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School, school and more school

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

06:14 / 08.01.07

So today marks the beginning of yet another semester at glorious Wayne State University, located deep in the heart of Detroit. The campus is a little depressing, and more than one classmate has reported that they passed the corpse of a homeless person on the way to class, but I'm sure that's not unique to Wayne State and other than all the concrete everywhere and the traffic I can't really complain. This semester is Metaphysics, Philosophy of Art, more Japanese, and fencing. Fun times, but I'm not really looking forward to the Japanense. I enjoy the study of the language but ever since I discovered that I can't just "sort of pay attention" and pick up another language my enthusiasm has cooled somewhat.

Nevertheless! I've made good progress on my GPA, and I just have a shitload of Philosophy classes to take to graduate and start my life of scholarly poverty. Anyone else starting a new semester? Come tell us all about it.

06:40 / 08.01.07

Starting my second semester of 1st Environmental Science (with a view to studying either ecology or zoology from my second year onwards) at University College Cork this week. Fortunately, I don't have lectures until Wednesday, which is probably for the best considering I haven't been to bed in the past 48 hours. I really wish I could avoid going to college for this month, as I desperately need to get a short story I'm writing finished and submitted within the month. I suppose I could not go to lectures, but then the dire spectre of failure would be looming over my head. I can't fail (again) or there would be many red faces.

So, yeah, I'm a repeat student, struggling with Organic chemistry. I passed everything else the first time in a rather spectacular fashion. Biology, Physics, Maths, Geology-all passed. Chemistry was spectacularly failed, alas, even on the second try. I have some serious issues with chemistry. In secondary school, I had a really nasty teacher who had it in for me and constantly undermined my confidence. He just sort of ruined the subject for me and ever since then I've been intensely shit at it. I just can't get my head around many (or any, for that matter) of the concepts. I should pass it this year, as I've been studying nothing but it, but if I happen to fail it again, I plan to quit the sciences and do something in arts- Probably the combined geology and archaeology degree or somesuch.

All Acting Regiment

07:31 / 08.01.07

Here I am, bloody lecture bloody soon, tired, dodgy sandwhich etc

Whisky Priestess

08:37 / 08.01.07

Llama, you have my sympathy. I did chemistry at A-Level and it was the first time I'd run up against an academic subject that I simply could not do. It wasn't that I was crap at sciences, because I was doing Biology too and getting along fine (although I was sensible enough to know that at A-Level, Physics and Maths would probably have been out of my league).

It made matters worse that we were doing the hardest set of papers (Nuffield Board?) because normally only the people who loved it did Chemistry (I wanted to be a doctor which was why I did it, ahahahaha). What I just couldn't understand was that no matter how hard I tried, I still didn't understand it or get much better at it - usually my problem was lack of application rather than lack of ability, but Chemistry was a nut I couldn't crack.

That year, no-one in my class (including the hardcore maths and physics-heads) got above a C - which constitutes a pass, if a low one, although obviously this wasn't university level.

On an uplifting note, I was very pleased to get a C considering what a pig of a subject it turned out to be for me (I was always fine with the theory but my experiments and equations/calculations were hilariously rubbish) - and if I hadn't worked like a madwoman, I would have done much worse. So (here comes the comfort) although if it's not "your" subject it's never going to be easy, if you grit your teeth it can be done. And then you can revel in the knowledge that you will never have to do it again.

Don't forget to ritually burn your textbooks, which is hugely enjoyable.

08:46 / 08.01.07

Heh, thanks for the reassuring words, WP! Funny story: I ritually burned my chemistry books during a (possibly alcohol fuelled) rage at the end of my first attempt to pass the subject. If I had been sober at the time, I'm sure I would have remembered that I needed the book for the following year's attempt. Luckily a friend gave me his copy.

With me, my ineptitude at chemistry seems to be a combination of intense hatred of the subject and bad luck when it comes to getting shitty lecturers and teachers. I mean, I passed physics with a fairly decent grade, and it shares a lot of the same fundamental theories of chemistry. I put that down to having an absolutely excellent lecturer and no prior experience of the subject until I came to college.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

14:05 / 08.01.07

So, yeah, I'm a repeat student, struggling with Organic chemistry.

No worries, I've taken at least three different biology courses and somehow only passed the hardest one taught by my most hated professor. Some say it was my grit and moxie that got me through, I say it was my fifty dollar donation to the biology conservatory he worked for in Costa Rica. Tuna Ghost = not ashamed to buy an A.

All Acting Regiment

18:20 / 08.01.07

Well, that was all quite good actually. A huge chunk of stuff to read- one poetry collection a week, and that's only for one module- but hey, you know. Big research project that'll mean- gasp- dipping into areas of the library not marked "Lidderachuh". All good I guess.

19:07 / 08.01.07

I stack shelves in a University library and I'm only contracted during term-time at the moment, so today was my first day back. Its odd being so in sync with students without having any of the freedoms they enjoy... Anyway, today I heard that two pranksters had somehow managed to knock a whole stack's worth of books off the shelf last week (ridiculous amount of needless extra work for us), and spent about half an hour trying to get some chewing gum off the backcover of a book. Reminded me why I hate students. No offence.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

21:25 / 08.01.07

Did you save the gum? It's just that I meant to grab it before I left but I forgot.

Lagrange's Nightmare

21:09 / 09.01.07

Ah it's still the middle of summer holidays over here, now if only i wasn't working three jobs instead...