School Daze

I am currently taking three prerequisite classes: Microbiology, Organic Chemistry II, and the dreaded Anatomy Lab.

Anatomy is a lot like the video game class I took at Georgia Tech; it sounds like a lot of fun when you sign up for it, but it really ends up just being a lot of work. There are only three graded assignments in the class, which are "practical exams". There are several dozen cadavers spread over two rooms cut open in various ways with various tags hanging off various organs and structures. There are 54 stations in the rooms. Ding! You have 1 minute to identify the organ before you move to the next station. Ding! Is this a subclavian vein or brachiocephalic trunk? Oh crap, I think it might be a nerve. Ding! Wait, that was 60 seconds? Ding! Anyway, you can imagine the stress. Today was test #2. I didn't do so well on the last test, so today was kind of stressful. But I'm glad to be done with this section.

Organic Chemistry is where I spend most of my time this semester. It is just the opposite of the Anatomy class in that there are 6 tests, five quizzes, and over a dozen homework assignments and labs. We just got test #4 back; I didn't do so hot on this one. Fortunately, I did really well on the first two, and pretty decent on quiz #3. I'm right at 86% in the class, and we've only received grades for the first two labs that we've done. I only have to get a C in this class, and as my sister-in-law Aimee says, "C's make degrees".

Microbiology is the most interesting class this semester from an academic point of view. I only go to class on Wednesday for lab, and Thursday for class. Four weeks ago--the week before spring break--our teacher announced that it would be her last week teaching the class. She had gotten the job she had always wanted, and they couldn't wait until the end of the semester to hire her. Not to worry, we were told, a teacher from another school was going to take over the class.

How frustrating is that? We had just gotten our second of three exams back. We were just staring to figure out what she put on tests and how she graded our homework assignments. Now we have to learn this all over again? Not the ideal situation, but we all figured it would be manageable. We took all off for spring break.

The Wednesday we came back (two weeks ago), we showed up to lab not knowing what to expect. Our teacher shows up and announces that she'll be instructing us for the rest of the semester, but she hasn't read our syllabus yet, much less our lab for the day. We have had a tutor--not a TA, a tutor, mind you--who has been in class throughout the semester solely for the purpose of answering some of the easy procedural questions we've had in lab. She got put in charge of half of the lab lesson. Our lab group likes to get things done early, so we got done what we needed to. Long story short, by the end of class, the new teacher was asking me how I used the spectrometer. Not a good start. The next day of lecture wasn't much better; the lecture style was completely new, and at the end of class, she announced that we would have a sub for the next week.

Last week, we had our second written assignment due on Wednesday. We all showed up for class, but unfortunately the teacher did not. A TA, who fortunately had taught our lab to another class the day before and coincidentally was available, was drafted to teach the lab. We got done with the lab, but we were instructed not to turn in our paper. The next day, we had a teacher show up. He had been asked by the dean the day before to fill in for our class. He took our original teacher's syllabus topic and brought in his slide-show on the subject. He had tried to contact our new teacher, but could not get a hold of her. I have the feeling that if anyone gets less than an "A" for the semester, they will be protesting their grade.

At any rate, that's probably way more information than you wanted. Only five more weeks before finals!