I hate double standards.
One of my professors, let's call her Dr. Smith, is the queen of double standards in my life currently. When we, the students, have something due for her class, she will not hear any excuse from us if it's late, and pretty much just throw it out, not grading it.
Well, yesterday she said she would have our book report grades up. (I'm in grad school, doing a book report? Yeah, didn't make much sense to me either). Anyway, all of yesterday came and went and the grades are still not up. The seven students in Dr. Smith's class all have a combination of other classes, jobs, families, internships, and God-forbid ~ a life; yet any excuse doesn't matter to her. Why should she get extra time to grade our book reports (when it's her job) but she won't give us any extra time (not that I needed it, it's just the principle of the thing).
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Friday, April 13, 2012
Stress
Stress, defined by dictionary.com, is the physical pressure, pull or other force exerted on one thing by another; strain. I am definitely stressing right now. Let me explain.
I have several countdowns on my computer so I know how many days are left until a particular event. One of these countdowns is to Graduation as I graduate from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 37 days on May 20th so a little over a month. Seems like a lot of time, but now when you have so much going on. First of all, there is no break in homework. Readings for classes are getting longer, having to watch movies in order to respond to them in German seem to never end and the homework in general is piling up. Second is finals. I have one 'traditional' final this year for one of my criminal justice classes. By that I mean, go to class after studying, sit down, and take the final in class and then forget about it until grades are posted. In my other classes, I have one exam on the 24th of April which I can't really study for as it is just transliterating the text that he will give us in class. For that class I also have a presentation that I need to work on and a paper which together is 50% of the grade and is considered the final. For my online German class I have another presentation and a final paper (all in German) that together consists of 30% of my grade (which I'm not doing too hot in that class at the moment). My other criminal justice class I am actually looking forward to the final (how weird does that sound?). That final is basically a 20 page paper on 5 of the countries we studied talking about their criminal justice systems and how they differ from US's system and what I like about them. I might actually have more than 20 pages for that. Third thing that is getting at me is work. I don't have to prepare for work or anything like that, it is just that work hours always pick up at the end of the semester and the amount of homework one can complete during work is very little. To top it all off, I still need to finish applying for Grad School for Fall. Basically meaning that I need to remind the people that are writing my references to do so and take this MAT test which is an hour long test on next Wednesday (which I probably should study for).
Then there are the few things in this next month that will make my stress decrease. One is kick boxing. It is 3 hours a week where I concentrate on nothing else but punching and kicking the pads and not worrying about anything else. Then there is family and friends. Whether it is calling someone up on the phone, to playing Gears or watching a movie, it all helps relax me (only if I finished stuff due in the near future).
With all that being said, I should probably go do some more homework and hopefully not go crazy.
37 days and counting down!
I have several countdowns on my computer so I know how many days are left until a particular event. One of these countdowns is to Graduation as I graduate from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 37 days on May 20th so a little over a month. Seems like a lot of time, but now when you have so much going on. First of all, there is no break in homework. Readings for classes are getting longer, having to watch movies in order to respond to them in German seem to never end and the homework in general is piling up. Second is finals. I have one 'traditional' final this year for one of my criminal justice classes. By that I mean, go to class after studying, sit down, and take the final in class and then forget about it until grades are posted. In my other classes, I have one exam on the 24th of April which I can't really study for as it is just transliterating the text that he will give us in class. For that class I also have a presentation that I need to work on and a paper which together is 50% of the grade and is considered the final. For my online German class I have another presentation and a final paper (all in German) that together consists of 30% of my grade (which I'm not doing too hot in that class at the moment). My other criminal justice class I am actually looking forward to the final (how weird does that sound?). That final is basically a 20 page paper on 5 of the countries we studied talking about their criminal justice systems and how they differ from US's system and what I like about them. I might actually have more than 20 pages for that. Third thing that is getting at me is work. I don't have to prepare for work or anything like that, it is just that work hours always pick up at the end of the semester and the amount of homework one can complete during work is very little. To top it all off, I still need to finish applying for Grad School for Fall. Basically meaning that I need to remind the people that are writing my references to do so and take this MAT test which is an hour long test on next Wednesday (which I probably should study for).
Then there are the few things in this next month that will make my stress decrease. One is kick boxing. It is 3 hours a week where I concentrate on nothing else but punching and kicking the pads and not worrying about anything else. Then there is family and friends. Whether it is calling someone up on the phone, to playing Gears or watching a movie, it all helps relax me (only if I finished stuff due in the near future).
With all that being said, I should probably go do some more homework and hopefully not go crazy.
37 days and counting down!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Smart Asses
Here's the short background: I am part of an organization on campus here at UW-Milwaukee called Criminal Justice Student Association or CJSA. Last semester we had 4 officers like we are supposed to except our president, Evan, got a job in Tennessee starting in a few days so he moved down there a while ago and is getting all situated. Leaving us with 3 officers. This is Ashley's, our vice president's, last semester and apparently needs to focus on school work and finding a job, which is fine, except she left us with very little knowledge of her post and we are down to 2. Mike, the other officer, and myself are now in charge which is great because we get a long. The problem is we need to find 2 officers to replace the 2 that ditched us sooner than later so they can get acquainted with us and how we do things. Oh, the other 'problem' is that this is Mike's and my first year doing this so we were basically thrown in the water and said hope you can swim.
