College Kid.

After working on a roadway design project for a couple of hours on AutoCAD, Surveying lab was winding to an end for the week. “I’m canceling lecture this afternoon so turn in your homework before you leave.” (I am so glad I work a day ahead of time). “Remember to log out of your computers and have a good weekend, oh, and J.P., Zach and Kendall – we recommended three students for the Civil Engineering Program Scholarships and you’re getting them. Expect a letter and a check in the mail with more details.”

WHAT?

Today is definitely a good day.

Life has been interesting this week. Midterm grades came out on Wednesday and I am not happy with my progress; more specifically that damned MA122 Calculus class featuring Professor Frightful and his cast of voices in the chalkboard. I don’t know if it’s approaching middle age, an inherited genetic disposition or what but I can not retain what I learn in that class. Let me look at the book and I can calculate a problem six ways from Sunday. Throw an exam in front of me and I can’t remember one of the six thousand “rules” and “formulas” that we have been given. Hell, I barely remember my name.

In today’s business climate one hears about “corporate speak”. One phrase that pops up is “give me the low hanging fruit”. I absolutely dislike this approach to most things but when it comes to calculus, I want to know what formula to use, how to use it and how to derive my answer. I don’t really care about the theory behind it. My goal is to score well on the test. I know this is a poor way to approach learning but I figure that if I have the basics then I’ll be fine because when I return to the “real world” I’ll have a computer at my desk that’s attached to the internet and anything I need to know will be just an expertly worded Google inquiry away.

My other courses are aces and I’m really happy about that. The information taught in my engineering classes comes naturally to me. Even physics, which I never had in high school, is coming relatively easy to me because the professor provides a list of every equation that’s been discussed in the class for each exam and quiz. He doesn’t tell WHAT the equations are for, he just lists the equations and it’s up to you to figure out which one is applicable to a problem. I like this approach and if Professor Frightful would listen to my voice instead of the ones in the chalkboard and do the same I think I would be able to score at least a “B” in the course.

Today we moved onto another subject and he spent 15 minutes proving some complicated formula involving limits approaching infinity, exponents, greek letters and division. After he rattles all this information around and half the class falls asleep, I raise my hand and say, “So when the exponents fall to the denominator, you can drop the variable completely?” His reply was “Yes”. I resisted the urge to say “Why didn’t you just say so?”

Low hanging fruit. Just tell me when to drop what and I’m good to go.

A little after 8 a.m. we all sat down in “Statics” class (think physics for engineers) for our midterm. This is the class where many talk when they shouldn’t. On Monday the full class meets and then on Wednesday and Thursday we are split in half for lab time, my lab obviously being on Thursday. The professor decided to give the exam during lab so that we could go on Spring Break with a clear head.

I think I was a little shocked today when the professor made this announcement: “From now on, if you have to go the bathroom during the exam you’re just going to have to hold it, because you can’t leave the room until you finish the exam. And if you leave the room, you can’t come back in.”

Apparently in yesterday’s lab someone completed the exam and then waited outside while students would make like they were going to the bathroom, help them out a bit, and then the same student would return and answer questions on the exam.

I find this disturbing in many respects, especially since being a transportation or civil engineer involves design and building things that the public uses on a daily basis. Safety is of the utmost importance! If you’re going to cheat your way to your degree, how safe is that bridge you designed going to be?

I finished the exam with relative ease. One question was tripping me up and after futzing with the problem a LOT I finally just went with my gut instinct. As I handed the exam in, I showed the professor my answer to this question and whispered, “Is this right?” She nodded. I can go on spring break with a clear conscience about that exam. I feel good.

Now it’s time for Professor Frightful’s midterm. I’m so excited I could pee.

Earl and I used to be avid movie goers. We’d go see the latest offerings from Hollywood several times a month. However, we haven’t been to the theatre in ages for a variety of reasons, including “audience participation.”

With the intrusion of cell phones in every nook and cranny of the American existence it seemed that few could resist the urge to talk on their cell phone during the movie. If they weren’t talking on their cell phone they were sending text messages with displays so bright in the dark theatre that it seemed like they were sending out a landing beacon for stray 747s. Those without their cell phones would talk amongst themselves endlessly. What was an enjoyable experience turned into an expensive lesson in frustration. Couple the chatter with the degradation of movie quality and it’s easy to see why we don’t go to the movies anymore.

Which brings me to my latest class at school. It seems that the “chatter amongst yourself” approach that is becoming popular in the theatre is making it’s way to the college classroom. Gone are the days when students would sit quietly, take notes and listen to the lecture that is often pertinent to what the student will do with the rest of their life. People get up to talk on their vibrating cell phone in the hallway, some crossing several times back and forth in front of the instruction. Surly students in the back of the room peck away at their cell phones sending text messages. And in this one class I just finished, groups of students that didn’t do their homework conspire together to come up with a unified answer so they have something to turn in when the professor collects our work.

