.: This Girl's Daybreak :.

Seriously. I actually thought this might be interesting? WTF was I thinking?!

Okay, so I've complained about my Intro to Advertising class before. (My professor, specifically.) Well, now I'm complaining again. I took the test that I mentioned studying for, and sure enough, there was NO material from the book on it. Not even one lousy question. No, every single one came from the supplemental material, which seriously could have been explained better. >_> Thankfully, I did okay; I got a 93. Not as good as I'd like, but I was worried I'd do worse, so I'm not complaining.

And in the most recent 'announcement', the professor said that on the fourth and fifth tests we'd be using things from the book, and he listed several concepts and which chapters they came from. So, we'll see how that actually works out. The next test is the third one, so it'll be a little bit before it comes up.

Oh, and? I was looking at the 'tentative schedule' reading list and you know what I just realized? This jackass prof actually expects us to read the entire textbook. Yeah. Which is 24 chapters, and 780 pages. 780! What kind of whackjob thinks that it's reasonable to expect students to read 780 pages worth of textbook, plus supplemental material, all in one semester? Is this guy crazy?

And this shit is not easy to read; dry as hell, and usually very poorly explained. Lots and lots of terms and names being thrown around that aren't ever properly elaborated on, so it's just like nonsense words after a point. I'm reading it, but I have almost no idea what it actually means.

I'm half tempted to only read the chapters that he mentioned in the latest announcement. Even that was a lot, but it would let me skip a few chapters, at least. I don't know how I'll have time, otherwise. Not to mention, if I actually have to read every freaking word in this damn book, I think my brain will melt and leak out of my ears. =/

...God, I am so ready for this semester to be over already!

Well, evidently my Advertising professor is a jerk.

See, he's been a bit hands off in how he's teaching this class. He pretty much just posts saying, "Here's some supplemental material and the next test is on *date*." He doesn't talk about the material at all, or tell us which chapters in our textbook we're supposed to be reading. The only information we have on this is a "tentative schedule" at the end of the syllabus. And looking at it, the dates are already wrong. Which is fine, but that leads me to wonder how closely we're going to follow this schedule. Especially since the professor never talks about it. So, I emailed him last night, just asking to clarify which chapters of the text I need to read for the upcoming test. Pretty simple question, right?

Well, he sends me this lengthy, pissy reply. He says he never talks about the text because it should be self explanatory. (Which, it clearly isn't. And anyway, your job as a teacher is still to tell us this kind of information.) Then he launches into this lengthy rant about how he's on the committee that chooses the textbooks, and how this one isn't perfect, but it's one of the best options, and how we'll need it all by the end of the class, and he's doing us a favor by not making us read it all at once, and blah blah blah.

...Yeah, seriously. >_>

I never said one bad thing about our textbook. I didn't complain about having to read it. I didn't say anything negative at all. All I did was say, "Hey, I just wanted to check and be sure I'm reading the right chapters for the next test. Are these it?" And this is how he responds? This guy clearly has some Issues, with a capital 'I'.

I don't know what his problem is. I'm guessing he's gotten complaints about the textbook being shitty. (Which, based on what I've read so far, it kinda might be.) Or people complaining that he makes us read lots of long chapters and there's maybe one question on the test that even relates to that material. (That's what he did on the first test!) Or who knows what else. But he seriously needs to put on his big boy pants and act like a damn adult about it. You don't get to be pissy when a student politely asks you a question. You are a teacher. It is literally your job to answer students' questions. And to not be a dick about it! Jeez.

...I swear, I picked this class as an elective because I'd kinda enjoyed my Marketing classes, and so I thought Advertising might be fun. Yeah, not so much. =P

Well, classes officially began today. Bleh.

And, as usual, I have thoughts. Long, rambly thoughts.

( Cut for length )

So, I have mixed feelings on some of these classes. Plus a healthy dose of just not knowing what to expect. Fun, right? =P Also, my concentration is crap right now. That's one thing that's always hard, though. When the semester starts up, and you're coming off some downtime, making your brain be willing to focus and pay attention, to do assigned reading and homework...it's an uphill battle. Not fun. I just hope this semester goes okay...

Well, I think I finally got my fall schedule squared away. After a few more emails with my internship prof, I was able to register for the classes I needed. So, as far as I can tell, my schedule is complete. Even if it's a little scary to look at! I'm technically registered for six classes, though two of them are for the internship, and so they kind of don't count. All I have to do for that is fill out paperwork and write a paper at the end of the term, I think. It's not a 'class' in the typical sense of the word. But one of the classes I'm taking is another Statistics class, which is definitely scary. And I have no idea what to expect from the others, so...

