COLLEGE POLICIES STINK!!!

Don’t you just hate when nothing works out perfectly or when you have wayyyy to many options you just don't know where to start or how to start or what to decide on? Well, in college, indecisiveness and having TOOOOO man y opportunities can overwhelm you. Yes, I should be grateful of having opportunities to begin with. But here’s the dilemma
 
Physics. I am in the basic level of real physics, but with a background of AP physics, I feel I should be in higher level, right? But which higher course? There's one just one level above mine, but that's not available until next semester. There's a super higher level which is calc based but just snuggly fits into my schedule. Should I overwhelm my schedule with 15 minute sprints between classes? It's physically possible, but I'd have a tight schedule, that's all. Then since it's a harder physics..... well, go figure, I might fail my GPA. The physics I'm in now, the teacher talks too slow and I can't pay attention. However it seems like an easy GPA pass. I got a 2 on my AP exam, but I still feel I know more than this class expects us to. If I want to change it, I have until next Tuesday to change it. Which means, I have until then to contact my unknown advisor whom I have yet to meet, contact my professor whom I dislike how he babies us through life and class, and contact the physics department to see what courses they'd allow me to go in or to get their recommendation for my level. This isn't so bad if.....
 
I don't know what course I'd take instead. I could take some bio course or a stats course, but I haven't looked at those. I have the minimum full time student credits of 15, and I really don't want less because last semester I already had 14 credits and I want to average out to 15 over my 4 years so I can graduate. Also, if I go into a harder physics, would it be smart? Like could I get a good GPA? I already a low 3.26 ish, which is a big drop from my high school 3.67. My friends all have 4.00 or close to it. Couldn't get worse right? This is already way too much academic drama for one freshman.
 
(you're probably thinking, "oh freshie, you've got 3 years to go and blah blah blah" but I NEEED to finish X amount of credits and courses by then and I DO NOT want to spend more time or money on stuff I don't need.)
 
I also have another course which is gen chem. Ok, so I need this for orgo, but wait - I ALREADY TOOK AND PASSED CHEM!! Given I passed the engineers' chemistry, and I only got C.... but I PASSED! I have the credit technically. So why am I taking gen chem? Well, they need it for the lab portion. I need to pass a chem lab to go on to orgo, but the course description says I must take the class with the lab. 3 months ago, I emailed the chem department to see what I need to do. No reply. Advisor? Didn’t have one who knew enough about it. So I signed up for it, naturally. But WAIT! Today my friend told me she knew someone who was only taking the lab. By itself. Without the course.
 
0.o
 
Ok, so the dilema here is - do I need the information in gen chem or is it the same as engineering gen chem? And do I want to go and boost my GPA because it's a review now, or will I suck at chem and bomb this and have a C and a B for chem on my transcript? Or should I drop the course, go to class, and get the review without stressing over grades? But this way, what if I DO end up being better with chem? THIS is why i need a know-all-be-all advisor, and THIS is how the university screws over freshmen. No wonder we have freshmen 15 - we eat away our frustration with the college.
Speaking of frustration with college, they are SOOOOOOOO strict with parking!! Sure I made a mistake OOPS! I didn't see their sign or I wasn't aware of what lot is for who. But shouldn't I have one warning before being ticketed? I don't care if I have the warning on my permanent record - as long as it's not a full fledged ticket! And once I was literally realizing my mistake 10 minutes after parking somewhere, I got in my car as the ticket truck "cashed-in" my license plate for a mail-in ticket.
 
What the hell, right?
 
I swear college is expensive. But they try to weasel more money out of you by screwing over everyone like they don't give a shit. Then they have this formal cliché welcome on their letters, around campus, online, offline, in public. This is an outrage!

NOVA scienceNOW: Diamond Factory on Hulu. ( http://www.hulu.com/watch/263514 )
"Conducts heat 5x faster than copper" -- well remind me not to wear diamonds out in the desert or in the arctic.

"mined diamonds are all different. like snowflakes, no two are alike." -- I have seen two like snowflakes, 3 times. Yesterday.

Anthrax.... bet you this is how we'd gotten the idea for Resident evil and government made zombie apocalypse.

Those were comments I had throughout the thing, and now, I'm done, so here I am with my weekly update... i still dislike certain aspects of college. for one, their information and resources are scattered over 500 sites and links and ntohing's convenient.

So I'm not sure about you, but I don't like wasting money. I bought a brand new textbook package for physics. It has an ebook and all that. But out physics teacher refuses to use ebooks and wants to go traditionally. And he also talks super slow and he's planning to give us only 4-5 problems a week and I'm not complaining, but I 'm just worried I won't learn. I know I should try and it'sup to me, but there's a reason we have teachers   they are to guide our study. If my teacher is NOT guiding me and I'm doing all the guiding, sure i may pass, but will i be expert? I know I've forgotten all stuff I've learned in other classes even just 2 months ago, so how is this gonna be any different?

