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| I give up |
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Posted by Amber on April 15th, 2012
Filed under: School
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I have two and a half weeks of class left, then a week of finals, but I’m…urgh. My microbial genetics professor finally posted grades for the third exam. I don’t think I wrote here about that, since I was busy studying for it, so I will now. I went to every lecture and recorded every one. I would then hand write the notes from the slides at home and spend over an hour on each lecture re-listening to it and writing in extra things he said in class that wasn’t on the slides. Writing all the notes probably took about four or five hours, plus about nine or so hours listening to the lectures. So roughly thirteen hours just to make the notes. Then there was the studying. In the week before the exam, I probably went over the notes, explaining them to myself for two hours a day, so figure that took about another eight hours of my time. For the pictures in the slides, I used my whiteboard and would draw them out, explaining the stuff to myself out loud as I did so. That was probably a couple hours. So, altogether that was close to twenty-five hours of studying for this exam. I skipped watching a couple of games for this exam, and it was March Madness. I don’t ignore the Madness. I wasn’t happy with my grades on the previous two, so I made sure that I knew the material. Then on the day of the exam I got there around fifteen minutes early to start it early and just barely managed to finish. Unlike the other exams, I answered all but one question on this exam, and was confident enough. I was hoping to get at least in the 90′s (as in ninety-something out of one hundred fifty). But I didn’t. I got 70/150. I did worse than the first two. Sad thing is that’s around what most people got, and it’s a C with the curve. Looks like no matter what I try I’m getting a C in this class. I guess I should be grateful. Then again, there’s still the final I have to not completely bomb. | Maybe it doesn’t have to suck so much |
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Posted by Amber on March 23rd, 2012
Filed under: School
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I’m sure I’ve posted before, several times I feel like, how I’m pissed that I have to spend an entire extra year in school because of stupid biochem. Well, now I can look forward to next year a bit more, after looking over things. I was really angry because I wanted to take more Japanese badly, but it and biochem were at the same time. Well, I decided to work on my schedule for next semester some more tonight and found out that biochem was changed to mornings, so now, at least as long as I study my ass off over the summer so I pass the placement test (since I had to take a semester off), I get to take Japanese. Then I was looking at some of my classes to GRO, since I haven’t used any of my credits yet. I also looked at my major GPA, which isn’t actually too bad. It’s those two math classes I took that are screwing my overall GPA over, but my major one is pretty decent. I’m going to retake general microbiology next semester because I know I can do better than a C, in reality it should be an easy A this time around with all the upper division mic courses I’ve taken. That’ll easily bring it above a 3.0. And then I already planned to retake cell biology which I got a D in, and if I can just get a B in there my GPA will go up even more. Right now it looks like I’ll end up with a C in microbial genetics, so I might just take that over next spring too, because I have yet to settle for anything less than a B in my upper division courses (with the exception of cell biology, but I’m taking that over because I refuse to be happy with that D). If I do as I want in those courses then I should get my major GPA around 3.4 or so, which would look a lot better when applying to grad schools. I also need to figure out over the summer where I should apply, and of course take the GRE. That’s all for now, I’m trying to get some of my notes for micro genetics taken care of. | Finally over! |
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This week has been nothing short of shitty. First off, I end up getting a cold again (I usually only get sick once a year, but this year, thanks to my brother, I got sick in September during midterms and now I’ve caught something again). It was a sore throat that was incredibly irritating for a couple days, then a couple days of the normal cold symptoms. Luckily it was very mild so I’m nearly over it. Then Tuesday morning I think I performed a winning act for klutz of the year. Izumi was up to something (she had been bad all morning, getting into things, knocking stuff over, etc.) and so I got up to see what she was doing. I ended up jamming my toe into the wall. This isn’t really all too strange for me. About a month ago I ended running straight into a wall in the apartment (I don’t remember if I wrote about that or not), and banging feet on walls/doors/furniture is nothing strange for me. However, this hurt much more than usual. I was limping around the apartment until I had to go to lab, which luckily was the only class I had that day. That was painful, because I had to wear close toe shoes. When I got back and took my shoes off I noticed that the painful little toe now resembled a large, swollen, purple something. It was badly bruised, twice the size of my other little toe, and still incredibly painful. I had to wrap it for a few days, but it’s now returned to normal size, and is back to normal color with the exception of some bruising still on the inside (which means I hit the inside of my little toe on the wall, which really makes no sense). But it continues!| To Japan! |
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Posted by Amber on October 28th, 2011
