I'll start out with my major courses, then premed req courses, then random courses.
1. Evolution [BIO205]: Hutch 473
It's a pretty interesting course so far. It's a lot more math than I had expected. The math is a bit confusing, but things work out after you put some logic into it. I haven't really done much for this course except the weekly p-sets [there's been 3 so far]. The first two psets were pretty easy and the third one was a pain... I spent like an hour working on it and I ended up getting like two or three questions wrong.
The teacher (Dr. Fry):
First thing I noticed was that he has a lisp. He's a bit boring when he's just talking in lectures, but he does random activities for the class to get the class a bit more engaged. I think there's been 2/8 classes so far where he's let us out on time. The other 6/8 times, he's let us out of class after 12:20, so I always need to fast walk to physics.
2. Animal Behavior [BIO260]:Dewey 2162
This course is probably the course I look forward to going to the most because I really like the subject. I would enjoy it a lot more if the class wasn't so much work. We need to find and read an article about a topic he gives us and then summarize/criticize the article like at least twice a month. There are also lots of readings. I just got my first exam back for this class like an hour ago and T_________T when I first saw the grade. It made me feel a lot better after I heard the average was probably in the 60s [Apparently there was 1 90, 5/6 80s, rest were below. The range was 30s-90 for this exam].
The teacher (Dr. Werren):
I like the teacher as a person and as a teacher, but as a testmaker and grader... he is MEAN. He makes the lectures very interesting so I really like going to his class, and he has a sense of humor [and we watch cool animal behavior videos], but his tests are sooooooooo ambiguous. They're fill in the blanks and "short answers" with word limits of like 30words, definitions and examples, and "long answers". He also tests on things that he didn't talk about in lecture, but that are in the reading. Maybe half the test is in the reading and the other half are in his lectures so it's a lot of material he tests us on. He also wants short and detailed answers on his tests, so he takes points off if it's not exactly the way he wants the answers to be [missing key words, small details, etc]. Oh he also obsessively sends and checks his emails, so now I have a tag just for him in my email.
3. Animal Behavior Research [BIO261W]: In the Lab and HH486A
The class is basically a directed independent research course; there are a total of 7 of us because a few people dropped the course. We choose our own projects to do on the behavior of Nasonia [parasitic wasps]. My project is determining the QTL for the strong female mate discrimination in Nasonia oneida against Nasonia vitripennis. This course is really time consuming because I need to be in the lab around 10hours a week and I need to read many papers about Nasonia. I need to come in during the weekends because I don't have enough time during the weekdays, but because of that, I have a key to Hutch now :D [and one to the lab].
The teacher (Dr. Werren):
Yes same teacher. Like I said, he emails obsessively and wants us to email him obsessively. He emails us assignments like a day or two before it's due and expects us to get it done. We have to email him when we arrive in the lab on weekends and when we leave. He's very strict about us spending enough time in the lab and will email us if he doesn't think we've spent enough time.
4. Physics [PHY113]: Hoyt Auditorium
This class is basically what it is. I can't say I really like the class, but I don't hate it either. The pace of the class is very fast, which is a good thing since I took AP Physics in high school, but on topics we didn't really cover in AP Physics, it's like what?
The teacher (Dr. Bodek):
If he didn't have some accent [people think it's German, but I can't tell] and if he didn't mumble, write badly, and go through the material so fast, he'd be a great teacher. I think he's a really nice guy, just can't speak English, or speak at all. I don't really pay attention in class anymore since he does post up lecture notes and the test is in two weeks. I need to start studying... but evolution exam is next week so that's my priority right now.
5. Music [MUR101]: TODD 202F
The class is a bit interesting, I guess. I think it's boring, but it goes by really fast, so I'm not sure if I think it's boring or not. I don't know all the material lol. Yay I learned rhythm, meter, and basic conducting. We're doing pitch right now and I know all the notes, but I don't know any music terms.
The teacher (Prof. Hanson):
He's a really nice and cool guy. He's extremely enthusiastic about the subject too so he's what makes the class interesting. He seems very young, like maybe our generation-ish and he's really modernized.
6. Linguistics - Morphology: MEL 208
This is probably my easiest and yet most interesting classes. It's 70% homework, 10% participation [which includes going to class] and 20% final project. Yes, no tests or quizzes or a final, just a final project. The subject is really interesting and we get into class discussions about random topics that has anything to do with linguistics.
The teacher (Prof. Paauw):
I took this class because of Paauw. I took LIN102 [Linguistics and Social Identity] with him. I thought LIN102 was going to be a boring class, but I was def wrong. Paauw makes the subject very interesting with his enthusiasm about the subject. Even though he's old in age, he's very modernized and a cool guy. I didn't think morphology would be an interesting class either, but the things he tells us is intruiging, especially about the weird languages [in New Guinea and the Caucasus].
OTHER STUFF
So aside from my 6 classes [24credits again], I have lots of "other stuff" I need to do.
Volunteering
I have to volunteer at the hospital, which reminds me, I need to call Occupational Health to make an appointment before I can start volunteering [I should have called Monday and it is already Friday omg I thought I'd told myself to stop procrastinating D:]. The program I'll be volunteering at is the Enhanced Elder Care Program in Strong Memorial Hospital. It's basically like working at a senior center, but in the hospital so these are the elderly with more severe medical issues. I'm actually looking forward to this program, even if it means waking up early on the weekends.
Tutoring
So after I came back from my first interview for volunteering, I got an email from LAS [Learning Assistant Services] saying I need to tutor four kids. I was like O______O no, so I emailed them back and was like "give me two". They gave me two kids, one CHM203 [Orgo] and one BIO110. Last night, I just got another email saying my BIO110 tutee switched subject and doesn't need a tutor anymore. So now, I only have one tutee and they're looking for another one for me. My orgo tutee hasn't contacted me yet, probably because they just had an exam yesterday morning. I just signed my tutoring contract like 2.5hrs ago, so now I can get paid [$7.50/hr]! Yay! That's like less than half of what I got paid over this summer x_X.
Badminton
I've been trying to take badminton a bit more seriously this year. I've stopped playing in jeans and I have my own racket [which is in a bag with my tennis racket and all three have my name and phone number written on them in case I lose it again]. There are sooooo many freshman this year... but thankfully a lot of them have stopped coming now. There weren't courts to play at for like the past few weeks and no birdies to hit either [they just ordered some so now it's fine]. I forgot to bring my Badminton shirts :( When I go back during winter break, I'll make sure to bring them here.
In Conclusion
So yes, this will be the activities for Fall 2010, the first semester of my junior year. I've been pretty good so far at waking up early. The latest I've woken up is 10am, but for the past two weeks, I've been getting up around 7:15am and getting to Carlson Library at 8am when it opens and doing work then. I have just realized this year that I can't do work at night and that I'm so much more productive in the morning, and that I function pretty well with 6-7hrs of sleep. So I've been sleeping around 12-1 and waking up at 7:15. I slept a bit late yesterday, so I wanted to wake up a bit later today [7:45] but I naturally woke up at 7:00 and couldn't go back to sleep after trying for 20minutes, so I just gave up, got up, and made it to Carlson at 8. Yes Carlson is officially my second home, if not my first. I probably spend around the same time in Carlson as my dorm lol. Okay, hopefully I will update when something new comes up or when it's a week I have three exams and I need to complain about something. Otherwise... it may be a while till my next update since I'm pretty busy this semester, but we will see.
No comments:
Post a Comment