You threw off my groove!

School starts back on Monday, and while that should fill me with dread, I am SOOOO looking forward to it! I love my family, and I love being home, but I will be really glad to get back down to the business of finishing my undergrad degree. Not to mention that when I'm home I feel the need to organize and clean and boss people around. My kids will probably be glad to send me back to school as well. I rented a bunch of my books this time around because I didn't have the money to get them on my iPad. I get my refund in a couple of weeks, but a lot of professors are real sticklers about you having your books on hand the first day. Seems they should release your money earlier if they are going to be like that. But I don't look forward to lugging around paper books when they could all be snug in my iPad.
I feel like being off for too long throws off my groove. I am afraid that the stuff I've learned starts leaking out of my ears if I don't shove more stuff in there quickly enough. Anyway, I'm off to take the kids to the movies!

Ah, well.

The final grades were posted today, and I got a C in Chemistry 2. It didn't affect my GPA too badly -- still a 3.9. I guess I had hoped that I would keep a 4.0 through the whole 4 years. I certainly didn't expect to get a C, but there it is. It's definitely not a habit I want to get into, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. So now to put it behind me and concentrate on success in fall semester.
School starts back August 15, it just doesn't seem like much of a break. But after fall semester, I will have almost a month off. I'm taking Organic Chemistry 1 (with lab), Research Methods in Biology, Principles of Biology, American Government, Concepts of Fitness, and two Honors classes: Culinary Arts and Historical Venues. The Fitness class is only half the term, and the two honors classes only meet four times each. So it's actually a pretty light semester for me. The American Government class is online, which will be nice.
I'm looking forward to getting started, I've been pretty useless since I've been off. I've had a nasty chest cold and I can't seem to get enough energy to accomplish anything useful. I've done some knitting and I've watched the whole first season and part of the second season of Doctor Who with my kids. It's been very relaxing. I'm sure my hubby would like it better if I'd accomplish something else. :) But hopefully next week I'll feel better and I can attack a few projects in the house.

Oops.

So I didn't do very well on that second chem test either. 71. Ew. I'm meeting with my professor tomorrow to get some advice. We only have 2 weeks left in class, so I'm worried that I can't turn this grade around before it's over. Gah, I hope he gives some extra credit or something. I am doing OK in the lab, I think. I've made 100s on all labs but one, and that was a 97.5. Hopefully I did OK on the exam in lab last week. We have another chem test this Friday, and then another one the following Thursday, and then that's the end. Praying that something clicks here soon.

Chemistry is another language

And I don't seem to be speaking it very well.  I'm going to class, taking notes, reading the chapters, working the examples, everything I can think of! I didn't do really well on the first test. We had our second test today and I'm hoping I did better. I keep thinking I'll look back on this and it will make sense. I really hope so, anyway. I still have more chemistry in my future.
In other news, I have experienced an example of the stereotypical pre-med student. She is in my chem2 class, and she can be a trial. She's rude to the teacher, she corrects him constantly, and she asks questions that she already knows the answers to. I'm not sure what she's trying to accomplish, but if it's getting on EVERYONE'S nerves, she can mark that goal off her list. Dude, she is not pleasant.
So here's me hoping that all this studying finally starts sticking and I get a good grade in chemistry this time around. I do have to prove to my adviser that I can juggle. ;)

Little slow right now...

Things are about to pick up again since Chemistry 2 class starts on Wednesday. I've had a nice laid-back few weeks, even though I have taken some summer classes. There was, of course, the trip to the Bahamas for biology, and you can read about that at Andros Blog if you wish.

I'm taking a swimming class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7-8am. That sounded like a really good idea during registration. It's not as fun getting up that early. But my other option was Tae Kwon Do in the evenings, and I would be out til almost 9pm. Swimming is a lot better, I think. I'm also taking an online Anthropology class, and that's going pretty well. We had a test on Friday, and I think I did alright. I'm still waiting for that grade.

I guess it's going to get pretty crazy once the Chemistry class starts. It's only a 5-week class, and I can't imagine cramming all that information into such a small period of time. Hopefully it will all work out. I've heard this instructor is really good, and I did get to meet him when he substituted for my Chem 1 lab teacher once during spring semester. I'm actually looking forward to this class, I'm ready to finish all the chemistry so I can get into my biology!

Hours-wise I will be a junior in the fall, if everything works out this summer. I'm getting a little nervous, this is going so fast! I can't believe that I might be one of the entering class at ACOM in 2013. That just doesn't sound doable at all at this point. But I'm working my tail off, so hopefully something great will come of it!

Summer is kinda cool

Sometimes I think I should put up a playlist of the music I'm listening to when I'm posting on here, I think it might add to the experience if you could hear what I'm hearing while I'm writing. SO right now I'm listening to Flyleaf's "So I Thought." It's a cool song and it's kinda fun to blog to.

I'm coasting along this week, we didn't have scheduled classes, but we met Tuesday through Thursday to work on our presentations, which we gave today. I think they went well. I like working with Parag and Hema, they really know their stuff, and I really don't. I did OK on the introduction, but I haven't had the class where they learned how to do these ecology presentations. (that would be Ecology class, haha!) So the presentations are behind us, and we have our final on Monday. We also have to turn in our field notebooks for Dr. Ballenger to grade.

I start the second part of summer term on Tuesday the 14th. I'm taking Chem 2, Cultural Anthropology and Swimming. Then I'll have two weeks off before Fall semester starts. It feels like it's going so fast! I'm taking Organic Chemistry in the Fall. I can't even imagine what that's going to be like. But I'll just take it one day at a time as usual.

**Edited to add: I made an A on the Bahamas class! WOOHOO!

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.