The Month the Cats Died

Wow, I guess that's how I'll remember December 2008. First Milo, now Matilda is gone. We were at the Humane Society yesterday to pick out a cute kitten to sorta/kinda replace Milo - at least to provide a little playmate for Oliver so he would hopefully stop torturing Matilda - she would have nothing to do with his attempts at playing. Our new little male gray kitten (no name yet) will be ready for pick-up Monday, after a small operation (if you know what I mean).

So we were hanging out at home for a while before we realized we hadn't seen Matilda when we arrived back. Found her dead on the floor beneath her favorite window perch. Wow. We have no idea when it happened but neither of us heard a cry or a thump of any kind so assume it was while we were out. She was already pretty stiff.

She was fairly old and crotchety the last few years although we're quite certain she was just 2-3 months old when Juan rescued her from the railroad warehouse in 2000 and brought her home. That would make her just 8 years old at her death, and that's not really old for a cat. But she hadn't been herself since Oliver came to live with us and that was by choice. She chose to be intolerant and fussy and we did our best to honor her space issues and give her separate attention.

During a vet visit in 2002 the doctor warned us she had an untreatable heart murmur and could drop dead at any time but after a few months we dismissed that as unlikely. But I expect that's what got her in the end. In her sweetest years she was my exercise buddy and would do yoga stretches with me and leg lifts on her own little exercise mat. Juan taught her to open the snack door in the kitchen and we'd hear the bang from other parts of the house which meant time for her snack. If our response wasn't swift enough, she would bang it again until we came. Her favorite manipulation while we were in the vicinity of the kitchen was to give us her "sweet" face (just like Puss-n-Boots in the Shrek 2 movie), which also meant snacks were required.

I'll miss Matilda. But I think she's much happier now in pet heaven with Milo than she was here with us. Sorry, Matilda.

Community

First day of finals the campus is a lot less crowded so I parked a little closer and walked a different path to my classroom to take my Classics exam. The small street passed between two of the older sorority buildings and I idly noted that a parking space at the edge of one tiny parking lot was designated "Chef." Hmmm, I thought, while my consciousness drifted back from ancient Rome to the present day, I guess I didn't know sororities had chefs. Pretty cool. No worries about where/what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner... nice benefit.

Returned to my car the same way and, as I passed closer to the other sorority, I heard the distinctive clatter of industrial ceramic plates being either washed or set out for lunch. In a flash I was transported back to my Bible College days at CCBS and felt the wistful tug of longing for that same sense of togetherness, routine, security, of being part of a larger whole, sharing meals, helping with dishes (I doubt the sorority girls have that task, although I may be wrong!), the feeling of family at a time when your youth makes you very vulnerable.

In many ways, my one-year Bible College of, as I remember, around 60 students, probably had some similarities with a sorority or fraternity at a major college. We shared meals in the large diningroom between the two dorm wings, we knew the cooks by first name and by specialty (their spaghetti was delicious!), and there was such a sense of comraderie and, well, community.

Where did that go? Was it primarily a feature of our youth? My "community" today is, of course, my husband and home, my small circle of friends, my extended family. But there's nothing quite like being "out in the world" for the first time at 18 or 19 and experiencing such a strong bond with people you hadn't even met until you arrived on campus. I admit I've not been particularly fond of the sorority/fraternity scene and think it is a bit ridiculous and unnecessary for most students. However, this morning I did get an apreciation for how vital that sense of community is at their age. It's something I definitely benefitted from... wow, thirty-five years ago! For a moment this morning it felt like only yesterday.

Ode to Milo

Milo was my cat and buddy for nine years but today the house is empty of Milos because he took ill last week, deteriorated very fast, and had to be euthanized yesterday. Cause is unknown because the emergency vet wanted over $700 just to diagnose him and that plus costly treatment surely wouldn't have brought back the buddy who was now just a shadow of his former self.

The cat who loved sunshine and warmth - even at the height of Tucson summers - was inexplicably found huddling on the cold floor of the gloomy shower stall. The cat for whom I switched to Science Diet LITE so he wouldn't balloon past his healthy pudgy weight and who asked for cat snacks daily in addition to his canned food suddenly hadn't eaten in two days and wouldn't even sniff the bowl in front of him. He had noticeably lost weight. The cat who was my faithful, annoying pre-alarm clock and would wake me every morning exactly two minutes before my regular alarm went off had missed his sentry duty the last five or six mornings and had let me sleep in. And he no longer reminded me at 9:00 pm that I really should be in bed. He'd lost his remarkable sense of time and routine.

The only thing he didn't lose was his steady, phlegmatic, easy-going personality and that is what I will miss the most. He wasn't only MY buddy, he was everybody's buddy. Seven years ago when Juan brought home a little waif of a kitten from the big railroad warehouse, Milo made her feel welcome and quickly became Matilda's constant companion. Likewise, when just over a year ago Juan rescued yet another wirey ball of fluff, Milo was there to endure Oliver's playfulness and to plant a well-placed wallop now and then when young Oliver got too rambunctious. They've been best of buddies ever since.

He was both invisible and in the way. Never heard a peep from him most of the time, but if you were in a hurry or just HAD to get into that closet, Milo was there, in the way. Always managed to be on the bathroom counter at the exact moment I needed to use the hairspray (his nemesis). But mostly his even-temperedness made him almost an afterthought... Oh, it's just Milo. Why, then, does the house feel so empty without him?

Love you Milo.

Admiration for professors

If you want to know what a college professor has to endure to teach these young minds in spite of the students' best efforts to remain uneducated (!), just read this blog entry by a college English professor in Minnesota. Students REALLY DO exist like the one she describes - more often than you'd hope!

O Mighty Crisis

It would be hilarious if it weren't so sad!

The state of stuff

Coming up on the end of the semester already! First is Thanksgiving break which is supposed to begin next Thursday but (alas!) my Wednesday classes are cancelled, too (aw, shucks!). Back on campus December 1st with just EIGHT class days left! Whew, it sure has come quickly.

Got the coveted "A" on my most recent Statistics test (barely!) and doing well in both Accounting and Classics so I should finish up this semester in good standing. I plan to take Managerial Accounting over Winter Break - that's [3 x 5 x 3] (3 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks!). My accounting lab TA is teaching it and I like his no-nonsense approach.

I've also registered for Spring 2009: a foundation Economics course and another general education (Gen Ed) requirement. That's just 6 units - taking it REAL easy in the Spring so I have time to work at H&R Block. Summer school last summer put me ahead of the game so now I can afford this luxury without falling behind.

