College at 50!

What I learned... about Economics

2011-09-18T06:45:00.009-07:00

This was easily my favorite class for several reasons. Primarily the professor, Dr. Gerald Swanson, renowned in his field and, like me, an "older" geezer-type, had a distinct way of relating to the young kids. He actually got them/me thinking about economics in very simple terms. It isn't complicated.

What is economics? It's an exchange. People engage in voluntary transactions they believe will make them better off. We usually think in terms of money: I have money and need a chair, you have a chair and need money. We exchange and everybody's happy. But economics can be about any exchange. I have a painting that you like, you have a chair that I like. If we both believe we will be better off with the other thing, we have an economic transaction.

Economics is a social science. It's all about human behavior. Human wants are insatiable - we all want more of something. Scarcity is a reality - we all have limited resources so we need to make good choices. Optimization is our goal; we want to maximize our well-being within the limits of our resources. I only have $50 to spend. What's the best chair I can get for $50? Or, can I get an adequate chair for just $30 and pocket the extra $20?

That's the thing about retail stores. Ideally retailers would never put the price on the things they're selling. Once they label something with a price, they're leaving money in the pocket of some consumers. Let's say I want to buy a pair of shoes and I'm willing to pay $80. So I go shopping. I find the perfect pair for $60. Only I know I'm willing to spend $80. If the shoe store owner could read my mind, he would have priced the shoes at $80 and we both would have been happy. Okay, we're both still happy, but he left me with an extra $20 that he could have gotten - he just didn't know it. But if he priced the shoes at $80 and the next person coming in the store could only pay $60, the retailer would also lose money because that person would walk out without buying.

As a retailer, how can I maximize my profit? By selling the same thing at different prices to different consumers. This is called price discrimination and is perfectly legal. Airlines do it every day. It doesn't cost the airline less to fly that plane on Tuesday, but they lower the price for people willing to fly on Tuesday because the airline is better off with a full plane at a lower price per ticket than a half-empty plane at regular price. Movie theaters have discounts based on age, time of day, student status, etc. They're called price-seekers - trying to find the maximum price each consumer is willing to pay.

Senior citizen discounts, coupons, limited-time offers, mail-in rebates - these are all examples of price discrimination. And once their fixed costs are covered, every additional sale is mostly profit anyway so it doesn't matter what they charge. This is why colleges have scholarships. Empty seats in a classroom can be filled at no additional cost to the university. They already covered their costs with tuition-paying students so the marginal cost of an additional student is zero! And the college gets to look noble and generous.

That's enough for today. But it's not the last you'll hear from me about economics. They should make this class a requirement for every student.

What I learned: Arbitrage

2011-08-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

I'd heard the word before without ever understanding it. Arbitrage is the ability to find identical investments that have differing prices and taking advantage of this disparity without risking a cent of your own money.

For example, if iPads are selling in the US for $500 but are only available in Europe for the equivalent of $600, you can borrow $500 from the bank, buy an iPad, sell it via the internet for $550, pay back the bank, and pocket the $50. You haven’t used a penny of your own money. If you owe any interest to the bank, it is probably minimal. This is arbitrage.

What I learned: Stock diversification

2011-08-22T16:58:00.004-07:00

If you load up your investment portfolio with only tech stocks or only pharmaceuticals, for example, your risk level is high because what impacts one type of stock will likely impact all the other similar stocks. This is called independent risk, or idiosyncratic risk, and it’s completely unnecessary. You can virtually eliminate this risk – diversify it away – simply by having a minimum of 30 different types of investments in your portfolio.

A lot of folks who are interested in investing for the future also own a home. Of course a home is a great investment but, unless you’re a millionaire, you’re putting a whole lot of eggs in the same basket (subjecting yourself to idiosyncratic risk). This is especially true if you also own an index fund that is in REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and maybe even own a second home for rental income.

Here’s how to find out how diversified you are. Take your net worth (assets minus your debts) and divide by 30. This is the theoretical maximum you should have in any single investment in order to be properly diversified. If your net worth is, say, $450,000 (including the estimated resale value of your home minus your mortgage balance), then the most you should be holding in real estate is $15,000.
However, if you’re like most Americans, your home is probably at least 40% of your portfolio. Add to that your REITs and that rental property, and you’re way under-diversified. If you don’t own a home, maybe you should just own $15,000 worth of REITs. It is, of course, a personal choice. Just keep this in mind when you consider the riskiness of your investments.

What I learned: About Curves

2011-08-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

A “curve” in college is usually a straight line.

In Economics there are two curves: the demand curve and the supply curve. Draw both on a graph and you basically have an X. No one bothers to calculate the actual curve, if there is one.

Grade on the curve, or apply a curve at the end of the semester. This also means a straight line. Sure, the bell-shaped graph representing all the grades is curvy, but the cut-off point is still a straight line.

Had one prof who declared at the beginning of the semester that 25% of the class would get an A, 50% would get a B, and 25% would get a C. Period. Seems like a straight "curve" to me! Theoretically I suppose one could possibly do nothing other than register for his class and still get a C, but I wasn’t willing to find out. I got a B.

What I Learned: Point-slope formula

2011-08-13T17:14:00.007-07:00

Probably the biggest thing college did for me was in the area of math refresher. Ashamed to say I had let my math skills slip mightily over the years.

I know I probably learned this formula in high school but since there was a 30-year gap for me between high school and college, I guess I plumb forgot it!

The point-slope formula (also known as the slope-intercept equation) was the very first thing I learned in remedial math class. Those of us who failed the math assessment during student orientation had to take this extra class designed to get us up to speed before taking real college math.

First day of class Dr. Jessica Knapp (who looks nothing like a math teacher, by the way!) brought stacks and stacks of styrofoam cups and passed out maybe 10 or 12 cups to each group of 2 or 3 students. Our task was to construct a formula that would tell her how high the stack was. And the formula had to work even when she combined two of the stacks.

Some of the students got out their trusty ruler, measured one of the cups, and multiplied that by the number of cups. Okay, okay, I almost did the same thing. But then I noticed another measurement we needed to have. The distance between the lip of the first cup and the lip of the second.

So you really need TWO measurements in this formula. One will be used just once, and the other will be repeated as many times as you have cups. This is called the point-slope formula: y = mx + b

y is the height of the entire stack
m is the number of cups
x is the height of the lip
b is the height of the first cup below the lip

So the height of the stack is 12 (cups) x .5 (half an inch) + 4 (inches)

I can’t tell you how many times over the course of my four year college career this formula popped up. Over and over and over again - in economics, finance, statistics - everywhere. Very useful formula! I think it's magic in its simplicity.

Next phase coming up!

2011-08-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

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All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. -Anatole France, novelist, essayist, Nobel laureate (1844-1924)
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As you may have guessed, my college career is over! Even though I "walked" (graduated) in May, I still had two general education classes to finish up in the summer. That's done so just waiting for them to officially issue the degree. Somewhat anticlimactic! It's strange to think there's whole new crop of freshmen eagerly anticipating their first taste of college - and they're all FOUR YEARS YOUNGER than the toddlers in my class!

So the door is closing on the school phase of my life. Turns out it is also closing on the retirement/leisure phase - I start my first accounting job next week! Thankfully it is only part time and probably temporary. After four years of primarily being home, it will be difficult to have to report to work every day again. But I'm looking forward to finally learning how accounting works in real life. Turns out college accounting courses only touch the surface of a wide array of topics. It takes real job experience before most of it makes sense.

My new company is in residential and commercial property management - mostly in Arizona, but branching out to other states. I'll start out in Accounts Receivable but they promised I will learn a lot about the other facets of accounting, too. Having only worked as a secretary for a state government-owned university, the public sector is a giant blind spot for me. I'm looking forward to learning a lot!

At a recent family reunion, a very astute cousin asked me some interesting questions about my college experience. She got me to thinking about the key things I learned so I'll try to post some observations in the next few weeks in case you find them interesting, too.

Is it over yet?

2010-12-05T16:35:00.001-07:00

This semester has long ago worn out its welcome! And I still have a major assignment in each class due this week. Just one final exam, though, thank goodness. It has been a good semester, but once that grade card starts to fill up with completed scores, the itch to finish it off is almost unbearable. Get done already!

As part of the preceptor role in the Business Communications class, I acted as moderator for one of 20 rooms full of dapperly dressed Juniors ready with their big Case Competition presentations. Six teams of 4-6 students were assigned to my room and made PowerPoint presentations to a panel of local executives. This year's case was GEICO insurance company, who asked them to give ideas on how to reach and retain young people such as themselves. Some had creative ideas and some not-so-creative - but it was fun and I was glad to avoid presenting this year. Moderator I can do!

In the midst of this end-of-semester angst, my hubby snagged himself a modest promotion which requires showing up for work about 1,400 miles from Tucson! So the rush to get him ready has somewhat interfered with my school work. Now that he is packed off to Idaho, though, there is much to do before I am finally awarded grades for this long semester (don't much care what grades they are at this point!). Then I will have an 8-day break before winter session and Microeconomics looms. I think a quick trip to Idaho might just be the escape I need!

I have Office Hours!

2010-10-15T09:34:00.007-07:00

http://tinyurl.com/2c6fe2m

Okay, technically just HOUR (singular), but still... As mentioned, I'm a teaching assistant (preceptor) for the Business Communication class I took last spring. This means I can attend class without doing the homework! I'm just there to help out if the students need me. It's a large class of 29 students but of course not all of them show up on any given day. (Never figured out how or why they do that. Life is so much easier if you just attend class. But then I'm not their mother, so...)

Anyhow, preceptors are required to staff the Help Desk one hour a week; mine is Wednesdays, noon to 1pm. Turns out it is a pretty good time to reread the chapter for 2pm Accounting class. I can count on one hand the number of students who have dropped in - let's see... one, two, yup, that would be THREE in, what, seven weeks? But a few of them have emailed me their papers, too, so I guess that counts.

The more interesting part of preceptor-ing has been helping the prof with grading. This was one of my goals - to speed him up a bit with the grading process. Last semester he was pretty slow at releasing grades on stuff we'd turned in weeks before. So far I think I've failed in that goal, but at least I've maybe helped him adjust to having two classes to grade where last semester he was teaching only one. (In his defense, he also has a full-time "real" job, plus a two-year-old son at home!)

Papers are typed using the student's choice of word processing program then uploaded electronically to a service called Turnitin.com. This service checks the paper for plagiarism against literally billions of sources, including student papers from prior and current semesters at this and many other universities. In about 5 minutes per paper, it returns an "originality score" as a percentage of the total paper. The grader can view the paper in its original form on-screen with the "plagiarized" bits highlighted and identified as to source. We can also apply comments directly to the on-screen paper to suggest grammar corrections or make other recommendations. This has forced me to relearn some grammar and basic writing rules to explain WHY the student's choice might be incorrect.

Eller College's standard Business Writing Rubric emphasizes: Critical thinking (audience, purpose, context), logic/reasoning (claim or assertion, idea unity and integrity, supporting evidence), structural coherence (internal logic, transitions, language use), information design (format, visual design, professionalism), and error interference (credibility, grammar, punctuation). The rubric is activated on the paper itself and the grader selects a high or low target for each of the five areas. The combined score is applied to the points for that assignment and the result is their grade.

Of course I'm not doing any actual grading (apparently I need a PhD for that!) but Dr. Liers will use my comments on the papers to supplement his own comments and my work will help him apply a grade. The papers I'm "grading" are business letters in final draft form which the students will then revise and resubmit as part of their "portfolio" at the end of the semester.