Sometimes I wish I had a passion for a career that involved all distance learning where I could just sit down without distraction and learn what I need to learn. The engineer in me enjoys sitting down and working out a problem. However, we are fortunate that many of our professors still work in the field. As engineers, the same title that we are striving for, have a lot of valuable information to share with us. At no time in the college setting should the professor have to ask students to stop talking, let alone the FIVE times that she asked today. She finally gave up and said we’re having an exam on Thursday and ended the class 40 minutes early (it’s a two hour class). Sensing my frustration, she pulled me aside at the end of class and told me how she can’t believe how rude the “younger generation” is. I had to agree with her as she took the words out of my mouth.

What’s interesting is that I’ve been asked to be the peer tutor for this class. I’m wondering how many of the chatty ones will show up during tutoring time and basically expect a recap of what they talked through.

Going back to college at 38 years old (at the time) was a difficult decision to make. I had several concerns with the decision; I feared attending mandatory physical education classes with students that lifted weights for a living, I worried that my age difference from my classmates would be measured in decades and I was concerned that I could no longer get high from ditto paper.

I never considered that the brain turns to swiss cheese around the 30s.

Today I have two big exams. The first is already under my belt and was in the class that is turning out to be my favorite class of the semester: Statics. It’s this class that will set the foundation for my ability to design a bridge, road or sign that doesn’t move. I’m finding the class to be common sense. We’ve learned a small handful of equations and we crunch a lot of numbers. I am usually able to complete my homework easily. I’ve received glowing comments from the professor.

Now I didn’t get panic stricken like that Surveying test last semester, but I found myself struggling to remember the equations that I usually can rattle off without an issue. This seems to be the case with my ability to take a test. Going into the test I’m golden, during the test I’m bronze at best. It’s like everything I’ve studied falls out of my brain the moment I sit down to take the test.

I don’t remember this feeling during tests back in my high school days. (I can’t remember taking tests during my first run of college back when I was 18 and 19 but I must have at one point or another.) I guess I’m attributing the phenomena to growing older.

I feel confident with my performance on the exam. I would even go so far as to say that I did very well, despite the struggle I had remembering what I needed to remember.

I guess I’ll just have to double up on the studying or something.

Sometimes you just get lucky, even with the little things. As I’ve mentioned several times I’m taking Calculus this semester. I can’t really wrap my head around the subject yet, even though Professor Frightful and his voices in the blackboard urge me to do so. I never took the subject in high school; my experience with “Course III” (trigonometry) was harrowing enough that it made me lose interest in “Course IV” (calculus). Looking back I find that surprising because the Course IV teacher was Mr. Kotschevar who was a little bundle of über woofy. He probably still is.

I digress.

We had our first full-blown exam in Calculus on Friday and yesterday we found out the results. I didn’t do as badly as I thought. It wasn’t an A by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a B when curved the right way and that I could deal with. When I took the test on Friday there was one question that completely confounded me. I had no idea how to approach the problem: “find all the roots of the number (cube root of 8i).” Or something like that; I don’t pay attention to the petty details when the numbers get imaginary. I know that it has something to do with adding 360 degrees three times and some sines and cosines but other than that I was lost. So I grabbed a number out of the sky and wrote down “-2”.

I was right! Well, at least for one of the roots. There were two more that I completely missed but I got me some partial credit on a problem I had no idea how to do. ¹

Sometimes it’s the little things.

¹I’ve since restudied the problem and I know how to do it now.

Wednesdays are my day off from college. I know most college students would like to get their hands on a three day weekend but I wasn’t that fortunate when I was putting my schedule together, so I compromised with Wednesdays off. It divides the week up nicely.

I had many plans for the things I was going to accomplish today but the day flew by too quickly. I was going to finish up the laundry, vacuum the house from top to bottom, dust, clean out the driveway and get all my homework done for the week. I’ve accomplished some of it; I’m currently drying my last load of clothes, the driveway has been cleaned out once and my homework is relatively up to date (I still have to do an assignment for Friday). All in all I’m pleased though the dust bunnies are starting to roar a bit. I guess I’ll have to tackle them this weekend.

I took a walk to the neighbours and gave them their mail that has been accumulating here at the house for the past couple of days. I spoke with them and everything. I think he appreciated the neighbourly gesture. My conscience wouldn’t let me do anything other than deliver their mail. It looked important.

Other than that it has been a utility sort of day. Tonight we are going to watch American Idol. I hate to admit it but I’m starting to enjoy this season. The auditions weren’t nearly as rude as previous seasons (which I appreciated) and there doesn’t seem to be as many performers (and I use that term loosely) that lack the ability to hold a note and cover by “runs” – singing six ways from Sunday every note around the actual note that should musically be sung. I’ve never been a fan of those that do “runs” and I think it shows a complete lack of talent when a singer resorts to that. I say this with confidence as a somewhat schooled vocalist.

I have to admit that I’m also digging Paula Abdul this season. I even like her new single. I find her fairly amusing and doing her best to boost the confidence of the American Idol contestants. So she might seem drunk once in a while. I say “big deal”, life is to short to worry about trivial things such as sobriety.

Speaking of all things trivial, I think I’m the only person in the world that prefers the jazzy version of the “Leave It To Beaver” theme that played during the last season of the show. I find that it matches Mrs. Cleaver’s kicky hairstyle well. And am I the only one that finds Tony Dow somewhat hunky that final year of the show? I think he was of a legal age at that time.