Filed under: School
This week has been kind of meh. One a good note I only had biostats once this week because the professor “had an incident” with her horse. But on a lower note I didn’t have my micro lab this week. Yes, I have to get up at 6AM in order to get to my 8AM lab which lasts until nearly noon at the longest, but it’s the one class that I really enjoy what I’m doing. What can I say, I’m a micro nut. Now back to Japanese homework. Tags: japan, japanese, School |
I need to just move to Japan for a year and be immersed in the language. My Japanese professor has said countless times thus far I know enough Japanese that I’d be able to get around in Japan, and the stuff in the 200 levels and beyond is an extension. Swell. Well, if I know enough to get around then that’s what I really need to do. Going to class and talking in Japanese for less than an hour a day isn’t going to help me learn. You learn by doing, and if I go to Japan then I’ll pretty much be forced to speak, read, write and hear Japanese all the time, so it’ll eventually come more naturally to me. Shame I don’t have the money. I wanted to do at least one semester abroad in Japan but have never had the money. 日本語が上手になるように日本に行きたいよ！！ That doesn’t sound quite right, but it does get what I’m trying to say across.| And I’m looking for a job on top of it all |
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So in case you hadn’t noticed, this semester has been a rather busy one for me. It’s my senior year, although after looking at everything it looks like I’m going to be staying another full year probably. And for one class, biochem. Why? Because before they had a one semester biochem class for non-majors who needed it. Well, apparently the last time they had it was last spring, so now in order to fill my requirements I don’t get to take a 3 unit biochem course, but two semesters of biochem, each 4 units each. Lucky me. I guess that’s what I get for putting it off. So I’m going to have to most likely come back next year just for that class. But on the plus side if I do come back I can take Japanese 415 in the fall. Hopefully I can, taking a semester break from a foreign language might as well be taking a three year break from speaking it. But also another good thing, if I do have to stay, and if I get the job I’m trying for right now, then I’ll have tons of time to work. And I hope I do get the job. I applied once before but apparently there wasn’t anyone qualified enough or something so the job was posted again. I am qualified for it, and I am determined to get it, so I’m applying again. It’s the perfect job for me and a great chance for me to keep practicing and learning new lab skills. The pay isn’t too bad either, it’s nearly $11/hr, which may not seem like a lot to some people reading this, I don’t know, but minimum wage in Arizona is only $7.35, which I’ve been told is very low compared to other states. Real quick about classes. I hate my biostats with a passion, and I usually leave early in order to make it on time to my next class because there’s no point in being in class except for possible extra credit. The professor can’t lecture worth shit, it seems like she’s always just babbling. She just pisses me off. My vet sci lab isn’t too bad, it’s actually pretty easy, just takes a bit of work and the main professor who lectures is a bit boring. Japanese is fine, I have the same professor (I don’t know if that’s even what I should call him, he’s a grad student) as I did for some of 101 and 201, which helps because I don’t have to get used to how he speaks. I’m actually doing pretty well in there right now. And my micro lab is enjoyable, although not so much the Monday pre-lab lectures. The professor pretty much just goes over what we’ll be doing in lab that week in fifty minutes, and then the next day the lab TA goes over the same information in about 20 minutes, so I’m not sure why I go but I go. My lab TA is really nice though. And quick anime! Thus far nothing good this season except Shana. Boku wa Tomodachi isn’t too bad I guess, but nothing else I’m watching stands out. Although from last season Penguindrum is starting to intrigue me. It’s kind of like with Steins;Gate (end AMAZING), where I had no clue what the hell was initially going on, but when it started it started. And that’s all I have to say for now! Or have time to say! Oh and I’ll put a more relevant icon when photobucket decides it wants to stop being a bitch. Tags: Anime, life, School |
| Seriously? |
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Posted by Amber on May 12th, 2011
Filed under: School
Now what’s in store? Packing up all my crap, moving out of the apartment Saturday. Hopefully getting a job over the summer because I’m in desperate need of money, and of course wasting my entire June and most of July taking physics at community college. What ever happened to summer vacation? I haven’t had one since I entered college, I’m always taking classes. Tags: grades, School |
Urgh!!! This semester had even more potential to be my best in college so far than I thought. I don’t know if they have the official grade up yet, but my Modern Latin America class I know I got a nice solid A in. I just checked my other grades and I am so happy I pushed myself to do that extra credit paper for virology, because it ended up pushing me from a B to an A. And also a good thing I didn’t take the final, because looking at the stats the average was a 44%, and nobody got over an 80 on it. I then checked to see if cell biology was up, and I’m kind of pissed now. I thought I downright blew that class. Well, I didn’t do as badly as I thought. I ended up with a 57%. All I needed was about 15 more points to get a D and pass, and not have to take it over next year. Damn. Then I checked Japanese, which I was so sure I was going to get a C in. I got a C, but just barely. I ended up with a 79.35%. I don’t know if they round up