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Monday, December 21, 2009
Report Card
99 Red Balloons...
Maybe they weren't red and there were definitely way more then 99, but last week I filled the president of OVS's bathroom with a TON of balloons. Every year as a staff we play Secret Santa and this year I was lucky enough (haha... lucky...) to get the President. Luckily (for reals) my mom's friend Keri got his wife so we decided to mess with them a little and gave them both the same presents everyday, including filling their offices (or office's bathroom) with a bunch of balloons. It was super fun and I really enjoy our staff Christmas parties... It's nice to see everyone without the kids around.
Keri and I buried behind over 200 balloons... We loaded these bags into a school van and then drove them over to the school.
My best friend the Air Compressor... I couldn't have done this without you! I blew up the first 100 or so with the AComp. before getting some back up to help tie the balloons. We drove the 200 balloons over and still ended up blowing up an additional 100 or so balloons... All I can say is Praise the Lord for young, healthy lungs!
72 Aqua Balloons...
Keri and I buried behind over 200 balloons... We loaded these bags into a school van and then drove them over to the school.
My best friend the Air Compressor... I couldn't have done this without you! I blew up the first 100 or so with the AComp. before getting some back up to help tie the balloons. We drove the 200 balloons over and still ended up blowing up an additional 100 or so balloons... All I can say is Praise the Lord for young, healthy lungs!
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
They Like Me... They Really Like Me!
Monday I finished my Calculus final finishing out the Fall 2009 semester! I ended up getting 51/50 on my final meaning that I scored above 100% on all three exams in the class. My professor even offered to write a letter of recommendation for me. I'm not trying to brag or anything like that. It's just so nice to feel like you are good at something. It's nice to feel like I am smart and I can get through this last bit of school.
Yesterday I met with an Academic Adviser to check on all my transfer credits and see how my General Ed and graduation requirements are going. Since I transferred from another Cal State school, all of my units transfer but the requirements are different for the two schools so I had to petition for a couple of classes to count in certain sections (which the adviser helped me fill out the paperwork and I turned it in after the meeting). If my petitions are approved, I will only be missing 3 classes to complete my Gen Ed which is nice. I also need 120 total units in order to graduate (40 units have to be upper division which I think I have around 15ish) and by the end of the Spring semester, I will have 112. So where does that leave me for school? Well, I have to meet with the Liberal Studies adviser to develop a contract outlining my course of study (Liberal Studies with a Math Concentration and a possible Minor in Foundational Math). The goal of that meeting will be to try to incorporate what I have already been taking and what I need to take (in order to pass all three levels of the Math CSET) into a course of study so I can graduate. If (When...) I pass the CSET, I can apply for a masters/credential program for Math.
I can't tell you how nice it is to feel supported at school. I actually feel like there are people there who want me to succeed and want me to graduate. And I finally feel like I am close and can actually finish school. This semester was a little hard just because of my bad attitude towards Computers but once I got over myself and just did the work, it was much easier. Looking back on this semester, I can honestly say that I like school again and I am excited for next semester! I know it's going to be a lot of really hard work, but I think I can do it and I am excited to try!
Yesterday I met with an Academic Adviser to check on all my transfer credits and see how my General Ed and graduation requirements are going. Since I transferred from another Cal State school, all of my units transfer but the requirements are different for the two schools so I had to petition for a couple of classes to count in certain sections (which the adviser helped me fill out the paperwork and I turned it in after the meeting). If my petitions are approved, I will only be missing 3 classes to complete my Gen Ed which is nice. I also need 120 total units in order to graduate (40 units have to be upper division which I think I have around 15ish) and by the end of the Spring semester, I will have 112. So where does that leave me for school? Well, I have to meet with the Liberal Studies adviser to develop a contract outlining my course of study (Liberal Studies with a Math Concentration and a possible Minor in Foundational Math). The goal of that meeting will be to try to incorporate what I have already been taking and what I need to take (in order to pass all three levels of the Math CSET) into a course of study so I can graduate. If (When...) I pass the CSET, I can apply for a masters/credential program for Math.
