Friends

End of Semester Review:

Classes in the order they fell in my schedule from the start of the week:

Plant Biology: A+

The professor for this class had a speech deficiency (or simply talked really slow), so we not only fell behind in work and had to skip over a couple of sections, but it made him seem more boring than he actually was. But he knew his stuff, and typically had examples to support what he was teaching us in the class. There was enough extra credit available for the course that I  ended the class with 103%. Needless to say, I’m happy with the outcome. No friendships were developed in this class, but I have a few familiar faces to see around campus.

Contemporary Literary Writers: B

The professor for this class was one that I’ve had for what would be the third semester in a row now (the previous two semesters being my nonfiction classes). A bit dry, with a tendency to drone and confuse people when his monologue ends in a question, but an enjoyable professor overall. I liked the subject matter, but when it came down to it, I wasn’t able to analyze and write critically as well as I needed to for this class. Most of the people in this class were those I have been previously familiarized with, though the guy who I managed to make friends with the most was a new face to me. I exited this class having built relationships with the people I already knew just a bit more.

Intro to Research in Communication: B

Unlike my first attempt at this course, this time around was a pleasant experience. The professor was funny, engaging, and always trying to make us laugh while subtly trying to get us to learn (the degree of that changed later in the semester, but we’d already been hooked through his excellent teaching skills). I’m even pleased to say that I have one of his classes again next semester! The course work was moderately challenging (though my first paper absolutely bombed, which hurt my grade). There was an enjoyable mix of characters for my classmates, and the team I worked with on a couple of projects really did well (our final paper was the best in the class, we were told). I’m leaving this class with a few good relationships, and I hope to see those people again in future classes.

Persuasion: A

For this class, I had the same, enjoyable, red-headed professor that I had for Communication 202 in my freshman year. I’m happy to say that she hasn’t changed in the past two years. She’s still energetic, exciting, and passionate to see her students advance, learn, and enjoy the course work. The course work was moderately challenging, and consisted entirely of writing assignments (precluded by either reading or attending and engagement event). She sent me an email at the end of the semester saying that she appreciated my good work for the course, which made me feel better about the quality of my submissions. I left this class with some superficial relationships with people, though they’ll likely be familiar faces around campus like most.

Media and Society: B

“Oh gosh. Moose.”

Words from the professor while doing a parody of Sarah Palin, something he routinely did about one or two times each class. He was a mix of hilarious and somewhat appalling. His exams were tough, but the rest of the course work somewhat easy. I have to admit that I enjoyed this class, and never left it without having laughed heartily at some point. There were a few mavericks in the class who really made class discussion (which frequently was derailed) interesting. I have to say that my team project (an online media museum) was one of the more frustrating aspects of the course. My team was relatively disorganized, and we got the bulk of the work done in the week before the museum was due. They did do most of the research (on comic books, a subject that I knew nothing about) while I worked on building the media museum. In the end, I think we did fairly well with both content and design. The professor actually curved the grades on the discussion board and the media museums, probably to encourage students to not just try to do “good enough.” I took a few decent relationships from this class in my media museum team, and I’m going to surprise myself by admitting that, despite the disorganization of the team, I wouldn’t mind seeing them in another class next semester.

Friendships:

Already discussed, but I have a small handful of people who I built a relationship with this semester. I think only one or two of those relationships will actually carry over through the next semester (one guy, out of the blue, offered to let me stay with him in his dorm should I get stranded on campus next winter, and praise God for that). I think I managed to do a little better than other semesters, and see that as a very positive sign that I’m beginning to crawl out of my shell, and venture further outside of my cage, to develop friendships with people.

Zach and I managed to be decent friends throughout the semester, though not quite what I had expected in previous posts. I think it’s safe to say we’re good for hanging out with each other for certain next semester though. It’s a relationship that will be easy to continue building.

Lessons learned:

I can still pull stuff out of my butt at the last minute, but the consequences of doing so are a little harsher than before. For example: the paper I bombed in Intro to Research in Communication was one that I waited too long to start, then didn’t have time to ask the professor for advice on. To be honest, I don’t think I deserve many of the decent grades I got this semester, simply because of the sheer amount of time I spent slacking off and waiting until the last minute to complete assignments. It would always strike me while completing those assignments how easy and quick it was (my grades would often reflect positively on that assessment), and if it took so little time and was such an easy task, why did I wait to do it? Perhaps I am still brilliant, but unmotivated.

Miscellaneous:

I received only $42 back in books this semester. Frankly, I’m getting tired of this, and plan on seeing if I can get anything cheaper over the internet for Spring (despite having enough money for it to not make much of a difference).

I got my driver license and was able to cut down immensely on the amount of gas I used, and to further enable myself to stay late for team meetings and events. It evens out, the margin of error being in my favor, to have my driver license. The biggest pain of driving is the expense of auto maintenance: in one week, I shelled out $600 for a tune-up and oil change, then $100 for a new tire. I’m definitely missing that money right now, but I won’t need any typical auto maintenance, other than the relatively cheap oil change, for a while now. Another thing that stinks about driving yourself is when you’re really tired. I was forced to depend on caffeine to keep me awake a few nights, but suffered when it kept me up well past midnight. It’s a vicious cycle.

Looking forward:

Next semester, I’ll have 17 hours of classes. This includes five normal classes for fifteen hours, and two hours for a PE lecture, along with the lab (zero hours). In addition to the PE, I’ll be taking three communication courses, an English course required of Juniors, and a geography course (Economic Geography) to satisfy a general education requirement. The communication courses could be difficult, but I must take them, and it’s a bridge I will have to cross. (Plus, more difficult COMM courses are ahead, so there is no sense in avoiding them now.) I believe I will try for the public relations concentration in the communication major, but I have heard some stories about how the work in that area is so terribly dreaded. We’ll see how I manage COMM 269: Intro to Public Relations.

Next semester could find me dealing with some rough winter weather again, which scares me because I’m driving now. However, a classmate from this past semester has offered to take me in should I get stranded on campus. I think we’ll get along just fine, too.

The best part about next semester? That could be Spring Break. Don’t press me for details just yet, because I haven’t finalized everything. I’m so freaking excited, though.