Fall 2007 Midterms

Well, only one actually calls itself a midterm... but anyhow...

Speech class, I got more wrong than I thought I would! I wish they would let us look at the test sheets (not just the Scantrons back) to see what it was we thought we knew but didn't! Anyhow, I got 20/25 right, which is 80%. However, to make it out of 45 points like the syllabus said, he did the math in our favor. He said take your correct answers, multiply by two, and make that out of 45 (instead of out of 50 like it would be). So I got 40/45 points for it, bringing it up to an 88.8%. New grade: 117/125, 93.6%. I really want to keep this up in the A range, so I feel that I need to really nail the last two speeches to make up for any potential further missed points in exams. I think there's a final written exam. And there's a paper, which should be interesting.

My Health exam was a whole other story... We theorize that he purposely makes it hard because it's open book! =P Open book, open note, work with a buddy if you choose, look it up online if you're able... Yet, I still got 72% on this! I didn't even miss any classes between the last test and this test! All of the questions are compound, all of the statements (two to three per question) have to be true for the question to be true, except in certain cases where two false statements make the question as a whole true. Luckily, the professor gives a 10 point bonus for being an active class participant, which brings it up to 82%. I wonder how the people who sit in the back of the class are doing. New grade: 170/200, or 85%. This professor lets you drop the lowest test score out of the 4, which would be this 82% so far, last test was 88%.

In Piano class, we have a quiz on Tuesday, seven short pieces. Yesterday, I could only play first one right in class! I practiced for an hour or so today, and now the first four are alright, as is the 6th one. The 5th and 7th ones still confuse me greatly. Mostly because the fingers move around more than once, and not just up and down a scale! Those two won't look pretty in class tomorrow morning, but I'll have it by quiz time! I was listening ahead in the CDs, and the pieces from later on in the semester sound complicated! (Current grade: Still 11 A's and 3 A-'s.)

Going to a concert tomorrow between classes. It's convenient timing, really. Class is over at 11:05am, concert starts at 11:30am, concert ends at about 12:45pm, next class starts at 1:00pm. I believe it's the Jazz Band tomorrow.

In Chicano Studies class, well, we're not doing much... I've had a few very interesting conversation with the professor about his methods and about the community college system. I have to say, if I hadn't talked to him personally, I would have felt that he wasn't an effective instructor. Having seen his logic now, however, I respect what he's trying to do. I still don't have any letter grades for this class though, which just feels awkward! (Current grade: There's an A in my head, but not on paper.)

When I talked to the professor yesterday, I also let him know that I would most likely be attending the USC presentation rather than his class on Thursday of next week, which he seemed quite pleased to accommodate. He said one of his books (which we had to buy for this class but haven't gotten to reading yet) talks about how to choose a university, which I may find helpful. I will look into it when we get there in class, or between semesters if we don't get to it.

I emailed CSULA about my transcripts that they never sent. (Or the post office lost two separate envelopes from them to two separate addresses.) They cashed our check many months ago... January 12th! I need to find a phone number to harass them at, but in preparation for such action, I first ordered a (free) copy of the check from the bank. Should be here in a week or so. (It's been so long, it's already off the online check viewing database!) I need to order transcripts from UOP as well, the transfer center said they should be transferable. They're accredited, after all, but they seem to be a special case if you ask the internet...

Hmm, there's more I'm sure, but that's all for today! (Future topics: Business stuff, mostly.)