Same's true for microbio, but it's not as bad because they have practice on the website atleast.

not quite sure what to make of my philosophy course and i keep confusing my genchem course with my microbio course, so that'll be fun. Still not sure who my advisor is, yet Iwant an advisor to talk to about my chem class.. whatever, I'm starting to see the down side of college. and that's not even talking about the work here too. The upside is friends and independence to do whatever.

Harry potter rant

why waste efforts into making a high quality visual effects in the Harry potter films when you skip on half the scenes and magicalness and effects people want to see? Why waste all this on making a movie with half the effects we expected, and just barely enough information to make sense without the book?

I wanted to see Peeves, Nick's death-day party, Hagrid being attacked during OWLs, Harry yelling at Dumbledore,ron,hermoine, Mrs.Black, St. Mungos, Mr. Weasley's office, and I'm sure many more things to come if I watch the 6th and 7th movies after reading the book. Plus Voldemort doesn't have red eyes like the book and frankly, I feel they could have casted another person as Harry, because Daniel R is just awkward and his face doesn't change much to depict the emotions in the book. Soooo many problems with the movie - soooo wish a catastrophe like this doesn't ever happen with any of my fave books, and hope people learn from this. Great special effects, but that's all it is.

Anyway, just glad I got to watch it with friends and had a nice long chat about life and discussion on how new jersey won't let you fill your own gas.

Lost car found! hahahha

Someone in the teacher's parking lot lost their keys.

So a bunch of us were walkin' and talkin' then we found keys. We were like COOL! then I got the crazy idea and joked that we could beep it around campu to find the car. I mean, it's winter term now, and half the school is away, so there aren't too many cars this could belong to. Then we beep it and it's the car right behind us -- the car the keys were right in front of! It was a light blue, almost silver sedan isn car. it was those small cars, but it was newer looking with fresh nice decent headlights. The car itself wasn't dirty, which mine has become after the one year it's been around, and the insides were relatively clean and had no junk lying around, which mine recently developed since my entrance to college life. Luckily we had a class and we were decent people and we didn't steal the car or do anything. We didn't turn in the keys either -- mostly because we forgot by the time we got up to class, which started in an hour. So?

Well, that's one way to lose a car, and the theft could park anywhere and not care about tickets since it's not our car. Hilarious and such a big opportunity! unti lsomeone finds it and lists it as stolen. well, it would've been a funny prank.

Now..

finished HARYY POTTER 5!!!!! ugh, i am sooo lost with these characters - their names what they're supposed to look like their past, how harry knows them and what they do in relation to people and stuff. Anyway, as much as i hate the movies for mixing things up and confusing me even more about this and that, I want to see the visual and to see how much I read into it and how others did and how people act this stuff out and.. well i'm a TV junkie, so can't really blame me. I also want sooo many other books to be "movie-tized" and they probably will but I want people to learn from this harry potter thing that DIRECTORS AND ACTORS NEED TO READ THE BOOK BEFORE FILMING!!!!!!

Also.... found out I know two smokers though they're not friends but they seem nice enough. But that's not what I want to talk about today. Found out I am a horrible HORRIBLE audio learner. When someone speaks for over 2 minutes straight, I lose focus on what's happening and my mind wanders. This is in lectures, in conversation, even when I watch a movie and two people are conversing - it becomes a jumble sometimes...I NEED WRITING! I NEED VISUAL!!! Someone told me about "once removed" and "first cousins" and I didn't know, but just accepted that I don't know any. And my mom told me about "adopt a road" stuff and I didn't remember even the next day. Then I just searched hem up and I 100% understand and can remember this stuff. Ugh, whatever.

Also I recognized That I don't "mentally see" as well and I think I should. Actually, I don't know. I yahoo answered about this and no one gave a good answer. So apparently I don't see in detail or remember in deatil and when reading I visualize people as real people, but they act cartoony and I visualize their faces streetching or scrunching up or they jumping around like cartoons do and not as real people do. and with memories, I know when I see stuff it's in detail and even in my dreams it's in detail, but it's only for that present time. then when I mentally remember it or try to "see" stuff it's a blur, sort of like a sketch of what happened but not in the sense that it's like pencil paper. Isn't that weird? But I know when I see it I 'll know it but bymyself, I can't "see" it in detail.

And now i'm rambling so that's all for this week.

