Daily Post (Josh) 2010-02-08

Migraine leftovers pretty much all day today - very nearly no pain, but dizzy and aphasic on and off the entire time. Honestly didn't think I'd make it in to class this morning, but some spare thought convinced me at 9:57 that I shouldn't spoil a perfect attendance record this term and to try and get at least something out of the day's classes.

Class schedules for the coming term were published online this morning, which meant some time debating possible courses. It's looking like the girls and I will continue to have relatively similar schedules, as we've proven to be effective motivators for one another to study and good sounding boards for concept comprehension.

Unfortunately, one of the courses that we were heavily considering for filler, intro to forensic analysis with Dr. Torres, will not be on the menu. While the subject would be fascinating, especially with him, it conflicts with one of the only two A&P courses available. The section we're going to take is with Dr. McVeigh, who seems highly competent, and also has had a heavy influence on the content of prior finals. We all agreed that it wasn't worth the risk of trying to make it through another course with Dr. Li, which was the only available alternative that would have made forensics possible. I'm sure she's a decent teacher if you're of the right mindset to mesh with her, but we simply aren't.

As things land, we're all a little stuck between courses we have to get done and a lack of required credits to make the minimum of 12 required for federal funding. Out of four courses, we'll probably end up taking three together. A&P obviously, will be on that list, but it looks like I'll be retaking Chemistry with them (a higher grade wouldn't hurt the selection board's impression, and higher comprehension would seem to be almost inevitable), as well as trying out a course entitled "Tai Chi & Qigong for Healthy Internal Organs". Jennifer tried an alternate Tai Chi class with the same instructor this past fall (who will coincidentally also be our A&P lab instructor) and found it to be marvelously relaxing. Given my current sleep habits, it seems a wise gamble.

The final course I'll be taking will be an intro to C++ course from the CSET track; C is one of those languages that I've reviewed only well enough to be able to read and interpret a fair portion of the code - I've never programmed in it and I think it's high time I corrected that. The girls, in turn, will be taking a math course in the same time slot, which should make scheduling study sessions and such nearly trivial, as we'll be in class at the same times.

I have to say, I'm finding myself conciously greatful of having found two such good friends to hang out and study with. The fact that Jen's boyfriend is a decent dude that I can really relate to and even count as a good friend independantly doesn't hurt at all. I only wish we all felt more confident about the study results, as well as our eventual chances in being selected for the MIT program. Ah well, the pick up percentages don't account very well for the massive attrition from students washing out of A&P. Looking at the numbers online, we've gone from four sections of lecture with 253 seats in fall term to just two with 100 seats for spring; I'd even be willing to bet that a number of those seats will remain empty. Just being here at this point bodes pretty well.

A&P continues to more or less wash over me, leaving no trace of comprehension, or at least that's how it's feeling. In a rare moment of cohesive thought, I did happen to notice that while my level of dissatisfaction in performance is still pretty high, the grades I'm not happy with are Cs and Bs this time around, so perhaps that indicates some improvement, as well as a higher standard. I guess it's just been the last two weeks or so that doesn't seem to have jelled, yet - too many concepts with less than distinct naming conventions, perhaps.

Today's session of medical terminology was also a bit frustrating, as Dr. Torres again spent a good portion of the period going over somewhat redundant anatomical concepts, then rushing through the actual vocabulary. No results from last week's midterm yet.

This evening was spent at Roxanne's, running a pre-pre-mid term study session and giving Rox a chance to celebrate Jennifer's birthday, as she had been out of town for the weekend. Astonishingly, she managed to find a commercial cake for Jennifer that was quite palatable, chocolate with raspberry filling. Normally I detest frosting, and the waxy/plasticy frosting normally found on store cakes strikes me as particularly vile. Points for her.

I also finally got to meet the infamous Debbie, Roxanne's childcare swap partner, as well as her boyfriend Scott and son Jasper. Jasper, Ivy, and Scott were all very nearly explosive with energy and vibrance, so I managed to get a number of very expressive photos over the course of the evening, only slightly spoiled by pervasive spaghetti stains from dinnertime.

As a note to self type of thing, I need to remember to mention to Vash that he has two new fans now - the evening's musical selection wandered a bit and conversation brought up his talents with the spoons. A few samples from youtube later, and they were sold. CBH's comedy promo material was an especially potent favorite.

While it still feels like we're all a bit lost for the midterm, I think it was time well spent. We'll still be studying like mad tomorrow and the next day, of course.