from .5, but either way, I was so damn close to that glorious B that would again help my GPA so very much. I think if I had not been stupid one time with my homework I could have gotten a B. And by stupid I mean that on one of the homework assignments I accidentally did the workbook portion instead of the lab manual portion, which was what we were supposed to do, so I had to turn the right part in the next day for half credit. Those points could have helped me get that B I so badly wanted. The only one I don’t know yet is microbial physiology which I took today, and since he doesn’t use D2L I won’t get to actually know what my grade on the final was, just my overall grade when it’s posted online. I wanted an A in that class, and it was easily possibly had I gotten an A on the last exam, which I felt I had, but ended up getting a B on. So the only way to get an A was to get at least 102 on the exam. The exam is out of 105, so there’s no way I only missed three points. But I feel I did well enough to get a B, and I’ll live with that, considering I thought at the beginning of the semester I’d fail. | Realizations |
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Now to as the title says. This is going to be very short, because I have less than a week of class left for the year and have a shitload of stuff to do. First, I’d like to say a bit about the finally aired last two episodes of Madoka. It took forever, and honestly the ending was a bit confusing (not so much the ending ending as much as the Madoka stuff), but it received a 10 from me, and has bumped Clannad down to my 3rd favorite anime. Also the HOTD OVA, which I’ve been looking so forward to because there isn’t going to be a second season anytime soon with the mangaka only bringing out a chapter every two months with barely any development in it, didn’t impress. I rated it rather low. Now onto realizations! (more…) Tags: Anime, basketball, college, life, music, random |
No more basketball stuff, because basketball is over. Okay, one thing. Williams decided to screw Arizona over and declared for the NBA draft. Bye bye top 5 rank pre-season and automatic championship. He should have stayed another year, he could have worked on his defense more. Whatever though, there’s an amazing class coming in, I guess we’ll just have to show him we can do it without him, and when Arizona does clench that championship next year he’ll be sorry he missed it.| Yet another one? |
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School is school, I will say that. I’m killing myself for school, but it’s not giving back. A couple weeks ago I probably put in close to 30 hours of studying within a week of my cell biology test. I was freaking out before I got to it, knowing I was going to fail. I get there, get the test, and I didn’t think it was that bad. I was expecting a C, a D at the worst. Ending up getting a 39. I’ve been busy with other classes, so I haven’t had time to look at the answer key they posted, but I’m kind of hating myself for not writing in pen. Had I written in pen I could have petitioned for a regrade. My reasoning for why I think I had points taken off when I shouldn’t have is because they grades around 150 tests, 6 pages all hand written answers, within 6 hours of the test being taken. I have trouble believing they really took their time to look over them carefully. But I’m stuck with that damn grade for that stupid class. The virology test I did the worst I was expecting. I was expecting a low B or C. I ended up getting a low C. It’s passing, but not what I wanted. So I’m going to have to figure out how to put more effort into that class. My first Japanese chapter test I got a high C. I didn’t like it, the past two semesters I never got below a B. I have the 2nd on Monday, then my midterm oral sometime this week and the written midterm the next Monday. My stupid INDV test…that was a fun day. I get to the bus stop, and something that never happens at that time of day happens- both spots on the bike rack are full. I needed to take my bike that day or I wouldn’t be able to get to classes in time. So I decided to wait for the next bus, since it would get me there about 10 minutes before class started, so I could get to the room about 5 minutes before the exam started. Well, something that has never ever happened in the many months I’ve been taking my bike on the bus- this rack is full as well. So I’m there, a few miles off of campus, with a test that starts in 20 minutes. The next bus comes in a half hour. So what do I do? I get on my bike and I pedal my ass off. I was about to give up about a mile in (I’m not in the best shape, but I’m not in the worst shape either. You try biking 3.5 miles up and down hilly streets), but there was no way I was going to miss the easy A test, so I kept going. With lights and everything I made it a couple minutes late, so I probably biked it in about 15 minutes. I got there and collapsed into my seat. The entire test I was having trouble because my hand was shaking from exhaustion. Wasn’t a fun day. Haven’t gotten the score back yet. I have tons of exams before spring break, but my next big one is microbial physiology. I can get an A on it. This professor, although a pompous ass, isn’t a complete asshole. There aren’t going to be any curve balls or trick questions. It’s very straightforward, so as long as I know the material front and back that we’ve gone over in class that A is mine. Tags: Anime, Manga, midterms, School, stupid buses |
Since I’m not sure when the last time I made a non-basketball related post was, I’ll do one now. | Time is nonexistent |
