My College Experience

Last time I actually went to school... with the exception of Hospital Corpsman 'A' School, was back in 2002, when I graduated from JFK. It has been 6 years since I went to school, and I finally attended college in Fall 2008. Here I will be reflecting on my college experience, for I'm sure it would be quite a chapter to remember!

[FALL 2008

I remember how frightening it was to take my placement exams. As I expected, I ended up in MA085.. honestly, I can't remember those math shit I sucked at in high school! But of course, I ended up in EN110. My first sem, I chose to take Intro to Education and Practicum & Observation. Which gave me an idea of the teaching field. I originally planned to go into Elementary Education, but after my observations, I decided I'm better fitted to handle life in Secondary Education. Things were going fine for my first two weeks of college. I was learning to adjust to the demands of school again, and trying to balance my responsibilities as a wife, mother, and now... student. But then, my father passed away.. It was the hardest thing I have EVER gone through in my life! I had always dreaded the day this would come.. and it happened when all these changes were occuring. Talk about an emotional wreck! I wanted to give up on life.. I wanted to join my father.. I couldn't deal.. but I knew I had to live my life for Markel and Mario. And giving up on school, I wouldn't fulfill my dreams for myself, my family, and my father. I had weak moments that first semester.. where I'd have to leave the classroom to cry in the bathroom. Or when I'd burst into tears during discussions.. embarrassing.. but it's reality. I couldn't deny what I was feeling. Until now, I am still hurting. I still cry. But with everything that went on, I managed to pass with a 4.0 GPA! That's excluding MA085 which is no credit anyway. I missed that first month of class, due to laziness and Tatay. But everyday I took a test and passed.. only having to repeat 2 chapter tests by minor misses. I caught up pretty fast... unfortunately, I didn't finish MA085. All in all, Fall Sem was actually easy for me, despite the given circumstances.

COURSES TAKEN:
ED110=A
ED192=P
EN110=A
ID180=A
MA085=DARN.. 3 MORE TESTS..

[FALL INTERCESSION]
Well, I decided to spend the $540 for freakn intercession. I only had 3 more tests to take for MA085, I should've finished it in Fall. But with procrastination and my father's death, I missed that first month. Although I caught up fast, it wasn't enough. SO as much as I regretted missing those classes, and having to waste 500 bucks on a repeat course... I might as well suck it up and get it done, So that I could get into MA110 for Spring Sem and get all my damn math ge's done with! I was hoping to just finish it in 2 weeks, before new years, but I procrastinated a little, and I ended up going a week past. Anyways, I finished level 2, and I'm done! Professor DeBeer was like (in his indian accent): "You are the first one in my class this intercession to finish!" Well, I DID only have 3 tests to take! Anyways, WOOHOO!!!

[SPRING 2009]
It felt good to be a returning student. I still got nervous and was quiet coming into my new classes, but I was definitely more comfortable around campus. I had all male professors this semester. And they were all cool. I only took four classes this sem because I had math. Since that's my weakness I thought I'd concentrate on it, hence the light schedule. This semester was a challenge for me though. I was soooo damn lazy! All semester I was "not me". I was just "whatever" with everything.. I missed my dad too. I mean, finals week was nothing but procrastination. Can you believe I stayed up about 30 hours because I didn't sleep the night before since I did my paper LASTMINUTE, and had to go do stuff on campus the next day. I had bags under my eyes, my body was trembling, and I was a walking zombie all day. Thank God for Mario coz he was my driver. And although I finished my paper, I wasn't satisfied with it. It sucked in my opinion. Normally I'd have this paper done by the beginning of that week. But I was just distracted and procrastinated alot. Math was kicking my ass too. Damn, I was barely passing. The day before my final, I worked 5-6 hours catching up on assignments coz I was soooo behind AND studying! Once again: I HATE MATH! I SUCK AT IT! I DON'T GET IT! Theater was cool, I thought we'd do more acting but all the videos we watched were great! I actually got to act. I played an over-achieving bitch, and pulled it off.. Not like I had to try hard at being her! LOL! Just kidding! Psych was cool too. Damn, I was ALWAYS late for that class! Even theater, haha.. that was funny. Anyways, I passed my math, so NO MORE MATH... till praxis! My GPA for this sem went down to a 3.250 oh well.. I expected it. Yey, I'm a sophomore now!! I have completed my first year in college.

COURSES TAKEN:
PY101=A
EN111=B (DARN LASTMINUTE RESEARCH PAPER)
TH101=A
MA110=C (ALL I CAN SAY IS: "THANK GOD I PASSED" LOL!)


[FALL 2009]
This semester was much easier from the others. I was quite busy because of all the group works, speeches, presentations, and Computer Operations assignments. Intro to Comp was a kick in the butt... I thought it would be an easy course because it was Excel, Word, and Powerpoint, but OMG.. it turned out to be freakn hard!!! Nothing like what I expected. Women and Gender was awesome!!! Learned alot about being a women, and men.. really opened my eyes. I was extremely nervous about Literature, from all the horror stories about feeling dumb when knowing anything about lit. And I proved myself wrong.. I did have interpretation of material.. and with our group, I made some really good friends. Unfortunately all that reading and interpretation, writing of critical literary analysis scared me back to teaching elementary..*i think*! And CO210 was good. I got to work on my speech presentations. Bal was such a laid back and fun teacher. I'm taking him again for CO106 next sem, but that's more of mass media stuff. I liked my classes with the exception of BA130, but I honestly wish I had more time to get to know my classmates. This sem flew by fast.. I got a 3.5 GPA this time. Now.. 2 1/2 more years to go!

COURSES TAKEN:
BA130-B
WG101-A
EN210-A
CO210-A

[SPRING 2010]
This semester flew by fast. I can honestly say this was the easiest semester for me. I took a science class.. Agriculture is the best! I had a lot of fun, my classmates were crazy and my teacher, Roland Quitugua is freakn hilarious. We took a lot of fieldtrips. We went checking for rhino beetles, planting, and checking out farms. This class has brought out the humanitarian in me. Our biggest accomplishment was planting for the People's Garden. A vegetable and fruit garden grown for low-income families to get produce from. Felt really good to make an impact. Wish I could've taken that class longer. Human Growth and Development was good. Went to class only one day of the week, lectures were online. I was intimidated at first by Dr. Leddy being that he used to be SOE's dean.. he was a super nice and caring guy come to find. But IDK I think being in the military, it is drilled in you to fear "authority". I learned alot about development, but some of that stuff I already know from being a mom and experience in Labor and Delivery. Geography was a trip. I was so scared coz I didn't know how I was going to remember all those countries and what sets them apart. But Dr. Owen is a hella good teacher. You just gotta take good notes. And I was so tired of everyday homework, so I skipped some. Especially when I went out that night or it's alot of questions. I still passed her class. The tests were hard for some.. I think some questions you just had to read carefully. and I took Bal's class again, this time 106. I feel like I never did any work in that class. I'm too comfortable in that class. Some of them were too serious, I felt like they were getting annoyed with me because I knew how Bal expected things from me, so I always talked, or thought out of the box. Gees... whatever, I know I'm good. Lol. But yeah, that's it.. Oh but at the end of the semester I got elected as President for FEGA.. I don't know how next year is going to be. I registered for classes, some ending at 6 or 7 pm! I hope I can be a good leader. I'm so scared though. Especially since I don't have much support on it. =/ Plus I need to take my Praxis and get in the School of Education by next sem! Oi!

COURSES TAKEN:
AG101- A
ED201- A
GE201- A
CO106- A
Another 4.0 baby!!! Dean's list again, yeah?