The business writing "Boot Camp" consists of three business letters: standard ("routine"), negative message (or "bad news"), and persuasive. Topics center on a case study; this semester it's the issue of genetically engineered salmon currently under review by the FDA. (More info: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm224089.htm) As a fictional intern at SeafoodSource.com, an industry news source (a real company following the hearings), the student crafts letters for signature by his or her "boss" and creates the "transmittal email" to the boss summarizing the content of their attached letter. This is something most of them will be involved in doing when they become gainfully employed in a couple of years.

While some students have surprised me with their grasp of the assignments, most of them are painfully unprepared for this style of writing. They overuse superlatives and cliches, and too often it's clear they haven't thought through the assignment at all - they've just started writing (probably at midnight before it's due). The Persuasive Letter assignment clarifies they are to pick three points for elaboration to convince the reader. If they would just DO that, it would be a lot easier to grade! Instead they regurgitate facts unrelated to their points - and then their points (if they have them) are introduced only in the summary paragraph at the end! Sigh.

The big Writing Assessment comes in early November. They will be given a couple pages of background information on an issue one day prior, which they can read and annotate in preparation for class. In class they will be handed their assignment (one of the letter styles - my guess is "negative message") and they will have about an hour to craft their letter and submit it to Turnitin.com at the end of class. Irrespective of their grade on anything else this semester, they must pass this writing assessment with 80% or higher. Failing students must enroll in an additional 2-credit lab prior to graduation.

This brings me to the second part of my preceptor duties. Next week I will shift my focus to the lab of students who failed the writing assessment in prior semesters. Typically (I've heard) these are international students struggling with English as their second language. I'm looking forward to it because they are often the more serious kids who want to learn. Recalling my own experience many eons ago as a 20-year-old in France helps give me a tiny bit of perspective. I have nothing but admiration for these kids' courage - attending college in a foreign language. As I understand it, there is no real "grade" to achieve in this lab. Once the student has completed it, they are awarded the grade they earned in the earlier semester.

Meanwhile, my other classes are going well. Learning a lot, enjoying the subjects. Met last week with my advisor for "degree check" and I'm right on target for the big day in May 2011. Woohoo!!

Hmmm, this is old hat!

2010-08-27T09:53:00.003-07:00

Well, not entirely, but this is the first semester that I haven’t felt anxiety, wondering what will come next and whether I will be able to manage it all. Prior semesters always had a new element… new experience, new subject matter, new college, new schedule... Well, some of that is still present here at the beginning of my senior year. For one thing, my classes this semester all begin at 2:00 pm or later! After six semesters of morning classes, I took the opportunity to give this a try. Gives me what seems like tons of time for homework in the mornings when my brain is fresh. Still working out a timetable but expect to get into that familiar rhythm soon. Classes are new, of course, and professors, but there is a calmer feeling this time. I’ve been through the worst (Financial Accounting 1 & 2!), and have nearly 80% of my courses behind me. It’s feeling very comfortable now. I will make it! I will graduate on time. And I will enjoy these last two semesters – for the most part! The unknown parts aren’t so scary anymore. I have that “been there, done that” feeling. It feels great.

One of my courses this semester, “Integrating Business Fundamentals with Ethics and Law,” has a twist that I wish every course offered. Dr. Cummins teaches in a regular classroom, but records it live on WebEx. So I can “attend” at home by joining the class on computer! She can see who is “present” and we can use the chat feature to ask questions. She answers as though we are sitting right there in the classroom. The only time we must attend in person is for exams, however I do want to experience it at least once from the classroom side. She authored the textbook, and is funny, engaging, and perfect for this method of teaching. Class sessions are stored for viewing and re-viewing whenever we wish. This would have been very useful for some of those really difficult courses.

My other class is Accounting Information Systems in which I expect to learn all the things I was doing wrong when I tried to develop Access databases for my old job! I knew there were supposed to be complex relationships between all the tables, but I just didn’t understand how to make them work. Day two of class and I’m already elbow deep in relational databases. Right up my alley!

At the end of last semester my Business Communications professor asked if I would consider being a teaching assistant (preceptor) for the same class this semester. I agreed, so that rounds out my schedule. I’ll attend most classes and assist students with all the same assignments I completed last Spring. I don’t really need the credit hours, but it seemed like an interesting experience and a way to get to know Dr. Liers a bit better. He’s a professional writer and you just never know when you'll need that kind of assistance down the road.

So my next 15 weeks are set! By Christmas, I'll be a senior-and-a-half, and have just two upper division classes remaining before graduation in May. Yay!

If I had to pick a minor...

2010-06-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

It took me several semesters to figure out why a college student would need to choose a "minor." The best answer anyone could give me was that some departments didn't let you take their classes without declaring a minor in their college. Guess that makes sense. Turns out I didn't need to worry about that, but if I had to pick one, it would have been Economics, primarily due to Dr. Gerald Swanson. That link will take you to an article that honors his 40 years of teaching. Dr. Swanson's "Principles of Economics" class was certainly one of my favorites.

If you have time, play the little movie at the end of the article and you can see him hold the attention of every student in a classroom that seats 500!

And to think I almost didn't take his class. At the last minute I switched my Winter Session class to Managerial Accounting because my accounting lab instructor was teaching it. That meant Economics 200 would have to move to Spring 2008 and Dr. Swanson's class was the only one that fit my schedule. Talk about serendipitous!

I'm a senior now!

2010-06-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

No, no, not a senior citizen (although I'm heading down that hill FAST!), but a college senior. How time has flown. Saw a fresh crop of undergrads brandishing their "2010" folders at the Student Union the other day and realized it had been THREE YEARS since I proudly carried my "2007" credentials-in-cardboard. It has been a fun and interesting ride, and I can finally see the horizon.

If it's true that the first two semesters of the accounting curriculum are the hardest, then I have successfully and officially survived. Turns out I'm only an "average" accounting student but, considering the difficulty of the material and the breakneck speed at which we are supposed to "learn" it, I'm okay with that. If scoring in the mid-70s is the worst of it, then average is exactly my style.

A fellow (older) student and I have discussed the relative merits of a department that feels the need to place obstacles in the way of future accountants as they have deliberately done with Intermediate Accounting I and II. I suppose their intent is to turn out only the "best and brightest" accountants and gain a reputation for this consistency. But in the real world, darned good accountants can come from solid C-students and we all know it. My friend had the guts to email an influential professor in the accounting department with this brilliant suggestion: that they continue this "barrier to entry" for only those students yearning to spend 80+ hours per week working for one of the "Big Four" accounting firms following graduation. She recommends they leave us poor grunts - who will be content to get a local job and learn the ropes and perform adequately for our paycheck - to the less rigorous classes. It would be refreshing to take classes that teach us valuable things that we will actually experience in the job market. Her email likely won't change the world, but it was certainly worth a try.

Meanwhile, with those two giant obstacles safely behind me, I'm on to more enjoyable things like Macroeconomics and Tax Accounting! It's almost a shame I chose to take Macroeconomics in a rushed semester because it was SO interesting and probably ranks up there with one of the best learning experiences of my college career. To understand even a tiny bit about classical economics and how Adam Smith (and JB Say and Ricardo) saw things and how Schumpeter, Keynes and then Hayek totally changed how economics are viewed was exciting and mind-expanding. It was one of those mental upgrades that will stick with me the rest of my life. I'm definitely better for the experience.

Now, just two days into my Intro to Federal Taxation course, I have hope that at last I have found a class that will be less of a struggle, given my 10 years at H&R Block. Not that I already know everything by any means, but it is a relief to be able to follow the concepts and anticipate the structure. I have adequate time to spend on the homework and can keep up with the readings and it appears that is all it will take.

My afternoon

2010-05-05T14:38:00.006-07:00

Sold an old desktop computer on eBay yesterday for a little over $100 (yay). Now have to figure out how to erase hard drive (boo). Found free open-source software that will do it (yay). Copied it to CD from new computer, carried to old computer to install. Needs to connect to internet (boo). (Old computer is dial-up only!). Better to purchase reputable product from Best Buy ($20, boo). Came home, inserted CD, it ALSO needs to connect to internet (boo)! Tried connecting phone line... nothing. Oh, yeah, fried internal modem years ago in lightning storm (boo). Where did we put that external modem? Hmm, think we donated it (boo). Okay, try ethernet from newer cable modem we are now using. Nope, doesn't work (boo). Okay, how much would computer store charge to perform service? Umm, $75 (boo). Back to square one. Need a cheap modem. Almost out the door to Radio Shack but dark recesses of brain remembered old Bluetooth modem. Where did we put that? Hmm, found a Dynex Wireless dongle (don't ask). Doesn't look like a modem, but what the heck, plug it in. System recognized it (yay). Asked for accompanying CD (boo). Found CD in old storage (yay). Installed and connected to Apple Airport (yay!). Logged in and finally installed Drive Scrubber (yay). Rebooted three times (this old computer is GLACIAL!) before looking for more info at iolo.com to find I needed to change boot order (boo). Finally figured out how to do that and it is now "scrubbing"! Yay! (Maybe not worth $100+!). Tomorrow: packing and shipping!

I think there's less competition

2010-04-20T09:56:00.009-07:00

Lately I've noticed something about my accounting class that seems a little different from last semester. The really smart kids aren't quite as smug. Can't put my finger on it, and maybe its just me and a shift in MY attitude, but I do hear the smart kids haggling more with the prof over a point here and there on a quiz or exam as though they think they're going to need that point when the final tally is made. They're still smart, just not so cocky now. Don't know if they're finding the material more challenging... I'm actually finding it just a sliver easier - maybe due to an adjustment downward in my expectations! Anyway, it's a refreshing change.

By throwing caution to the winds and allowing the department to place me in a random Business Communications class this semester, I ended up in a 3:30 pm class with the "PM Cohort" and learned something that seems so obvious now. I've always been a "morning person" - more energy and/or active brain cells happening before 10:00 am than anytime after. So my assumption was to select the "AM Cohort" preference on my Eller entrance paperwork. Turns out I'm SO MUCH happier to have mornings to STUDY and prepare for an afternoon classtime. Huh! Better late than never, I guess!

My summer classes are in place now. Macroeconomics in the super-condensed Pre-session (so I guess I'll learn a LOT about very LARGE economic theories in a very SHORT time period! Ack!). Then Summer One is my next accounting class - an elective: Intro to Federal Taxation. (Hoping this one will be a bit easier due to my H&R Block experience... hoping!) Then Summer Two is Quantitative Financial Management. I'll be available to analyze your portfolio in August... NOT!

Constant measuring is tedious

2010-04-10T07:30:00.002-07:00

My second accounting exam is behind me and coming up next is the Business Communications writing assessment. Won't know until Monday how I did on accounting - she never releases the grades early; we have to suffer in a classroom of our peers as we are handed back our exams and peek nervously at the score hidden on page 8!

In the writing assessment, we are expected to study a business case this weekend and know enough about the basic elements of a local business to write a moderately complex business letter to match a specific issue we won't know until we walk into the classroom. Then we have an hour to analyze and craft our message.

Like Gilda Radner used to say, it's always something! The perpetual nature of learning - testing - learning - testing gets really old about this time of the semester. The end is in sight, but so much more to get through.

