Yesterday concluded my first week of the Fall 2012. But before I get into that, I want to recap my summer.
Remember that list of all the things I planned to do during the summer? No? Click here then and see my failure. Let’s go one by one.
- Finish half of my books. Haha. A complete failure. Instead of reading my books, I borrowed books from the library. And then I kept borrowing more, before finishing the ones I originally borrowed. Even now, I haven’t finished reading all of the books I first borrowed this summer. I have a stack of 11 books to finish…
- Clean my room! (It’s absolutely horrendous right now.) In a later post, I said that I cleaned 3/4 of my room. Then in the month after, I accumulated so much junk. Now, my room is messy again. Not as messy as before, but less clean than a month ago.
- Adapt a healthy lifestyle with a proper and balanced diet and a regular exercise routine. Everything started out well. I exercised almost every day. But, I started to eat twice as much junk food. And now that school has started again, I barely have any time to work out, what with my three hour round trip commute, my 19 credit course load. (What? 19 credits?! I know. I’ll talk about it later.)
- Attempt to post here every week. (I seem to have low expectations of myself.) Well, we all know how horribly this plan failed.
- Probably edit the categories of this eportfolio. I am actually in the process of this. I’ve been planning how to edit my eportfolio for the best.
- Get my driver’s license. I didn’t even touched a steering wheel this summer.
- Finish re-reading the whole Harry Potter series. This was already established as a complete success! And a wonderful journey it was.
- Further develop of photographing skills. I ACTUALLY did further develop my photography skills. I sat down and really learned what the different functions of my camera are. I am proud of myself.
- Watch lots of dramas. I watched one.
So that’s that. Then, I also mentioned in this post that I would write about my semester of studying poetry, my visit to the Eldridge Street Synagogue Museum, and my first Yankees game. But I never did… It’s been so long since I made these goals.
- I can no longer clearly remember what I wanted to say about my semester of studying poetry in Spring 2012. So, I’ll just say here that I came into the class with preconceived notions that studying poetry is difficult, boring, and not fun. I appreciate poetry, but I just have a hard time analyzing it. So, like most people, I was not looking forward to taking this class because it did not appeal to my strengths. However, coming out of the class, I developed a much better understanding of poetry. I was very proud of my research paper on the Sylvia Plath’s contributions to the American literary canon. And I really found poems and poets to love. I think this was a wonderful class in that I learned so much from it: how to analyze poetry, how to like poetry, and how to write better. This was one of those classes that really opens your mind. I love that it expanded my knowledge. I feel more well-rounded, and that is the best feeling ever.
- I have always been meaning to post about the fabulous Eldridge Street Synagogue. I even took notes when I visited. However, my photos are sub-par. So I want to go back with my new and improved knowledge of photography to capture the gorgeous new glass window by Kiki Smith.
- As for the Yankees game, I’m not so enthusiastic about posting it, to be honest. But I will! Eventually…
And remember this list? http://www.43things.com/people/resolutions/victoriatang Notice that I only completed about half of the things… Luckily, I stay in NYC for school so I will most definitely be completing more of these goals throughout the year, before I study abroad.
Some things to look out for in the future (more things I say I will do, but don’t do?!) are my adventure the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, my weekend at the Finger Lakes, my visit to Chicago (including the AMAZING Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the Baha’i Temple), my trip to Washington D.C., my day at the Bronx Zoo, my explorations of Central Park, and my outing at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. So much, I know.
Goodbye summer! (Riverside Park, Pier I)
Now that I am finished with recapping my unfulfilled promises, let’s move on to my summer courses. As I might have already said (but can’t remember), my CORC music class was extremely easy. I did learn a lot and I enjoyed the class. I wrote, quite possibly the easiest final paper of my college career, about Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. My 3D Design class was also also good. It was 10x less time-consuming than my basic design class. For one, I rarely ever brought my work home to complete. The class was 5 hours long, but it really did not feel that tiring, I guess because I was really into my work. I will dedicate a future post to show you my creations from the class so I’ll save anything else I want to say for later. (Yay for adding more things onto my to-do list!)