Ah, well. On to better news, I got my grade for my Econ class! I got an A; I'm so happy! I thought I might have one, but I was worried about how I'd done on the final, and this prof's grading system is confusing, so I wasn't sure of my assessment, anyway. But I did okay, so I'm relieved. I still haven't seen a letter grade posted anywhere for my Operations Mgmt. class, so I'm assuming that what's in Canvas is correct. If so, I've got an A in that one, too. Which I am super grateful for; that class was a nightmare. =P

And now, maybe I can stop stressing about school for a while. *Crosses fingers*

The Good

My Operations Mgmt. prof finally posted the grades for our finals. I actually got an A, which surprised me. (It was a low A, a 92 I think, but still, that's better than I expected!) Not sure if that's curved or not, but I'm kind of thrilled right now. I'm not sure if the percentage showing in Canvas is our actual grade or not, but if it is, then I have an A. I'm not sure where to look in MyGate for our letter grades, so I don't know if that's all final or what. But I don't remember this prof having a weird grading scheme (like my Econ prof did), so I hope it's accurate. No word yet for Econ, but the deadline isn't until Tuesday, so I don't expect grades sooner than that. And honestly, not even that soon. Hopefully it won't be real long afterward, but we'll see.

I also got an email notification saying that the transcript I ordered had been sent to MSU, so yay.

The Bad

...Or not. Because when I went to register for classes, I ran into problems. Oh, it did let me register; I was able to get into both of my required classes. But a lot of the electives I was considering were already full, or some were just not offered this term, or were only offered as in-person classes. And then a few more gave me various different errors when I tried to register. >_> So, I emailed my adviser and told her which ones I'd gotten errors on, and asked her if she could help me out. I need to get into the internship class, and one more elective. I think I got errors on two or three electives, so any one of those would be okay. I did manage to find one elective that I could get into, though it wasn't one I was originally planning to take this soon. But, it was open and didn't give me errors, so I grabbed it. Now I'm just really worried about whether my adviser will be able to get me into those classes that I need. =(

One reason to be glad this is my last semester splitting my time between KCTCS and MSU, I guess. The only reason I'm so late registering is because of those stupid transcripts. After this, I won't have to do this anymore. All my grades will be from MSU, so I won't have to run around transferring things. At least, I hope. The transcript I sent just now *should* have this semester's grades from KCTCS, but with my luck, I'm half afraid they'll tell me I need to do it again next semester. =P Although, even if that happens, I'll be able to do it right away, rather than having to wait for the end of the semester. Still. I'd like to avoid that!

Well, I took my final in my Database Design class. I got an A on it. <3 According to the grades page, my professor still has to post a 'participation' grade, then the letter grade for the course. Hopefully she'll get that done soon. I need to get a transcript sent from KCTCS to MSU, and I can't do it until my grades are in. (Well, I could, but then I'd have to send two within a week or so of each other, to get all the grades. And that's just silly.)

I also did the last bit of homework for my Econ class, which was kind of a practice test. No word yet as to when the prof will post the actual final. I honestly kind of thought he'd do it today, but he sent out a message today saying we'd have another chat session on Wednesday. =/ So, I'm guessing it won't be until somewhere after that.

Which sucks anyway, but the deadline for the final being turned in is on Monday/Tuesday. So, we're not going to have a real big window to take this test, it looks like. And we have to turn in our course evaluations by Friday. =/ I prefer to wait until I'm done with a class before submitting those, but I'm not going to have that option for this one, it seems. Bleh. This prof is just dragging his feet way too much on this class. I'm completely done with all my others (and some have been done for a week already!), and it looks like it'll be another week before I'm done with this one. I just want it to be over, already!

Okay, well, crap.

I knew the semester was winding down, and things were almost done. But I just looked over my assignment lists, and I realized. I have two finals and a regular test this week. This, plus the aforementioned homework assignments. Oh, and my Econ prof decided to drop two more assignments on us. Yeah. I thought I had a little more time than that. Crap.

Oh, and my Econ prof is doing another of those stupid 'chat sessions', where I log on and listen to him imitate Charlie Brown's teacher for an hour or two. =P It really sucks, because I could use some help figuring out some of this homework. It's all based on supplemental material he provided, rather than our actual textbook. And the supplements tend to be really awkwardly written, and not easy to understand. So, if he could actually speak intelligible English for these stupid chat sessions, they would probably be really helpful. But, no. Can't have that. =P

It really should, because that's probably the best word to describe how I'm feeling right now.

Ugh. I am so ready for this semester to be over already. I am having a hard time with this Operations Management class. There's so much math, and the textbook is shitty (it leaves out steps to solving problems!) and my prof is lazy as hell. He won't answer questions; he just totally ignores what you say and tells you to read the damn book. Grr.