There is such a stark contrast between the cloud that hovers while studying for exams - especially the accounting ones - and the sunshine that appears when you leave the classroom after turning in your test. It doesn't really matter how well or poorly you've done on the exam, the sun is always shining at that moment because you have three or four days' rest before picking up the textbook to start the next chapter. And there's a renewal of hope as you determine to really study this time and do so much better on the next exam!

Wow, where'd the semester go?

2010-03-29T14:45:00.004-07:00

Spring break is already over, and the semester is shrinking by the day! Just six weeks to go and probably the most difficult part yet to come.

Financial Accounting Part 2 is as hard as Part 1 was last semester, but with a different professor. I like both profs, actually. Had this one for Introductory Accounting in Fall 2008 (wow, that seems like forever ago!), so I'm already familiar with - and like - her teaching style. But the material is very difficult and we move much too fast for my liking. My first exam grade wasn't great, but was good enough to make the rest of the semester salvagable as long as I continue to work hard. Exam 2 is coming up fast, and Exam 3 (the Final) will be (horrors!) cumulative! (Ack, ya mean I gotta remember this stuff??!)

The Business Communications class, which I had somewhat dreaded, is actually fun. The professor is a kooky/likeable guy who isn't all that personally invested in the outcome of our collective performance (the way I heard some of the BNAD professors have been in the past... and present!). He's a professional writer by trade and has taught us a lot about condensing our writing and polishing up what I thought was pretty decent writing. We've covered routine, negative-news, and persuasive letters, memos, emails, formal reports, and a presentation. The group project is starting up now and it looks like I'm in a fun group.

Working at the H&R Block tax office around 15-25 hours a week cuts into my study time a bit, but I'm handling it. Enjoying seeing most of my repeat clients even though our numbers are down a bit overall this year. I'm anxious for April 15 to get here.

Took quiz #5 in accounting just this morning. Don't know yet how I did, but having that quiz score in the gradebook is something of a turning point in the semester. All future quizzes will only count if I score better than the first five (only our highest five scores count). I always like having that flexibility - and it helps (a little) with the old test-anxiety ogre that sits on my shoulder and tries to scramble my brain!

So it's onward and upward from here. Already planned out my summer sessions (all three of 'em), fall semester (just two classes), winter session (one class), and spring semester (two more). With any luck I'll graduate a year from this May and only have two "fun" sophomore-type classes to finish that summer after graduation. They let you graduate as long as your core courses are complete and you can finish up the leftovers in summer session.

I'm seeing a faint glow on the horizon, now!

Legos in college?

2009-12-30T06:47:00.004-07:00

We're studying Process Selection and Facility Layout in Operations Management and yesterday we got to build with Legos! It really was a useful exercise that gave us hands-on practice with Cycle Times, Line Balancing, Precedence Diagrams, and, of course, teamwork. In teams of four, first we built the plane (pictured here) and took it apart a couple of times. Then we created a list of steps and put it into a precedence diagram so we knew what parts preceded which other parts. (This was a LOT harder than I thought!) We timed each step (on average it takes 3 seconds to pick up two Lego pieces and put them together). Prof gave us a cycle time of 25 seconds (this would be the station that took the longest time) and we assigned steps to each station based on the cycle time. This is called "balancing the line." We each took a station and sorted out the parts we each were responsible for. Although I insisted we needed to be sent to Las Vegas for a week of training, the prof wouldn't go for it and made us implement the line anyway. Dry run of the entire process showed that we hadn't quite balanced the line efficiently because two of the stations had too much idle time. Adjustments were made. Then each team was timed with winning team rewarded with leftover Christmas candy. We didn't win, but then we didn't lose, either. And we actually LEARNED something. Imagine that!

The carnage was minimal

2009-12-23T19:42:00.013-07:00

Well, it all turned out pretty good for a first semester in upper division classes! It was pretty stressful waiting for grades at the end, but with a couple of "curved" classes, I was able to hang onto a fairly decent GPA.

I'm not sure how I feel about grade curves, even though they have worked in my favor more than once. It's not something I completely understand, but it seems as though college professors (at least some of them) are quite enamored of the infamous normal distribution "bell curve" and are likely encouraged (by their departments, maybe?) to normalize the final grades to fit it. However, it just doesn't feel right to me. Those who earned the highest grades should be rewarded, yet, in a curve, their grades are "normalized" down. Of course no one in "A" territory is in any danger of getting a lower grade, but those of us who either screwed up an exam or two (me!), or just got lazy at some point during the semester (not me), shouldn't really be allowed to get the same grade as those who worked the hardest. (Here's a prof who agrees!)

Maybe it's best not to fight the system, though, especially when some grades are awfully subjective to begin with. Projects that don't have "right" or "wrong" answers are pretty hard to grade, I would imagine. Rubrics are used - and often published along with the project description - so we know exactly the items that need to be present in a paper or presentation, but it's still a subjective exercise by the prof or grader(s) to decide how well we hit or missed those specific targets.

In any case, I'm ecstatic with how my grade sheet turned out for the semester, but hardly have time to enjoy it as Winter Session started just two days after my final exam! Operations Management is the class I'm in now. It covers things like forecasting, supply chain management, inventory, facility layout, productivity, and capacity. Taught by a PhD student who is somewhat making it up as he goes along! Only 14 students in class so there is a lot of interaction and the concepts aren't all that new to me. There is a lot to fit into the 14 days of class, but I love the opportunity to focus on just the one subject.

I'm only enrolled in two courses for Spring semester: Intermediate Financial Accounting (Part 2), and Business Communications. A year ago I assumed the Bus. Comm. class would be a slam dunk because it looked that way in the course catalog. Spent most of my secretarial career communicating in a myriad of ways for the Grounds Department - writing memos, conducting small training sessions, coordinating events, contacting vendors, etc. But I got wind of how convoluted they made this course for the incoming Eller students and dropped it from my Fall schedule so I could concentrate on Accounting. Can't put it off forever, however, and it isn't offered in the abbreviated semesters (winter or summer) so I do have to endure the case competition and other busywork things that are fine and dandy for the kids but seem like overkill to us older students! Group projects and presentations, here I come!

Spring will be a light semester due to my commitment at H&R Block - I'm scheduled around 15 hours a week there. New semester starts just one day after Winter Session ends so there's truly no rest for the wicked!

Chester was right!

2009-12-10T07:43:00.004-07:00

Golf class was entirely on the driving range and practice areas, just like my nephew predicted.

I'm just a whisker away from the end of Fall Semester 2009 (yippee!) but before I bury my nose in my accounting book (for the next 9 days before final exam), I want to recount my experience in Golf class.

Golf started midway through the semester, being just a 1-credit course. Met twice a week at 9:00 a.m. for about an hour, sometimes longer. Two groups of 16 students met simultaneously along with two PGA pros (Peter Federhar and Bill Hird). When I initially saw the roster for "my" class, I was the only "girl" on the list! I panicked a little and emailed the UA prof in charge but he assured me the class was geared toward the beginning golfer and that I likely wouldn't find myself so out of place once it got started.

He, too, was right! A lot of the students had never played before. The first day I was plenty early at Randolph golf course and waited apprehensively as the group trickled in... all guys. Then, at the last minute, coming from the other direction, I was relieved to see another female student who had biked from campus and had misjudged the distance so was just a few minutes late. We latched onto each other and became fast friends. Shawna* asked me if I knew of a bus line that ran from campus to the golf course because it was just too far to bike. Well, I didn't, but it didn't matter because I wasn't about to let her do that when I could just swing by campus - only a little out of my way - and pick her up. She is just a freshman and must be the luckiest girl on campus because the class is so popular it usually fills up within minutes of open registration. I didn't even know the class existed until my sophomore year and only got in on my third attempt!

We spent the first two days just putting on the practice greens. Turns out, all golf strokes are built around the same motion so it's a good idea to get it right on the putting green before you move to the bigger swings. After that we moved to mats on the driving range and worked our way from chipping to pitching to driving as the weeks evolved. Finally we left the mats and learned how different it was driving off the grass. Two buckets of balls was the standard daily requirement (around 120 total swings) and Pete and Bill would make their way through the group to give individual instruction. I was amazed at how helpful their suggestions were. Seemed like each thing they told us to do worked like magic and we continued to improve every day.

Besides the swing instruction, they gave us tips on how to "look" like we weren't beginners when playing with peers or eventual bosses, and how to keep the game moving and not be the one slowing everyone down. They also went through some of the golf etiquette and how not to annoy your fellow players on the greens!

We were to bring our own clubs if we had some and my old second-hand set elicited some chuckles from Bill and Pete. "Ah, I see we have some clubs from the dark ages!" But they encouraged me to use them while we were just learning. After a few weeks Pete produced a newer ladies 7-iron and explained everything that was different between the new technology and my old stuff. After just a few swings, I could really tell the difference so I asked where I could find me a nice starter set. They recommended not going to the expense of getting "fitted" because I'm just a beginner and don't know yet what kinds of clubs are out there and what my preferences might be. I was able to find a really nice used set called Precise for just under $100 at the Golf Exchange store. Pete recommended the place because if I didn't like one or more of the clubs, they would exchange them, unlike the golf stores featuring brand new clubs.

Just before Thanksgiving we had a "bunker day" and learned how to get out of the sand traps (or at least learned how you're *supposed* to do it!). And then the final two days of golfing were spent in a practice area that has four separate greens fanned out from the same tee box area at different distances (around 47 yards up to 160 - all par 3 holes). We divided up into groups of 5 or 6 and played a scramble to each of the greens. Fortunately with a scramble, you all get to hit a drive shot, but then everyone moves their ball to the place where the best shot landed and everyone continues from there. That sure speeds things up and still gives you the feeling of a golf game.

The "final exam" was a written test for which we were given a review sheet with about double the information on it. A little memorization was all it took. I wish all my finals were exactly like that one!

So, all in all I feel like I improved a great deal (and so did my hubby because I would come home and give him all the same pointers!) and can actually not look like an idiot if I'm ever in a position to play with a group. It's good exercise and great fun (when your swing is good - and okay fun when its not!) and in a pleasant setting. I'm going to have to find time to keep it up, though, because they said we would notice a big difference if we lapsed even two weeks between practice driving. Now that I know about the 4-hole practice area, we can try to get there once a week or so. The regular driving range is good, too, but those $7 buckets of balls can add up fast!

*Not her real name.

Well, that was weird

2009-11-06T07:41:00.002-07:00

Two exams in one day and I did better on the one I studied LESS for! The Management exam was a bit easier than I expected - there was a LOT of content in those five chapters and the exam could have been a lot harder, so I'm very happy with my grade.

The Accounting exam was about what I expected in terms of content and I even had time to FINISH and recheck several answers. But, while I earned an improvement over my grade on the first accounting exam, I sure didn't do as well as I expected. Sigh. I'll visit the professor next week to see if I made some stupid errors or exactly where things went wrong.

All things considered, though, when examining the two aspects of my accounting class, I'm getting a solid A in the quizzes and in-class activities and that is very encouraging. It is only the exams that are bringing my grade down. So maybe the exams are set up to be that much more difficult...? Anyway, just 34 more calendar days and I think I can escape with a C. I can certainly live with that! What is it they say? "Survive and advance!"

Big test comin' up

2009-11-01T21:02:00.004-07:00

Been studying VERY HARD for the last 8 days getting all the various accounting concepts of revenue recognition and inventory valuation clear in my head. Took the practice exam about an hour ago without books or notes and got everything RIGHT except a couple of journal entries! ALL my numbers were right and I finished just 5 minutes over the designated time. Whew! Now if I can just manage to NOT look like this little guy on test day!

