So this is my third year of college at the University of Oregon, and it is also my final year. I am a senior. And as I told Janessa last night "I know right? It feels like I just f**king got here!"
So I'm going to tell you about my first week, and what I expect from this year.
I started this term out with 18 credits, now I have 15, and those credits lost turned this term from one I dreaded to one I am actually looking forward to. One class gone and everything is fixed. That class is math 307.
Math 307 is part of the mathematics department's new bridge requirement for all majors and minors. The problem was that I already took classes that this was a prereq for, so of course I hadn't taken it before. But now it was a prerequisite for almost every upper division class there is. And it is a proof class.
For those of you who don't remember, I took a proof class last year, Math 315, and I got out of it with a D, the only D my major allows. I was in a study group with 3 other people, two of them failed the course, and the other one got a C. We are all brilliant, this class is just outrageously hard. In effect, I was terrified to take another proof class that was a required class. Terrified and pissed off that they added this new requirement and that I had to restructure my major because of it, as well as take two more math classes than I was expecting to. So I show up on the first day, and I sit down next to a girl who dropped out of 315 after the first week because she just said "pft, not this term I am not going to do this" and I never saw her again. Anyway, she was asking me why I was in the class, since I took 315 already (307 is now a prereq for 315 as well) and since I had taken 315 already, why was I in the class. I responded that I didn't get a C or higher, so I cannot use my 315 credit as a prereq, and then I bitched about the addition of the bridge requirement - she responded that it wasn't retroactive - since I had declared my major before the addition of the bridge, it didn't apply to me. To make a very long a tense story very short and relaxing, she was right. I dropped 307 that afternoon, put the notebook in my box of notebooks completely empty except the back which reads "Math 307 - NOT!"
So once I dropped that class, I was free to look at what else I was taking and enjoy it. So here is the traditional first week of term class rundown where I give my opinions about them.
Lets go in order of the week
1. Linguistics 411, Phonetics.
In this class we will be taking a closer look at how sounds are made with our vocal tracts, and how to analyze the sounds with computer equpiment - we are going to read spectrographs of soundwaves. I will be able to record you saying something and look at the waveform and figure out what you said (ish) by the end of this term. The teacher seems very direct, but she is really nice and enjoys input from the class - it isn't a lecture. She asks a lot of questions of us and tries to get us to figure stuff out. Much respect for her. I think the class is going to be very informative and maybe even a little fun - which is good, because it is one of the three more classes I have to take for my linguistics minor (the other two being phonology, the study of the theory of sounds as they exist in language, but not in actual speech - much more problem solving and puzzles there, and functional syntax I, which I suppose studys functional syntax in english, but I can't really be sure).
2. Math 420: Ordinary Differential Equations
This is the first class in a three part series (420, 421, 422) on DiffEq. The second one is Partial Differential Equations and Fourier Analysis, which is going to be cool for me, because PDEs are what stumped my dad in college. I think that is cool because the only way the human race will advance is if each generation is smarter than the last, so surpassing my ancestors in terms of my chosen field is very exciting as an idea - like the whole point of education is becoming very close to being fulfilled, think about that for a minute.
Anyway, the first three weeks will be a review of Math 256 (the blog on that class can be found at the link) so that'll be nice, and the rest will be new stuff that I can't tell you about yet, because I don't know it yet. But the class should be intersting and engaging. The professor is named Yattselev, and I'm not sure where he is from, but he has a sense of humor, he really knows his shit and he is very clear about what he expects from us, which is great. Also, he is completely gorgeous, which is a total plus.
3. Philosophy 110, Human Nature
This class looks very interesting at face value, but I think I'm going to hate it. I am going to hate it for one reason - the professor is teaching philosophy history of human nature, starting with the greeks, and he is teaching it as if they were right. I assume he will do this for every single one. It is usually presented as "hey, this is what the greeks thought - what do you guys make of that?" but there was no room for discussion or argument or presenting different views. Even in a 300 person class, you can take a couple hands every few minutes to present some viewpoints. As Peter said, we are going to spend a lot of time in our heads saying "that's wrong, that's wrong..."
The prof is great at explaining things though, and I think the writing assignments will be thought provoking. Basically, the main part of the learning in this class will be done in my mind, rather than in the class - oh well.
4. African Dance I
I took african I last term as well, and you have to take at least two terms of it before you can go on to african II, so this will be same level of difficulty, with some different dances (because it is a different teacher). The cool part of this class is going to be the people. Some of my best dancer friends are in this class (I'd say my two favorite dancer friends actually) and the other kids who I don't know seem very energetic and open and very into having a good time. Lots of people there to experiment with something new, and those are the best kids to have in a level I dance class. We learned Babaye and some of Lamba (Lamba is one of the big three dances we are learning the term, the other two being Kou Kou and Nzobi) which were great, Babayo I call it that because that is the first line of the song we sing while we dance
Babayo (bah-bah-yoh)
Baba aye (bah-bah ah-yey)
Baba lorisha (bah-bah loreesha)
Baba ok (bah-bah oh-kay)
Very simple dance, but a good way to get people going.
Lamba is much more complicated, requires a lot o coordination and has a lot of capacity for improvisation within the structure, and LOTS of capacity for booty shakin', which I am a fan of.
5. African Drumming
After I took african dance last year, and started drumming this summer again (I was jamming out on a djembe, a west african hardwood drum, with my friend on a guitar and we had a blast) I decided I wanted to take a class to learn how to read music for a hand drum. I can read for drum set, but hand drumming is done by oral tradition mainly, but there is a notation, but it isn't on a staff. Class is a bit large for my taste for something like drumming, but there it is. It is going to be a fantastic time, and it is right after african, which is great.
6. Tap III
Because I could drop Math 307 (1pm, MTWF) I would then be able to take this class (1pm TR) and that makes me happier than a... than a... umm... *insert awesome analogy here*. Anyway, big class for tap III, 8 people, varied levels, but much of the same stuff. Going to be a fantastic time! The cool thing about this year is that I have been in tap III for 3 terms, so I'll take it non credit the next two terms most likely, and I am getting a piece of board to I can tap at home and drive my room mates insane. This is not official, but I am gonna say it is likely, that at the end of the year for Spring Loft, I will be able to tap in Jean's tap piece! Small group, highly complicated and well choreographed, and very very fun.
So, I have a lot of stuff to look forward to this year, a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Last year, lets go kick some butt. Allons-y! Also, I have been a total Doctor Who fan...
The other September entries:
Faerieworlds Harvest 2011
Earthdance Northwest
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