Why I haven't been posting

My last post seems so rational, but really I was sinking fast in my Biology class. Between dance and work and class, I really was dog tired and burned out, so I made a decision to drop the class. The thing is something had to give. I hardly saw my girlfriend and felt like I couldn't relax because there was always something that had to be done.

So for now, no, I'm not a student, but I'm going to retry this when dance is done. I may keep this blog going just so I have somewhere to vent on my daily activities. So I may change the name or I may just start a whole new blog and pick this up again when I'm back in school, either way, I'm not going anywhere.

Getting tough, but I can handle it

What can I say regarding Biology? I love lecture and not liking lab in the least. The girl doing lab - she seems really unsure of herself and seems to think she needs to give a lecture every day (this is lab right? we already have a lecture class). I left Tuesday in frustration, not completing the lab and feeling like I'll never get this subject. Funny thing is I always feel like I am learning what I need to know in lecture. Mr. DeMarco being the more experience teacher I guess just makes me feel like I can trust him to make sure we know what we're doing. Tough but fair is what I'm going for here.

Anyway, I'm taking my laptop home with me this weekend and retyping my class notes so that I can review them. He may delay the first test until Tuesday instead of Thursday, which would be fine with me.

I registered for an open house at JHUSON. I will need to miss a portion of Saturday dance, but I think it will be fine. I just need to check it out and see if it's something I can do or not.

A night out with the girls tonight though. IT will be so much fun just hanging out with friends and not worrying about everything else in life.

1st week down

Well I'm officially off and running in Biology. What I thought was an introductory Biology class has turned out to be pretty complicated. Cell/Molecular biology is studying the smallest, tiniest forms of life (cells and smaller). Seems like there has been a lot of Chemistry as well and my last chemistry class was 25 years ago.

On the other hand, my lecture instructor Mr. Demarco is quite enthusiastic about his subject so it makes it easier to listen to and comprehend the material. It's going to be tough because he stresses not memorizing (my specialty) but explaining whys and hows on the test.

I have homework to do for lab on Tuesday and will try to do that today before I take off the long weekend.

It's actually weird, but even on this level I can see how it relates to nursing because we talk a lot about how proteins in the cells work and maintain homeostasis to keep the body balanced. I can see we will do a lot of figuring out how medications and such work on a cellular level.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend as a respite from the run, run, run of this past week.

Fortunately it's still 3 more weeks until dance kicks in so I can focus more on schoolwork now and getting a running start.

New Semester - Biology 110

I start Biology 110 tomorrow, which is pretty much Biology on a cellular/molecular level.

I have my text and of course the lab manual wasn't available when I went so now I'm going tonight to get the lab manual. At least Sandy is going with me to get it. I will bring my text to work with me tomorrow and read as much as I can between calls.

I am going to start making up some flash cards so that I can learn the lingo more quickly. Saturday I met a woman at the hair salon who is in nursing school and she says flash cards are the way to go with any sciences. She says she still looks at them in nursing school.

I already emailed my instructor and he says it's fine to record the lectures if it helps me. I think I'm going to like him. He got right back to me with my questions.

Anyway, I'm going to approach Biology the same way I did Psych over the summer - go for the A and make sure it's got priority.

Yep, it's an A

Just got an email this morning from my psych teacher. I got an A on the presentation portion and the last exam..which is an A in the class! Woohoo!!! This was a good class to get my feet wet in college again. It wasn't too demanding, but made me write and read a little even though I took the class before.

So now I wait 2 weeks to start Biology. I had bought a text over the summer to study up before my class and now I found out they changed it so I have to buy a new one. That's what I get for trying to be too prepared. I will see the other one on Amazon so it's fine. I found the new Biology book I need on Barnes and Noble for 129 dollars with my discount. It's 176 at the bookstore! Text books are huge ripoffs I think. Anyway, I guess I will start reading that now so I can get a head start.

I will also sell my Psych text and the study guide I bought that never did me any good.

A small rest between semesters

Well I finished Psych 101 and pretty sure I have an A. I did get an A in the first 2 exams and on the paper (which was done only by me and the other girl in our group). I have no clue on grades for the presentation and the last exam. The exam was not all that bad, but I wasn't too sure on the essay questions. I didn't do any work on the presentation. I felt as if I really shouldn't have to since Sally and I were the ones who researched and wrote the paper. Grades are supposed to be posted by 10 am tomorrow morning, so we will see.

So I have a little break in between summer and when Fall semester starts in 2 weeks. I will enjoy and cherish my time off because life becomes pretty hectic then. I will be teaching dance Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and taking Biology Tuesday and Thursday, plus working full-time during the day. Fortunately I have plenty of free time during my day job to study, or research or write papers.

Wow it's been so long...

So here I am 42 and going back to college. Hopefully when all is said and done I will be a RN with a nice job in a pediatric unit or surgical team.

First some background. I work full-time on an IT help desk trying to save people from our big bad SAP system. Fortunately I work for a health system that will help me reach my goal of being a nurse. I am working right now on my pre-reqs so that I can apply for nursing school. My advisor recommended I re-take Psych 101 to improve my GPA (I got a C 25 years ago!).

So I started Psych 101 on Monday. I, of course, am the oldest person in class. Things are so much different in college these days. The instructor emails the class notes to you in a PowerPoint presentation, so sitting and taking notes is a thing of the past. The first exam is on Monday and it's a take home exam. No sweating over memorizing parts of the brain or who did what in psych history.

I think the only thing I'm annoyed with is the insistence of a group paper/presentation. I don't like not having total control of my grade. One guy in my group seems clueless and the other 2 seem more concerned about being "fair" about dividing up the work. Damn, I need an A in this class and if these idiots screw me up I'm going to be really pissed.

Anyway, it's nice to be working for an employer who supports your decision to enter the medical field. Eventually I really want to be a nurse practitioner. I will keep you updated on how things are going for me. Tonight I need to catch up on some reading and I think I may get some of the article references out of the way.