I can do this... I think

2009-10-18T11:03:00.007-07:00

Confidence is such a nebulous thing - you can't lay claim to it or it will slip away like the morning haze. If you haven't guessed, this semester has been a rough one for me! My summer jaunt into upper division college courses proved to be atypical. And my mostly marvelous success with lower division courses was fun, but fleeting. This stuff is difficult, and it takes focus, and sometimes even that and hard work ain't enough.

Management and Marketing classes are fairly routine and I can keep up as long as I do the readings and spend time really focusing before an exam. Attending class regularly and taking good notes is certainly a key component and I'm glad I was already in that habit. Most of the concepts are familiar and anything new is relatively easy to grasp (and sometimes easy to identify on a test!). At this, the midpoint of the semester, an A in both classes is still reachable (although I've gotten B's on the tests so far).

Financial Accounting, however, is another story. I'm struggling. More than usual, I mean. I'm very frustrated and a little lost and don't know where to go to get my confidence back. I'm just going to have to keep struggling and fighting to get this stuff into my muddled brain.

Went through a couple of weeks where I nearly felt like quitting. It is hard to separate my self-worth from my schooling, after all, this is what I do and I'm used to being good at what I do. In fact, I'm good at a whole lot of things - just not Financial Accounting! The old test anxieties rear their ugly heads and sometimes I can't beat them back long enough to focus on the questions. It doesn't help that all tests are designed to make us rushed for time.

Their justification for this need for speed is that when we are accountants our hours will be billable and we won't have the luxury of being leisurely about our work. I suppose that's true, but when you're just learning the material, it sure feels punitive. And it doesn't help that several students do seem to get it and fly through the tests while the rest of us struggle! I'm certainly not alone, and that helps - a little. My first bad exam grade was typical of almost 40% of the class. But it just wasn't what I'm used to achieving. I can still get a B in the class, but only if I do a whole lot better on exams 2 and 3 than I did on exam 1. To move on to the next level next semester I only need a C in the class, and I might have to be happy with that. It isn't uncommon for accounting students to repeat this class, but I'd sure rather not go there.

However, one of the brighter events of this semester is that I finally have FRIENDS! No, the whole highly-touted cohort thing has mostly been a bust but, thanks to the two upper division classes I took last summer, I've made a couple of very good friends with whom to commiserate and occasionally study. They're close to my age and are both majoring in accounting. We share most of the same struggles either in accounting or the other classes. We share textbooks, when one of us has completed a class the other is just starting, and we also share experiences and advice when we're contemplating next semester's schedule. One has a young family (of teenagers!) and the other is caring for an elderly parent, so that adds depth to the relationship you just don't get from 19-22 year olds!

So I will make it through this semester. And I won't tie my self-worth to my grades! The one saving grace is that I am pretty sure the things I'm struggling with are associated mostly with public accounting (those big companies who sell stock) and not the mom-and-pop private businesses I hope to work with in my career after college. I can do just 53 more days! And then it's on to next semester, which will also be a struggle. But at least it will be a familiar one!

See, I told you so!

2009-08-25T11:07:00.003-07:00

I was feeling a little guilty about being a grade snob, but received clear confirmation of its significance during my first day of upper division classes. In our packed Intermediate Accounting class yesterday, the prof congratulated us on making the cut. Seems there were around 120 applicants for the 105 spaces available in the Accounting major and, while the department sets 2.75 GPA as the minimum for admission consideration, the prof said they were cutting students who had as high as 3.1 GPA who also did well on the interview and entrance exam. I know my interview score was good but I barely passed the entrance exam (par, for me!), so having a good GPA was critical. Whew.

Some other interesting tidbits learned at the Cohort Orientation yesterday evening: Of the 450 incoming business students (including all majors), the average GPA is 3.46, which is higher than previous years. Most popular majors: Accounting, Finance, and Marketing. Class breakdown: 54% male, 46% female. And 4.2% are from other countries.

Ready or not, here comes Fall!

2009-08-18T20:32:00.006-07:00

Well, it has been a relatively uneventful summer, but a productive one. Made it through with my GPA intact and learned some interesting stuff along the way. Got a bit of a scare in the Cost Accounting class - enough that I think I'm more mentally prepared for the Fall semester than I would have been otherwise. That scare caused me to drop the Art History class so I could focus on MIS, just in case it was as intense as accounting. It wasn't, but that gave me a nice break anyway. I'll pick up the Art credits some other summer.

One interesting event in MIS 304 is I met a fellow accounting student who is OLDER than me! (And I didn't think that was possible! Ha!) She is a semester ahead of me right now but is also working full time and only taking a class or two at a time so by Christmas we'll be "even" and by next summer I'll probably be ahead of her so we likely won't have any more classes together. It's just nice to know I'm not quite as alone as I thought. She's generously loaning me textbooks for several non-accounting classes she has already taken. I'll buy my own accounting textbooks since I intend to keep them, but the rest will come in real handy.

As of now I'm enrolled in four Fall classes, but I fully intend to drop one and just stick with three. (Haven't dropped the Business Communications class yet because I want to get my hands on the syllabus to have a better idea what the requirements will be when I *do* take it.) I really feel I can do so much better with only three subjects at a time. And all three happen to be Monday/Wednesday classes. Eller doesn't schedule anything on Fridays but I've heard it is a popular day for "group meetings" for the classes that have group assignments. That will leave me Tuesdays and Thursdays at home for homework. I like that a lot.

I'm also registered for the 1-credit Golf class but it doesn't start until October and will be just a couple hours on Tuesday/Thursday mornings. I hope by that time I'm in enough of a routine with the other classes that it won't interfere. In fact, it will probably prove to be a nice diversion.

So, starting next Monday I'll have nearly four solid hours of class in the morning and then repeat it again on Wednesday. Intermediate Accounting, Marketing, and Management. Same professor for Accounting as I had during the summer - she's tough but good. I'm excited and hope to learn a lot!

Finishing strong

2009-07-08T19:28:00.003-07:00

There's just no feeling like it! I struggled with some of the concepts midway through Cost Accounting class and faltered on two of the three mid-term exams... pretty badly. Three moderately complex homework assignments and two case studies mostly involved spreadsheets and memos - my forte. On those you generally get a grade that matches the effort you put in, so I made sure to do a good job - which helped balance the bad exam grades. However, going into the final exam, I knew I needed 94 points out of 100 to pull out an A in the class. My average on exams to that point was just 85! And the final covered 5 chapters, not the usual 3 or 4.

I got 96! Whew! More importantly, though, while studying for the final, some things began to click into place in my brain and suddenly I saw things a lot more clearly - it started making real sense and the logic was clearer than it had been all summer. Sort of like learning a foreign language - there comes a point where, instead of your brain blowing a fuse trying to manually translate every word into English, you suddenly begin comprehending the foreign words. It's a floating sensation - or at least it was for me when I learned French in my early twenties. For months you feel like you're drowning but you wake up one day and it's almost like they're all talking English. Like you've made a connection to a new part of your brain that speaks French.

It's probably too early to tell if that happened for me with accounting this week, but it sure gives me greater confidence as I move into my first upper division semester in August. I feel so much better about all the stuff that seemed like a foreign language just a week ago. I think I'll be okay!

Change is good, I guess!

2009-07-01T07:44:00.004-07:00

Some things are "over" now, I can tell. My Cost Accounting class is evidence that my brain had better be fully engaged for the rest of my academic career. So the first thing that is over is easy classes! While I was in them, none of my classes seemed easy but, I admit, on Finals day when I knew I had done enough work to make the final exam irrelevant (or nearly so) for those 100-level and 200-level classes, I knew they'd been relatively easy for me. I'm looking forward to the challenge of 300- and 400-level classes, but I'm more than a little nervous I can't keep up.

Another thing that's over is the struggle to get the classes I want at registration time. Fortunately Eller pre-registers their students according to the cohort (mornings or afternoons) so the huge headache of spending hours of planning a workable schedule is done! I had learned to have a plan, a backup plan, and a list of fill-in classes in case neither panned out. I also learned to have two computers logged into WebReg at once to help with the inevitable logjam at the server side. Thank goodness that's over!

For the most part I expect my leisure time to be majorly cut back. Taking FOUR hard classes in one semester will dictate that. I've gotten pretty good at budgeting my time and hammering away at whatever is required - homework, reading, writing, memorizing... Could have done better, of course. My hubby has been fantastically understanding when the house is a little wrecked and/or the dishes not done cuz I'm up against a deadline. Fortunately he preceded me in this 'ejucayshon' stuff and knows how much hammering it takes! (And he's an excellent cook! :-)

Internet surfing just for the heck of it is mainly a thing of the past, too. Most of my "computer time" is strictly homework related. A little Lexulous now and then, and checking to see what everyone is up to on Facebook once a day or so... that's about it! (Oh, and the blog, when I can manage it!) Grocery shopping hasn't changed all that much, but I tend to buy more now (fruit especially) to try and cut down those time-eating errands to just once or twice a week. Morning yoga and some evening exercise has to stay, though. Gotta find a way to keep that consistent.

I hope I can keep up! August 24th will be here before I know it.

My "free" education!

2009-06-06T10:19:00.007-07:00

Five classes, seven textbooks and this is the bill for my upcoming Fall semester if I were to purchase everything at the UA Bookstore! I usually don't. Half.ebay.com is a great resource, and sometimes other websites. Fortunately I've already found two of the seven for nearly half the used price listed, but a couple I will probably end up getting at the Bookstore as they often require the accompanying CD or internet code. Whenever it says "textbook bundle", I at least have to go in and see what all is in the bundle. Oh, and they almost never have books available at the "used" price.

If I had to pay for tuition on top of that... yikes! So, I'm not griping.

And that takes care of my freshman year!

2009-06-05T18:07:00.008-07:00

Just wrapped up my last "101" class (Physical Geography) so, now that I'm a Junior, I'm officially done with my freshman classes! Of course I've taken most of the sophomore ones, too, along the way, but it is strange how they all get interspersed. We even had a couple of graduated seniors in there! So at least I didn't wait that long.

Years ago when I would discuss college with peers, someone would always say, "Yeah, but you've got to get all those general education classes out of the way before you even get to the ones in your major." And they would wrinkle their nose like it was the worst thing they could imagine. Turns out, "those gen-eds" are the REALLY FUN classes and I'm sorry to be done with them!

Still have one sophomore (200 level) science class to take - probably next summer - and could probably fit in a couple of non-accounting electives at some point but I've already decided, when I've got my degree in my back pocket, THESE are the classes I'll keep coming back to take again and again ...just for fun! ...until I'm 90!

Oh, speaking of which... The obligatory article in our local newspaper regarding the lucky kids who graduated last month had an age breakdown of those getting bachelors degrees. Of the 4,200 or so being awarded degrees, 1% were age 50 or older! Woohoo! So I'm not as alone as it appears when I look around the classroom. In fact, if I can do my math correctly (and I did pass college algebra!), there were at least 42 of us oldies kicking around campus just last year.

In my Business Ethics online class the get-acquainted emails indicate there are three of us over 50 in that course. But I always knew that community college is where I'd find more peers - not that it really matters. What I am looking forward to next semester is rubbing elbows with the kids who are a little more serious about their education. I'll let you know how that is.

Summer is shaping up

2009-05-05T14:08:00.004-07:00

Well, my Spring Semester is coming to a close. Sorry I haven't kept y'all up to date so much this semester! It was a successful one and I also managed to keep regular hours at my part-time job with H&R Block. Fun seeing most of my old clients - it's my eighth season so I'm starting to see a lot of regulars. I like that.