I can't tell you how nice it is to feel supported at school. I actually feel like there are people there who want me to succeed and want me to graduate. And I finally feel like I am close and can actually finish school. This semester was a little hard just because of my bad attitude towards Computers but once I got over myself and just did the work, it was much easier. Looking back on this semester, I can honestly say that I like school again and I am excited for next semester! I know it's going to be a lot of really hard work, but I think I can do it and I am excited to try!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Math Suicide
I just registered for my classes for next semester and I went with option 1. I will be going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30am - 4 or 5pm (depending on the day). I have registered for 17 units but 5 units are two online classes and 2 units are Math labs that usually only help better my understanding of concepts discussed in class. I have 7 classes (again, two are online and two are Math labs), 6 of which are Math classes. It might be Math suicide but I couldn't resist the Tuesday/Thursday schedule.
Two more days of class this week and one final on Monday and I am done for the semester!
Two more days of class this week and one final on Monday and I am done for the semester!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Oh Wow
This is what I do when I can't go to sleep because I took a two hour nap at 4pm... I watch gross YouTube videos and update my blog... This video is pretty nasty so if you have a weak stomach, don't watch this!
Ain't It Good
Last night I had the unbelievable pleasure of attending the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center production of Children of Eden. This play is one of Steven Schwartz's musical wonders and my good high school friend Darrienne Lissette Gross stared as Eve and Mama Noah. As the names probably tell you, this play is an artistic interpretation of the book of Genesis (specifically the story of Adam and Eve in the garden up until Cain and Abel and then jumps to the story of Noah and the Ark in the second act). The music was brilliant and the actors were incredible but the content of the play really bothered me. I say 'artistic interpretation' because it is a terrible interpretation of the book of Genesis. I won't even get into how off the content and order of events were in the play because they are too many to even begin to count, but what bothered me the most about the play was their interpretation of God (Father in the play). They (and by they I don't mean the company because they are just going with the script they are given... I guess I mean Steven Schwartz and John Caird) painted this picture of a mean, unforgiving father who abandoned his people. It just made me really sad to see this father who is nothing like the Father that I know and love.
All this to say, it was an incredible show and my friend Darrienne is AMAZING!!!! The show goes on for one more weekend so if you have the time, I highly recommend supporting one of our own, very talented Ojai native. She will also be performing in a production of Rent this coming New Year so check her out! This video is just a taste of Dar's amazing talent!
In other news, I am back to work for the next two weekends before my long 4 weekends off (with no pay which sucks but I've been trying to prepare for it for awhile now so hopefully everything will be ok... pray that my loan gets approved so I can pay for next semester which I register for on Tuesday) and I have one week left of school and one final before semester break! Ain't it good!
All this to say, it was an incredible show and my friend Darrienne is AMAZING!!!! The show goes on for one more weekend so if you have the time, I highly recommend supporting one of our own, very talented Ojai native. She will also be performing in a production of Rent this coming New Year so check her out! This video is just a taste of Dar's amazing talent!
In other news, I am back to work for the next two weekends before my long 4 weekends off (with no pay which sucks but I've been trying to prepare for it for awhile now so hopefully everything will be ok... pray that my loan gets approved so I can pay for next semester which I register for on Tuesday) and I have one week left of school and one final before semester break! Ain't it good!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Let's Take a Vote...
Ok... I am going to be registering for classes soon (December 1st) and I thought I'd take a vote to see what schedule I should go for this semester. I am currently a Liberal Studies Major with a concentration in Math and am also picking up a Math Major to pick up some math classes in order to pass all three parts of the CSET Math exam in order to get into a Math Credentials program.
Option 1: 17 units (but 2 units are labs that I don't always have to attend)
- History of Mathematics - Online
- Health Issues in Education - Online
- Calculus 2 Lab - Tues and Thurs 8am
- Calculus 2 - Tues and Thurs 10am
- Logic and Mathematical Reasoning - Tues and Thurs 12
- Mathematics and Fine Arts Lab - Tues 1:30
- Mathematics and Fine Arts - Thurs 1:30
Option 2: 16 units (1 unit is a lab)
- History of Mathematics - Online
- Health Issues in Education - Online
- Calculus 2 Lab - Tues and Thurs 8am
- Calculus 2 - Tues and Thurs 10am
- Developmental Psychology - Tues 12-2:50
- Teaching Drama to Children - Fri 9-11:50
Option 3: 16 units (1 unit is a lab)
- History of Mathematics - Online
- Health Issues in Education - Online
- Calculus 2 Lab - Tues and Thurs 8am
- Calculus 2 - Tues and Thurs 10am
- Developmental Psychology - Tues 12-2:50
- Modern Mathematics for Elementary Teaching 1 - Numbers and Problem Solving - Mon and Wed 12 - 1:15
All of these classes are actually required... I prefer option 1 but what do you think?
