Back to School, Well Sort Of

My classes this semester are on Mondays and Thursdays. I'm taking two math courses, one is the fourth and final calculus class, the other a statistics class. The calculus class was at 9:30 this morning, and when I got there, the prof had not yet arrived. We waited about 15 minutes, then there was some griping, and a couple of students left. After a few more minutes, we all got up to leave, and as I got to the hall, two students came back, having checked with the department office. The office had called the professor, reached him? (not sure, but think he's male) and found out that he thought winter break ended next week. Pretty lame!

Mid-term Angst

On Thursday, I took two midterms. The second was in Matrix and Linear Algebra, and it seemed to have gone well. It was the first one, Calculus III, that has me concerned. Of the ten problems, I only managed to work seven of them. When class ended, about half the class was still in the room. I sent an e-mail to the professor asking about this, but have gotten no reply. I had sent two previous e-mails to this prof, and gotten no response to them, but he seemed to have considered them. I'm wondering if there is to be a curve. If not, I may have hit the first real bump in my return to school. Time will tell.

Flying Chalk

I was watching the beginning of the movie Cocktail and saw Tom Cruise sleeping in class. It reminded me of a visit I got my first time in college, from a piece of chalk.
One of the instructors had the practice of flinging the piece of chalk he was writing with at sleeping students. The practice had two benefits, it cut down on sleeping in class and provided a degree of entertainment to those paying attention.
Well, on this day, I was in back of the classroom, and for the the only time during the semester, he missed! The chalk clanged off the edge of the seat beside me, rose onto the back wall of the wall of the room and shattered into grit, a cloud of dust, and the laughter of other students.
I've just once had trouble staying awake so far this go round. I think I managed to hold onto an A this semester, but I think by just a hair.

Challenges Of Registration

I thought I had signed up for a summer course last week, but apparently, I had not. Anyway, as I went to check me schedule on Monday, I found NO courses. So, on checking, I found that I apparently had not registered.
Fortunately, there was space available in the course. I tried to sign up. No Luck! I was on hold because of health services. I went over there to get details, and I must prove that I have been immunized for MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella). They took me off hold to permit registration, but I must address this.
So, once again, I tried to register. I couldn't! Why not? I had taken six credits last semester. I am taking undergraduate courses with the intent of a second B.A., but since I have a degree, I am considered a graduate student. Thus, the twelve credit undergrad limit does not apply. I had to visit the graduate office to have that limit waived.
Ain't bureaucracy fun?

Wrong

On campus today, I walked into an art gallery where there is a photographic exhibit. It's the kind of exhibit where stealing is unlikely, and destruction/desecration is pretty unlikely.
As I was looking around, I noticed there was a security guard watching the exhibit. This is a small exhibit, so the cost of the guard must be a big part of the cost of the exhibit. Shouldn't the academic environment be one where respect and trust is the norm?
To me, having (or needing to have) that security guard there is wrong.

Math Midterm Today

I'm sweating a little, but very little. My biggest concern is whether I will get done in time (closely followed by whether I will make foolish errors). I seem to be one of the slower workers in class, I think mostly as a result of showing perhaps more work than necessary.
The flu seems pretty well gone, even the cough has mostly subsided, though I can still feel my throat's not quite right.

Post Test Update - I feel pretty good about how I did. One kid left class after what seemed like 10 minutes. It took me 35 minutes to finish, then I took 10 more to check my work. I was still out long before period ended (one hour and 20 minutes).

Leap Day

Well, today is our bonus day of the current quadrennial. I am at school, and got back results of a quiz which I thought I got a 92 on, but I was mistaken, I got a 96. That was a piece of positive news.

We tend to think that our year is neatly 365 1/4 days, but that's not really the case. We have a leap second or two added virtually every year at the changing of the year. The existence of atomic clocks have made correcting even these very minor errors noticable.

Several things have struck me as I've observed my fellow students on campus:
1) an awful lot of them use the automatic doors for the handicapped, hitting the button to avoid having to open the door themselves. I notice an awful lot of cold getting into the buildings as these doors stay open longer than normal.
2) It seems like a lot smoke. I don't know if it's the socioeconomic background of them (it's a state school), or otherwise, but given what's known about the health effects of smoking, it seems like our anti-smoking efforts are failing in a big way.
3) I seem to fit in better with the foreign and/or older students. I guess it makes sense for two reasons: a) I grew up in a different culture (America 30 years before them) and b) Like many of these foreign students, I'm motivated to really learn. They wouldn't be here if they didn't care.

A Blessing And A Curse

Having recently returned to college, I have been surprised at the lack of academic rigor in my classes. Given 30 years away from academic math, this has proven both a blessing and a curse. The lack of rigor means that on quizzes and the like, I am being tested on the material that we have covered in class, and not on my ability to factor polynomials or my understanding of fractional or negative exponents. Still, I realize that I need to regain these skills and the understanding that goes along with them. It's a blessing that I can take my time in regaining these skills, but a curse that I am not forced to get them back more quickly.

Why Back In School?

Bruce Robison posted the question a couple of posts back asking why I am back in school. Simply, I have always had the desire to teach, and in order to be able to do it in the field where I feel I can have the greatest impact, I need to get more credits in math and science. I am finding myself struggling, but for very different reasons than the first time around. Now, it's lack of practice, back then it was laziness.

Back In School

After a hiatus of nearly 30 years, I'm back in college and studying calculus once again. I find I'm rusty, but the concepts are (at least not yet) difficult. Right now, the challenge is getting refreshed on the symbology and terminology of academic math.