Anyhow, here's how Summer School is shaping up:

Summer Pre-Session (mid-May to early June):

Earth's Environment: Intro to Physical Geography - Introduction to fundamental laws of nature as expressed physical processes that govern the spatial distribution of Earth's land, sea, air, and biological environments. Focus on fluxes and feedbacks among these systems, and interactions with humans. (This will finish off my Tier One Natural Sciences requirement.)

First Summer Session (mid-June thru mid-July):

Cost and Managerial Accounting - Concepts and analytical procedures necessary in the generation of accounting data for management planning control.

Spreading throughout both those UA semesters is a Pima Community College course in Business Ethics (taken online).

And two classes in the Second Summer Session (mid-July to mid-August):

Using and Managing Information Systems - Ways that organizations improve their business practices through the use of computer technology. Course emphasizes systems technologies, enterprise integration, business applications, and critical analysis of organizational change through information systems.

Introduction to Prehispanic, Hispanic, and Chicano Art - Survey of the native, prehispanic arts of Meso; Central and South America; art since the conquest of Mexico, Central and South America; and Hispanic Arts of the Southwest and contemporary Chicano art. (This will fulfill my Tier Two Arts requirement.) Sounds very interesting, plus it only meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays! All the other summer classes meet every day.

The Accounting and MIS classes will serve to dilute my Fall and Spring semesters to just FOUR classes instead of FIVE. I just can't do five at once!

Oh, and an update on GOLF. They cancelled my summer Golf class (budget cuts, no doubt) but I was able to sneak into one of the previously full Fall Semester classes (by checking the web registration EVERY DAY until finally spotting an opening!). So golf will not happen until October. The weather is better then anyway!

Sadly, too true!

2009-04-11T06:33:00.001-07:00

Overwhelming is right!

2009-03-26T05:40:00.006-07:00

The new Accounting Majors gathered yesterday evening for their official Welcome Session. Looked to be approximately 100 of us. Very competitive entry this year, or so they said. It didn't appear to be what they tell ALL the classes, but you can never be sure. Said they had more than the usual requests for Accounting this semester, which is interesting. When requesting admission I had to pick my first, second, and third choice of majors - which was difficult because there was such a steep drop off after the first choice. I'm imagining there are a few - or many - students (and their parents!) faced with deciding whether to stay in their second choice of major or try for accounting again next semester. I don't envy them.

During the session they showed us what our next four semesters are likely to look like and here is a list of the classes:

Acct 310 Cost & Managerial Accounting
Acct 400A Intermediate Financial Accounting I
Acct 400B Intermediate Financial Accounting II
Acct 451 Analysis of Financial Statements
Acct 461 Accounting Information Systems
BNAD 314R Business Communication
Econ 300 Microeconomic Analysis for Business Decisions
Econ 330 Macroeconomic Institutions & Policy
FIN 360 Quantitative Financial Management
Mgmt 310A Organization Behavior & Management
Mgmt 402 Integrating Business Fundamentals with Ethics & Law in Management
MIS 304 Using and Managing Information Systems
MIS 373 Basic Operations Management
Mktg 361 Introduction to Marketing
Plus two more Accounting electives

Yikes! You'll think I'm nuts, but they all look really interesting and I can't wait to get started. Planning to take Acct 310 and MIS 304 this summer. I'm already sure one of my electives will be Acct 420 Introduction to Federal Taxation since I already know some of it.

One thing I like is the emphasis they place on the cohort system. During admission we had to choose a morning or afternoon cohort (mornings, please!) and thereafter they will place us with the same group throughout our academic career. They explained that they want students to feel a sense of community - not just attend class, get our degree, and leave.

It's partly due to the age differential and partly my own fault that I haven't really established a sense of community so far, so I'm looking forward to this forced/coerced version that will do some of the work for me!

About half the room raised their hands when asked if they were interested in becoming a CPA. I wasn't one of them, but I'll keep my options open and see what transpires in the next two years to change my mind. At my age and stage of career, it doesn't seem worth the extra time and effort with respect to its value, but I might decide differently later on.

Eller College is also well known for their Entrepreneurship Program which could be similar to a minor for us Accounting majors. That would unfold during Fall 2010 for me, if I decided to go that route. We aren't required to choose a minor and I hadn't intended on it, but I do want to learn more about the program.

So I have a full calendar for the next couple of years! Let's get started already!

Fear is a great motivator!

2009-03-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

Nearly everyone who reads this blog knows I got into Eller College and am officially an Accounting Major. Now the hard classes begin! I'm hoping to get started this summer so I won't have to take five classes in the Fall semester (this old brain can't juggle that many at once!), but first I have to attend the Accounting Orientation session next week. I'm curious how many other Accounting majors there are.

Oh, the fear part? Since I am now a Business junior, I get to enroll in classes that are restricted to students in the business college. Meaning the upper division accounting stuff, of course, but also one called PE 219, aka, GOLF! Yup they have a 1-credit course called Golf, and I'm enrolled for the Summer Presession. There are only 16 spots available so I was lucky to get in. It meets an hour and forty minutes every day for three weeks.

Golf starts on May 18 so I have only 58 days to get into golf shape. I'm afraid I've let my exercise and yoga routines lapse a little the last year or so. Other than walking to class from an outlying parking lot four times a week, and riding bikes some weekends, I haven't done much else in the way of exercise. Now I'm motivated, and then some!

I don't expect to keep up with the young-uns, but I just don't want to hold them back due to being out of shape. So I'm walking and/or doing the treadmill half an hour a day (will gradually increase that), doing yoga to get my muscles and joints stretched, and will probably add some weights for upper body strength as the time gets closer.

From what I've read in a few articles on the internet, the class takes all comers, even those with no prior experience. I've played a little with my hubby over the years, but consider myself a newby since I can't even hit a drive consistently. So hopefully I'll learn how to swing and a few other things about the game. Look out Lorena Ochoa!! ;-)

Well, that was fun!

2009-02-21T17:29:00.004-07:00

Had my big Eller College admission interview today and here's some of what I remember. (Hey, it's been a whole seven hours - you can't expect me to remember EVERYTHING!)

Today was the final of three steps in the process - the first two happened weeks ago: a large group orientation session where they explained all the steps, and an individual advising appointment to give it that personal touch. Right away after the orientation I hopped on the computer and snagged an early advising appt that, I believe, gave me the "choice" mid-day interview time today.

In the value system of 20-somethings, having to be ANYWHERE before 11am is a form of punishment, so I'm sure my fellow classmates were ecstatic with their 11:35 time slot. I'd have been just as content with an earlier time. When you hit the ground running at 5am as we do at our house, six hours is way too much time to think!

I dutifully arrived around 20 minutes early and found the halls crowded with black-suited students! Looked a lot like a funeral! I'd opted for a demure forest green jacket and skirt set and found myself pert-near the only one who deviated from the "standard!" Of course there was the occasional glitter-spiked heel to break up the monotony, and a few dark grays and browns. But all in all, they cleaned up pretty nice.

My interview was with a nice young kid who just got his degree in Finance (probably a masters) and an older gentleman from the community. I didn't catch either of their names, but probably wouldn't post them here anyway. They were friendly and made me feel comfortable right way.

They started by asking me for my 60-second "elevator" spiel (shucks, I hadn't really prepared one and it probably showed!). They asked if there was anything on my resume that I wished to highlight, then they spent the next few moments apologizing for having to ask me the same "canned" questions they were told to ask everyone! I didn't mind, but maybe to them the questions seemed stilted for an older candidate.

The ones I remember best include:
- Describe a problem that you have encountered at work or in your personal life where you have had to think "out of the box" to come to a solution.
- Describe an issue currently in the news that interests you, and why.
- When working in a team that isn't working well together, how would you motivate your teammates to get back on track?
- Describe a difficult project you took on and how you accomplished it.
- Think of a time when you made a bad judgment call and describe what you learned from the experience.
And two ethics questions on the Interview Case they gave us to read at the orientation session involving the utility/legality of businesses using social networking sites (like Facebook) as part of their screening process.

I tried to answer truthfully and with enthusiasm. There were maybe 10 total questions plus some interesting discussion regarding the housing crisis (my choice of current news item). I was their last (of six) interview so we chatted a bit after the time's-up knock on the door. We conversed about tax returns and the lack of state regulation over mortgage brokers and how businesses have been operating on credit for so long. They also assured me I likely would do fine in the upper division accounting curriculum.

Working 28 years for the same department didn't give me much opportunity for meaningful interviews so I'm relieved it went so well. As each interview concluded, students were herded into a room where they took our photographs (no idea why!), and then we all traipsed into the large auditorium for the skills assessment test. Twenty somewhat easy accounting-type test questions on which we need to score 75% or higher. Pretty sure I did okay.

Decisions are to be emailed in about two weeks. I'll let you know!

New kitty, new semester

2009-01-13T17:31:00.003-07:00

Whew, glad that's over with! Just finished my third shot at an accelerated semester (or is it my fourth?) and it sure doesn't get easier with practice. Managerial Accounting was VERY interesting, though, and definitely right up my alley (as they say!). Turns out I've done this stuff for years as a secretary without truly knowing how or what I was doing. But now it all is starting to make sense... Budgets, incremental analysis, present values, price-to-earnings ratios, etc.

Had a great teacher and probably the most attentive fellow students to date. Both those ingredients really help with focusing when we're covering a whole chapter every day. Either you "get it" or you don't because tomorrow we're on to the next chapter. Sheesh! At least 8 people out of my 50 classmates were taking it for the second time so they either failed it the first or tried again to get a better grade (they call that Grade Replacement Opportunity, and I hope I never have to use it!).

And on the home front is a darling new kitty (Puma) who is wearing the heck out of our other "baby" Oliver. They're about a year apart in age and just tear around and play all day (when they're not sleeping or eating, of course!). Here's some pics:

And Thursday I start my Spring Semester! (Deep breath)

The Month the Cats Died

2008-12-28T14:23:00.008-07:00

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

2008-12-12T12:53:00.006-07:00

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

2008-12-08T11:58:00.004-07:00

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

2008-11-24T06:38:00.004-07:00

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

2008-11-20T16:01:00.012-07:00

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?

2008-11-05T20:12:00.014-07:00

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...!

2008-10-31T12:52:00.007-07:00

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?

2008-10-23T12:12:00.008-07:00

"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

2008-10-18T06:18:00.017-07:00

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

2008-10-08T07:34:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-06T06:25:00.011-07:00

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

2008-10-02T08:08:00.006-07:00

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

2008-09-29T06:17:00.007-07:00

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

2008-09-24T11:38:00.007-07:00

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

2008-09-12T19:51:00.011-07:00

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

2008-08-29T06:37:00.005-07:00

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

2008-08-20T10:36:00.012-07:00

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.

-------------------
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.

-------------------
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.

-------------------
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.

-------------------
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.

-------------------
Sounds like a busy few months! I start Monday.

Accelerated Courses

2008-08-14T07:29:00.003-07:00

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

2008-08-13T16:07:00.008-07:00

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.

----------------------

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

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The Last Chapter

2008-08-07T06:30:00.003-07:00

"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!

2008-07-15T05:41:00.008-07:00

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?

2008-06-26T14:02:00.007-07:00

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!"

2008-06-11T06:46:00.003-07:00

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

2008-06-02T18:30:00.006-07:00

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!