January and early February will be full of excitement as I get things together for professional admission to Eller College of Management as an Accounting major. Included are: a resume and application packet, a skills assessment, and a formal interview. If accepted, I could start my upper division classes as early as Summer 2009.

Haven't heard a peep from the summer internship people, but after doing a bit of research on the web, it does sound like too big a time commitment anyway. I'll keep my ears open for other opportunities to learn the hands-on practical business stuff another way.

Meanwhile, I'm feeling content with another good semester almost in the books and will have a bit of a break between the last day of class and the first day of Winter Session - about nine days with only two final exams scheduled. Time to count my blessings and get some home projects accomplished!

Becky the Intern?

So what comes to mind when you hear the word "Intern"? Someone who hangs around a busy office and makes copies and gets coffee and occasionally does a little filing? Yeah, me too.

Well, I found one that's likely to be a bit busier than that! Not sure yet if I'll do it (or if they'll take me, either), but it sounds like I'd learn a lot - stuff you don't get in the usual classroom setting.

About two weeks ago a clipboard was making its way around my Classics class. I didn't have much time to read what it was about, but the ten or so names on it (in a class of 500!) looked kind of lonely (and one was an obvious joke - which I won't go into here!), so I added my name to get more info and sent the clipboard on up the row.

Got a phone call last night (in the middle of Obama's acceptance speech!) to arrange an informational meeting - but first she made me summarize my "leadership qualities" to see if I qualified for the meeting! Apparently I possess the requisite "Leadership" (she seemed a little patronising - or maybe its just me), so two other fresh-faced, eager young students and I heard the spiel and got a brochure and a designated time to call back if we were interested in the next level of interviews.

Not sure how they feel about me divulging details, so I'll just say it is described as a "management" position for the summer supervising a small crew of workers in a general service business. They'd train me, mentor me, help me set up a business plan and marketing approach. Then I'd hire some hard-working kids, purchase supplies (on the company's dime), meet with customers, estimate and schedule jobs, and supervise their completion. It's real work for real customers and I'd get paid real money.

The initial meeting gave us only about 10% of the details so I said yes to the next step where I'll learn the remaining 90%. They'll let me know in about a week if I'm selected for the next level.

I do want to take summer school and don't want to be distracted from my academic goals, but she indicated she was able to do both last year, so maybe I can handle both as well... For me it's not the money, it's the experience of "running a business" without the financial outlay or personal risk. After graduation I'll need to know this stuff to run a small accounting business, and it would also be valuable experience to pass along to my future clients who might be struggling with some aspects of the big picture in their own businesses.

It just might be a good fit... I'll keep you posted.

Toga... toga...!

That's what my Classics professor was wearing to class today! (Hallowe'en, of course!) Well, a toga and a t-shirt. Just so happens we were up to the last century BC when Gaius Julius Caesar was making his move on Rome. So Dr. Bauschatz played the part of Caesar, expounding (with the usual humor and PowerPoint slides) on "his" famous conquests in Gaul and Spain, friends and enemies in Rome, his suspicions, and his ultimate demise. Yes, he was stabbed right there on stage by three of his toga-clad teacher's assistants ("et tu Lauren?").

And there was candy, too... tossed among the 500 students by TAs - only as a reward for sincere laughter. He's a cool prof and makes learning fun. They really oughtta clone him.

Seatbelts anyone?

"America's lenders have slammed on the brakes, and the economy's gone through the windshield."

That's how Liz Pulliam Weston puts it on today's "MSN Money" lead article. Ahem, but some of us were wearing our seatbelts and didn't even hit the dashboard. A bit of discomfort, perhaps, but no real damage. (Okay, enough with the analogy!)

Anyway, it's an interesting article and takes the time to compare some interesting statistics between the state of banking and loans from the 1970s and today. You can read it here:

Need a loan? Borrow like it's 1975

Seems to me this is an adjustment that America needs and has been a long time coming. It's time to return to "conservative banking practices" as quoted in the article. The so-called American Dream is certainly alive and well, but ya gotta EARN it, and that requires more patience and less instant gratification. I hope my young college classmates are paying attention.

Reading

We do a lot of reading in Classics 220. In fact, there's a reading for every day of class (except test days) and they're not short. There are six required books (listed below, in case you're interested) and we'll read ALL of them (not excerpts) before the semester ends. They're paperbacks and average around 235 pages each. There are also 18 online readings which are pdf scans of books and book parts which we (thankfully!) were not required to purchase. I'm sure some are out of print anyway.

I started the semester printing the pdf's but that turned out to be a big waste of printer ink - and you know how much ink costs these days! Now I just read them off the screen... although this aging brain still struggles with comprehension when I can't highlight key phrases or scribble in the margins! Fortunately the professor supplies a 12-question reading guide for each - to help us focus on the things he wants to emphasize.

A lot of the readings are direct translations from Greek or Latin or whatever ancient language they were written in, and, for the most part, are very readable and quite modern translations. I read Homer's "Iliad" in high school but I don't remember it being quite this easy to follow. Some of the prose and poetry is difficult, but worth the effort to fight through.

I've always been an avid reader, but this has really stretched me. It sure doesn't pay to leave reading until the last minute because then I really risk not comprehending while I'm rushing to finish. And, of course, every class period has a potential pop quiz. Even without that extra incentive, it's wise to keep up - otherwise I'd probably have to spend 3 solid days reading before tests! It's better just to review the reading guides.

The test grades were finally posted last week... I did fine, but apparently not everyone was up to speed on the readings. That section of the test accounted for probably 20% of the grade so they decided to "curve" it this time with a threat to not go so easy next time. Students not making the effort are not only hurting their grades, but they're missing out on some really fascinating learning. What a shame.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The books...
~ The Golden Ass: The Transformations of Lucius, by Apuleius, Robert Graves
~ The Essential Iliad by Homer, Stanley Lombardo, and Sheila Murnaghan
~ Four Texts on Socrates: Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito and Aristophanes' Clouds, Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West
~ The Life of Alexander the Great by Plutarch, Arthur Hugh Clough, Victor Hanson, and John Dryden
~ The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles, Bernard Knox, and Robert Fagles
~ The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, Michael Grant, and Robert Graves
~ The Essential Aeneid, Publio Maron Virgilio and Stanley Lombardo

And the readings...
(The links here are NOT our pdf versions and might be different translations)
i. Pomeroy, Early Greece
ii. Osborne, Greece in the Making, Chapter 2
iii. Hesiod, Works and Days
iv. West, Greek Lyric Poetry
v. Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians
vi. Xenophon, Politeia of the Spartans
vii. Herodotus, On the War...
viii. Thucydides, On Justice...
ix. Livy, History of Rome
x. Historia Augusta, Hadrian
xi. Pliny, Letters
xii. Vitruvius, On Architecture
xiii. Martial, On the Spectacles
xiv. Tertullian, On the Spectacles
xv. Ovid, Art of Love
xvi. Pausanias, Description of Greece
xvii. Lucretius, De Rerum Natura
xviii. Galen, On the Sects...

