OK This kinda rocks...

For the summer term, I'm taking a Biology class that involves a study abroad trip to Andros, Bahamas. It's an ecology class, and this week we are attending the pre-trip classes. I'm very excited about the trip, but there is a LOT to learn. We also have to watch out for crazy poisonwood trees, jellyfish, sharks, lion fish, and some kind of wicked horsefly that will chew a hole in your head and eat your brains. I don't think it will eat your brains, but that sounded really scary, right? This poisonwood is related to poison ivy and the like, but it's incredibly potent and will even affect people who aren't allergic to poison ivy. Apparently the rash is wicked painful and itchy.

So the class today was very fun and interesting. Our instructor showed up wearing her dog in a sling. I thought, "Wow, this is going to be an awesome class!" Her dog had an appointment at the veterinarian, and heck, it's a summer class. So the whole time she is lecturing, her little doggy is just hanging out there in front of her, taking a nap or licking her paws. I have to say I've never had a college class that involved someone wearing a dog, but it was awesome. I think this trip is going to rock.

And the results are FINALLY in...

Dr. Maligo posted the Spanish grade this evening, and it's an A!  I'm so excited! I kept my 4.0 this semester! I was really afraid I'd be taking a hit to my average with Chemistry and Statistics. But somehow through the miracle of that thing known as THE CURVE, I made all A's. And let me assure you, THE CURVE had everything to do with it.

Philosophically, I have many objections to the whole curve idea. If I was a teacher, I highly doubt I'd employ a curve in my grading. I think the grade you make should be the grade you take. But all philosophy aside, thank GOD for teachers who curve their grades!

I have lots of people to thank for my success this semester. My hubby has really shouldered a lot of responsibility so that I can have the brain power and the time to study my heinie off. He pays the bills, shops for groceries, helps the kids with schoolwork, and often cooks meals so that I can sit with my books. All this in addition to working a stressful full-time (and then some) job. He says I'm his retirement plan, and I take that very seriously. He's making a huge sacrifice on the gamble that I'm going to get through all this and be a doctor someday. It makes me want to work hard so that we can accomplish this crazy plan.

My kids have really had to put up with an upheaval in their lives since all this started. My older kids are really picking up the chores and sitting with the younger ones. Emily has taken on most of the burden here because Josh and Micah have jobs. I hope they know it will all pay off eventually.

My friends and family have been awesome. Everyone is incredibly supportive and they all celebrate with me when I make good grades and commiserate with me when I suck.

There have been a few people who have had mean things to say about me going back to school. A person that I have always thought a lot of said that I'm having some kind of mid-life crisis and my hubby should get control of me. I just have to think about all the positive and not dwell on comments like that. Thing is, once I finish all this, the dude will probably be too old and senile for me to say "I told you so!" I'm not going to let one petty old fart make me second-guess my plans.

So this is the end of my first semester at "real college." It has been more difficult than technical school, but a lot of that was the move from quarters to semesters and taking a heavier course load. I've had to work hard like always, but it has been very rewarding. I hope that I am blessed with the ability to keep up the hard work and keep my 4.0 until graduation! *fingers firmly crossed*

And (almost all) the Results Are In...

This is the part where all my friends and family think I'm the biggest drama queen since the beginning of time. OK, whatever. I really truly do worry and second-guess myself after finals and before scores are posted, and I truly am shocked when I pull off a better grade than I was anticipating. But all the nail-biting and obsessing tends to make me look like a giant jerk when I get an A.

Everyone but my Spanish professor has posted grades, and here's what it looks like:

Statistics: A
Pre-Calculus: A
English: A
Chemistry Lab: A
Chemistry: A

I promise I'm not a big jerk. I am as surprised as anyone that A's happened. I can say I worked harder this semester than at any other time since I started college, and I'm really glad it was enough and that it paid off. Now if Dr. Maligo will post the grades for Spanish, I could stop checking Cougarnet (yes, that's what it's called) fifty times a day.

Thoughts on Finals

School is over for a couple of weeks. I'm sitting here in my pajamas at my house at the time when I'm normally sitting in the library after chem class trying to make sense of everything he said. I feel kinda useless.

Finals are a dumb idea. I don't test well, I get nervous and can only think of weird jello flavors when I'm supposed to be remembering the future tense of dancing at the club for my Spanish final. I'm sure that my professor will be thrilled that I didn't know what una peña was. He will be even more thrilled that my answer to the question was, "Voy a preguntar Sr. Maligo que significa una peña." Let's just say I'm glad it didn't mean what I thought it meant...

I choked on my pre-calculus final. I didn't spend a lot of time studying pre-cal because I do pretty good at it, and the final was pretty much just the same test we took last week with a couple of geometry questions thrown in. But when he handed me the paper I honestly forgot everything I learned in pre-cal. Hopefully, Dr. I will be merciful.

I don't even want to talk about statistics. I studied my BEHIND off, and I forgot all the calculator functions so I had to do everything by hand. I just hope I did it right.

And chemistry. Oh, how I love chemistry. My study group spent HOURS studying and quizzing each other and doing problems on the white board and we seriously closed the library a few times. If that didn't help, I'm going to invent some kind of chemistry drug that makes me understand it.

So now we wait. The teachers have gotten rid of us, and the first thing on their mind apparently is not grading the finals. It's torturing us for two weeks. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to drop my second level chemistry class, and if I have to drop the bio class that has stats as a pre-req. That would be useful information BEFORE SUMMER TERM STARTS!!!!

You'll have to excuse me, the caffeine is leaking from my pores and I'm suffering from extreme sleep deprivation and some kind of fuzzy brain fungus...