My first college exam went badly, by my standards. I was working for a grade between a 90 and a 95, and I got an 83. I’ve been told by several sources that an 83 is an excellent grade, but 83s are just not my style. Call me a nerd or an over-achiever, but it’s just the way I am – I refuse to be an 83% efficient air traffic controller. The first exam was hard – really hard. It was in a subject that I had never really closely encountered before – Aero Safety. It included a lot of history, politics, governmental acts and processes, and a lot of CFRs and the FARs. This class is teaching me how to hone my study skills – conform to tests to get the outcomes that I want.

I was terrified of my IT class. Really – I can’t stand computers – I don’t like thinking about them, learning about them, or being on them that much. I have absolutely no interest in how computers work, unless it has to do with how to download music, send emails, or talk to people on AIM. I just don’t care and it bores me to death and I hate computers. I know NOTHING about computers, while half of my class seems to know everything about them. However, I have 98 in that class – Never gotten anything below a 90 in the class (and that was just once) – and blackboard tells me that the average for that course is a 77. I have no idea how it is possible for someone as challenged as I am about computers to be doing that well. All I can say is that I TRY – I try REALLY HARD to understand and do all of the assignments – There are a lot of assignments, a lot of quizzes – just a lot of stuff to keep up with. This class has shown me that if you DO the work and you TRY… it should pay off. Also, it has shown me that I need to talk to my professors – if a grade doesn’t seem right, get it fixed. The same proved true for my meteorology class.

My Meteorology class – I like the subject, but I’m not wild about the class – it’s the biggest class that I’m in (I think), and I think I lose something from that. However, it challenges me to be focused and to use class time wisely. Sometimes I fail. Horribly – I’m not going to lie. I took a test in that class today, and I know that I did really really well on it – I studied what the professor suggested that we studied, as well as my notes and the text. There is no doubt in my mind that I got an A. (And I did!) I work really hard in my math class. Really hard. I do all the homework, I got to class, I do well on quizzes, I study, the material is easy – but I still had a B. Just because it’s easy – that doesn’t mean that I don’t have to try just as hard. I also think that professors take into account how much you participate – at least, I hope mine does, because I participate a lot in class. I have an exam coming up in that class – on the 2nd. I’m not too stressed about it yet, since I feel pretty comfortable with the material that we have already covered. (And that exam went really well, I now have a really great grade in that class).

University 101 is a strange class. But I have an awesome topic for my term paper. It’s going to be something like, “University 101 is Necessary?” I know it’s a bit controversial, but I like that. Topic is already approved and it’s going to be fun.

Speech class… I didn’t get an A on my first speech solely because I was not prepared to speak on the first day. There’s no excuse. My professor even told me that my delivery was worthy of an A, but because I didn’t speak on the first day, I got graded down. Next time I’ll be ready. (And I was.)

And that’s it for now! If you have any questions or concerns or you want to chat, or you want to rag on me for being a nerd, just drop me an email: rumbebb5@erau.edu