'Tis the Season
It is officially the Holiday season when I get to have a Winter Dream Tea Latte from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf which I had on Thursday this week. Let me tell you, it was delish!
It's been awhile so let's see what's been going on. Last I left you, I was complaining about my group project. Well, the project has come and gone. The lady that I was complaining about in the group didn't show up for our presentation and actually hasn't been to class since the day before our presentation. I tried to call her to see if she was alive, but I was unable to get a hold of her. Hopefully she is ok and we may have done better without her... But we still only got a C+ which I was unhappy about, but I ended up getting an A on the response paper which is half of that grade which helps out a ton! Only two more weeks (not counting the week off we have for Thanksgiving... Furloughs gave us the whole week as opposed to just the two days...) or instruction this semester before finals (and I only have one final... so nice).
I started tutoring a couple of kids at OVS. So I am now at OVS 5 days a week. The money is good and it's nice to see the kids succeed in their classes with a little bit of extra support. Halloween came and went. We took the kids trick or treating which was a whole big fat mess that I won't go into because it's too long of a story. The kids also carved pumkins which was fun. Right now I am sitting in the computer lab at school with two kids waiting for the 8th graders to finish their SSATs (it's like the SATs but for private High Schools). This is my last weekend at work before Thanksgiving break (two weekends off). After Thanksgiving break I work for another two weekends before Winter break (where I have 4 weekends off with no pay...). So, if you need any cleaning/babysitting/yardwork/whatever done in that time period, I would love to help you out.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Group Projects
Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time in several months, I slept in! That's right. 8 am! It was glorious and actually it put me in a rather good mood today. Surprising what sleep can do for you.
So Tuesday we had our peer editing groups as you may have read from the previous post. I was super nervous about it, but it turns out they liked my paper. I was hoping for some more suggestions for my paper but it was helpful to hear that they thought I had a good paper. I still am not fully convinced so I am having Holly proof my paper tonight (turns out she loves proofing papers). Class today went really well. Since we are wrapping up our papers (oh yeah, she extended the due date to Tuesday which means I can breathe a little), my professor broke us into our groups for our group project. The project is a 30 minute presentation having to do with Themes of Feminism. Let's be honest, I hate group projects! Maybe it's cause I have never had a good group. There is always the weak link (someone who never meets with the group, doesn't do their share, or just doesn't understand English and therefore can't participate the way you would like them to). In my case this time it's the third. We have this lady in our group who is probably in her late 50s and is from China. Not only is English her second language, but she also rarely ever uses a computer and doesn't know how to do research properly (or at all for that matter). Now, I don't have anything against people of more advanced ages going back to school to finish up their degrees. I think it's great! Let's be honest, I may be one of them someday if I can't finish this stuff up. But what I struggle with is that she speaks very broken English and most of the time I don't understand what she's talking about and more then that, I am pretty sure she has no idea what I am talking about. It's hard to trust her with parts of the project when we are all going to get the same grade for the presentation... The other part I hate about group projects is trying to find a leader. While the project doesn't actually require assigning a leader, it's nice to have someone initiating conversations and getting everyone on the same page. I don't really like being that person. I would much rather let someone else do that job, but it seems in every group I am in, no one else will step up, causing me to take charge.
The group situation is actually not all that bad though. We chose to talk about Women in Music which is a SUPER broad topic and we are each taking this weekend to narrow the topic to a direction we as a group may take. I am thinking of talking about women as singer-songwriters and talk a little about Janis Joplin and other artists who kinda paved the way for women as singer-songwriters today. The other idea I have is to talk about women as musicians in bands. I was watching an episode of SNL a few months ago when Beyonce preformed and I remember being kinda shocked by her all girls band. It's not something we really see a lot of and it got me thinking about specific instruments that are considered more masculine (trumpet, sax, electric guitar, drums, base...) and then the instruments that are more feminine (flute, clarinet, piano...). I guess I'm just really excited about the topic and the freedom we have in this project that it makes me really excited about working with the people in my group, even if I have to be the leader and carry the one lady in my group.
