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!