MAGIC!!! Reading So you want to be a wizard, Harry potter, watching secret circle, H2O, Once upon a time, and random stuff along the way :)

Everyone shares Atheist views

Who says atheists don’t believe in anything? Who says you have to be of some religion or no religion? None of it is really there. However, I know every single person believes in something or else they are dead. Ever had a role model? Someone you look up to? Something you worshipped? Maybe it was a celebrity, a family member, someone in school, an item like food, or if you really wanted to, you looked to your iphone or a physical object for faith. Isn’t that all religion is? Having something to have with you in your heart and in your mind to always be with you so you’re never alone in life?  Having someone to look up to, to follow, to help in deciding what to do in a tragedy or a dilemma? Knowing someone is with you through thick and thin, something reliable? Maybe you believe in science, nature, and the elements. Religion and the things we worship are sources of comfort we seek in life. It’s something we can confide our secrets to who won’t judge. Isn’t that why we love our god? He doesn’t judge or if he does, he forgives if you learn. Same with other religions. Some without this kind of confidante keeps a diary – or maybe they keep a diary anyway just because they can. It’s just a matter of which one of these religious forms we encounter first or has the biggest impression upon us.  None are better than any other, and none are any less reliable. Without something to believe in, we get lost in life, losing ourselves, losing our way and losing ambition and life worth, spiraling down a dark abyss of depression that’ll lead us to believe in an after life, our last hope of anything worth our being on this planet.

 

However, it is only with our complex minds and human intelligence that we even need to believe in anything at all. Others like bears, lions, whales, plants, bugs – not one of them believe and not one of them will kill themselves and are perfectly happy if not in pain.

This week...and last

I'm not sure if this is good or bad or both or nobody could care less, but hey, what the heck.

Recently I've been having crazy dreams, like slasher ghost creeper adventure type dreams, and yea, it's weird, it's disturbing to know that, but I don't mind. I mean I've had these "horror movie" dreams before, but never like 3 a week or anything. I love these dreams cuz, you know, I get to live and do stuff as opposed to dreams where I just mull over info or it's an alternate reality of what will or has happened. it's like if you wanted to live in a movie, would you want to be in an adventure/action/horror-ish movie, or would you want to be in those drama/mid-life-crisis/curiously-weird-situation-ish movies? Well, I for one, would love to test myself to see what I would do in those horror film situations, whereas drama stuff, you have time to think it over and you can always "live" it by hearing stories and giving advice...sort of. Disturbing that I'm having frequent horror dreams?
(some call it a nightmare, but I don't because it's thrilling and i welcome them with open arms.) Yea. Makes you wonder what I might do.

Going along with that, I also did do one semester of researching suicide for English 101, and I'm currently researching suicide for a policy speech in winter term, and I'm intrigued by how easy it is to hurt people, but I don't because I'm more worried about how my social life will go down afterwards... Yep, totally still in that teenagery stage and falling into that "self-centered" stereotype, but you can't deny that isn't true for most of you, right?

And on an off note, I found out my comm teacher used to smoke and we're talking about legalizing marijuana and there's more cursing in this course than in the other 5 I've been in, but then again, this is a TA rather than a professor, but yet again, 3 of my other courses were taught by grad students....whatever.

Half way through Harry potter and LOVING IT! Haven't seen this movie (the 5th one) but I REALLLLY hope it doesn't cut out good scenes. Ugh, I really want to reread the whole series, mark down each event each fact and each creature I want the remake of this series to include so there can be a film of Harry Potter that's EVERY BIT as appealing and magical and amazingly out-of-this-world as the book, but I guess If they make the movie suck, then JK Rowling can have a better book sale or more audiences/fans, right? I've been going OCD about this and obsessing about logging everything from not just this book, but from Across the universe by Beth Revis and So you want to be a Wizard series, so when those become movies the first version will be perfect, but hey, I'm not in film, directing, or know anyone serious about such a big project.

I just wish that when people make a movie out of a book, they are actually fans of the book, they READ the book and they met with the author to get a general idea of what people look like, what should be included, and is a visual book basically. I mean, what other purpose is there to make a movie based on a book? If you're going to make your own idea and that's inspired by a book, say "inspired by" and not "based on"

And another thing, I've been giving blood frequently EXPRESSLY for the rewards program...now that it's going BYE BYE, what have I got to donate for? I need to eat special to get my iron up, I need to eat heathy and drink water and watch my diet basically before and after I donate, and I found out The O+ blood type is common, so how much am I REALLLY helping? I mean, yea, I do feel good about donating, I do like that it forces me to be healthy, but no one I know donates regularly and my parents are harping on it and I have to go out of my way, and if it were high school and not college, yes, it'd be perfectly fine but now....it's not really worth it. I'd donated 4...3...ish times, I think I've done my part, right?

So here's an update...yea, not much happening. Just realized how RUSHED winter term is... I underestimated the workload, but if it exists, it should be possible. Plus this TAs been teaching for a few years, so it can't be THAT bad and impossible, right?