The Pnebleu Blog

So, this is the second week of English and Speech at Blinn.  I only have until August 4th, then the semester is over!  These two classes are probably the hardest one’s I’ve ever taken.  Not just because they are writing intensive, but also because they are condensed into one month, I am working 20 hours/week, and Blinn has challenging classes to keep their standards up.  I have a total of 5 major speeches to give and 4 major essays to write within the month.  But along with those assignments I have also had a lot of reading, smaller writing assignments, weekly quizzes in English, and other speaking activities in Speech.  Each class has a midterm and a final.  I’m not really sure why they are trying to fit every single assignment from the full semesters into the one month summer semesters, but it hasn’t been much fun so far.

Tomorrow, I will present my first major speech.  It is about how my jobs have influenced my dream to become big in the corporate world.  Working where I have, I now want to own a small company, not work in a large corporation.  Well, I had better practice the speech again.  Each one has to be 7-10 minutes in length, yikes!

Hopefully, you will hear from me again, if you don’t you know what killed me: summer school at Blinn.

I’m tested out. I had two tests today: History of Landscape Architecture in North America and Finance. I feel moderately satisfied with the LAND test, but I feel really good about the FINC test! Normally, the exam keys are posted online after the test is over, but they are not up yet. I’m anxiously awaiting them. I need to make an A on the finance test to have the chance to get an A in the class. I could make anything better than a C on the LAND test. My brain is a little fried this evening.

Two quizzes, two online lectures, and a paper are due Friday for my lame/boring Marketing class. The material could be presented in a much more engaging manner this it is currently. On Friday’s, we have breakout discussion sessions. These are used for simple group projects and, obviously, discussion of the topics. They are the worst part of this class. They are a waste of my time and don’t increase my understanding of the material in anyway.

Mays Business School will be “experimenting” with differentiated tuition this coming fall semester. One of the main reasons sited for this cash grab is the increase in the number of classes with breakout sessions. Most of the classes offered currently are of a large lecture nature, usually with 150+ students. My largest is about 350 students. The administration wants to reduce this number for the discussion sessions. My questions is why? Every breakout session I’ve had in the business school has been mostly a waste of time when I could have been learning more material in a lecture or just studying on my own. One of the reasons I love Texas A&M University would be the fact that most of the classes required are large lectures with 150+ students. I like the anonymity and unidirectional nature of these classes. I wanted to be a number: ***-00-**** (hidden for my safety).

Update: I just discovered that I made another 88 on my finance test.  This is the third test and the third 88.  I’m a little frustrated.  I’ll talk to the TA to discover the problem with one answer that I’m not sure why it’s incorrect.

This month is the worst and best month of the year. It has always been the busiest month for me and my family. I finalized my new lease for June 2008 through June 2009. I have received information that I might be getting $300 from the IRS for the Economic Stimulus Package. The tests and projects are revving up. I had one test yesterday. I have two tests on Wednesday (4/9/2008) and more coming later this month. My immediate family has 3 birthdays this month, including my own.

Money is tight at the moment, so I’m watching every purchase with great vigilance. I have to get groceries soon, but I don’t get paid until 4/16. I’ve been needing to get an oil change, so I finally did today. My wallet hurts a little; $55. This afternoon and evening I decided to procrastinate as much as possible, so I didn’t read the 200+ pages for my 2 exams on Wednesday. I researched my schedule for the fall and I’ll talk to my adviser to determine if what I choose is appropriate. When I have a nailed down schedule I’ll post something about it. I’ve also been cleaning: the bathtub, vacuuming my room, sweeping the kitchen and entry, and washing my dishes. After that I listened to and watched a few podcasts. Security Now! 138 I finished my day just with Finance homework and blogging. I hope your month is better than mine. (My month isn’t really that bad, but I like to over-exaggerate.)