2008-05-16T15:14:00.009-07:00

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

2008-05-07T06:26:00.004-07:00

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)

2008-05-05T14:46:00.008-07:00

(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

2008-04-24T06:37:00.009-07:00

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!

2008-04-13T13:34:00.008-07:00

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!

2008-04-07T11:45:00.005-07:00

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

2008-03-28T20:20:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-03-17T08:16:00.003-07:00

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

2008-02-19T15:15:00.006-07:00

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

2008-01-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-01-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

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!

Great Opportunity

2007-12-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought my Spring schedule was set, I got an interesting email from the course coordinator of the MIS department. Dr. Neuman explained that, since my work in MIS 111 placed me in the top 10% of the class, I have been offered an opportunity to be a preceptor for the same class this spring. What's a preceptor? Here's how the email explained it:

"The term preceptor dates back into the 1400's and means tutor or instructor. As a preceptor, you'll help develop exams for the course, assist in the grading of course materials, and work with the teaching faculty on other projects throughout the semester, such as FlexLabs and proctoring exams."

The payoff for me is twofold: an extra 3 credits that will count for general business lower division elective requirements, and also something useful to put on my academic resume when I apply for Eller College admission at the end of my sophomore year. As I understand it, they're looking for more than just GPA and I think this would be a good fit.

Every time I turned in an assignment in my MIS class - there were five projects times 1500 students! - I wondered how the heck they managed to grade them all. Now it appears I'll find out!

A Sophomore?

2007-12-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

Well, the grades are in and... I'm a sophomore! I guess since several credits transferred from Pima Community College - classes I took in the early 1990s - they now say I have enough credits to be a sophomore. Not sure what that means, exactly, or what advantage it might give me... I'll have to figure that out as I go along. Kinda cool, though.

Anyway, as I said, the grades are in and I got all As! Even in math! I don't feel I deserved an A in the math class since I struggled immensely and still only understand or retain about half of what we covered. I did very poorly on tests and in-class quizzes, but fortunately the grade points are evenly distributed between homework assignments, an essay paper, in-class projects, and some other smaller assignments. I guess I made up enough of the difference to hit 90%. Yippee!

The important thing is I passed remedial math so now I can enroll in my first "college" math course which is a prerequisite for the "real" math courses that my major requires! I will have to take one during summer session in 2008 to get back on track so I don't have a bunch of math courses piling up towards the end. Maybe the sophomore designation even accelerates that urgency a bit more.

Of course I expect every accounting or economics course to have an element of math in it, but the true math courses I have to look forward to are:

- Spring 2008: Math 109 - College algebra course that emphasizes data analysis. Topics include functions, rates of change, linear functions, exponential & logarithmic functions, and systems of equations. Graphing calculators and spreadsheets will be used.

- Summer 2008: Math 115A, Business Mathematics I - Probability, conditional probability, Bayes' Theorem, random variables, random sampling, compound interest, expected value, computer simulation, and spreadsheet functions. The course is based on an electronic text, with extensive use of spreadsheets, downloaded data, and team reports on major business projects.

- Fall 2008: Math 115B, Business Mathematics II - Variance, normal distributions, distribution of the sample mean, integration, differentiation, advanced spreadsheet functions, and computer simulation. The course is based on an electronic text, with extensive use of spreadsheets, downloaded data, and team reports on major business projects.

And that's it for my "Foundation Mathematics" courses. They all sound interesting and I feel like if I can make it through them still standing, I'll be a lot smarter than I am right now! I love that feeling.

I also achieved the expected A in both English and MIS. I don't know how long I can keep up the good grades, but I'll certainly do my best to. I'm looking forward to getting started on my second semester!

Nearly Done!

2007-11-30T11:33:00.001-07:00

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

2007-11-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

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!

Midway checkup

2007-10-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

So, here I am about halfway through my first semester and have found a few things that may be useful to other students:

[] A lanyard is a great way to solve the where-the-heck-did-I-put-my-keys dilemma. No digging through all the pockets of my jeans & backpack, wondering if they fell out in the classroom, shuttle, or somewhere on campus. They're hanging around my neck! I also clip my jump drive on it so I'm ready to plop down at any computer and finish a paper or review a syllabus. I connected two of those eyeglass holder things together so it's a little more jewelry-like.

[] Speaking of backpacks, I haven't needed one for over a month. Maybe it's due to my current classes, but I've done just fine with an ordinary 1" 3-ring binder that contains only TODAY's stuff. Flylady (www.flylady.net) sells what she calls her Office-In-A-Bag (OIB) that works perfectly. Basically it's a zippered lightweight canvas binder cover with a couple pockets and a handle. I'm going to add some length and shoulder padding to the handle. And one of those nerdy zipper pocket thingy clips inside the binder and holds my wallet, PDA, clicker, and extra pens & pencils so I don't need a purse, either.

[] Haven't needed my laptop computer in class since I preprint the pdf MIS lectures before leaving home and scribble notes directly on them during class. Never used it in English and certainly won't need it for Math. Besides, there are hundreds of computers available all over campus with the latest software that I can use between classes. Finding an open one is occasionally difficult, but I'm discovering the less-frequented computer labs (got a map in my binder!).

[] I carry single-use packets of antibacterial wipes for computer mice/keyboards so I hopefully won't pick up any colds or viruses. (One of many good suggestions by my husband!)

[] Inside the front cover of my binder is a School-Day Checklist to avoid any "senior moments" (forgotten items). I make myself review it each time I leave the house, even if I think I remembered everything (I usually haven't!).

[] Typed or handwritten homework assignments get three-hole punched and go straight into the binder so when I unzip the OIB, nothing falls out!

[] I carry extra H&R Block business cards for the rare occasion that someone needs my name and phone number. Why not take the opportunity to advertise? First day of Math class the prof had us exchange numbers with two classmates (so we could call each other -- not her -- if we miss a class and need info!) so I was glad I had them handy.

[] I'm already walking a LOT more than I did before college, but also take the opportunity to climb any staircases between my car and classroom, at least until the weather changes.

[] And the best hint of all of them: Do all the extra credit available because you never know when it will make a difference between an A and a B. I've overheard a few classmates calculating how little work they can get away with doing and still pass the class. They're not the norm, of course, but what a waste! Makes me want to call their mothers!

No more "moseying!"

2007-10-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

I've had a wonderful couple of weeks with just my two classes and a little homework to keep me on track. But this coming week I need to get down to business! I picked my retirement date intentionally knowing I was giving myself a two-week break before Math class, and boy it has been great! I admit I've been "moseying" a bit more than I probably should have, but sure needed the change of pace.

Someone warned me that after retirement I'd wonder how on earth I ever had time to work. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon! Tomorrow I have my first 3-hour math class (Mon/Wed) and I already know it's going to double (maybe triple?) the time I currently spend on homework. Pretty sure I can still get the extra stuff done around the house that I've enjoyed, I just need to get better organized and pick up the speed a bit.

I've been piecing together my schedule for the Spring 2008 semester and it looks even busier. I'll be in the second-to-last group to register (it stinks being a Freshman!) so who knows if the classes I want will even be available when I'm allowed on WebReg. I've got Plans B, C, and D at the ready, but even those might not work out. I'm aiming for the early morning classes knowing that these kiddies usually aren't early risers. However, I can't even register for Math until I have a final passing grade in the remedial class I've only just started. Yikes.

But it will all work out somehow. And I hope to be in the Honors College by the time I register for Fall 2008 and can register with the Juniors (yippee!). It's enough reason to want to keep my grades up.

Retired!

2007-10-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

Whew, I made it! Unemployed for the first time in 28 years! It's a really weird feeling. No reports to run, no spreadsheets to format, no phones to answer, no decisions to make. No offense intended to my department, but it became increasingly more difficult to do a good job as the years went on. It was almost a constant battle to do the job the way I thought was "right" while running interference with some who wanted me to conform to arbitrary standards. When that happens, it's time to leave.

And leave I did! With enough life left in these old bones to do something different with the second half of my earthly pilgrimage. Maybe not so different, because I'll still carry the same skills and love of details with me. Just a change in focus, at least for now, with four years of college looming on the horizon. Now I'll have time to concentrate and give it my best effort.

And there are things I'm looking forward to putting in the column headed "Mundane" such as: a relatively clean house (for once!), grocery shopping at a time when I'm not tripping over fellow 9-5 housewives, stocking a pantry and freezer with good home cooking, putting in a small garden, actually keeping up with the paperwork associated with life in the 21st century, rearranging a guest bedroom and a closet or two and, of course, hitting the library whenever I need to rather than trying to fit it in between working hours and errands.

Routines with a twist... TIME! Yippee!

Slowly, and without haste

2007-09-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm almost into week 5 already and there are a few things I'm amazed at:

In a class with a LOT of students, everything s_l_o_w_s down to a c_r_a_w_l. My MIS class is supposed to be an hour and 15 minutes long but we end up spending only about 20-30 minutes on "real" class stuff. The prof shows up with about 5 minutes to go and handles the 5 or so students waiting at the front podium to talk to him, then he puts the roll taker on the screen and we click in while he's putting on his wireless mic -- he has to change batteries nearly every time.

The first 10 or so slides are standard -- reminders to take the quiz (there's a new one every Tuesday and we have until Sunday midnight to take it), reminders to contact the TA if our clicker isn't working. It's class EIGHT and there are students that apparently haven't yet figured out how to register their clicker despite going over it in class every single time! You can tell because their clicker number shows at the end of the roll call screen without an assigned slot. Unbelievable. Each class you attend (click in) counts for 10 points so they're losing points every time. Then there's the reminders about available computer labs, how to contact the prof or TA, how to always use a subject line if you email either of them, and when their office hours are scheduled.

Halfway through the standard slides, the prof goes completely quiet while he waits for all 380 students to stop chatting. He has to interrupt class at least 5 more times throughout the hour to get everyone quieted down. Fortunately he has the patience of Job, although he's showing signs of real frustration lately. When he reaches his limit, he'll start throwing the whisperers out.

We'll complete a total of five major projects in this class this semester so we have at least 3 weeks or six class sessions before each is due for him to go over the requirements. And go over them, and go over them, and go over them again! By the time the project is due, he has practically spoon fed us everything we need to know to complete it successfully including major hints at the right answers! I guess that's good, but it really "dumbs down" the class to the lowest denominator (or ditziest student!). We're now into Project 2 so maybe things will speed up a little. Or not!

English class is better since we only have around 20 students, but I'm still a little surprised at how slowly the prof is getting into the meat of the class. Our first DRAFT of our first 3-4 page essay isn't due until Tuesday next week and then we have a couple more weeks to revise it before turning in a final paper. We've had readings and one-page response papers to turn in every week, but we're just now getting into how to create a good thesis and lay out our argument. Maybe they do that to bridge the time until the last drop/add date is past. We have lost a few students since the start of the semester.

I guess I expected the pace to be a little faster. Maybe that's due to the pace I experienced with my accelerated summer courses. There's certainly no reason to fall behind, and that's a relief while I'm still spending 40 hours a week winding things up at work. Soon after that's over, I kick in with an accelerated remedial math course that will keep my calendar fairly full, I imagine!

Week Two

2007-08-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

Been to two classes in each subject now so things should start to get serious this week. It's going really well - so well I'm sort of waiting for the "hard part" to show up! I walk about a block and a half from my office to pick up the free inter-campus shuttle at 9am, it takes me across Speedway and within about half a block of my first class in about 12-15 minutes. It's so nice to not worry about driving through campus and trying to find parking.

