That might have had a different title had I chosen to write it yesterday. But I wanted to get all of my classes finished before I cataloged my first days back in school.
So let's breeze through the summer of driving over 4000 miles from Anchorage to Longview with my family over 3 weeks.
Skip over the news of my Grandmother's cancer.
Ignore the drama of not knowing if I'd have the money for school this year.
Forget living in a travel trailer for a month and a week with the same family while they looked for permanent residence.
Repress the 40 hour Greyhound ride to get to Reno from Longview.
Squeeze by the fact that all my Storage facility guarded belongings are literally and completely Gone.
Mention the new house I live in with (currently 2) other guys in Wolf Run Village, 15 minutes walk from the campus core.
And get to school on Monday, August 27th, 2012.
Waking up at 6:34am, about 24 minutes before my iPhone alarm was set to go (my internal clock can work miracles sometimes, I just have to concentrate as I doze off) I got up and saw Nicole and Kyle heading off to their 8 am classes. I ate a donut that I'd bought the day before at walmart, (did you know donut isn't considered a word to Blogspot's spellchecker), checked email and a few other things, and left the house at 8. I walked to the campus, got to the Ansari building, found the 6th floor, and proceeded to get lost for 10 minutes trying to find room 634. I eventually had success, though still no idea where the stairs are in that building. I am elevator reliant for the time being.
Intro to Proofs doesn't seem like it'll be that hard *knock on wood* although the first few weeks will be trying on my patience as we literally prove that 1+2 = 2+1 (I am not joking, we have to prove it's true for all cases, but it's literally the same thing), among other "are you stupid, or trolling" obvious cases. We have to prove the obvious and pray that eventually we can move on to more advanced proofs. More on that later. So I got through there and decided I'd do something productive with my two hour break, since I had no reason to return home for such a short duration.
So I hoofed it to the Post office, got a text from my mom asking if I was going to check my PO Box while I was on my way, and then she asked if I'd gotten my textbooks yet (which was literally my next stop) cleaned out the 3 pieces of mail in my box, and used the shuttle to get to the Joe Crowley Student Union, home of food, shops, and some semi-official goings-on. Walking in hit me with a shot of memory as I recalled the first time I walked in during orientation last summer. Couldn't help but smile at that one. How things have changed. Got my textbooks for 350, and stopped by Starbucks where I saw a previous roommate, and someone I'd rather not see too much of this year.
Sat in the Education building to wait for yet another non-education-oriented class (French 211) then made my way up to that room which was (big surprise) around 10 girls and 3 guys. I realized the "textbook" I'd bought was actually a looseleaf binder version, so half of my book proceeded to collapse on my desk when I tried to turn the page. The girl on my left was quite amused at my efforts.
So I will probably be bored brainless in that class, but it gives me time to focus on Math more. It'll also be a refresher for my French because there are quite a few written details I've forgotten in my year of not using them, considering all the French I do is spoken or read these days, and that's always to myself. I'm looking forward to it.
10 minutes break gave me time to quickwalk to the Math Building, where my Linear Algebra class is this year, the class I'm repeating because I didn't quite follow it last year. Oddly enough that class was so heavily curved, that I didn't take the final (already expecting to fail it, that's why) and I still got a D. Don't ask me. So it should be easier than last year since I already have a clue of what to expect, but I'll still need to be on my toes in class as time goes by, waiting for that lecture when I finally catch up with what I need to learn.
That was it for Monday. I got 3 classes knocked down, one to go. When I got home, I passed out on the couch for a much-needed hour nap, then was woken by my newest addition to the house, Jordan. He lived in here last year, and apparently the people who moved out were slobs and all the crap in our kitchen and storage areas belonged to them. Jordan says it looks better (regardless of the remains we were afraid to touch) and smells better too. We're going to have a cleaning party soon. Afterwards, Kyle, Nicole and I sat in Kyle's room watching Breaking Bad, a show they've recently become addicted to (pun intended, if you know the show's story, you'd get it) until bedtime at 10. They had to get up early.
Tuesday! Sleep in time! I don't have class until 4! YEAH! So my laptop got a workout, and I ate more of the (now 2 day old) donuts. One box down. I am so going to die before I'm 50. I can feel my arteries clogging already. I can also feel the daggers all my health-conscious friends are shooting at my back as I eat as well.
So at 3 I trekked to class, Intro to Analysis, MATH 310, oddly enough in the exact same room as my first class! I actually recognized about 10 people in there too. So while we were there we learned that 301 was actually a 'bridge' class, and without it, this would be a bit harder. I was ok with that, I can take a challenge. It's funny, the grading scale was: 87%:A 75%:B 60%:C 50%:D so that was slightly intimidating, but I thought it was funny-
Wait. What does that symbol mean? That set is greater than what? Where did that variable come from? How is that even important... So that means that a < q < b for some reason... why is k/b-a less than or equal to n? Where did n come from? Who cares that there is a Natural number between 2 real numbers? (I swear that number 2 was the only number on that blackboard)
I wish I had taken a picture of that board, my head hurt so much and I want to share the pain. For the last 30 minutes of the 75 minute class, my face was reminiscent of the face of a typical jock in an Algebra class. About halfway through my note page (I actually took notes on the first day, that's new, because I usually don't have to take notes on review, aka things I already know) I started drawing a picture of my brain. It was on my desk. In a puddle of brain fluid.
So I'm home now, and dropping that class like a hot potato. Goodbye single-semester math minor, I can wait. Now I am replacing it with the ever-loved Computer Science class that I've been beating my head on trying to pass for the last 2 semesters. That bloody homework will NOT get the better of me this year, I swear it. When this year is done, I'm going to reread this entry and say "Hell yes, I was right, I got better than a C- this time because I actually did my homework."
Next step: job search!
