Nearly Done!

Almost done! But a lot still to do. December 6th is officially "dead day" or, as they call it now, "reading day" (what the heck is that?!), and all the Final Exams come after. I only have one class period left in my two UA classes and two class periods left in Pima Math. The end sure has come fast!

Since Pima is on a different schedule, I'll actually take my math final on Dec 5th (please pray!). It will be cumulative over all the stuff we've learned since mid-Oct. Got a LOT of reviewing to do!

My English final is just a major rewrite of a paper we already turned in. They want to see how we do when analyzing and revising our own work. Piece of cake.

My MIS final is optional! It is used to replace a bad grade we may have gotten on a previous exam or project during the semester. I'm pretty sure I've done well enough on the other stuff I won't need to take the final. They haven't posted our grade from Project 4 and Project 5 is due tomorrow, but I'm confident those grades will be better than anything I could get on a final exam.

I anticipate getting an A in both MIS and English and probably a C in Math. The math grade won't count at the UA - since it's remedial, it transfers as pass/fail. I only need a C or better and right now I'm getting a B (yay!).

So, my To-Do list between now and dead day is as follows:

English -
1) Finish Essay 3 - Cultural Analysis
2) Revise Essay 2 for final - due Dec 7th

MIS -
3) Design simple web page for imaginary Bicycle Delivery business

Math -
4) Homework 11 consisting of 64 problems
5) Homework 12 consisting of 31 problems (logarithms!)
6) Two Reflective Journals
7) Study for final exam on Dec 5th

So I'd better stop wasting time and get busy!

Spring has sprung

Well, not really, but I'm mostly all set for the Spring 2008 semester. My first experience with online WebReg was a little nerve-wracking. One-fourth of the Freshman class were hitting the system at the exact same moment and for a while there I thought we must have broken it! But it just slowed way down and actually helped me find a technique I'll use in the future. My strategy was to identify the ONE course I HAD to get into and try for it first. For me it was English 102 and I knew there were only 3 spaces left in the class taught by my current English prof, Dr. Minnix. When the clock struck 7 a.m., I was logging in and bringing up the course. When I clicked ADD, the whole thing froze in place. What the heck...? Did my wireless network go down at the worst possible moment? So I grabbed my husband's laptop and by the time I logged in - probably less than a minute, at most - my English class was full! So I started looking up my alternates and had one ready to add when the system popped in and said I'd successfully added Dr. Minnix's class! Guess my laptop wasn't frozen after all.

Having two computers going is a technique that worked so well I'll certainly use it again. It allowed me to search in different sections on each one and I was able to add the courses I needed without much trouble. (The system never did speed up any.) I can't add my Math class until I pass the one I'm currently taking but I left a few gaps in my schedule to fit it in. Right now only the 8am class has space! Oh, well, I'm a morning person anyway. An alternative is to take the equivalent class at Pima Community College and transfer the credits, but I'll use that as a last resort.

So here are my classes - I think they sound interesting:

Justice and Virtue (TRAD 104)- This course will introduce you to some of the central and historically important questions and ideas in moral and political thought and philosophy through the works of some of the most important thinkers in the western tradition. Textbook: Classics of Political & Moral Philosophy

Modern Latin America (INDV 103)- An interdisciplinary introduction to Latin American societies from the 1820s to the present that gives special emphasis to diversity within Latin America and to dynamic and, hence, historical processes of social, political, cultural, and economic change over time. (No textbook details yet.)

English 102 and Math 110 will round out my 13 units. I think that's all I can handle, based on my experience this semester. If necessary I'll take summer and winter session classes to stay up with the program requirements as the semesters progress. I'm finding the homework is the "easy" part and keeping up is just a matter of scheduling and discipline - two of my strengths. But tests, quizzes and in-class participation are stretching me a bit. That's good, I guess. I used to be so good at tests but so far I'm only average. It's frustrating, but I can usually make up the points by being thorough with my assignments.

This is such fun!