First day of school
Jan. 26th, 2004 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yinshubackup*sigh*
I am so. frelling. tired. And the semester just started!
My flight back to LaGuardia on Wednesday was fine, if quite turbulent. I did some meditation and a lot of repetitive weaving, which kept me sane.
Then my bus from the City to Ithaca got canceled. Which means I just got back to campus last night, which means I had to get up at 6:45 this morning to have time to get dressed and find out what was up with my registration status. I was supposed to have time to take care of stuff and reenter this semester all battle-ready--
Instead I feel like I've been dragged sleeping from my tent and thrown in a frozen lake to wake me up.
Due to predilection for red tape at the Dept. of Evil Insanity (otherwise known as the Office of the Registrar), I've been forced to re-register for everything to get the classes I need; other than going to my own classes, I've spent the day hunting down professors with fistfuls of add-drop forms and syllabi, and enduring the infuriating mixture of pity and stupid helplessness that most school administrators love to stare at you with. "Gosh, sucks to be you.... yep.... sorry, don't know how to help you".
Y'know, even when I was applying to college for the first time, as a homeschooled-through-highschool student, with no official transcript, no social security number, nothing but my good SAT scores and a few nice reccomendation letters-- not even then, was it as difficult to get them to let me attend class and just... be a real student....as it is here.
Long story short, end result:
--I am TA'ing for 475 (The Information Systems and Database Mgmt class).
--I did (finally, for the love o' pete) get into 236 (the Culinary Theory and Practice class), although at a less-than-ideal time slot. The prof basically said, "Here's a slot; take it or leave it". Well, not only do I need it to graduate, this class is a prerequisite for other graduation-critical classes. So I took it. This is gonna be a hella lotta work-- everyone says what a bitch this class is. A real time-sucker. great. Which brings me to:
-- I had to drop Marketing to fit the Culinary Lab in. (Also a required class, but not a pre-req, so doesn't matter when I take it.)
I am still firmly entrenched in Human Resources, which I didn't want to take with this particular professor, but at this point I don't have a choice- it's required AND it fits. It's just a hella lotta work (see Culinary Theory and Practice, Above.)
-- I am scared s***less of Chinese. I walked into class this morning, and almost walked right back out. I seriously don't know if I can hack it this term. I understood maybe a 1/10 of what the new professor was saying. She talks so fast, I literally can't move because all my concentration and muscle power has to go into straining to listen. I have come to a point where this is a serious decision to make.... those of you who know me and my love of language and Chinese in particular know that I don't say this lightly... but.... I think.... I may finally drop it.
It really takes me away from all my other studies, and it is not a "trade-off" class, you have to give it all or nothing. It's like a double major, with the amount of time I have to spend on it. And you know, I have my whole life to learn chinese... I already have a good base for tones, grammar and vocabulary.... I could learn on my own from language cd's and stuff later.
I have to admit I think it's been a part of the reason why I haven't done so well here academically. My mind is always split- and between spending hours listening to the practice tapes, reading and writing character practice and reviewing grammar...I mean, I have to do it every single day, and most of the time, I have just as many other hours of homework for other classes, and then I end up not sleeping, and just kill myself over it all.
On the other hand.... like the song says, I've tried so hard, and come so far... .....but in the end, does it even matter?
Am I trying too hard to push myself in a vector I don't really need?
Is it a worthwhile pursuit? The Asian language programs at Cornell are some of the best in the country.
But I don't have to be fluent to learn Chinese medicine. There are thousands of Chinese people who already speak english, and between that and the limited Chinese I already know, we could probably come to an understanding on just about anything. My mom already knows a couple of Chinese doctors who were interested in meeting me. Maybe this part of my goals falls under the category of "the universe will provide", not the "need a degree to prove it" category.
I don't know. *sigh*
I have a really hard semester lined up as it is, without the Chinese.
grrr.
I just don't know.
I am so. frelling. tired. And the semester just started!
My flight back to LaGuardia on Wednesday was fine, if quite turbulent. I did some meditation and a lot of repetitive weaving, which kept me sane.