And now, for my first week of Fall 2012! Let me give you some background information on my 19 credits. If you have been following my blog for a while now, back in April, I talked about, in length, my registration plans. I wanted to take 6 classes. But then in May, I reported that in order for me to take the 6 classes, I would need to appeal to the Committee on Course and Standing to take 19 credits, but it was too late and sudden. So I decided to hold off on it until Spring 2013. So how do I have 19 credits now? Well, for my last week of summer “vacation” (I put vacation in parentheses because I was taking classes all summer), I went to Chicago. I planned out a week of exploration. But during that week, I found out my French class (required for the major) was cancelled due to low enrollment. I went all crazy deciding on a replacement class (I was torn between three French classes). And then I decided that I wanted to take two of French classes together because it seemed appropriate and was allowed. But in order to do that, I had to write a letter of appeal, get a letter of approval from the Chair of the Modern Languages Department, and schedule an appointment with an advisor to petition to the Committee. Luckily, according to my advisor, it wasn’t too late to do all this and luckily, everyone was back at the college for work. So, I spent the last couple of days calling, emailing, and going crazy! And somehow, I did it! I sent in my forms on Tuesday and the advisor told me I should hear back at the end of the week or by the end of next week. But I heard back later that day! Wow! So now, I am taking Japanese, an intro to French literature course, an advanced French grammar course, a core biology class (which turned out to be a 95% online course), a modern architecture art history course, and the science and technology Macaulay seminar.
Mondays are my foreign language days. In the morning, I take Japanese. Already, I’ve have memorized the first 15 characters in the hiragana syllabary for a quiz on Wednesday. Soon, I’ll have all the characters memorized! The thing that is fantastic about this class is the diversity. Really, this must be the most diverse class I’ve had a Brooklyn College so far. Everyone is interested in the Japanese language (and most likely the culture) and most of us are beginners. I feel comfortable speaking and making mistakes in this class and that is the best thing one can ask for in a foreign language class. After a lunch break, I have two French classes in a row in the same room, literature first, grammar second. The first day of my literature class was crazy. There were only 7 of us sitting in a small seminar room (this is a tutorial class). The professor came in, sat down, and gave us a lecture on French literature history all in French. He occasionally asked us questions. I understood every other word, enough to get what he was talking about, but I couldn’t answer any of the questions because I didn’t even know the answers in English! The second day was a lot better. I understood everything the professor said. However, since we have to answer in French, I need to brush up on my French vocabulary. In my native language, Vietnamese, I know how to speak well, but I can’t read or write. But in studying a foreign language, French, I can read and write well, but my speaking is not all that great. But that’s what studying abroad’s for, right? The second French class, grammar, was 10x easier. I love grammar. Grammar loves me. This class is also a seminar, 6 students. (If these classes have only 6/7 students, how many classes were enrolled in my original class that got cancelled? 3?) I like these classes so far. There’s a lot of work, yes, but the professor is great and I feel comfortable around my fellow students. I really dislike the classes where everyone just keeps to themselves or already has a friend in the class to whom they only talk.
Tuesday I had my architecture class (I love studying architecture as art history) and in the afternoon, I went to my core biology lecture. The next times we have to meet for class are the day of the midterm and the day of the final. Haha. I am not a fan of online classes (for myself, that is) because without a class to pressure me to constantly study and do my work, I procrastinate and forget that it’s there. I slack off and delay my work until late. This class though, unlike my first online business class, has weekly assignments and quizzes to keep me on track.
Lastly, the Macaulay seminar. I can’t say much because yesterday was only the first day, but it seems like an enlightening class. Our class focuses on the urban environment and sustainability. And actually, last semester for the Peopling in NYC Macaulay seminar, my class focused on urban parks and the people of the city. If my art historian/museum curator/professor pathway doesn’t work out for me, I think I’d like to explore the field of parks and botanic/public gardens in urban areas and national parks in open nature areas. I am very passionate about these “natural centers” for their beauty and their contribution to the environment. So this was my epiphany. One last note on this class: going to school on Friday feels like going to school on the weekend. And, the campus is so empty!
All in all, I’m looking forward to a wonderful semester of knowledge and work. I feel comfortable in all my classes (maybe I’ve matured to not feel as quiet in class) and I made friends in each class. And, I’m excited to explore more of NYC during the year and to read more books! Hopefully, my 19 credit course load won’t largely interfere.
Happy Labor Day! I will be off to Massachusetts (but unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be doing anything cool, special or interesting because I have way too much work to do and I did not have enough time to plan). Until the next time I post~ Ta ta!
Last note: back in July, I went to Coney Island at night to ride a ferris wheel
and watch the fireworks for the second half of my friend’s birthday outing. I never knew swinging ferris wheel cars were so scary. And, I also got this awesome shot that I wanted to share with you:
