So, school is starting again.
Last Semester—
Well, I made it through a semester of school with a 5 unit class. Toward the end, I completely lost concentration. Talking to some of the other students after the written portion of our final, while waiting for the oral portion, I realized I wasn’t the only one whose focus diminished as the class wound down. I didn’t get all of the final homework done because I just wasn’t willing to stress myself out. And I never think I study enough, so I can’t really judge but I do know that the material got a little overwhelming with passe’ compose (past tense) and indirect objects and pronouns. Might have been a participle in there, too.
The last few classes before the final were pretty fun. One night, Abeer played us French music from several websites, both classic and contemporary. Some were on Youtube, complete with lyrics, and some were from this website: http://www.famousfrenchmusic.com/ The next to the last class, we had a potluck with lots of quiche, baguettes, fromages and, yes, snails. And no, I didn’t try them! We also watched the film Coco Avant Chanel, a biography of the early years of Coco Chanel. Thank goodness for the English subtitles!
I didn’t think I’d do well on the final test because a big part of the grade was two written paragraphs (not my strong suite). So, I was on pins and needles to see my final grade. The student portion of the college website was down for maintenance from mid-December to well into the new year, causing me no end of neurotic grief—I’d log in several times a day, because after all, it has to come back up SOMETIME… I was sweating a B, hoping those last few unfocused weeks hadn’t thrown me down to a C. When I was finally able to access my grade, I hesitated clicking on the screen that would tell me what might plunge me into depression. But I did and found an A! That night, I took The Husband out to dinner at Mimi’s Café, where we indulged in crepes, brioche and baked brie. Tres excellent!
And, yes, I’ve kept up on my Memorize Words app on my phone, learning more French words. I signed up for Nextissue.com, a magazine subscription app that includes a few French titles and bought a copy of Les Trois Mousquetaires for 50 cents, so I have plenty of reading material to practice!
Next Semester—
My parking sticker is firmly affixed in the left hand corner of my windshield. My book is purchased ($41.75 compared to last semesters’ $167!). The Husband came with me to get the semester sticker on my student ID. And when we looked for my new classroom, I realized it was my OLD CLASSROOM! The very same classroom where I took French. So, should I sit at the same desk or a different one?
This semester is College Writing. I’ve skimmed the book a little and it looks far less dry than I thought it would. The last time I took a class that I had to write papers for, the internet was in its infancy and microfiche ruled. I notice that this book has a lot of references to websites and social media. Should be an Erudite adventure (OK, I’m reading Divergent…).
Taking a Saturday morning class means getting up earlier than I do for work :-) I hope it’s interesting enough to keep me awake! Friday nights I’ll have to put together my Survival Kit-diet soda and a mid-morning snack! At least I shouldn’t hit traffic on the way and the parking lot might not be as crowded.
I did my due student diligence and looked up the two teachers with Saturday morning classes on Ratemyprofessor.com. The woman had such horrible reviews--nasty, boring, liked to hear herself talk… The man, Brandon Rocke, looks young and has a master’s degree in creative writing. His page in Ratemyprofessor.com was small but positive. Not only is this class about writing for college assignments, it’s also about researching and critical thinking, so I’m hoping he’s got a lot of interesting things to impart every early Saturday morning for four hours!
I’m really eager to start writing. It’s something I haven’t given much time to lately and it’s one of the things I’ve always loved to do. So I have high hopes for a good grade but more than anything, I’m looking forward to the challenge of writing assignments and the thought processes of putting words together and building a cohesive story.
The Future
I really don’t know where I’m going with this whole education thing. Some days I just want the knowledge and plan to just take the subjects I want to know more about. Other days, I really do want to walk through a college campus in a choir robe and a mortarboard worn at a jaunty angle. But I have plenty of time to figure all that out...
By the time my French class ended, I was so ready for a break and for the first few weeks, I was glad to be away from the pressure of homework and finals. But a week or so into January, I started to anticipate Going Back to School. Gotta get to bed early tomorrow. It’s a School Night!
Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.
Ray Bradbury
So much to tell!
My stomach was all upset Tuesday, my first day of school, but the nausea was completely unnecessary. I think it’s going to be a very successful semester.
