End of the Semester and Finals

The thing about the end of the semester is that in retrospect it always seems to have flown by. Seriously. After finals week is over suddenly it feels like August was two weeks ago. Then again, while it's happening it seems to drag... and drag... and drag... and the only thought that keeps you going is winter break and the symbolic end of the current classes.

I was less than jazzed about my classes this semester. I dunno... I just got sick of them really quickly. Some of that is my fault, I suppose. I took a math class way below my level just for the easy A. Sure, the class was easy, but I still had to show up for class for two painful hours every Tuesday and Thursday... and no amount of doodling could make it better. That didn't stop me from trying, though.

I had a history class, and while the material was interesting, the room it was in was stifling hot and the professor's voice was so deep that the combination of the two made me want to fall asleep.

Strangely enough, my favorite class this semester had to be political science. That was a shock. I took AP American Government in high school and got a 3 on the exam... too bad Drake requires a 4 to give you any credit for it. So I took the class for fifty minutes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and it was actually not that bad. It was interesting and the professor was great (Mosser, if you have a chance to take it).

Admittedly, I didn't take the best attitude with me into the semester. I wasn't gung-ho for classes to start. Well, I was but I wasn't. I was because biologically speaking, my brain knows that every August for the past 14 years or so it has to clear out the cobwebs and puddles of sitcom poison that have accumulated over the summer and actually apply itself to do something useful. And I wasn't excited because I knew I was taking a couple of those required courses which kind of get a bad rap... and that professors actually expected things from me now that I was a sophomore... enjoy being a freshman, kids.

It wasn't that bad, I guess... I supposed the bottom line is this: I just didn't feel as challenged as I was expecting to be. Correction... I didn't feel as challenged as I was expecting to be in the courses that should have challenged me... like the journalism ones. Oh well, from what I hear next semester will change that ;)

This was also the first semester I had several finals. The worst of which had to be political science. Youch. I don't feel like I necessarily struggled with it, but it was intense anyway. For history we were allowed to have a page of notes. I like that, but I don't at the same time. I feel like when I get a page of notes I don't study as hard because I'm thinking "well, I get notes...” and I feel like I spend more time on the exam looking through my size 4 font notes instead of relying on the information in my brain. But it worked out. I think I did fairly well. I tanked my math final, which was weird. It was a 50-point quiz and I got 38 I think. What's that? A 76? That's not "tanking" I guess but keeping in mind the course was way below my level, it's a little embarrassing. What's worse is that I actually studied for that one. Not that it makes a difference. I could have ripped up the final and walked out of the testing room and still gotten an A in the class. I took a required journalism design course and our final was an in-class practicum, which was nothing to sweat. We were allowed notes for that one, too. But I was feeling cocky and didn't bother. The only class I really didn't have a final for was my magazine writing class. We had our big feature article due on our final day and I did well on that. We also had to take a little quiz about how realistic our expectations are of the magazine industry. Guess what? I'm going to be poor, and I know it! Yay! What's money mean if you're doing something you love, anyway?