My morning class (MIS) has over 350 students in a big auditorium, but the professor is really personable and funny. Starting this Thursday they'll take attendance with a clicker system. We each register our clicker (picture a tiny remote control) on a website and then click in at the beginning and end of class. It will also be used for in-class surveys and opinion polls. As a practice, last Thursday they had us pick our Major from a list and when done, it displayed a pie chart of the class and what majors were represented. Pretty interesting. (Yes, you could conceivably give your clicker to your buddy to click in for you, but if they catch you, you BOTH risk being expelled. Not exactly worth it!)

Assignments are turned in via a special website (www.turnitin.com) that immediately checks for plagiarism before the prof even sees it. If your work looks too much like a classmate's, or even too much like someone's from a previous semester, you get a personal invitation to visit the prof!

After class I pick up the shuttle again which drops me back at UMC, and walk back to the office. A lot of walking with a fairly heavy pack of books and my tiny laptop - I can already tell I'll be losing a little weight this semester! Love it!

My afternoon class (English) follows the same routine of shuttle ride at 3pm to within a block of my class building. This is a much smaller class with just 25 kids. The professor is really nice and I think I'll like the class a lot. He designed his own website for us - you can view it here:

http://web.mac.com/chrisminnix

According to the syllabus he'll soon be separating us into Writing Groups which should be fun. I'm the only "old goat" in the class, but that's okay; my classmates seem nice enough. I love reading and we'll likely learn different ways of dissecting passages and analyzing them. Our first informal "Response Paper" is due tomorrow in class so we'll see if I did it the way he wants it.

Rhythms

2007-08-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Rhythms are so important. Sometimes we don't realize they're there until they change. I'm about to make major rhythm changes in two areas: school and work. My first "real" class commences 9:30am next Tuesday morning. I also plan to retire in October from a place I've worked for 28 years.

My summer classes being web-delivered allowed me to get into a rhythm of studying every evening and nearly all day Saturdays. One class had a PowerPoint lecture and 10-question quiz every day (seven per week!). The other had lots of reading. Arriving back from my 5-day vacation last week it felt strange not to have ANY classwork that needed done. The rhythm had changed.

But I know that's nothing compared to what I'm about to face next week with MIS 111 and English 101. I'd better not lose any time getting into a rhythm with those. Fortunately the MIS class is during working hours (I'll use vacation time) and the Freshman Comp class is right after work. That will allow me to spend whole evenings on studying. I already know that uninterrupted kind of rhythm is vital to me. People who go home from work and then out again to take an evening class have it tough.

By the time I get into a rhythm with those classes, I'll be dropping my daily trip to the office. You'd think that would be a good thing and give me tons of time to study and just hang out at home - and it will - but I'm concerned it may take time to adjust my focus. After so many years of flipping the brain switch to ON when I sit down at my office desk in the morning, I'm wondering what exactly will trigger that switch at home...

I'm a big fan of Flylady (www.flylady.net) and she encourages her followers to "get dressed to shoes" every day (including hair and makeup). Even when you won't be leaving the house. Most of her subscribers are mothers with small children who can really use the "ready" focus that wearing decent clothes and shoes gives them. That, and a timer is probably what I'll try first to gear up my brain. If that doesn't work, I'll have to find something else.

Rhythms - can they be coerced? Probably.

What I've Learned

2007-08-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

No, not about plants or money, but about school -- at least so far...

1) Don't turn in assignments too early. You won't get any "extra credit" and you might miss an opportunity to make a late correction. Certainly FINISH them early, and don't forget to turn them in ON TIME, but don't submit early. The prof won't grade them until after the due date anyway and what you learn from feedback on one GRADED assignment may help you on the next one.

2) When it says 100 words for an essay assignment, it doesn't mean 200. Or 150. I thought 100 was a minimum count so we would do adequate research, but got points deducted for being too wordy. Lesson learned.

3) The first moment you run into a term you're unfamiliar with, start your vocabulary list! And review it every time you sit down to study. Add to it daily.

4) Nothing beats really good notes along with a comprehensive vocabulary list.

5) Plants class is every bit as hard as a Chemistry class -- half the terms I've never even heard before, and more than half the concepts are entirely new to me. Sure makes a timed test difficult when you have to look up (again) so many terms you thought you had down. (Remind me NOT to take Chemistry! It's not required for my major, thank goodness!)

6) Being a solid "B" student isn't so bad. I hope I can find a course or two where I can sneak in a 4.0 or at least a 3.5, but it will probably be a while. As Popeye used to say, "I yam what I yam!"

Almost Through

2007-07-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the prolonged silence on the blog! I've got just one week left before the end of this Summer Session. We're down to the last 7 quizzes in my PLANTS class and the last Discussion in my MONEY class. Then each has an online Final Exam which I will take on Sunday and Monday, respectively. Should be interesting!

The PLANTS class has been by far the harder of the two, but I've learned a great deal in both of them. Two great books in the MONEY class deal with the present economy and why the average middle-class American family is struggling financially. Major changes in how financial institutions do business has occurred in the past 20-30 years that make today's economy a very dangerous place for the average family. There are no longer any limits on loans like there used to be. A bank has the legal right to loan anyone any amount of money for any interest rate without repercussions. Bankruptcies have skyrocketed and foreclosures are commonplace.

In the first book, Two Income Trap, the authors (a mother-daughter combination) contend that the main reason families are struggling in today's economy isn't due to over-consumption or frivilous spending. In fact, they say that families have lost their "safety net" by having both parents in the workforce! The true value of a stay-at-home mom (or dad) is that when a crisis happens or the breadwinner is laid off, the non-working parent can take a temporary job to get the family through the crisis. With both parents working and the family relying on BOTH incomes to make ends meet, when crisis comes there's no fall back position. Their research is comprehensive and very well presented. Astonishing in today's climate to see someone -- anyone -- advocate for a stay-at-home parent! Yay!

Their second book All Your Worth, by the same authors, details a very sensible method to get your spending into balance between "Must-Haves" (the bills you have to pay each month), "Wants" (fun money), and Savings (to build a better tomorrow). No matter what your income, they recommend a 50/30/20 ratio with no more than 50% of your income to pay your bills, and a minimum of 20% of your take-home pay into Savings. The rest is fun money!

It is very heart-warming to read the positive feedback during the class "Discussions" from these twenty-something kids just starting out in life. This kind of wake-up call so early in their financial life is so essential. Being in college is great, but if they don't know how to manage their money after they graduate, what's the point? And it's positively amusing to see the young females visibly squirm with the concept of staying home to raise their kids! In actuality, the authors don't say one parent MUST stay home, they mostly recommend not relying on both incomes to pay the bills. Families who have both parents in the workforce are better off using mom's salary for FUN stuff like vacations and home remodels! Because if something happens to one income, or grandma needs year-round care, or divorce intrudes, there is some breathing room in the finances.

Well worth the read if you need to combat the summer brain drain!

Just me and Jessica

2007-07-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

After bragging about my 100% score last week, I took a nose dive with the next two quizzes and only got 60% on each of them! Decided my study method wasn't working and revamped my whole system. Juan gave me some good advice on that. Meanwhile, I decided to find out a bit more about my 30 "classmates" in this Plants and Our World class. I thought it was a Tier One course geared towards incoming freshmen. Seems a little difficult for freshmen, so I looked up the the classlist in the UA online phonebook and, guess what? Fifty percent of them are SENIORS!

There are also quite a few juniors, several sophomores and one guy who doesn't show up anywhere. Freshmen? Just me and Jessica!

On the course grading page you can see a graph of how the rest of the class is doing (by percent, not by name, of course) on each quiz. The quizzes I struggled with were difficult for everyone else, too, although that's only minor comfort. I'll be graded on my own merit, not in relation to the other students. But I am curious about their experience. One of the seniors is a Plant Sciences major so she's probably the one getting most of the higher scores. But why the heck is she taking a freshman class in her senior year?

So my new study method has me back to 80%, 100% and 100% on quizzes 6, 7 and 8, so I'll stick with it. I'm even finishing with 1 or 2 minutes left on the 7-minute quiz clock. That gives me time to go back and reread a couple of answers I'm not sure about.

I'm learning new vocabulary about what's deep inside leaves, stems and roots. A lot on cell activity and plant structure and how it transports water from the soil to the topmost leaves, and how leaves photosynthesize sunlight into sugars and starches. Really fascinating stuff. Makes you appreciate how creative God is!

100 Percent!

2007-07-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, it was just a 10-question quiz, and it was just one of 29 I'll eventually take in this class (Plants and Our World), and it only counts for maybe one-onehundredth of my grade but, hey, I'm allowed to celebrate a little!

Scored 90% on the first quiz and dropped to 70% on the second, so to achieve 100% on the third felt pretty good last night. It meant maybe I am starting to "get it" learning how to take good notes. It meant I can really do this if I focus.

I'm thankful it is a web-delivered class where I don't yet have to rely entirely on my memory. They fully expect you to have your notes and your book in front of you, even for the Final. But the quizzes are timed (and the Final will be, too), and you get ZERO PERCENT if you exceed the 7 minute allotment! Seven minutes go by FAST! It's barely enough time to read and digest the question, the four multiple choice answers, remember where to look in my notes (control F helps!), and select and save my answer. That's just 42 seconds per question. The prof said she found that formula somewhere on the web -- that 42 seconds per question is the right amount of time to test someone's knowledge of something.

I can't remember any of the questions I answered correctly, but here are the ones from Quiz 2 that I missed:

Which of the following best describes the fluid mosaic model of membrane structure?
O Cytoplasmic bridges move materials through microscopic hole in cell walls
O None of these
O Double layer of proteins with scattered phospholipids within the layer
O Double layer of phospholipids with scattered proteins embedded in or on the surface.
(Hint: "None of these" is the wrong answer!)

Small metabolites, such as sugar and ions, pass between plant cells via...
O plasmodesmata
O organelles
O middle lamella
O vacuoles
(I could have sworn "middle lamella" was accurate.)

Which of the following is generally absent from animal cells?
O organelles
O plasma membrane
O cytosol
O plastids
(I'll know which of the last three are correct by the end of today! Gotta keep up so my notes for the Final are in order.)

---------------
Being the organized person I (pretend I) am, I put all the assignments from both classes onto a spreadsheet/calendar so I could work out a plan to get everything done ahead of deadline. Adjusting for a one-week gap toward the end of July when I'll be away from internet access makes it a pretty agressive agenda.

In fact, I also worked out four different week-at-a-glance type calendars for the four stages of my life between now and December. From now to August 8th I will have work time and study time. Pretty simple stuff. From August 20 to October 20 I'll have work, two 3-hour classroom classes, and a minimum 12 hours of homework each week.

October 22 I will add in a six-hour Math class and 12 additional hours of homework! I'm gonna call the Arizona State Retirement System real soon to get an EXACT date in October when I can retire! Otherwise, it will be a very intense two weeks.

The fourth calendar is my favorite! The accelerated Math class will be doable because I won't be spending 40 hours a week at work! That calendar is the light at the end of my tunnel.

I think I can, I think I can...!

New Technology

2007-07-04T17:51:00.001-07:00

RefWorks

Q. What is RefWorks?
A. RefWorks is web-based bibliographic software package that enables you to:
- Organize your research
- Include citations while you write your paper
- Build a bibliography in a variety of formats
- Import references from many data sources
- Create bibliographies in different document formats (Word, RTF, HTML, etc.)