Then my bus from the City to Ithaca got canceled. Which means I just got back to campus last night, which means I had to get up at 6:45 this morning to have time to get dressed and find out what was up with my registration status. I was supposed to have time to take care of stuff and reenter this semester all battle-ready--
Instead I feel like I've been dragged sleeping from my tent and thrown in a frozen lake to wake me up.
Due to predilection for red tape at the Dept. of Evil Insanity (otherwise known as the Office of the Registrar), I've been forced to re-register for everything to get the classes I need; other than going to my own classes, I've spent the day hunting down professors with fistfuls of add-drop forms and syllabi, and enduring the infuriating mixture of pity and stupid helplessness that most school administrators love to stare at you with. "Gosh, sucks to be you.... yep.... sorry, don't know how to help you".
Y'know, even when I was applying to college for the first time, as a homeschooled-through-highschool student, with no official transcript, no social security number, nothing but my good SAT scores and a few nice reccomendation letters-- not even then, was it as difficult to get them to let me attend class and just... be a real student....as it is here.
Long story short, end result:
--I am TA'ing for 475 (The Information Systems and Database Mgmt class).
--I did (finally, for the love o' pete) get into 236 (the Culinary Theory and Practice class), although at a less-than-ideal time slot. The prof basically said, "Here's a slot; take it or leave it". Well, not only do I need it to graduate, this class is a prerequisite for other graduation-critical classes. So I took it. This is gonna be a hella lotta work-- everyone says what a bitch this class is. A real time-sucker. great. Which brings me to:
-- I had to drop Marketing to fit the Culinary Lab in. (Also a required class, but not a pre-req, so doesn't matter when I take it.)
I am still firmly entrenched in Human Resources, which I didn't want to take with this particular professor, but at this point I don't have a choice- it's required AND it fits. It's just a hella lotta work (see Culinary Theory and Practice, Above.)
-- I am scared s***less of Chinese. I walked into class this morning, and almost walked right back out. I seriously don't know if I can hack it this term. I understood maybe a 1/10 of what the new professor was saying. She talks so fast, I literally can't move because all my concentration and muscle power has to go into straining to listen. I have come to a point where this is a serious decision to make.... those of you who know me and my love of language and Chinese in particular know that I don't say this lightly... but.... I think.... I may finally drop it.
It really takes me away from all my other studies, and it is not a "trade-off" class, you have to give it all or nothing. It's like a double major, with the amount of time I have to spend on it. And you know, I have my whole life to learn chinese... I already have a good base for tones, grammar and vocabulary.... I could learn on my own from language cd's and stuff later.
I have to admit I think it's been a part of the reason why I haven't done so well here academically. My mind is always split- and between spending hours listening to the practice tapes, reading and writing character practice and reviewing grammar...I mean, I have to do it every single day, and most of the time, I have just as many other hours of homework for other classes, and then I end up not sleeping, and just kill myself over it all.
On the other hand.... like the song says, I've tried so hard, and come so far... .....but in the end, does it even matter?
Am I trying too hard to push myself in a vector I don't really need?
Is it a worthwhile pursuit? The Asian language programs at Cornell are some of the best in the country.
But I don't have to be fluent to learn Chinese medicine. There are thousands of Chinese people who already speak english, and between that and the limited Chinese I already know, we could probably come to an understanding on just about anything. My mom already knows a couple of Chinese doctors who were interested in meeting me. Maybe this part of my goals falls under the category of "the universe will provide", not the "need a degree to prove it" category.
I don't know. *sigh*
I have a really hard semester lined up as it is, without the Chinese.
grrr.
I just don't know.
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College credit
Date: 2004-01-26 06:20 pm (UTC)~David
Mentre viviamo, Viviamos!
Here's a thought
Date: 2004-01-26 09:57 pm (UTC)Just another way to look at this that might be of help: Remember that not only are you student, you are also a customer, i.e. you are paying for services provided by the school.
With regards to this Chinese class, consider: are you getting that for which you are paying? Are you getting "your money's worth"? Or could your money (and time!) be better spent on another instructor/professor?
There were times I felt like I wanted to call the college's "customer service" or "complaint line" because of a class. =^_~=
It wasn't the only factor, but it was one I used. Sometimes I changed teachers. Sometimes I stuck it out.
Sending you good thoughts…