The Good, the Bad, and the Rumors

The Good stuff first: I got an A on my accounting exam! Woohoo!

The Bad is that I didn't get as good a score as I hoped. Yeah, it's still an A, but I need to find out what stuff I messed up on. I'll wait until the first rush is over then visit my prof in office hours. There are other things I want to chat with her about anyway.

The Rumors were, of course, mostly untrue (you knew that, right?). Turns out the early morning class (right before mine) struggled with the test and only three of THEM got an A (out of approximately 240 students).

My class and two other classes did okay and had the expected array of As, Bs, and Cs. We even had two perfect scores (alas, not mine!).

Only the late afternoon class had really disparate exam scores; lots of Bs and Ds, I guess, not so many Cs. Indicates a lot of folks just didn't "get it" and the ones who did were fine. They're still looking at curving it a bit, but that won't really affect me.

The prof says most people do better on the second test coming up at the end of the month, so I'm getting better organized to study hard to make sure I'm one of them who does. It's on inventory and bank reconciliations.

Still waiting

Feedback is pretty important to a college student. Timely feedback even more so. For the most part the educational/administrative cogs grind fairly smoothly and we get results within a reasonable cycle.

But I'm still awaiting grades on two of the three mid-terms I took more than a week ago. It's very frustrating... not knowing.

We've been told that everyone did very poorly on the accounting exam - so poorly they're still trying to figure out what to do about it. It's bad enough that a curve wouldn't even help most people. I heard a rumor that only three students out of 1200 got an A! Don't know how true that is. Applying my profound knowledge of probabilities from stats class, the likelihood of me being one of those possibly fictional three is... ummm... slim! Heck, at this point a B appears to be a wonderful grade.

Evidently (rumor again), last year someone stole the exam they used for several years in Accounting 200, so they had to invent a new one. The stolen test was one of those scantron thingies (remember those where you use a #2 pencil to color in the circle?) that could be graded by machine. I far prefer the kind we took which was a combination of multiple choice and worksheet. Given 20 categories and amounts of a fictional account, we had to create a trial balance, income statement, retained earnings, and balance sheet. Tons more practical than any scantron answer, but it means each test had to be graded by hand, which takes a lot longer. Ten days should be enough time.

...Still waiting!

Settle in

I've learned to enjoy this stage in the semester. It's the point after I've completed that first test in each class. Everyone whines about tests - I think that's universal - but they're really a great way to find out exactly what the professor expects of you and to ascertain whether or not you're meeting their expectations.

The syllabus tries its hardest to convey the expectation level; some try harder than others. Last spring my Latin America class had a 35-page syllabus! Most aren't that long or elaborate and don't need to be, but Dr. Barickman sure did a great job of communicating his expectations. And he was consistent about holding us to them.

That's really all you want from a class or a prof... Just be clear about what you expect and then hold us to it.

So, although I don't know my grades yet on two of the three tests, I really feel I'm progressing sufficiently in all of them. That's a good feeling. That's the part I enjoy the most! My routines are working and I'm settling in.

Greed

Bailout... Financial crisis... Foreclosure... Bankruptcy... They can all be explained by one word: GREED. Here, climb on the soapbox with me; we've all got plenty to say on this.

Two sides of greed blew up in our faces. There's the average lower-to-middle class American who jumped into the housing market at a level just a bit higher than they could afford (or a lot higher!). And there's the financial big boys who were glad to grant a shaky mortgage to said American because it nicely padded their already large paycheck. Of course it's not exactly that simple, and there are a lot of scenarios that don't fit into that snapshot but, absent these two factors, we wouldn't be where we are now.

A lot of Americans have lost sight of the substance of a good life. It isn't the *things* you buy or the gated community you live in or the size of the flat screen TV in your livingroom. (Not that there's anything wrong with those!) But it's the whole stupid idea that you can live beyond your means without having to pay the piper at some point...

Unfortunately the piper bill is being delivered in bulk mail to many American households.

One of the best "money" books I've ever read was part of the very first college class I took in the summer of 2007. The class was "Money, Consumers and the Family" and it featured two books by the same authors that helped explain how the financial "rules" have changed in the last 50 years in America. Of the two books, my favorite is "All Your Worth" and I think it should be required reading for every college student (and for non-college students!). You can get the gist of the book on their website here. It's all about living within your means.

I sure wish more Americans had heeded these precautions before getting in over their heads. Now we ALL owe the piper!

Opportunities

It amazes me the opportunities they throw at students these days. Seriously.

The Classics dept is sponsoring a Spring Break trip to Italy (cost is pretty steep - the only thing keeping me off the list).

Many departments have programs to study abroad for a semester or a summer. Classics is offering a summer Study-Abroad tour of Turkey and Greece. Also a bit expensive, but mostly non-doable for us married-with-mortgage types.

In Accounting class on Tuesday there was a representative from PricewaterhouseCoopers who announced their annual contest for Accounting/Business majors wherein they present a fictitious "real world" problem to teams of five or six students who have two weeks to come up with a proposed solution - no wrong answers, just "better" ones. Winning team gets $1000 and a chance to be in the nation's top five teams who get $10,000 and a trip to New York to compete again.

Eller College of Management is opening up their Global Enterpreneurship Program as a minor this year. Info meeting is Thursday. I haven't picked a minor yet so I'll attend and see what that's about.

There are career fairs every time you turn around with potential employers numbering in the hundreds - both local and national - right here on campus to talk about careers and job openings they hope to fill with fresh graduates (go ahead and finish your degree... they'll wait!).

And these are just what is available this week; and only the ones I heard about! Obviously there are many many more I'm not even aware of. It's enough to make your head spin. These kids just don't know how good they have it!

Quiz 1

Can't take attendance in a class with 538 students so the Classics professor administers five pop quizzes during the semester and these act as your "attendance grade." Syllabus says not to worry, as long as you attend lectures and keep up with the reading, you'll be fine. He was right. First quiz came Monday... four items: a true/false, a couple of simple questions and a two-sentence essay. Piece of cake... an easy 5 points.

