School School and more School..
So school has been off to a good start! Getting my credits in order has been a bit of a doosey, the long story is the following paragraph, I’ll summarize with the last sentence for those who don’t want the “chick version” as Mr. Seaman would call it.
So I had my statistics course approved, which was very exciting! That is one less class I have to take, but my accounting course has been another story. The credit team accepted my application, but the faculty member who reviewed it did not. After an informal appeal, another application, and a phone call with a very rude university employee (I even used my nice customer service voice), my credit was still denied. I am fighting this though. I sat through the first lecture of the accounting course they are trying to make me take, and not only do I already know the material, but I genuinely think I could do a better job making the material interesting (S/O to my accounting teacher at NIC). He wasn’t a very nice professor, he started with something along the lines of “there are 1,300 of you and 1 one me, so there really isn’t time for individual attention.” While practical, this discouraged me even further from taking the course. I have contacted Kristi Mendoza, my wonderful accounting teacher at NIC, and she provided me with her chapter notes to submit and show that the material was covered in my accounting courses in more detail. At first it was a casual goal to get out of this class, but I have adopted it as a personal mission at this point. SO long story short, statistics credits approved, accounting credits TBD.
The marketing class I enrolled it has greatly excited me! The material is so practical, and really interesting to sort through what makes certain ads effective. Our first group project is a presentation on a new idea we develop and do the market research for. My group has decided to create a device that detects skin cancer. My group also seems like they will be good to work with, they are all Australian but the boys in the group seem very interactive and the other girl seems very studious. It’s only been one day, but I am definitely optimistic! If anyone has any ideas they want to throw at me, they are gladly accepted :)
My anthropology class is even more interesting than I originally anticipated. We are learning about a tribe in South Sudan called the Neur, don’t worry I still am not sure how to pronounce it. They have no monetary system, and their entire lives revolve around cattle. Cattle are symbolic of every aspect of their lives. The only reason to kill a cow is to honor it to God or in extremely rare rituals, such as funerals. They bathe in the urine of cattle, and use the ashes of cow dung as mouth wash. It sounds gross right? BUT that is called ethnocentrism, when you use the standards of one’s own culture to evaluate another culture, which is a big no-no in anthropology. (See Dad, I’m learning lots)
Emily, the house owner, has been terribly sick lately. She was in Germany when I moved in, and on her way back came down with a horrible sounding cough, and three days ago she got flu like symptoms. She got on antibiotics today, but she bought the house vitamin C to take because she was worried about us getting sick. Super sweet gesture, and they taste delicious at first (until they turn sour). I’ll definitely keep taking it until she’s better though, it is not something I am interested in having! Plus, I don’t even know how I would handle being seriously sick here. I never asked my mom for things when I was sick, she just brought me them while I’d sleep away my days in Grandma and Grandpas room.. I’m a spoiled rotten brat, trust me, I know. I’m paying for it now!
It’s hard balancing life and school at this point. There is so much reading to do for my classes, especially since it’s the beginning of the semester. It’s all doable, but some of the readings make me very very sleepy, so I have been finding different locations to read in. At first, I tried the dog park by my house. I’m not sure what I was thinking, dogs or reading? The distraction level was quickly noted and I have crossed the dog park off my list of places to be productive. The learning hub in the business school was the next go to. It feels like a very productive environment, but it is very crowded and hard to find a space. I asked the front desk if it was always that busy, she said by week 4 it clears out. I shall return then. I got lucky and one of the booths in the business school was open, so I sat there and got a significant chunk of my reading done! In general, I’ll make it a point to get my readings done somewhere other than my room.
In the fewest of words: I am loving life. I am meeting lots of people every day, and am slowly accumulating people I genuinely enjoy/click with. I miss my family everyday, but they are constantly supporting me (through the big AND little things) as I navigate through this adventure. i.e. my mom is cheering me on as I fight the admissions credit team. Life has treated me well, and I have an abundance of gratitude for everything and everyone that got me to this place.
As my housemate Harry always says,
“Much love! Ciao Ciao, Darling”
Lynee