While doing research, apparently I collect the reference data on each book into this online database that is free for students from the UA Main Library. Then, as long as I'm writing a paper in something like Microsoft Word and am connected to the internet at the same time, I can just "drop" my references by number right onto my paper without typing them all again! It will also create my bibliography from the works I've cited.

This technology age is amazing!

Pima Math - What could it hurt?

2007-06-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

I'm having second thoughts about my approach to Math. Until this morning I've been resisting the thought of taking the Pima Math course and wanted instead to retake the UA Math Placement Exam, but maybe that's the wrong approach. While I dislike taking a semester-long math class that won't really count towards my degree, what's the harm in getting Math off to a really solid start?

As I may have said before, I'm enrolled in two courses for the Fall semester: English 101, and MIS 111. And I'm still working full time. And it will take some time to get into the "college groove". In other words, it's already going to be a very busy five months and adding Intermediate Algebra on top of everything isn't my idea of a day at the beach.

But -- think through this with me -- I only need a "C" to get credit. I think I can manage a "B" but, since that grade won't count against my GPA at the UA, I won't have to kill myself with homework, if it comes to that. Plus, I'll have a classroom setting and a real prof (not just a book) to help me with any struggles I might encounter. And Juan might want to take it with me (for "fun"! ).

I found two accelerated Pima classes that could work very nicely. One meets 6-8:30p two nights a week out near our house. Starts late August and ends mid-October. The second possibility meets 4-7p two nights a week on the UA campus and doesn't start until mid-October. It ends in December. The second choice would mostly be after I have retired so maybe that's the best choice. I'll talk it over with Juan and see.

That's a LOT of information!

2007-06-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

New Student Orientation was fun! But it was long and they crammed a whole lot of information into just a day and a half! I admire the parents who came in from out of town and stuck with it to the end. I was familiar with a lot of the info from being an employee, so I can only imagine it's a bit overwhelming for someone brand new to campus. I didn't hear a count, but there were likely around 500 students plus their parents -- a big crowd which was, of course, divided into smaller groups most of the time.

While us students were doing our thing, they had separate sessions for the parents. In retrospect, I should have signed Juan up as my "parent" because then I could have found out what they were telling the other group. A lot of the parents seemed younger than me, and most of the students, of course, looked like 12-year-olds!

As I anticipated, Math Placement didn't go well! The test was a bit easier than the practice ones online, but I still didn't score high enough to get placed into Math 110 (entry level at UA). Right now my placement is Pima Math 122 which I would take at our local community college. They said it would count as elective credit when I pass, but I'm not thrilled about using an elective on an additional Math course. So I plan to retake the exam on August 13 and try to get better placement.

What DID go well was my Language Proficiency Exam. I took mine in French and placed high enough that I don't have to take a single semester in foreign language! I tested straight into French 202 which is higher than my major requires. So, unless I choose to minor in French, or decide to do it as an elective for kicks, I don't ever have to write a five-page double spaced paper in French! Whew! That's more of a relief than you know. When I learned French, it was the speaking kind; I can't write worth a dilly.

While I was very impressed with how efficiently orientation was run, I still have some bureaucratic snags to clear up. My Student ID was supposed to be converted from my SSN -- and it was -- just not to the number I was told it would be! And it turns out while I was ACCEPTED into the summer session, I wasn't actually REGISTERED in it so I have to visit the Admissions office tomorrow in person as they don't do that stuff over the phone or by email.

But by 4pm tomorrow I should be all set with my two summer session courses which I will take on the web, and two classroom courses for the Fall. With a Winter and/or Summer session or two in the future, I'll be right back on track with the rest of the kiddies!

I think I'm gonna need Plan B

2007-06-18T09:00:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been studying College Algebra nearly every day for three weeks but I don't think it's going to be enough to pass the Math Readiness Test tomorrow. I haven't totally given up, but I need to be ready with Plan B as it's likely to be needed.

I just took the practice test and scored 32%! That's 13 correct out of 40. And I was "sure" about more than 13 answers, so I'm still not "getting it" on some of them. In the book I haven't begun logarithms, radicals, or much geometry, and I only started with graphs last night, so it makes sense those are my weakest topics, but I'll need to brush up on polynomials, quadratic equations, and all the linear stuff, too, before tomorrow.

Here's the test link if you want to try your hand:

California Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project

It's free and I don't think they send anyone to your house with a ruler to rap your knuckles if you fail!

So Plan A is still to scrape by and get placed in Math 101 (or whatever the equivalent is these days). But if I score below that threshold, I can retake the test in November for a better placement. That will give me almost 5 months to keep plugging at the book. I'm genuinely enjoying it, for the most part, and want to get it nailed down. I'd relish the opportunity to take some time to do that before jumping on the math roller coaster. I'll be behind soon enough!

However, I'm REALLY looking forward to tomorrow's all-day orientation (and Wednesday's). I even get a tour of the campus! I know practically every building inside and out, but this time it will be from a student's perspective so that will be fun. Plus I know nothing of the academic side of the bursar's office and other departments we'll visit. Gonna need those comfortable walking shoes!

Interesting links

2007-06-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

While browsing the internet today, I found some really important web links you might find interesting.

Here is a sample 4-year plan for someone with an accounting major:

Sample Four Year Plan

Mine will look slightly different, of course, since I will take a light load that first semester, but I hope to make up the gap by taking as many summer and winter sessions as I can find that fit within my major. From what I can tell, there are very few courses offered during those abbreviated sessions, but I'll do what I can.

I'm glad I found this before meeting with an advisor. Gives me a better idea what the whole picture is going to look like.

It looks like a l-o-n-g road, and one that will stretch me in ways I can't even imagine, but I'm up for it!

I also took a look at what it takes to be an Honors student. Turns out some incoming freshmen are automatically designated the Honors status based on their high school grades and other factors. I wasn't (go figure! :-), but I can apply for consideration after I've taken 12 units and IF I have achieved a 3.5 GPA (or above).

Being an Honors student is, of course, a very nice sounding accolade, but the main reason I hope to achieve it is to gain access to a bunch of good stuff including priority registration. If I can register for class earlier than the non-honor students, I'm more likely to get the classes I want when I want them.

Here's a link to the Honors College.

Waiting is the hard part

2007-06-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sure other "hard parts" will surface forthwith, but right now I'm very anxious to get started. I can't register for classes until I attend orientation and that isn't until a week from Tuesday!

Scouring the class schedule, I plan to be prepared with a list of possible classes and can register in a flash when the time comes. Of course I'll meet with an academic advisor (already started a list of questions for him/her), but when you're just starting out, it looks pretty hard to go wrong with class selection.

"Tier One" subjects include Individuals & Societies (INDV), Natural Sciences (NATS), and Traditions & Cultures (TRAD). I've picked out two Web-Delivered courses I'd like to take concurrently during Summer Session II; Money, Consumers & the Family, and Plants and Our World. I'll eventually need two courses in each Tier One group.

Summer Session is an accelerated timeframe where a whole semester is crammed into around five weeks. If I took a traditional classroom course, I'd have to find one that meets after 3:30 pm (when I get off work) or get my boss's permission to cut work for a couple hours every day for over a month! (Hmmm, doesn't sound too bad!)

But there's another problem with that because Juan and I have been planning a week-long trip to Mexico and it falls smack dab in the middle of the summer semester. Missing five consecutive class sessions just won't work. With web-delivered, I can get the homework done early for that week. I'll be back in town to take the finals in the comfort of my own home.

Six units in an accelerated semester might be a lot when I'm still working full time, so I'll take the advice of my advisor on that, but I'd sure like to get those out of the way sooner rather than later. I've already bought the books for the Money class since I plan to take it -- now or in the Fall. I'm hoping to put off any Math classes until Spring 2008 when I don't have the full time job to contend with.

Those of you who can remember college (!), do you have any "must take" subjects to recommend? Any UA professors to suggest (or avoid!)?

10am Math Readiness Test... WHAT?!

2007-05-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

That's what it says on the Orientation Schedule! (pdf)

Am I ready for this? Well, no. Algebra. Remember algebra???

Actually I remember less than I thought. I loved math in high school (yeah, I was one of the weird ones) but after 33 years, I don't recall a great deal. Fortunately my hubby has an old college book "Beginning Algebra" and I'm now elbow deep in Exponents and Polynomials (Chapter 3).

For the placement test, I don't want to do TOO well. I just want to avoid embarrassing myself! I wouldn't mind scoring poorly enough to be placed into a relatively easy class (can you use "easy" and "math" in the same sentence?). But I really want to avoid wasting a semester on remedial math for which I would receive no credit. For an accounting degree, math will figure prominently, I realize, but can we start slowly... please?

I also have to take a Writing Placement Assessment and a Language Proficiency Exam. I'm not too worried about the first, and with the second, my goal is the same as for Math -- don't embarrass myself, don't score too highly, and don't get stuck with remedial French!

I'll let you know how it goes, of course.

=---------------=
SOLVE: 3x(x + 1)(7x - 2) = 0

EXTRA CREDIT: In 2 minutes a conveyor belt moves 300 pounds of recyclable aluminum from the delivery truck to a storage area. A smaller belt moves the same quantity of cans the same distance in 6 minutes. If both belts are used, find how long it takes to move 1200 pounds of cans to the storage area.

"You're In!"

2007-05-26T08:39:00.001-07:00

That's what the long-awaited envelope said. Very appropriate.

Let's back up a little. I knew I'd be retiring from my job as Administrative Assistant at the University of Arizona within a matter of months (most likely in October). I also knew I needed to focus on "the next thing" whatever that might be. Transitions are always easier when you can see and move towards the next thing and I needed to identify one.

Sometime in February 2007 Juan sat down at the dinner table and said, casually, "Why don't you go to college and get a degree?" We had, of course, talked about several options for me after retirement including sewing stuff and selling on eBay, doing accounting for small businesses part time, advertising as a "Virtual Assistant" and doing work from home, etc. All those seemed interesting enough, but when Juan said "college", it really clicked with me (not to mention the abject fear reaction!).

Since learning taxes through H&R Block some six years ago, I've found a real interest in accounting and numbers and how they impact people's lives. Working at the UA Grounds department I've done a lot of "number crunching" analyzing data for my various bosses to let them know their budget numbers and how certain aspects of the grounds business affect the bottom line. So it made sense to pursue accounting as the next thing.

If Juan and I are meant to have a small accounting business to keep us off the streets in our retirement years, the missing element in the equation is my education -- or lack thereof. Juan has his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (and may eventually pursue a Master's), but I only have a high school diploma and a couple years of bible college to my credit. Not very impressive to potential clients. Of course working for 28 years is an education in itself, but it's not a visible credential.

So in March, I submitted an online application to the UA and asked Snowflake Union High School to dredge through their dusty archives for my 1974 high school transcripts! (Did I mention that a nearly free education is one of my retirement benefits? Just a small part of the picture!)

And then I waited. And waited. And waited. Checking the online link for updates seemed fruitless until early May when the status finally changed to say "A decision has been mailed to the address on file." That's it? Gee whiz, leave me hanging like that? Not even a hint?!

So now I was checking the mail box every day instead of the online link. One week, no answer. Two weeks, nothing. Had it gotten lost in the mail? Was it going to be bad news so they mailed it last? I'd about given up hope, and then...

"You're in!"

Whew! I'm on my way.

Next stop, New Student Orientation (pdf) on June 19 and 20! Yikes!