Here's the class average:


Lucky for them, he'll drop your worst grade and average the other four. But it's gotta be discouraging to be a professor these days! Only 38 of us got 100%. The other 500 didn't.

Dropped a class

Never thought I'd do this but I decided to drop the Geology class and pick it up later on in Summer Session or possibly Winter Session. Seemed like an interesting class, but already it felt like it was distracting me from my core subjects: Statistics and Accounting.

A course in Natural Sciences is a requirement for graduation, but is not a prerequisite for Eller admission and I felt I really needed to focus on Eller right now. Getting good grades in Accounting and Statistics is a whole lot more important than knocking off a Tier One course at this point.

So now I can focus on just numbers and ancient Greece! Whew, I feel better already. Why be a crazy woman if I don't have to be?!!

Anybody want to buy a geology book? ;-)

Fall 2008 is approaching

My schedule is set for the Fall semester. I'll be taking four classes (12 credits). They all seem reasonably difficult - no napping allowed! Two classes are general stuff that all freshmen/sophomores take, and (finally!) two are focused more on my major.

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CLASSICAL TRADITION
Surveys western civilization from the Greco-Roman perspective, beginning before the Greeks and Romans, investigating the origins of their cultures, and proceeding through Greece and Rome to the Middle Ages.

Size: 538 students! No smaller groups this time. Meets three times per week.

Textbooks: SEVEN of them! From Iliad to Socrates to Sophocles. Lots of reading, five pop quizzes, two five-page papers, two exams and a final.

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GEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Students will learn that a few universal laws describe the behavior of our physical surroundings, from the universe to every action in our daily lives. this interdisciplinary course will cover aspects of the scientific process, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and Earth sciences, with an emphasis on geosciences and society, including earthquakes, mass extinctions in geologic history, and global warming. It will give students the ability to read and appreciate popular accounts of major discoveries and important public issues in the physical sciences.

Size: Probably around 200, with smaller discussion group of 30 on Thursdays. Meets twice per week with big group, and once per week with smaller group.

Textbook: The Good Earth. Big book with 18 chapters. Lots of reading again, 17 internet quizzes, two exams and a final. Multiple in-lecture writing assignments (this should be different!), and weekly discussion session assignments.

I found this interesting (in the syllabus): During exams, you are allowed to use one (8.5x11 inches) page of notes (both sides) which you have prepared (handwritten or word processed). Your name must be on this one page of notes and you must turn it in with your exam. Exam proctors will inspect your note page, which is to be prepared by you alone. Group efforts are not permitted. Your page of notes must be on ONE sheet and have NO loose pieces of paper attached. NO photocopies or cut and pasted items are permitted.

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STATISTICAL INFERENCE IN MANAGEMENT
(I decided I'd better take this NOW and get it over with!)
This is a first course in business statistics, with an emphasis on techniques for data analysis and inference in management. Students are assumed to be familiar with basic descriptive statistics, probability theory, and probability distributions. Presentation of technical material is combined with hands-on analysis of data to aid managerial decision making. Meeting will be a mix of lecture and problem-solving. There are two objectives for the course. First, to develop a conceptual understanding of statistics and the role of data analysis in management. Second, to master the mechanics of applied statistics.

Size: 145 students. No smaller groups. Meets twice per week.

Textbooks: Applied Statistics in Business, and Psychology of Judgement and Decision Making. Couldn't find a syllabus online yet.

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INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
Concepts involved in accounting for assets, liabilities, and owners’ equity; financial statements.

Size: 230 students. No smaller groups. Meets twice per week.

Textbook: (The usual Accounting-type textbook that they don't sell on Amazon and are apparently out of at the bookstore!). This second book was optional, but it sounded like a really good resource so I ordered it: Accounting Super Review. Couldn't find a syllabus yet.

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Sounds like a busy few months! I start Monday.

Accelerated Courses

For students contemplating the value of Summer Session (whether at the UA or elsewhere), here's what I see as the main advantages and disadvantages of an accelerated course. Some items, of course, are more important than others; you'll have to weigh them for yourself.

ADVANTAGES:
A1=> Speed. You have 13+ weeks condensed into around 4. It's a great way to make up some credits you're lacking in a short amount of time.
A2=> If you have the time allotted correctly, it's a very good way to learn a lot in a very focused manner.
A3=> Class sizes can be very small. For freshmen and sophomores anyway (non-Honors), Spring and Fall semesters have a minimum of around 35 students in every class; sometimes hundreds! Summer Session might have as few as FIVE students to a class. Lots of personal attention from the prof, and lots of time to ask questions. I think you learn a lot more that way, and it's a lot more interesting.
A4=> The prof won't tell you this (and I didn't hear it from them - it's just a guess), but condensing a syllabus forces the prof to be more focused about what they really need to teach and they tend to leave out the fluff and busywork.
A5=> Computer labs on campus are nearly empty. No trouble getting on a computer, no traffic jam at the printer, and those private group study rooms are actually AVAILABLE!
A6=> Getting across campus is a breeze because there are no throngs to fight through. I couldn't find actual statistics, but it wouldn't surprise me if less than 10% of the usual 35,000 students stick around for Summer Session. Big difference!
A7=> Parking is also a breeze compared to a regular semester. Same rules are in effect, but there are a lot more parking spaces available.

DISADVANTAGES:
D1=> You go to class EVERY DAY. None of the nice Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday stuff with the weekend available to knock off the harder homework. With the accelerated syllabus, the usual "weekend" falls between Wednesday and Thursday's class!
D2=> Homework may be due nearly every day. That means you're spending a good part of your non-class hours studying and doing homework.
D3=> Assignment grades aren't accelerated. It still takes time for the prof to grade things and you probably won't have the previous assignment back yet when you do the next one. That means any errors you made on the first, you will also make on the second.
D4=> Similar to the previous item, if there is group homework and individual homework that are closely tied together (as mine was in Business Math II), if you didn't understand the problem on the group assignment (or if you thought you understood but didn't!), there's no time to learn to do it right. You're handing in your individual assignment in the same class period as you get the group one back. Oops!
D5=> No tutoring is available. At least there wasn't for math. And even if there is, there's no time because that next assignment is due NOW! You can try your prof's office hours, but it was often late in the evening when I realized I didn't know how to approach a homework problem.
D6=> Miss a day and you really get behind. Better plan to attend EVERY class.
D7=> Don't expect to get the grade you're used to getting with the same level of effort on your part. Be prepared to step it up and improve your note-taking, increase your reading focus, and spend more time on homework. Even with that, you might not get your usual grade - see items D3 and D4, above!
D8=> Reading assignments are also accelerated. In a regular semester you might have one or two reading assignments a week with five or more days to get them read. In Summer Session, you're reading TWO of them nearly every evening!

