The last time I posted was on October 29, 2011. That was almost three months ago! I apologize for my lack of activity. I took part in a lot of school events in November. And December was my most hectic month of 2011 because of finals~ (and Christmas shopping). In fact, December was also my most hectic month the year before because I was polishing and finishing college applications. Tiresome Decembers. But now I’m on break (thank you college for the six weeks of vacation!) and I have lots of time to do something productive.
First thing I want to cover is my first semester at college. It was quite the experience. My transition from high school to college wasn’t much of a challenge. I was already used to long commutes and I was still living at home. Not much of a change. But a huge difference was having only five classes the whole semester that only met twice a week! And on top of that, I had breaks in between classes to study, read, and breathe. Never has my class schedule been so light. I loved that my classes weren’t one after another after another, from 8 to 3. In fact, all of my days started at 11. This was especially convenient for me because I have a long commute. I didn’t have to ride crowded trains during rush hour and I didn’t have to wake up before the sun even rose. On top of my light schedule was my light workload. I must have done something good to receive such a blessing. (Note: I did not make my schedule for first semester. Because I registered very late, my advisor did everything for me.) My professors assigned little work out of school and the major assignments were very reasonable. I put all my effort into doing well my first semester. In return, I received a GPA I deserve and of which I am proud.
Some things I have learned from this semester:
- I am not going to take an online class again. Although taking an online class reduced my workload and schedule, keeping up with the curriculum was difficult without a class to check up on your studying. Online classes are truly for the self-motivated. I wrote my midterm paper far in advance and edited it numerous times. I worked very hard on it. But when it came to reading the textbook, I kept putting it off. I procrastinated until a week before the final. I read the entire 400-paged textbook for the first time the whole week before the exam. I crammed so much information into my mind. A horrible experience, it was. And I have no one to blame but myself. Next time my advisor asks me if I’m okay with taking an online class, I will say NO.
- Before the semester started, I wanted to major in Art History. However, I never took an art history before. This semester, I took the CORE Art History course that every Brooklyn College student has to take. The course surveys art from pre-history to modern day, from all around the world. Most students who have no interest in art find this course boring. I, on the other hand, confirmed my love for art history. I will soon be declaring this as my major.
- I originally planned on double majoring in Art History and French & Business. French & Business is a major that Brooklyn College offers. I thought that maybe majoring in Business in addition to Art History and French would be practical. After all, Brooklyn offers a major that combines French and Business. It was completely doable. But after taking an Intro to Marketing course, I’ve decided that I have no real desire to study Business. So out it goes!
- My advisor is a really amazing person. She talks to me about anything and sincerely looks out for me.
I’ve also discovered the wonders of priority registration! Thank you Macaulay. I was able to get my perfect schedule. Next semester, I will be taking a basic art class, another French class, the Macaulay seminar, English, and a class in Greek and Roman mythology! (I’m very excited for this course in particular.)
Although I am taking classes that I want with professors I chose, I fear that my GPA might take a blow. Two of my professors are supposedly top-notch, however, they are also extremely hard graders. Let’s hope for the best. As difficult as they are, I will persevere! Anyways, education is about learning, not grades. I’ll keep you updated.
Hmm, this was a long post about school. And I still haven’t finished! In my next post, I will discuss all the fascinating things I did during my unofficial hiatus from ePortfolio-ing.
See you in a bit!
