Points in school.

Whats the difference between a prostitute and a student? A prostitute gets paid for it and a student pays for it. All it seems I do any more is just accrue points no matter what for and doing what ever is necessary to get them. Is this all school is with supposed learning going on, forced presentations, and without any passion in learning. At this point I'm doing better in school that I ever have, yet have just gained an attitude of not caring just trying to get the next assignment done and move on to the next, over and over and over. Well, on to my next paper.

algebra

So, class began painful as the professor began to talk about function, f(x). It seemed as if I wasn't going to be able to figure out what the heck he was talking about. But as he continued to talk about it and gave examples I was able to stew about and come up with why it works in how I think. I now understand that the x variable in f(x)=X^5+X^3 doesn't get added together. It seems weird that we would go from simplifying these functions to not simplifying so as to graph but whatever.

Now I Remember

After working a 24 hour shift I remember how worthless I feel afterwards no matter what time I got off work from a long shift. All I want to do is have some beer and sleep, unfortuneatly that doesn't work with going to school. Not happening tonight so don't worry.

Interesting

My first class today was Europe: Age of Nationalism. I like this class a lot. I had this professor last semester and he presents the history in a easy to understand form. Not that I would have much troubles as I like history and usually can grasp it easily, but still. I have some knowledge of modern European history, but this is much more in depth and it's great to know more about how European countries have come to be and how it shapes their policy today.

My other class today is Language and Society. It's very mentally draining because at this time we are learning the phonetic alphabet which is greek based I believe. At some time I will try and post a link to what I mean. It is a different way of thinking about American English, not bad but hard. It is also interesting because the teacher is from Russia and can point out interesting word combinations that I have never thought of and she can see this from an outside perspective. I can't wait to get to the dialect portion of class, but first I need to get through this section.

Learning and changing

So, school is still going pretty good. I have realized that I need to remember that there is a library in Kirkwood to make copies if I need to. Also, if there are any more unscheduled days off of school, that I need to READ during the day off. I have started to change my sleep habits into more of a realistic habit. After years of getting up around 10 am I am now waking up between 7:30 am and 8:00 am. It sucks but that gives me some time to wake up and maybe even read for class some (yes I actually have).

Yesterday I turned in my first paper of the semester, I think I did fine. I also have a test Wednesday for Intro. to Sociology that I will study for tonight. There are six tests in the class and I think I will be ok after reading through the study guide. Math is going pretty good, the teacher is good at one on one in class and actually gives us time in class to try problems on our own so we can ask for help in class. Surprisingly enough I never got to bored last math class to check the time. I think it's more because I am so paranoid to miss a note and screw up my homework. My lit class is going pretty well. I need to read the first hundred pages of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. The class is very interesting to me because he is lecturing on the history of Europe during the time the pilgrims (Calvinists) came over. It is maddening that he keeps saying over and over that what he is teaching at times in elementary knowledge, but what do you do.

Anyways, things are looking up. Now just to maintain the motivation. This is what coffee is for.

/Is there an Ugg convention in town?

//I don't know much about fashion admittedly, but if you are orange from tanning should you really be wearing anything purple?

Financial Aid

Stupid me didn't realize that I was on probation within my school for my gpa which I have accrued over the years. So, I only raised my gpa from 1.6 to a 1.97. Which means that my financial aid has been suspended by the school pending my appeal. I had to ask for money from my parents to make sure I was enrolled. Now they are buying my books for me as I don't have the money to purchase the books. I owe them so much money and hate it. I am a 26 year old that apparently can't even pay his own bills. So much for being an adult.

First day of class

My First class to day was Intro to Sociology. It seems pretty interesting. We talked mostly about various groups and what Sociology is. She also read a paper about the body rituals of the Nicrema's, a point to you if you can catch the joke. We have to write a paper about other rituals of the Nicrema. There are five papers and all only have to be 1 to 2 pages long.
After that was a class that should be most interesting, Literature and Culture: American Dreams. The first thing that the professor said was that he had to follow a script that the people in charge in CR said he had to say. After the beginning class crap he told all of us to drop the class. He said if you can't make it to class at noon, don't like to read, or don't like to talk then don't come to class. He said in a perfect world there would only be fifteen people in the class and since it's not he was going to have to live with it. Five people left class before the class was over. Then he had us write a two page paper in an hour about what defined us. It made me think that what I am most having problems with. Maybe one of the issues I am having with school in a nutshell is that I have always defined myself as a worker. Work is of most importance to me and making the switch to the idea of being a student is a much harder action than I thought it would be. I am not trying to make an excuse, but I believe that it is a factor.
Lastly, I had College Algebra. My professor is foreign and the funny thing is that he sound a lot like Latka from the television show "Taxi". So far I am keeping up, but I am reminded how much I need to take notes and use ALL of the assistance given to me.