The analogy that comes to mind is the old taking-off-the-bandaid dilemma. Do you ease it off slowly and torturously (regular semester), or do you rip it off quickly and deal with some short term intense pain (accelerated semester)?! I've heard that a lot of students take care of some of their Tier One and Tier Two requirements during Summer Session. You can't do them ALL that way, but it sure would speed up the pace and move your graduation date that much closer.

I might add to this list in the future, but those are the major arguments for and against an accelerated course.

Math is a Journey

For me, math is like a journey where you learn oodles of stuff on the trip and every once in a while they stop the train and make you get off and tell how much you understand. Those stops always seem to come a little soon for me. I nearly always learn the material, just not in time to be annointed with a good grade on a test! Enlightenment often comes when the train is in motion again.

I had one of those stops today and don't yet know the damage. My current grade - with all items in but the final exam score - is hovering in the vicinity of a low "B". Low enough it could drift into "C" territory, depending on how much I really understood. Don't want to go there, but it's entirely possible this time.

I'm a solid "B" student in math - never pretended to be more. Got a few "A"s along the way that were likely undeserved. But a "C" would be a little hard to stomach.

On the bright side, I'm done! And a "C" would mean I passed and that's the goal. After all, "C" is supposed to be "average" and average really does describe my math skills. This was, by far, the hardest of all my four math courses, and I know I'll still struggle with the concepts until I use them a lot more. It was probably not a good idea to take this kind of course in an accelerated semester but, if the worst they can do is stamp me "average", I guess I can live with that.

Not that I'm a grade snob or anything. But I need to keep my GPA as high as possible for admission into Eller College next Spring. Admission is competitive and I want as many things going for me as I can muster.

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ONE DAY LATER: Woohoo, I got a "B"!!!

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The Last Chapter

"Welcome to the last chapter of the last lesson in your academic math careers!" That's what the prof said when he opened the PowerPoint on Simulating Normal Random Variables yesterday. Worthy of celebration but I think we all were stunned into silence. This prof doesn't exactly engender frivolity... and I'll just leave it at that! Of course those of us in the accounting field will be using the concepts but, theoretically anyway, it won't be a "math class." Yippee!

Business Math II has been a lot harder than I thought. There are so many concepts and so many derivations of them that I can hardly keep track of what we're talking about and when to apply certain concepts. Test 2 is tomorrow, so I guess I need to figure it all out today!

There's still quite a bit to do before finishing the semester. Our online grade sheet shows 11 individual and group grades still awaiting a score. Two more homework assignments, a quiz, a test, a final, a written report, and an oral presentation - all by 3pm next Wednesday!

In my Native America class I still have a 5-7 page paper to write (my topic is Indian Legends & Lore) and a final next Wednesday. Very interesting class and a wonderful and personable prof. It's been difficult to juggle two classes in this condensed Summer Session, but I'm not sorry I did it this way. I really needed to get both classes out of the way before Fall.

Looking back, I can hardly believe that this time last year I had not even started my FIRST math class!! I've covered basically four semesters of math in less than a year's time! I still have a Statistics course looming in Spring 2009, but it's not officially a math class... I hope!

After next Wednesday I get a whole week and a half off before diving into Fall semester. Assuming, of course, I survive this week!

Deep breath!

This one's going to be a doozy... I can already tell. Two accelerated classes, lots of homework, lots of reading. Not much time to come up for air - but I'll make it.

Many Nations of Native America. Five books, four assignments, two exams, one essay, and lots to learn. But it will be fun; just seven students in class and the prof (Sunny Lybarger) seems really interesting. Getting her PhD in Philosophy/American Indian Art, she's Comanche (at least part) and very knowledgeable on the subject matter. We're covering three tribal areas and some general stuff about law, policy, and education. First is the Northwest Coast Indians including the Makah tribe and the whaling debate, then the Tohono O'odham here in southern Az, and the Anishinaabe (or Ojibwe, or Algonkin) tribe in the northeast U.S. and Canada.  We'll be covering both contemporary and historical issues; holding a "potlatch" (which has something to do with food!), and an in-class debate on the whaling issue.

Business Mathematics II. Six quizzes, six group homework assignments, six individual homework assignments, two oral reports, two exams and a final. Yikes. But, like Business Math I, this is about "real" stuff like demand, revenue, cost, profit, variances, differentiation, and distributions. In our first oral report we are to choose a new product that our "company" invented that is about to hit the market. We will have some givens: raw material costs, development outlays, demand compilations from test markets, etc., and will find a reasonable price for our product in the $200-$300 range. We'll use a quadratic function to determine maximum profit given the demand and adjust from there. Should be fun!

I'm glad I had a relative easy first summer semester and a wonderful week off for family reunion. I didn't really need a life this summer anyway, did I?!

Am I getting better at this?

For a few rarified moments I actually have the highest grade in my Business Math class! And not just the highest grade in MY class, but in all three Business Math classes Alison is teaching. I'm enjoying it while I can because our Final Exam grade will probably take care of this anomaly posthaste!

Alison Schafer has been the coolest "teach" yet in Math. While I loved my previous two profs (crazy-fun Jessica Knapp, and sweet-patient Laurie Varecka), this one is goofy and actually makes probability, random variables and cumulative distributive functions interesting!

Yes, math can be fun. Here's two actual quiz questions (she makes her own quizzes... can you tell?!):

1. James Bond is heading to the Tropicana Night Club in Las Vegas to track down Dr. MathDoom. He is arranging transportation and needs to know how big of a vehicle he needs to plan for in order to hold the number of girls he'll be bringing home with him for coffee at the end of the night. The table shows the number of girls and the probabilities from the past of that many happening. Based on this data, how many girls does James Bond expect to go home with? Compute this showing the proper notation and your work.

2. You are entered into the "Who's the Biggest Bling Daddy" contest. There are three other contestants: P. Diddy, Paris Hilton's dog, and Will Ferrell. The bookies are saying the odds of you winning are 28%. Paris Hilton's Dog has a 0.32 probability of winning. The other two contestants have equal probabilities. You've just found out that Paris Hilton's dog is disqualified for not being human! What is the new probability that you will win, given that her dog is no longer in the competition? Write the proper mathematical notation for this probability.

