13 posts tagged “school”

I'm back and ready to bring you all the latest in Aubrey news.

Hope everyone who was in Hurricane Ike's path is okay.  It was, for the most part, a non-event here in Tyler (some power outages and a few downed trees)...I only left to avoid the crazy, panic-driven assholes in this town who push and shove their way through the aisles at Wal-Mart to grab bottled water and canned corn that they didn't need.  The danger here in Tyler is not the hurricane itself, but the idiots roaming the streets.  That sounds mean, but it's true.

School.  So fun.  We're studying Ancient Greece in Humanities, the Colombian Exchange in U.S. History, and the final draft of my first English paper is due tomorrow.  I'm pretty confident that I'll get a decent, if not excellent, grade on it...we had "peer reviews" of the second draft and mine got quite a few glowing remarks from my classmates.  Yay for me.  I know I've already mentioned this, but my professors are flippin' amazing.  My history professor teaches in the style I love best, zany and creative.  Case in point: while discussing the livestock and other animals that were brought to America during early colonization, she gave a very accurate (and hilarious) impersonation of a charging wild boar.  Good times.

Face Off

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And how are things going with the fella, you ask?  Just swimmingly!  He's introduced me to a lot of really great places in the DFW area.  We went to Central Market last night and picked up a bunch of nice things for a home-cooked dinner.  I've started to feel quite at home in Dallas; even the driving isn't as intimidating as it was at first.  Getting onto 635N is the most interesting part.  If you're in my car, it goes something like this:

"Come on, come on, come on.  Speed up!  SPEED UP!  F*cking GO!!!!  GO!  Let me in here....dude, move the hell over, there are other people trying to drive here.  GOGOGOGOGO!!!  WHOOOOOOOOOO!  WHO'S YOUR DADDY!  Hell yeah!"

Then I light a cigarette.  Interstate driving: more like sex than you thought. *snort*

Today, in English, we were split up in groups of three, and as luck would have it, my teammates are fresh out of high school.  I thought, "Man, I bet they aren't too happy that they got the oldie of the bunch."  (I know, I know I'm not old...but seriously, everyone in this class is at least three years younger than me)

So, we're doing our discussion outline, and after we introduce ourselves, they both nominate me to speak for our group.  The cowards. 

I gave the class our examples, and all is going just fine.  The professor then asks for the proper term for text message or email smilies.  No one speaks...all the while, I'm trying not to blurt out the answer for fear of drawing too much attention.

Fuck this, I'm going for it.

I raise my hand, wait to be acknowledged, then quietly say, "Emoticons."

Everyone seems flabbergasted that the word exists, and I hear the guy in my trio laugh and say, "Yeeeah, she's in my group.  We got you all beat."

Ahhhhh, academic recognition.  I have missed you.

College: Killing your posture one semester at a time.

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Rushing through my morning internet ritual and cup of coffee, trying to figure out how the hell I'm going to carry around all this shit and manage not to look like a fool.

It's finally here. 

I couldn't even sleep last night, due to old fears sneaking up on me, that crap happens to me at the last minute.  Brian said I was going to be awesome and will probably blow all the little punks out the water after the first test:)  Let's hope so. 

I'm just happy that I can finally bust open that Humanities text.  That is, if we use it (please, please, please, please, please!)

It's been a great week.  Next week looks even better.

Loathing:

• waiting for school to start
• having to trim my nails for work
• hydroplaning
• baby formula...smells terrible

Loving:

• my textbooks (more below)
• no lines at the ID/Parking Permit registration at TJC
• taking a decent student ID photograph
• hanging out with my dad and nephew
• Greek pasta salad
• all this rain
• having a temporary window seat at work
• spending time with a certain fella:)

Looking forward to:

• school...only five more days!
• pretty much everything else.

On the textbooks, I received my final one today (US History...*yawn*), but I got online to check out the contents of the titles I can't open just yet. 

DUDE.  My Humanities text?  Freaking awesome.  Check out these chapter titles (these are just the ones that really grabbed my attention):

• The Beginnings of Civilization
• Byzantium
  
• Charlemagne and the Rise of Medieval Culture
• The High Middle Ages: The Search for Synthesis
• The Fourteenth Century: A Time of Transition
• The Early Renaissance
• The High Renaissance in Italy
  
• The Baroque World
• India, China, and Japan: From the Medieval to the Modern World

I'm so excited to take this class.  I didn't think I'd get a chance to study these periods so early on.  I hope that the professor will put as much detail as she can into the lectures.

$432 for books.  My algebra book itself was $137. 

Insane.  What a scam.

What also sucks is that I can't open up my totally interesting-looking Humanities text, because it's shrink-wrapped and I won't get a full refund if I open it and then find out that the professor has switched materials or something.  Do you know how torturous it is to have a book and not be able to read it?  It's like my own personal hell.

I'm excited about the weekend.  Kelli will be in town for her birthday from today until Monday or so.  Of course, she's bringing my nephew...happy, happy, joy, joy!  He's started to pull himself up to stand in his crib, and now it's all he wants to do.  That and chew on his feet. 

Brian and I are hanging out again on Saturday.  I have no clue what we're going to do, but I'm sure that lots of talking will be involved.  He puts up with me like that. 

Then, of course, there's Girls' Night Out with Kristi and Lindsay, maybe some others.  Again, no idea what's going to transpire, but there's never a dull moment with these ladies.

