wait, what?

I realize I really need to start posting pictures or you all go into a coma before you get to the end of my posts. Sorry about that.

Well, I have had my first day of classes, and my second day. It is going to be a busy semester and I am struggling to find a routine when I have classes all over the place and don't get out of class until 8:30 on Tuesdays, 6 on Wednesdays, and 8 on Thursdays. Also, I teach my first section of "psychological testing" on Friday, and I'm a little bit terrified.

Anyway. I'm wanting to share a few stories with you.

1) At work the other day, our boss was talking about the economy and how life as a college student is uncertain right now. She was talking about students don't want to graduate, so more are staying on campus, and how there was a general influx of freshman this year, possibly because people don't have the money to send their students elsewhere. She threw out a question to the effect of: "we don't know all the consequences of the financial instability at this point, so this fall semester is going to be different than those in the past." Makes sense, I'm on the same page. I catch her drift. I'm picking up what she's laying down. Then a fellow peer mentor (who is new this year) said "I know. I was talking to my dad and I was telling him, 'You know, it's because of the financial crash that I'm not a y-group leader this year.'[peer mentors used to be y-group leaders at new student orientation]"... all serious and urgent-sounding. ... wait, what? I don't even know how that makes sense in her head. Maybe you do?

2) I went to office depot last night to buy stuff for school after scoping out prices online and determining that they had the lowest ones. I went to a Staples and an OfficeMax first though- thinking they were Office Depots. They were not. Spent about an hour (if not more) scoping out notebooks, binders, and folders. Things in my world have to be color-coded. So each class has a color. Which means for classes that require notebooks and folders, I need to find matching folders and notebooks depending on the color of the class. Anyway- it took me longer than you might think humanly possible and I still had to go to Wal-mart [which I was trying to avoid] to get an orange, green, and purple notebook because Office Depot let me down. Lame. But anyway. I got my receipt back, and I had purposely put off purchasing a "financial calculator" (for about $30, for my Family Finance class) in the hopes of borrowing one from someone. But then I see the receipt and it says "$10 off coupon when you spend $30 or more". Well, my lucky day! I can get my calculator in about a week, and it'll cost me $20 instead of $30.

I held on to the coupon and just now looked at it on my desk. Here's what it says underneath the previously mentioned coupon announcement: "Valid in-store only at the store named on this receipt". Ok, I have to go back to the Orem Office Depot. Not a huge deal. Then, "must present this original coupon to cashier at time of purchase. Photocopies not valid." Ok, I get it. Then, "Not valid for purchases: 1) made in Office Depot outlet/clearance stores, 2) by contact customers with Store Purchasing or Procurement Cards [I don't even know what that means], 3) of gift cards, 4) [and my personal favorite] of any technology or consumer electronic products and accessories or media or software products, 5) of postage stamps, 6) of product protection plans, 7) of HP ink or toner, 8) of wireless, satellite, internet, technology, installation, mailing shipping, or third-party services."

Ok seriously, when your "coupon" is 6" long and 5.5" of that is to explain what you can't get with it, something is wrong. Anyway- I'm guessing my calculator falls under the "electronic products" category. Maybe not.

No but really. I think they should have included a list of what you can get with your coupon; I think it would have been shorter.

3) I went to Psych 358 tonight- Leadership Development. It meets once a week from 6-8:30 pm, and besides the fact that that is an ungodly time slot for a class, I was plenty excited about it. Should be interesting, I assumed. Then I go, find a grad student standing at the podium, and determine this might be less of a good choice than I thought. But, I'm trying to withhold judgment at this point.

We go over the syllabus, and he's talking about our writing assignments (two short ones, one long) and how he'll be grading mostly on organization and not content. So then he spends about 15 minutes explaining the "introduction-last-sentence-thesis-statement-topic-sentence-of-each-paragraph-conclusion" format. Basically how you wrote a paper in 4th grade. I have determined that professors who say they're grading on "organization" are really using code for "I don't plan on reading these and need a quick way to skim over your paper in 15 seconds or less. If you screw with my plan, and I actually have to read your paper to get what you're saying, you lose points." At this point, judgment starts flowing. Slowly.

Anyway. That's besides the point. My favorite part [and when I let all my judgment loose] of the syllabus was the section titled "Team Presentations". It went like this: "The class will be divided into five teams [note, he purposely avoided the word "group"]. Each team will present a chapter to the class. Team members will be given a specific chaper to present on a designated day. Presentations should cover key concepts from the chapter in an interesting way that will help students learn. Each team can use visual aids, digital learning, role playing, case studies, challenge groups, or any other ideas. Presentations should be between one and two hours. Extra journal articles on key topics are encouraged and can be posted by the professor on Blackboard for the entire class to read before your presentation... Be creative and have fun with it, but make sure the entire class will be prepared to be tested on the material you cover. Teams will hand in 5 multiple choice test questions when they do their presentation."

Ok... hold on a minute. This class meets like 12 times throughout the semester. 6 of those will be taught by students. Presentations have to be 1-2 hours long, and the class is 2.5 hours, not leaving much time for professor instruction. So I get it- we're providing lectures for you because you don't want to. Fine. But then it gets better. Not only do we have to do the lectures, but we're also responsible for activities and supplemental readings in class, and [my personal favorite] to provide you with 5 multiple choice test questions at the end of our presentation. So we write your test too?! Really?! ... what exactly do you do mr. grad-student-professor? Seriously?!

Oy.

Well anyway- those are my stories of the day. The end.

-mollie