She claims she stayed up until 1 in the morning playing Grand Theft Auto in order to create the database of 100 stolen cars which we used for the Excel DCOUNT function on the midterm exam!

I feel I did pretty good on the final exam, but I've been wrong about that feeling too many times to trust it now! However, going into the last day of class (Monday), it feels pretty good to see a 97% next to my code name!

Not "too cool!"

The five others in my math presentation group and I were discussing whether the UA Library presentation room would be taken up by the Freshman Orientation occurring this month on campus. I said something about it being strange it was a whole year ago that I went through that orientation. One of the guys looked at me weird and asked, "Did you stay for the WHOLE thing?" As a matter of fact, I did. You only get once to be a college freshman and you may as well get the full treatment! Turns out he left part-way through because he was either bored or couldn't be bothered. Maybe that's one of the differences between his generation and mine. We've figured out at age 50+ that we're not "too cool" for stuff!

Business Math

I can't decide if this class is easy or hard! The concepts weren't covered in either of my algebra classes, but they're so closely tied to REAL BUSINESS SITUATIONS that they seem refreshingly ordinary and not so much foreign language-y. Basic probability and conditional probability actually make sense - at least so far. And I know enough Microsoft Excel that the DCOUNT stuff was almost simple.

Tomorrow's our first quiz so I guess I'll find out then whether or not I've grasped the essentials.

The only hard part is having two focuses. We need to learn the math plus create a PowerPoint presentation on stuff we won't learn until later this week! We are assigned to groups of 6 and have just a week to put together something cohesive to present next Tuesday.

Some poor fictional soul has defaulted on his $7,300,000 business loan and we (as banking officers) need to decide whether to foreclose now or give him more time. Foreclosure will mean the bank is settling for a nominal sum and will never recoup its total investment. More time means he either eventually pays back the entire loan (best case) or goes bankrupt and the bank receives nothing. Data from over 8,000 similar bank customers will give us the probability ratios and we'll learn how to plug in the known factors to assess the value of each scenario. So we basically know what we're shooting for, but we won't really know how to get there until two days before the presentation!

That's the way it is with accelerated courses. Things overlap and you have a persistent feeling you'll never catch up.

But there's no "real" homework to turn in, no textbook to speak of, and we'll be done in five weeks time. Dare I say it? It's almost FUN!

I knew enough!

That sound you hear emanating from my lungs is a deep sigh of relief! My two-hour final exam in Modern Latin America is over, and I knew enough to get a decent grade. Well, I won't know for sure until the grade is posted Monday, but I feel I did well with all the questions and only missed adding a date or two here and there. Of course I did all the extra credit questions at the end (gotta follow my own advice, ya know!), so they'll help make up for missed details.

I've never taken tests like Dr. Barickman issues. They're not the typical history exam where you spit out answers you memorized maybe only an hour or two before; facts that are just as quickly forgotten. He gives essay-style tests where you're expected to analyze your answer and write 4 or 5 complete paragraphs using examples from three or more countries. There are also some shorter identification-style ones where you pick from among 4 or 5 topics/events/terms and provide the date, country, and historical significance.

I've also never experienced the kind of advance preparation that he gives. His 8-page study guide, along with delineating the exact expectations, gives us the actual essay questions that are likely to be on the test! Of course he gives more questions than will be on the test, but it gives you a chance to get prepared and it really helps guide the limited study time you have.

Now that I'm home looking at those questions again, I'm relieved at the ones I didn't have to answer! I'd either prepared or had in mind how I would answer all of them, but it turns out the ones I felt least prepared for weren't on the test, or were there as a choice between two options. Whew!

Five major countries is a lot to cover and 200 years of history for each. But he taught not so much the facts and events, but how they impacted the citizens of each country in differing ways. He also covered how similar events such as military coups, elections, voting rights etc. were handled differently in each country, and how the economy reacted each time there was a major change.

I learned a lot and won't soon forget it. But thank goodness that test is over. I didn't know everything, but I knew enough!

Here's my advice

1) Give the professor every opportunity to give you a good grade: This means show up for class every day, take notes, act interested, ask relevant questions, participate in discussions.

2) Turn in ALL homework, done to the best of your ability: This means write neatly, if it's math or other handwritten stuff. Use complete sentences like an intelligent person would.

3) Follow directions on assignments: Read them twice! If it says 6 pages, don't turn in 5. Or 4. If it says staple, do it! If it says number them, or MLA format, or cover sheet, do it. These are the easy points, kids! (Hey, I get two points out of ten on math homework just for putting my name at the top!)

4) Analyze the writing assignment before you start: What did the prof say/write about it? Is it an opinion piece? A research problem? A documented argument? Start on it early and rewrite it a couple of times before you turn it in. Have someone else read it for clarity.

5) Come to class prepared: Read over the notes from last class. Do the assigned reading. In my Latin America class Friday discussion sessions, if you hadn't read the assignment you were asked to leave! And there was a short quiz nearly every Friday on Monday and Wednesday's lectures. Kept us honest. Loved it.

6) Show enthusiasm: It doesn't take much effort, and it will make you feel more positive about yourself and your life.

7) Do all extra credit assignments: Even if you think you're getting an A, do the extra credit and give the prof no excuse not to give you a good grade!

8) Learn something about each professor: Is he from Brazil? Does she like cats? They're people, too, and deserve to be treated like it. Try to see things from their perspective once in a while. And it doesn't hurt that they're more likely to remember you at grade time in a positive light if you've treated them like real people. Could make the difference between an 89 or a 90. Big difference. Plus they might just give you extra insight into the subject matter. It's your education; reach out and TAKE it.

I saw too many kids this year sitting back and expecting their "education" to be served to them on a platter. They didn't participate in discussions, they hadn't done the reading, they asked for extensions on assignments. And that's if they showed up in class at all!

Overheard (part 2)

(In Math class) "I have a feeling I'm going to use up all my GRO's just trying to pass this one class!"

A "GRO" is a grade replacement opportunity. We get three opportunities (maximum 10 credit hours) to replace a C, D, or E (same as F) in a class by repeating it. The new grade wipes out the old (even if it's worse!).

(Also in Math class) "I thought homework isn't due until tomorrow. Oh, you just got a head start on it. I guess that's a good idea!"

Uh, yeah?!