So, I'm pretty stressed about that. I've got an assignment list for this class, and I'm looking at it now, half tempted to try to work ahead and maybe finish the homework before the semester's over. On the one hand, I've done this before, and it usually doesn't work out. If I go without working on the material for weeks, by the time the test rolls around, I've forgotten things. But, given how much time it's taken me to get some of this homework done, between struggling through on my own and trying to wring an answer out of my jackass prof...it seems prudent to start early, to give myself as much time as possible to complete the assignments. That way, if I have to go back and forth with Dr. Dumbass for a week or more, I can still have time to get the assignment done.

I'm just not sure. On the one hand, if I don't work ahead in any class, I've got a little bit of free time. And I want that free time. I want to be able to sit around and read, or watch anime, or work on graphics, or something fun! But I'm just so worried about these stupid classes. I kind of feel like I should try to do as much as possible, and get it out of the way. So it's not hanging over my head, you know? Besides Operations Management, which I just mentioned, I've got three other classes.

Econ, I can't work ahead in, since the prof never gave us an assignment list, really. Well, he listed some assignments, but didn't give us any due dates. Oh, one bit of good news. I finished writing that stupid paper, the big class project for Econ. Granted, this is a first draft. I'll need to look it over, and see if anything needs fixing. (And I'm sure it will.) Still, at least the bulk of the work is done. I'm glad to have it mostly done, but I'm still worried. Having never written a paper for this prof before, I don't really know what he's expecting. I hope this paper is good enough, but I'm just not confident about that. I need to get a good grade on it, since it's worth a good chunk of our grade. Ugh. And with something like this, there's not much I can do to ensure that. Just try to write it so I think it sounds good, and then hope that's what the prof wants. And worry like crazy until he posts the grades. =P

I'm not as worried about my two CIS courses. The web design class doesn't post the homework more than a week at a time, so I can't work ahead there, even if I wanted to. My database design class does give us some homework early, so I could probably work ahead if I wanted. But I'm more concerned with Operations Management, so really, if I work ahead in anything, it'll be that.

So, I'm not sure what I want to do. I want to take some time and rest, do something fun. But I also want to be sure I can get this stupid homework done on time. Plus, having it all done, knowing that it wasn't hanging over my head...that would be nice. I know I'm kind of repeating myself, but sometimes I think out loud...or in writing, as the case may be. As I'm writing this, I'm kind of working through this, trying to come to a decision. So, I ramble a bit.

Now, I'm kind of thinking that maybe I will try to work ahead in Operations Management. I plan to re-read those chapters before the final, anyway. So, maybe I don't have to worry so much about forgetting the material, if there's a gap between the homework and test. Hmm. Yeah...maybe I'll do that...

I swear, lack of reading comprehension is such a huge pet peeve of mine.

You email someone and ask a question (or two), and they respond...and don't even address what you asked. I fucking hate people who do this. Like my bonehead Operations Management prof. This isn't the first time, either. (Or hell, there was the time when I emailed him twice about an assignment, and he just never fucking answered at all!)

I emailed him on Friday asking about our homework. Simple question: how do we find the number of workers we have, so I can do these calculations? I asked him to clarify something else, too. Maybe that was my mistake. Can't bother to actually pay attention to more than one thing, obviously. So he answers me today...completely ignoring my initial question. Just says that to figure production, you need to do x, y, and z...but to do x, you need the number of workers. Which he doesn't tell me how to find. Which was the primary question I asked, in the first place.

*Screams*

So, I emailed him and asked him the same fucking question AGAIN. Now, we'll see if he actually answers me before the assignment is due on Tuesday. >_>

Ugh, I swear, I have just about had it right now. I'm such an idiot!

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I'm sick. Yes, still. I went to the doctor yesterday and got some meds, but they'll take some time to start working. So, I'm sitting here, feeling crappy, trying to do homework. I was going to try to get started on the big paper for my Econ class. See, I'd done some research a little while ago. Went around and saved a bunch of sources, skimmed through them. So, I should be good to go for starting to write. If I don't have all the sources I need, I should have at least enough to start with.

But no. See, I'm an idiot. Somehow, I managed to delete all the research I'd saved. Yeah. I could have sworn I'd copied it over, but evidently not. And now it's gone. So I have to start all over. And that means I can't start writing until even later. Fuck college, seriously. I'm too sick and tired to feel up to dealing with this shit right now.

I'm a strange mix of pissed off and whiny/clingy right now. =/ On the one hand, I'm really mad that I have to do this work twice. But, it's like...I don't have the energy to actually be mad. I just want to be cuddled and taken care of. Stupid infection.