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School…so much this semester. Microbial physiology is going to kick my ass unless I fight back and kick its ass instead. Cell biology and virology are going to be challenging, but should be doable. The professor wasn’t lying, Japanese does get harder once you hit second year. Yet I’m taking it because I was to learn the language and minor in it. I actually just got back from my INDV section…there’s like 10 people tops in it. And I’m pretty sure almost all of them speak Spanish, along with the TA. It’s not his Spanish speaking section, but still. They must be in it because they actually want to know stuff about Latin America. I just grabbed whatever INDV I could that fit in my schedule so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting almost all my elective done my senior year. Although I can tell you right now (and I’m not glorifying myself here, I’m serious) I am the brainchild of that class. When we were working on a map my TA had to ask out loud if we knew what a peninsula was because so many people had no clue. One of the people I was working with didn’t know where the Sonora Desert is, which is bad considering we live in it. Last night was all new episodes of stuff, Bones, The Office, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation finally came back on. Had I watched them, I wouldn’t have been able to watch either Bones or The Office and 30 Rock because stupid American Idol took the 7PM spot last night. However, I watched none of them. Buffy was on for 3 hours last night, and I had to watch that because it’s almost to the end. Tonight should be the series finale, unless Logo decides to be stupid and not air it like they did Monday. I also watched Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica yesterday, and my first thought after it was over: “Shit just got real.” It was unexpected for a mahou shoujo anime, but damn. I must say, I’m surprised that this is turning out to be my favorite of the season, especially since I’ve never found SHAFT shows to be more than a bit of random entertainment. I leave you now with this awesome ED. Under a cut because of the size. |
| Right, right quick |
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I turned 21 in November. Still haven’t had a drink. Was going to go when I was home for Thanksgiving break and have some sake at my birthday dinner, but I decided I’ll just wait until winter break because I used a birthday coupon for a free pizza for lunch. I suppose last because I need to get back to studying, I have been raging over football. Much of my family thinks it’s weird how I’ve gotten into football. I haven’t really, I’ve just gotten into my school’s team. And we were doing so awesome in the beginning, but then we lost four straight. So we ended 7-5. But we still managed to qualify for a bowl with our great play in the beginning of the season, but not the coveted Rose Bowl that everyone was slowly setting their hopes on. Although we should have ended 10-2, but we didn’t. Why? Our damn kicker. The first loss we missed because he missed a field goal and an extra point, which would have had us win by 1. The second loss he screwed us out of if he initially had it blocked, but then after a flag and second attempt he just entirely missed is. The last game, the game which to most at the university was the most important game of the season because it was our rival school…in double overtime, we lost by 1, and lost the cup. You know why we lost by 1? About a minute and half left in the game, he kicked a ridiculously low extra point, had it blocked, and sent us into overtime. Made the field goal in overtime, but then in double OT he had his kick blocked again. And, in that red filled stadium filled with probably around 90,000 fans, and all the people watching on TV, he killed us. I raged so hard right after it happened. A lot of people did. So many people did that it was a trending topic worldwide on Twitter. But I literally fell to the ground and nearly started crying. He better get better by the bowl game, that’s all I can say. All I have time for now. Probably won’t update until sometime during winter break in a couple weeks. BTW, I chose the icon because I’ve been really craving a burger for months and haven’t had one. Tags: birthday, football, School |
A very quick updated because I haven’t updated in nearly two months. There’s a reason for that, as well as why this is so very quick. It’s because of school. This semester of school has kept me so busy. I don’t even live on campus anymore and I swear I spend more time there than when I did. And then when I get back I usually have something to do, and a lot of it. Luckily the semester is nearly over, partial week of classes this week and then finals start Friday. Then next Thursday I’m done. My expected grades: I know that I’m going to get an A in immunology, I’ve kicked ass on all the tests and quizzes. I’m pretty sure I can expect a good grade on my vaccine proposal. I don’t even have to worry about the final in there really. Japanese I’m about 95% certain I’m getting a B in there, even though I have the oral and written final left in there. I was hoping for an A, but I B isn’t bad. O-chem I don’t care anymore, because I’m going to fail. I know I am. I hate the fact I’ll have to go through that shit again because I really hate the class, but hopefully next time I’ll get a competent professor like I had first semester. And Mycology…I’m about 80% certain I’ll pass, but at the highest with a C. I was hoping for a B at the beginning of the semester, but that wasn’t going to happen. The professor’s tests are completely ridiculous, he expects to know information much more in depth than what’s on the notes, and there is no book to refer to so it’s pretty much you should know perfectly because he says it once in lecture. |
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| Credits |
| Site made and maintained by Amber and designed and hosted by Megan. Images featured are from K-ON and with textures from deviantart. Other graphics from Dumago and Deviantart. All original content © Butterflii.org 2006-2012. This site is powered by WordPress. Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS). |