(In Latin America class) "Hey prof, on that 6-page reflective essay that's due tomorrow, the way I understand it we're supposed to write about that author who said the middle class is gaining power in Latin America... well, what's easier to prove, that he's right or that he's wrong?"

Yikes. Sometimes I think I get good grades in this class just because the teacher's assistant is relieved to read a semi-coherent paper! But some of them can actually throw together a decent paper in a matter of hours. It must be an art! Ask Juan; I agonized over said paper for most of the day last Saturday - and I'm still revising it!

A Big Finish

Well, we're counting down the days now! Just four more English classes (including today), five more in Modern Latin America, and eight more in Math, three of which will be review. Final exams only in MLA and Math. English has a final paper due, and a 3-page reflective essay, but no final exam. I'll grade a final project in my MIS Preceptor role, and proctor their final exam, and my semester is DONE!

I won't know what to do with all my spare time! A week break and I start my summer Business Math class on the 27th. It meets 2 hours in the morning just four days a week so I'll have plenty of time for homework plus a 3-day weekend. (Followup: the Pima advisor was very helpful and allowed me to enroll in the summer course just by showing I was currently enrolled in Math 109). It wraps up a week prior to the Staley Family Reunion in early July, and then I'll pick up Summer Session 2 right away when I get back.

I'm registered in Summer 2 for Econ 200 and a general elective course but I'm thinking I may change that. Since I'll already be on a roll with Business Math (A) early in the summer, why not take Business Math (B) in Summer Session 2 and be virtually DONE with Math this summer?!! Business Statistics, which is my final "math" class, I can fit in either Fall 2008 or Spring 2009. I love this new plan!

I got to thinking of my previous rant (in February) about the disjointedness of taking disparate-themed classes all together and realized that I'd be much better at Math if I focused only on it. That puts me a little behind in my general electives, but I can fit those in later on and don't really need to complete all of them for Professional Admission to Eller next spring anyway. But I DO need to complete Math. Hmmm... two semesters of torture, or one summer of hard work? It's a no-brainer!

Hey, it isn't Harvard!

What is it with Math? They make you bring a note from the Pope to let you in, I guess!

Just finished with a very angst-ridden Fall Registration (WebReg wouldn't even let me in for 20 minutes!) and was able to add every class I wanted... except Math! And, of course, it's the ONE course I've got to get into!

Met with my advisor last week and he advised me to register for Pima math in summer school so I don't get further behind in my path to Eller professional admission (or PFAD, as he called it. We apparently LUV acronyms in the academic scene!). No problem, I came right home and looked up what Pima offered, found four classes that will meet my needs and attempted to register.

Nope. "You do not have the necessary blessing of the Pope to register for this class." (Okay, it wasn't worded quite like that!) I emailed an online Pima advisor to see what was necessary and they offered me four choices: 1) Show them a copy of my UA Math Placement Test (huh? That was before last semester and I've learned a little since then), 2) Get an unofficial transcript that says I've taken the courses equivalent to their prerequisite (Hey, I'm *IN* that course and getting a good grade. Will a note from my teacher suffice?), 3) Take *their* math placement test, or 4) petition the instructor to let me in the class.

Okay, so I'm going to visit a Pima campus next week with a printout of my grade so far in Math 109 (I'm getting a solid B) and see what else they'll take in the form of bribes or inducements - to allow me to enroll in a SUMMER MATH CLASS, for heaven's sake! What? Are too many bums off the street clamoring to get into this gem of a class?

So, I naively thought that the UA, having access to my records and grades, and knowledgable of my declared major would allow me to pre-register for Fall for the math class that comes after the one I'll take at Pima this summer. Nope.

So I probably won't get the class I need for Fall, and maybe not for Summer, either, if they make me show a final grade for my current math class which won't be posted until 2 days into the summer class. And then I suppose I have to finish the summer class before they let me register for Fall - by which time all the UA classes will be full and it's back to Pima... if they have openings. Grrrrr!

I just don't get it. How the heck do they know I'm "qualified" to take the other three courses I added to my Fall schedule less than an hour ago? What makes Math so special? How about letting students register for what they need and then UN-register them if they don't pass the prerequisite class, huh? Then maybe students wouldn't hate math so much... ya think?!

The Home Stretch!

At least for tax season, it is. This time next week I'll be winding up my last day in the tax office. It has been a fun and productive season, but it has been tough to do the juggle between evenings in the tax office and evenings to get caught up on homework.

Fortunately, being my 7th year at taxes, I was able to flex my schedule somewhat. That meant fewer days sitting around the office waiting for walk-ins, which is nice, but it also meant my repeat clients had fewer days to get on my calendar so every day I worked was booked with clients. I learned early in February to "schedule" a bogus appointment at 8pm so I don't have someone picking 8:30pm. That would mean finishing up around 9:30 after which we still have to close the register. Grrrr! It only happened ONCE!

I've heard a few preparers express disappointment in the volume of clients this year, but I've actually done a few more tax returns than I did last year, and in fewer days. So it has been a very good year for me. I really wanted to try to keep up because my client base is important to what I hope to be doing after I get my degree. School certainly would have been easier without it. Depending on my class schedule next Spring, I'll probably do a few things differently.

So it feels like school is on the "home stretch" as well. I meet with my advisor tomorrow to make sure I'm on the right track with my class schedule for summer and fall. Online registration is 1pm Sunday (I register with the Sophomores now -- yay!), so I'm already thinking about next semester. Finals for this semester are early May, so that will be here before I know it.

I'm taking one class in Summer PreSession and two in the second Summer Session. I'll have more than a month off between them so will still have plenty of time to rest up. Those three classes will more than catch me up from taking only 13 hours this semester rather than the recommended 16. I'd much rather do it this way than go nuts during Spring and Fall semesters and goof off all summer long!

Overheard

Overheard in Math class...

Female student to her girlfriend: "I've got to like get my nose pierced again because I think it like grew back together. I had a cold last week and was like sneezing and everything and had to take it out and now I can't get it back in again. Actually I was able to push like an earring through so maybe it's okay but I just need to get another nose ring like as soon as possible. Can you go with me?"

Overheard on the parking lot shuttle...

Regular all-American caucasian guy to girl who also had a non-distinctive American accent: "Hey, I haven't seen you since last spring. How are you? Are you still learning Arabic?"
Girl: "Yeah, but it's pretty difficult."
Guy: "I know. I dropped the class. I'm going to pick it up again when I get back to Cairo. It just has no relevance here. I can't wait to get back to Cairo... sit at a cafe and soak up the rhythm of the world. It just feels too weird here. There's no pulse. What did you do last summer?"
Girl: "We went to my inlaws in Amman, Jordan. It's such a beautiful city. We were there almost six weeks. We can't move until he gets his degree, but we're already looking at property there. It's really expensive but I think he can get a good job right away. I can't wait to move."