So Tuesday we had our peer editing groups as you may have read from the previous post. I was super nervous about it, but it turns out they liked my paper. I was hoping for some more suggestions for my paper but it was helpful to hear that they thought I had a good paper. I still am not fully convinced so I am having Holly proof my paper tonight (turns out she loves proofing papers). Class today went really well. Since we are wrapping up our papers (oh yeah, she extended the due date to Tuesday which means I can breathe a little), my professor broke us into our groups for our group project. The project is a 30 minute presentation having to do with Themes of Feminism. Let's be honest, I hate group projects! Maybe it's cause I have never had a good group. There is always the weak link (someone who never meets with the group, doesn't do their share, or just doesn't understand English and therefore can't participate the way you would like them to). In my case this time it's the third. We have this lady in our group who is probably in her late 50s and is from China. Not only is English her second language, but she also rarely ever uses a computer and doesn't know how to do research properly (or at all for that matter). Now, I don't have anything against people of more advanced ages going back to school to finish up their degrees. I think it's great! Let's be honest, I may be one of them someday if I can't finish this stuff up. But what I struggle with is that she speaks very broken English and most of the time I don't understand what she's talking about and more then that, I am pretty sure she has no idea what I am talking about. It's hard to trust her with parts of the project when we are all going to get the same grade for the presentation... The other part I hate about group projects is trying to find a leader. While the project doesn't actually require assigning a leader, it's nice to have someone initiating conversations and getting everyone on the same page. I don't really like being that person. I would much rather let someone else do that job, but it seems in every group I am in, no one else will step up, causing me to take charge.
The group situation is actually not all that bad though. We chose to talk about Women in Music which is a SUPER broad topic and we are each taking this weekend to narrow the topic to a direction we as a group may take. I am thinking of talking about women as singer-songwriters and talk a little about Janis Joplin and other artists who kinda paved the way for women as singer-songwriters today. The other idea I have is to talk about women as musicians in bands. I was watching an episode of SNL a few months ago when Beyonce preformed and I remember being kinda shocked by her all girls band. It's not something we really see a lot of and it got me thinking about specific instruments that are considered more masculine (trumpet, sax, electric guitar, drums, base...) and then the instruments that are more feminine (flute, clarinet, piano...). I guess I'm just really excited about the topic and the freedom we have in this project that it makes me really excited about working with the people in my group, even if I have to be the leader and carry the one lady in my group.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Whatcha Say?
I just finished writing the rough draft of my English Essay on Out (a novel I had to read for the class) and I have to say I am filled with a lot of anxiety about it. Tomorrow we are having a peer editing group to get our papers ready to turn in by Thursday. I get so nervous when I let other people read my papers. Is it any good? Do I sound like a fool in my paper? Sometimes I feel like the things I say are way less then educated... is that how I write? What if my paper sucks? What if they laugh at me? What if it's terrible and I have to throw the whole thing out? Then What will I write about? What if I didn't say enough? What if I said too much? What if? What if?
What if's suck! I know that peer editing groups are good and I know I will get good, honest feedback on my paper, but I am still super nervous. This is why I like math so much... There is one right answer and there is usually a right way to get there... With papers and writing, you can say whatever you want and you may or may not get it right... We'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm going to attempt some sleep. Maybe since I got all of these questions out of my head I may actually sleep tonight...
PS: one of my new favorite things is the cover of Whatcha Say. So great!
What if's suck! I know that peer editing groups are good and I know I will get good, honest feedback on my paper, but I am still super nervous. This is why I like math so much... There is one right answer and there is usually a right way to get there... With papers and writing, you can say whatever you want and you may or may not get it right... We'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm going to attempt some sleep. Maybe since I got all of these questions out of my head I may actually sleep tonight...
PS: one of my new favorite things is the cover of Whatcha Say. So great!
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