on-campus, who then called each of us into their office for individual meetings.
Two nights ago, things escalated from bad to worse. Amy and Kaycee were obviously angry with us, although it isn't our fault that they broke the rules, and that we told the truth. However, they began doing immature things such as tearing off the paper Valentine's Day hearts Emily had put up on everyone's doors. They continued to rip them up and throw them in front of Emily's door. They also ruined the paper cranes that Courtney had made, throwing them on the kitchen floor.
Since curfew is at midnight, none of us really ever ask for the tv to be turned down, or voices to be lowered until after that time. So, because I'd been unable to go to sleep for the noise coming from Kaycee's room, I finally walked out of my bedroom and down the hall at 12:15 to ask her, Amy, and their friend (who was over past curfew), if they could please be a little more quiet. They all stared at me, then Kaycee very shortly said, "No. We're awake so too bad. Get over it."
I walked back to my bedroom in shock. I wondered if possibly her attitude had been an April Fool's Joke, but it turns out it wasn't. Over the next hour, their noise level increased, as another friend came over. They began fake screaming, laughing loudly, and yelling back and forth to one another over the extreme noise of the tv. I talked to one of my other room mates, and she told me I could call the R.A., which I did immediately. The R.A. said she couldn't really do anything, but that she would talk to them over the phone, and so I walked out to the living room and up to Kaycee. As I handed her my phone, she demanded, "What's this?" I told her it was our R.A., and she scornfully said, "Are you serious?"
I don't happen to know if the R.A. and Kaycee are good friends, but from what I overheard, they must be. Kaycee started laughing and saying how ridiculous it was, and how the R.A. didn't need to be sorry, and they'd see each other later. As the phone call finished, I walked up to Kaycee and held out my hand for my phone. She began yelling at me about how stupid I am and how I do this to them every night, and they aren't ever allowed to make noise if I don't want them to.
I must admit I began yelling back. I was incredibly angry. I told her that I have NOT said anything in the past two months, because I normally take sleeping pills and am knocked out whether there is light or sound. She proceeded to say, "Well shutup and go to your room! Put your stupid ear plugs in and shutup about it!"
I was afraid to leave my room the next morning, for fear of confrontation. I was so unhappy with the fact that I was made to feel so uncomfortable in my own home, that I carefully looked out of my room to make sure Kaycee and Amy were not awake yet, threw on some shoes, and ran down to the manager's office. I told them the entire story, but I'm not sure if they will do anything.
Thankfully, there are only 8 days left with these horrors. While I am on my way to California next Friday, they will be leaving my apartment and moving somewhere else. They may even be getting kicked out; I am not sure yet.
All of that said, there are a lot of people here that are really wonderful. My other room mates are really fun, and while of course they have their own faults, they tend to be more on the normal side of humanity. I suppose I just don't understand why people like Kaycee and Amy are at this school. Similarly, if I had gone to Master's or Biola as originally planned, I'm sure I would have found people there about whom I would have wondered the same things. I am sick of people saying that, "My parents made me come here." You are an adult, no one can force you to come to a school or institution that you disagree with. Stop blaming mommy and daddy, start paying for your own schooling, and go where you want to go. Just don't ruin it for the rest of us.
Anyway, that rant is over... for now.
So as I've continued to consider my major and direction in life, my room mate helped me come to a wonderful conclusion. I could be an English major, psych minor, still get my master's in counseling, and then have the freedom to choose between my two ideal jobs. It will take the same amount of time, have much interest for me, and will end in a wonderful conclusion. I have to be honest, I'm fairly excited about this course. I am glad to slowly be figuring out my wants as far as education go.
The snow is continuing to melt away, although the weather is still not up to par with my expectations of spring. Although temperatures are supposed to be in the high 40's today, it is currently 17 degrees. How I wish I could have seen spring in California. By the time I get there in mid-April (thankfully, coming so soon!), it will nearly be summer:)
Finals are beginning, and somehow I am not frightened. My English final was nearly a joke, no pun intended even though it was given on April Fool's Day. We were given the prompt, "What is one thing you have learned from this class that you believe has benefited you?" then told to write two pages, handwritten. I really believe that was the easiest final I have ever taken since junior high.
I have also rearranged my class schedule a little bit:
M: 1:15-2:45 Interpersonal Communications (3 credits)
T: 9-10 Trigonometry (2 credits)
10:15-11:15 Religion (2 credits)
11:30-1:oo Geography (3 credits)
3:15-4:15 Creative Writing (3 credits)
Wednesday and Thursday are the same as those days, although I also have a 1 credit Geography lab.