And my personal favorite - overheard in Math class last semester...

Guy student to math teacher: "I'm only going to do 75% of the homework because I only need a "C" in this class."

Time to breathe!

Ahhh, Spring Break! A chance to breathe and get caught up on a bunch of things - house-related:

- Curtains for the TV room
- Get rid of the old china hutch (finally!)
- Reorganize my desk area
- Plant new garden stuff
- Put in shrubs along back fence
- Weed our half-acre backyard! (15 minutes at a time)

...And school-related:

- Study for Map Quiz in Latin America class
- Get ahead on Math homework
- Get a better grasp on logarithms (purplemath.com is great)
- Write my Annotated Bibliography for English
- Start on my Documented Argument (English again)

Wait a minute, I don't think I have time to be writing in this blog!

If it's Tuesday, this must be English

Whose idea was this, anyway? To have students take four subjects all at once? I'm beginning to think the accelerated college my husband graduated from has the better approach. The University of Phoenix crams a whole semester of each subject into a 5-6 week period of time. You do research, write papers, take a final, and then it's on to the next subject. One at a time.

I'm keeping up pretty good and am getting the work done, but it's the lack of true focus that's bugging me this week. I'm enjoying each subject (some more than others) and want to do a "good" job with all of them. But there either isn't enough time, or maybe it's just my brain that has trouble changing focus every day...

The way it is turning out, two of my subjects are getting less of my concentration only because they don't meet every day like my Math class does. After I leave English Thursday at 2, I don't really have to think about it again for five more days. Similar scenario with Modern Latin America. I just took a mid-term exam in MLA that I felt unprepared for because I hadn't been focusing as much on that class since not much is "due" in it and it only meets Mon/Wed (with a Friday lab that seems only partially related).

I'm also a little frustrated about the method of dispensing critical information. And this might be a new-generation versus old-generation thing. Ya know, these kids with their short attention spans! But when I see something on the syllabus coming up in the next few weeks, I want to be thinking about it way ahead of time. However the outline giving the structure of the paper that's due next week was only given to us today! So I have two evenings (one of which I'm booked at H&R Block) to put together a 2-page rough draft for peer review in class on Thursday.

And I'm not quite done with Math homework that's due tomorrow plus my input for the group Math project due Thursday (which kind of changed focus once we saw the group grade we got on project 1 only TODAY!). I can be good at all these subjects, but I need to focus on them separately.

Plus the house is a little thrown and what should I do with the chicken for tonight's dinner?

I'll get it all done, of course, but I won't feel I've done my "best" job which I could do if given more time to focus on each one. I feel like I'm throwing stuff together at the last minute too much. Or is that really all they expect of us...??

The biggest difference

I'm into my third week of classes now and I already feel in the groove. Maybe it's that second semester thing. My English prof said he senses that Spring semesters are less frantic than Fall. I think he's right. I'm taking more classes than I did last semester but the pace seems very different. Probably just because we all have a semester under our belt and know better what to expect.

I'd say the biggest change in my life since I retired would have to be the change of pace. I'm no longer quite as rushed to fit all of "life" into the hours available. I still get up at the same time (5 a.m.!) and pretty much go to bed around 9 p.m., but everything just fits better into the daytime hours. I really love having more control over my day.

The $3.00 lesson: I learned a good lesson the first week of classes. There is a major difference between a 9 a.m. class and a 10 a.m. class - available parking! Last semester I could usually find a good parking spot in just a few minutes of cruising before my 9 a.m. MIS class. And for my 3:30 p.m. English class, people were leaving campus in throngs. But at 10 a.m. it's a different story. Second day of school I left the house around 9:20 a.m. and was unable to find a spot in any of three parking areas on the south side of campus. In a panic, I had to use the pay parking garage that charges by the hour. It's very close to my Math building, thank goodness, so I still made it to class with a couple minutes to spare, but at $3.00, I'd better not use it too often!

So I've made it a practice to be out of the house at 9 a.m., not only so I can find parking, but I'm in a better frame of mind if I'm not rushing from the parking lot straight into class. I even have time for a Starbucks drive-thru, thanks to a generous Christmas gift card from my brother. Just a short coffee with cream (I'm boring, I know!) and I'm set for the morning.

Back at it!

Ahhh... I'm enjoying my last day of Christmas break - trying to wrap up the home projects I got started on in mid-December and getting my stuff/act together to have a go at another semester!

I haven't had this much time off in 28 years! A little more than five weeks. It was GREAT to truly feel "retired" for a while but I'm anxious to get into a routine again. Juan had two weeks off and we got some fun stuff done like putting in a garden, and purchasing the recliners we'd talked about getting for the past several years. Now our "Arizona" room is put to good use as our media room and we enjoy relaxing in there after a long day.

Since I was selected for the MIS Preceptor thing (see previous post), I've decided to drop my Justice and Virtue class and cap my credit hours at 13. With working at H&R Block 20-30 hours a week, it just seemed like I was taking on too much at 16 credits. The Preceptor commitment won't be a traditional class, but it will take 5+ hours a week averaged over the semester. Standard classes generally take 6+ hours a week including the study/homework time so I didn't want to push it.

I'll get more info when our Preceptor "class" meets for the first time later this week, but here's what I know right now: I'll be involved in three aspects; grading (approximately 50-60 projects at a time for five different projects), proctoring (three exams and a final), and flex-lab (assisting students in the computer lab probably once or twice a week). It sounds like a lot of fun and a change of pace from the ordinary class format.

So here's how my schedule pans out:

- Monday: Math 109, Modern Latin America, H&R Block
- Tuesday: Math 109, English 102, homework
- Wednesday: (see Monday)
- Thursday: (see Tuesday)
- Friday: Modern Latin America, H&R Block or homework (alternating months)
- Saturday: H&R Block, homework
- Sunday: homework!

The Preceptor grading can be done from home and will occur only every third week with flex-lab on the other two weeks.

The funnest part about a new semester is obtaining the syllabus from each class and getting everything coordinated into my calendar. I had to chuckle at one of my fellow classmates last semester who whined that the teachers were "really piling on the work" at the end of the semester. No they weren't! Just read the syllabus!! Ah, youth!