I've become proficient at list-making.  I'm trying to become more organized in all aspects of my life, like balancing my checkbook so I don't overdraft my account for the hundredth time, or making a grocery list and actually taking it with me to the store.  Slowly, I'm seeing a difference.  I don't fret so much when I have my daily list spread out in front of me.  It's all there, in perfect order.  I feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment as I draw lines through completed tasks.

One of the things I have to do tomorrow is drop by the Goodman and talk to the curator.  I've tried to contact her this week about the volunteer work, but I had no luck.   Basically, here's what happened on Saturday last:  Brian and I had gone up to look around, and I had mentioned my former internship to him and lamented the fact that I didn't stick around long enough to really have a chance at curator.  We ended up going in and talking to the current curator for a while.  When she found out that I had previous experience at the museum, she pounced on me and offered some volunteer work and, get this, maybe the curator spot when she leaves in a couple of years.  Now, I don't really plan on being in Tyler that long, but it's still something to think about.

Uh, hello?  Cosmos?  Are you fucking with me?  Offering me a post at the first museum I fell in love with?  A post that includes sorting through the attics and closets for treasures, putting displays together, and helping with tours?  Ladies and gentlemen, it's all I can do not to die from a happiness-induced aneurysm. 

I think the best part is....I'll get my own little pair of white cotton gloves again.  I do love those things.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday:

• College Prep Math 0302, 8:00 - 8:50
  
• History of the United States 1301, 9:00 - 9:50
  
• Introduction to Humanities 1301, 11:00 - 11:50
  
• English Composition and Rhetoric 1301, 12:00 - 12:50

So, I've sat and stewed, walked and whined.  Today was a shitty day.  No doubt about that.  I get bitter and angry sometimes at the cards I've been dealt. 

But I have to stop and count my blessings.  Okay, yeah, I don't have a wonderful job that challenges my creativity anymore.  I had to leave it behind.  But you know what?  It opened up the opportunity to advance myself.  If I was still in Florida, I wouldn't be in school.  I wouldn't have the friends I have.  I would have missed the chance to see what I'm made of.  And boy, I am made of some seriously bad ass stuff.

There will be other libraries, other wonderful coworkers.  It's just a little way away.

However, nothing good can come out of running into your ex.  That's just depressing.

I found out today that I qualify for student loans, and since I got screwed out of the Pell Grant this time around, I figure it's the only way that I can afford taking more than one measly class. 

With this development, I should be able to take three or four classes this semester.  Astounding.  Maybe I'll be able to get out of here in a couple of years, move to Austin and go from there.  Tomorrow is the THEA...I'm not as prepared as I'd like.  I've been studying my ass off for weeks.  We'll just have to see.

My friend Laura is in town for the week, we're going to catch up over dinner Thursday..  I'm pretty excited; I haven't seen her in about five years.  She lives out in Tucson now, finishing up her degree.

I really wish I had more to write about.

I was listed on the Vox Music page for my post on Simple Plan!  That's a first (that I'm aware of)!  No wonder I was getting so many hits:)

I worked at the music store tonight, and Mr. I'm-Actually-Eighteen-But-I'm-Not-Telling-You came in with a few friends.  He asked me if I remember him, and I admitted that I did.  He didn't ask why I hadn't called, and I didn't bring it up.  He seemed a little embarrassed, but I didn't make a big deal about it, and chatted with them all for a few minutes.  Nice enough kids, I suppose.  

Two weeks from now, I'll be in Austin with Leslie, destroying my liver.  Can't believe it's almost here!  I think we should make it a yearly ritual...something to look forward to every summer.

I've started studying for THEA, and it looks like I won't have any problem with the reading or writing areas.  I'm pretty sure I'll get stuck in Remedial Math, since it's my worst subject, but that's okay.  I'm still going to try my best.  When I went up to TJC on Thursday, I got all emotional as I was walking to the Student Center, and I thought, "I've walked across this campus before, but never as an actual student.  HOLY SHIT, I GO HERE NOW!"  It was a truly kick-ass feeling.  I don't give a damn if it's just TJC and everyone and their mother can get in.  I'm elated.

Julie and I were chatting after walking at UT tonight, and I think I'm going to recruit her as my unofficial college advisor.  She gave me lots of inside facts on what classes to take, which professors to get to know, and told me about some fellowship programs that I'm very interested in.  When I get my B.A., whenever that is, I can go submit an application to teach English in Japan and make a cool $60K, plus all of my living expenses for a year.  Wow.  Or I could apply for the Archer Fellowship in Washington D.C.   I'm not planning on majoring in Political Science, as Julie did (she just graduated in May), but it sounds like an amazing experience. 

The next few weeks are going to be spent taking my placement tests, and I'm considering CLEP-ping out of a few courses.  Then I have to go up to UT, meet with the History Department's Chair, and get a list of what I need to be "core-complete" when I transfer...I want to get out of having to take Statistics.  UT also has a Classical/Medieval Studies curriculum that looks incredible. And I can minor in Anthropology, which makes my little heart go all fluttery.

LOL, you know me...yet again, I am getting ahead of myself.  I haven't even started my freshman year, and I'm already looking into things that I probably won't get around to for quite a while.  Even if I have to completely bust my ass and have no social or love life for a few years, I swear that I'll have my B.A. by thirty-two.  I've misplaced enough time, and I'm not losing any more!

SO EXCITED.  I'm doing a happy dance right now in my chair.  This is something I've been waiting and waiting for, and its here!  I can't wait to walk around with my nose stuck in a textbook, leaving a trail of index cards everywhere I go.  Just like old times...