Also, yesterday I had an interview and was hired for a tutoring job on-campus for next semester. I am really excited, because the job allows you to make your own hours and it will be good experience for me if I do ever become a teacher. Also, the pay is fairly good for Idaho, at 7.50 an hour.
More exciting than all of that is that Paul found a very good job up here in Rexburg for the summer. He is going to be selling church DVDs through referrals, and can make up to 30k in 14 weeks! They also pay for his rent, and possibly even some of his gas money. I am so excited that he will be here this summer, as will Breanne.
Life is definitely looking a little more promising for the future:)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Frustration and Amazement
I haven't really figured out how to talk about this without sounding conceited or unsympathetic towards others. However, school is too easy for me. I'm not being challenged. So far, college has been a joke. I have written three papers, and all of them have been graded 100%. My lowest grade in my classes is, I believe, 93%, and I rarely do homework. I'm not sure if it's just me, or if my classes are just incredibly easy, but I'm wondering when the work is going to start. Part of me wants to just stop doing my homework and dare my teachers to give me a bad grade - I hardly do anything anyway, so why would less do much harm?
I experienced this during my senior year of high school, also. My English class was too easy. I did a week's worth of homework the night before it was due, and received an A+ in the class. I didn't like my math class, so I stopped doing homework and still pulled off a B. I stopped going to my Spanish class and stopped doing my homework, and, just from doing tests, I got a C+. The B and C+ are bad grades for me, but I am almost happy now that I finally received reactions from my teachers.
To be honest, it felt nice the first time for my college writing teacher to say, "You are an amazing writer; I cannot find any weaknesses!" However, I now feel disappointed. I'm 18, and I've never been in any real, formal writing classes, besides those given in public schools. I cannot be naturally perfect; there must be something to critique.
I also am in three classes where I don't have to write a single paper. This does not feel like college to me. This feels easier than high school, to be honest. In my government class my senior year, I wrote a two-page paper every week, not to mention the large amount of reading I'd do, as well as a weekly multiple choice quiz, a midterm, and a final. In my American Heritage class (which covers both government and economics, as well as the complete history of America - sounds intense, but it's not), I have nothing more than five fifty-question exams throughout the semester - nothing being comprehensive.
In summary, I suppose I expected college to be harder. Part of me wonders what would have happened if I'd gone to a public high school and taken AP classes - would I be at Princeton right now? I also am ready to be challenged, or I know I will begin to slack off.
On a completely different note, I still can't believe I am in college. I used to look at my sister as so grown up and mature when she went away to school. Now, I'm in her shoes and I still feel like that eight year old. I was walking home today, thinking about all the things I need to do this week, such as laundry, homework, work, and classes, and yet I don't feel old enough to take on those things. Yet at the same time, I am anxious to continue growing up, to finish college, and to get a family and a real job.
I know those things will come eventually, but for now, I am amazed I am even in Idaho.
I experienced this during my senior year of high school, also. My English class was too easy. I did a week's worth of homework the night before it was due, and received an A+ in the class. I didn't like my math class, so I stopped doing homework and still pulled off a B. I stopped going to my Spanish class and stopped doing my homework, and, just from doing tests, I got a C+. The B and C+ are bad grades for me, but I am almost happy now that I finally received reactions from my teachers.
To be honest, it felt nice the first time for my college writing teacher to say, "You are an amazing writer; I cannot find any weaknesses!" However, I now feel disappointed. I'm 18, and I've never been in any real, formal writing classes, besides those given in public schools. I cannot be naturally perfect; there must be something to critique.
I also am in three classes where I don't have to write a single paper. This does not feel like college to me. This feels easier than high school, to be honest. In my government class my senior year, I wrote a two-page paper every week, not to mention the large amount of reading I'd do, as well as a weekly multiple choice quiz, a midterm, and a final. In my American Heritage class (which covers both government and economics, as well as the complete history of America - sounds intense, but it's not), I have nothing more than five fifty-question exams throughout the semester - nothing being comprehensive.
In summary, I suppose I expected college to be harder. Part of me wonders what would have happened if I'd gone to a public high school and taken AP classes - would I be at Princeton right now? I also am ready to be challenged, or I know I will begin to slack off.
On a completely different note, I still can't believe I am in college. I used to look at my sister as so grown up and mature when she went away to school. Now, I'm in her shoes and I still feel like that eight year old. I was walking home today, thinking about all the things I need to do this week, such as laundry, homework, work, and classes, and yet I don't feel old enough to take on those things. Yet at the same time, I am anxious to continue growing up, to finish college, and to get a family and a real job.
I know those things will come eventually, but for now, I am amazed I am even in Idaho.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)