What I Learned This Semester - Spring 2011 Edition

Some things that I learned this semester:

• If I am given the opportunity to procrastinate, I will absolutely take it.  Maybe I won't take it down to the very, very wire (unless it involves Access database work, which I did on the last day to turn in for my Business Computing class that last night), but I'll definitely wait until I can't take the guilt and stress of putting it off anymore.  This is a good thing for me to remember, as most of my classes in the Summer semester are online, and, to a degree, self-paced.
• Do not make fun of your professor, no matter how bad a teacher s/he may be.  S/he may die during the semester, and then you'll feel really, really bad, for at least one day.  Possibly twelve hours.
• Just because you think you're funny and your presentation is awesome, doesn't mean the rest of the class shares your sense of humor.  Tough rooms, those classrooms.
•  Algebra is hard as balls.  It takes a lot of time and work and even more frustration.  They tell me it's all worth it, but I think they're lying.
• If you are constantly eating "on-the-go," no matter how "on-the-go" you are, you won't lose weight.  In fact, you might gain some.

By the end of the semester, the Picnic Table People had dwindled down to myself and Brian, who I think I've mentioned before.  Spidey dropped out of sight a couple of months ago, and Mike the Iraq War Vet never came back after our discussion about whether or not school was harder than war.  (I maintain my point, but given that he never came back, he may be equally as convinced of his own.)  We also picked up and lost The One African Dude Who Likes to Talk About Soccer, and That Skinny Kid Whose Name We Don't Know.  And by African, I mean, really African.  I listened to a lot of talk about soccer that I probably wouldn't have otherwise just because he had an awesome accent.

I never did find the words to express how much fun I had in my Business Computing class, but I really, really did.  The professor did a great job of engaging everybody (especially considering that it was an evening class) - he was hilarious.  He said great things to me and about me and he was just my very favorite.

All in all, I think it was as good a semester to jump back into things as I could have had.  This summer, I'm taking English Comp 2 (I took English Comp 1 the same semester as I took Elementary Algebra back ten years ago) and US History 2 as online courses for the first five and a half weeks of the summer semester.  At the same time, I'll be taking Intermediate Algebra (actual physical class) and Intro to Environmental Science (online) as eleven-week courses.  This could be the dumbest decision I have ever made in my life.  It's hard to say at this point.  But rest assured, if it is, you'll probably be the first to know.