College: Week One
I have completed my first week of college at USM! It has been an interesting week. Dealing with financial aid is driving me nuts! I had to have them do a re-evaluation which meant I had to bring in more paperwork. I have been to the office about 4 times now because one person will tell me I need this and that and when I take that in, the next person will tell me I need something else as well. But I do believe that I have finally got it all in to them and should receive my student loans soon.
The classes are far from boring and the instructors are likable. I have been asked to talk later in the semester about my book and how we received news while I was in Iraq in my Survey of Mass Communications class. In my Into to Film Studies, I have been asked to talk about the process of getting a screenplay written. Even though Eva Gardos is the one that wrote the script for the movie based on my book, I have been involved with it. I have made notes and spent many hours talking about what I did, how I felt and how things should look with her. I will be giving a small presentation next Wednesday night in the class. My Beginning acting class has not been to challenging yet, I am sure that before long it will become so. The 2 classes that are going to strain my baron are my Philosophy: Ethic’s and Good Living and the Media Writing Skills classes.
In the Philosophy class we are reading the philosophers and I am sure that you can understand why that would strain the brain. I don’t know if it is that I have lived more of life than my class mates, but I am not always getting out of the text what they are getting. Yea, some of what I get is similar, but than at times, I get something totally different or I don’t get what they get. I had a talk with the instructor about this Tuesday. He told me that I didn’t have to agree with his opinion, I just needed to get something out of what I was reading. He did say that he liked having me in the class because of how I see different things that the younger students. I told him my concern was not only getting something out of the class, but passing the class because I was not getting what the rest of the calls got. He said to not worry, it would be OK. So I will trudge along and hope that as time goes along and I get use to doing academic reading again, that it will get a little easier for me.
The Media writing Skills class is one that is a MUST to pass. We will be taking a test February 5th. If I pass that test with at least a 60%, then I will get a passing grade and not have to attend the class that rest of the semester. If I fail the test, then I have to go to the class the rest of the semester and take the test again at the end. If I pass then, then I am good to go, but if I fail again, I will get an incomplete and have to take the class again. This is a test that I HAVE to pass if I want to stay a major in Mass Communications. I can take the class 3 times, if I never pass the test, then I will be asked to change my major. The class is spelling, grammar, and punctuation the AP media way. So I guess we will see what happens on February 5th!
For now, I am still excited and nervous about being back in college. It has been a long time since I have had to study and do this kind of reading. I hope that as the semester progresses along, I will become more relaxed and settle into a routine of reading, studying, and play!
Tags: College, University of Southern Mississippi, USM, Vocational Rehab