Here I am--had to have the traditional First Day of School picture :-) Too bad my eyes weren’t open yet…
Here are my observations, reactions and whines:
**I got to school my first day an hour and a half early, anticipating horrible first week parking. I drove around the structure just long enough to see that the best option was to go up and park on the outside tier, where there were still plenty of spaces. It actually took me three times as long to leave at the end of the night as it did to find my parking space! Second night, I lucked into a space half a tier down and it only took twice as long to get out :-)
**Had a leisurely snack wrap and soda at the nearby McDonald’s. Then walked back to the zoo--I mean, the campus bookstore. I looked for what I thought was my French 1 textbook. Went into shock and left--more later. Second night, I drove through and got a burrito to take to school. Here’s where I ate:
Nice, huh?
**Before class on the first night, I sat on a bench in the shade and read for a while. It’s been an extraordinarily mild summer--of course, the first week of school it turns blazing hot.
**First night I didn’t think I was the oldest in the class but the second night thinned out (people dropping, not coming back…) and so now I know I definitely am. That includes the teacher…
**The classroom--can you say “sardines”? Little desk/chair combo’s with just enough space to walk through. Claustrophobia! Even the teacher doesn’t have much room to move. Like I said, though, we lost some folks, so the second night wasn’t so bad. With a few empty seats, it doesn’t seem so squashed.
**Textbook--$162.50!!!! Well, to be fair, it’s a textbook, two workbooks, a lab book and the key to the Supersite website that goes along with the class work. When I saw the package at the bookstore that first night, I really thought I was looking at the wrong thing… Then someone in class had already gotten it and quoted the price. Amazon only sells the textbook, not the other things and even that was outrageously expensive… The teacher says it covers both French 1 and 2 and most people just take the first class and use the book to continue their study afterward… And to add insult to injury, the textbook is loose leaf, so then you need to get a binder!! The Husband went out and bought me a purple one the next day :-)
So supportive!
**Our teacher’s name is Abeer and her first language is Arabic but she sounds like a native French speaker. She’s a lot of fun, working us hard but also making us laugh. For some reason, she reminds me of Kate Winslet in The Holiday. She doesn’t really look that much like Winslet but it’s something about her facial expressions.
**We are required to have four hours of tutoring at the Skills Center, with two more for extra credit. Joel, the main French tutor, came to speak to us the second night, explaining all the rules. He can take a number of students at a time, so it won’t necessarily be one on one but he’ll have time to answer the questions we don’t get to in class and keep us current on pronunciation and grammar. All tutoring is free, which makes me very happy because I know I’ll need it for math…
**The first week, there are stations set up around campus (see the blue canopy in front of the library) to assist you with questions and information. So thoughtful. Since I’ve been to this campus before, I was ok but I’m sure there were a lot of straight out of high school freshman who needed a little guidance.
**The bookstore is very efficient. Tchotkes and snacks at the front, books by alphabetical order of the class name in the back. I went late Wednesday afternoon, the day between my classes, so I could have the package and look through it before my second night. All of the registers were open and the line to pay snaked through the aisles. A young guy behind me talking to his girlfriend nailed it: “Yeah, they have you walk through the aisles so you’ll grab a greeting card for your aunt’s birthday, a bookmark and an energy bar”. I admit, since I was writing a check from my savings, I figured I might as well buy a t-shirt and support my school…
**Never thought I’d have to relearn the alphabet but it was like first grade all over again! The pronunciations are very different, especially Y (i grec--how do they get that??!!). We’re already speaking in class and doing some conversation. I’m there to learn, so I did do some speaking in class--but I didn’t raise my hand to do the whole alphabet--although I did spell out my name :-) I’m usually The Quiet One, so this is going to be interesting!
**This morning, I logged onto the Supersite and took a look around. There are no assignments yet, so I clicked on a few things and watched some video’s in French--they go along with the lessons. Right now, we’re on greetings and goodbyes. Once we all have our books/website keys, required by tomorrow, it will start to move a lot faster. Whee!!!!!
“Life is only as interesting as the number of times you say yes.”
Harvey Fierstein
