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"Hey Bro, wassup? It's been a few weeks now so I'll tell you how it's going. Sorry I didn't get to you sooner - you know how it is.
Well here goes. When I arrived on campus I knew very few other students, if any. I saw a few others I had met at summer orientation, but I realized that I'll have to make new friends because my high school friends are all at different schools. I wish I knew how to start. I guess it'll just happen. My RA tells me, "you just have to realize that a new group will evolve, but cannot be forced; it will result from unintentional trial and error as you meet and find others who share your likes, dislikes and values" - he's a sociology major and talks like one, but he's cool. I wonder if the group will include any of my new roommates. I'm making some mistakes. I feel kind of home-sick at times; it's easier when our mom and dad helped me make some decisions - even you sometimes. My roommates decided to go to a movie last night and asked me to go along. I know that I should have said "no" because I had some homework due and a quiz tomorrow, but I didn't want them to think I was a nerd. I got back to the dorm late and got the homework done but slept through my 8:00 class and missed the quiz. I talked to my professor, but he said "no make-ups." I talked with my instructors in GE 1001, and they basically told me I was being a victim; I have to learn to take responsibility for my own decisions, complete with outcomes and consequences (they sound like Mom and Dad). I also asked them where I could buy a fan and what kind I should get; it's warm in my room, and maybe it will help drown out the noise of the kids who live above me, so I could sleep better. I had a lot of self-confidence when I got here. After all, I had a 3.2 high school GPA and 1182 on my SAT's and really didn't have to work that hard in high school. But here I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed. I'm taking physics, physics lab, chemistry, calculus, English, an engineering course and GE1001. I wish someone would tell these professors that his course is not the only one I'm taking; they either don't know or don't care. In two of these courses, they want me to work in a team and do a project - this seems stupid to me. Why should my grade depend on whether others do their jobs or not? Do you know it cost me $10 just to do my laundry yesterday, and I turned my underwear pink! Imagine me in pink underwear. "I've got a couple of cool instructors though. They really know their stuff. One's kind of intense, and it seems he really wants me to learn. I stopped by his office and he was really great; he really didn't answer my questions but had a way of getting me to answer them. I really want to do well in that class; actually, I want to do well in all of them, but especially that one. This other one has a way of not just solving problems but describing her thought process and strategy as she does them. She also takes the last few minutes of each class and has us write a note about what was unclear in the class. Then she starts the next class with a quick review or example to try to clear it up. I saw her at the food court the other day and she said "hi," and she knew my name - way cool! Then there's these other two professor dudes. One just writes on the board and talks; I really can't pay attention to what he's saying because I can barely keep up with the notes from the board. I hate when he skips steps. The average on the last exam was 47 - I mean what's the point? Can he really flunk 80% of the class? Maybe it's true that they're trying to get rid of half of us. A lot of kids in that class are really discouraged and are thinking they aren't cut out to be engineers. Then there's Darth Vader (that's what we call him). I don't think he wants to teach this course - maybe anything. He spends the whole class doing theory and never does any problems. He always makes us feel stupid when we ask a question and says we should know the answer. Really, if we knew, would we ask? We've given up; everyone's afraid to ask any questions. He's really nasty to kids who come in late. Hey, if I'm late, I'm just not going in. But here's the kicker; the other day he walked in ten minutes late and just acted as if it didn't happen. This dude is the same genius who missed the first class cause he didn't know that classes started on Wednesday, not Thursday - HELLO! Boy, I hope I can be like him when I grow up! "Hey Bro, gotta go to my work-study job in Marino. Talk to you later." |