The problem comes with the 2 new officer positions. So far we received 3 emails with applications, two by Juniors so they have one more year left and one by a Senior who is staying here for grad school (reminds me that I really do need to get working on my own application for grad school, but I digress). The two Juniors seem nice and laid back which is what we like, yet still able to do tasks. The Senior is a smart ass. For the application we ask them to explain why they want to be an officer and what they can bring to our organization if they become one, so about two paragraphs. This guy wrote 4 long paragraphs telling us of all of his jobs in the field (UWM PD, WI State Fair PD, University Legal Clinic, and working at the Milwaukee County District Attorney) but failed to say why he wanted the position. It's great that he has done all of those things and the contacts that he has could help the CJSA but the way he worded things in those paragraphs made him sound like a smart ass. Instead of using 'many' he used 'plethora'. He said, and I quote, 'I wish to become a CJSA officer in order to fulfill its potential of becoming a first-rate student organization at a world renowned institution of higher education'. That doesn't answer our question as to why he wants to be an officer. Lastly he says, 'I hope I can lend myself to the CJSA and build a successful and effective organization for all' as if we are just starting off (which we aren't).
The bottom point of this post is, when you are asked a question, answer it. Don't beat around the bush telling us what you have done no matter how impressive it might seem or use thesaurus-ed words. Answer the question and then expand that answer if it is called for.
The problem comes with the 2 new officer positions. So far we received 3 emails with applications, two by Juniors so they have one more year left and one by a Senior who is staying here for grad school (reminds me that I really do need to get working on my own application for grad school, but I digress). The two Juniors seem nice and laid back which is what we like, yet still able to do tasks. The Senior is a smart ass. For the application we ask them to explain why they want to be an officer and what they can bring to our organization if they become one, so about two paragraphs. This guy wrote 4 long paragraphs telling us of all of his jobs in the field (UWM PD, WI State Fair PD, University Legal Clinic, and working at the Milwaukee County District Attorney) but failed to say why he wanted the position. It's great that he has done all of those things and the contacts that he has could help the CJSA but the way he worded things in those paragraphs made him sound like a smart ass. Instead of using 'many' he used 'plethora'. He said, and I quote, 'I wish to become a CJSA officer in order to fulfill its potential of becoming a first-rate student organization at a world renowned institution of higher education'. That doesn't answer our question as to why he wants to be an officer. Lastly he says, 'I hope I can lend myself to the CJSA and build a successful and effective organization for all' as if we are just starting off (which we aren't).
The bottom point of this post is, when you are asked a question, answer it. Don't beat around the bush telling us what you have done no matter how impressive it might seem or use thesaurus-ed words. Answer the question and then expand that answer if it is called for.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Awesome Day
Yesterday I had an awesome day. It started out rough as I had to get up early for my morning class but I woke up before the alarm rang in annoyingly so that was a plus. I had yogurt with granola and a cup of tea for breakfast which tasted really good and then off to class with another cup of tea.
On my way to my class, Criminal Justice, I ran into this guy
On my way to my class, Criminal Justice, I ran into this guy
Who always tries to hand out pamphlets to help stop animal cruelty with pictures of pigs and chickens in line to be slaughtered. The real thing about him that is funny is the way he says "Help stop animal CRUELty?" with his voice going up and down.
I arrived in my class early and there was only one other person there who was reading Harry Potter, which I spotted from several rows back without even passing her and we had a long talk about how totally awesome Harry Potter is and she has a remote control wand for her TV and another one that turns on a candle.
During class which was easy I got a phone call and didn't answer it, because for one, I was in class and two, it was a restricted call so I thought it was a telemarketer or something.
On the way to my German class (after lunch) I remembered the message the 'restricted' person left and listened to it. Turned out to be from the Milwaukee ATF about a speaker coming out to speak to a club I belong to, the Criminal Justice Student Association (CJSA). (Side note that makes it so much funnier: I emailed the ATF thinking that would be easier on their part. They sent back an email with a phone number that turned out to be to headquarters in DC. The guy that answered headed me in the right direction finally ending up in the Milwaukee office.)
During German class (where I am learning old German Script) I was the only one who recognized the short hand by putting a line over an 'm' or 'n' to symbolize doubling that letter. Professor said good job to me. That class ended early so I had plenty of time to go and change for kick boxing which kicked my butt and felt so good.
After kick boxing, came home and showered and then made a perfect egg (the yolk all runny and the white really soft). Ended the night with some reading of Hell House by Richard Matheson which got significantly better after the first 100 pages.
Hopefully today will be awesome too!
Monday, January 23, 2012
First Day, Last Semester
Today I start my first day of class for my last semester as an undergraduate here at UW-Milwaukee. I'm currently planning on taking 5 classes (2 Criminal Justice, 2 German, and a Sign Language class with the possibility of dropping the Sign Language class). My 2 CJ classes should be fun. One is about research methods where we probably talk about statistics and reports and math type stuff. My second one is about comparative criminal justice where we spend one month on USA's law, the constitution and why our law is the way it is (how we will fit that into just one month of school beats me), then we will look at other countries like Germany, and Japan and Islamic law and see how they differ from USA's law. As for my German classes, one is movies after the war (this one being online) and the other about scripture and reading (which is taught by my Oma's and Opa's lodge friend) so both of those will be fun but will be a lot of work. The Sign Language class is just an introduction to sign language and we will have to interview a deaf person and by the end I will hopefully know more words in sign language than just swears and random animals.
Today might be the first day of my last semester but graduation and the day I walk seem like a far thought. I'll take it one day at a time and will manage (with some days being much more stressful than others). All in all, it should be fun, but for now, I'm off to my first class. Good luck to all of those in the same boat as me and to those with semesters left before graduation, the light at the tunnel does keep growing.
Today might be the first day of my last semester but graduation and the day I walk seem like a far thought. I'll take it one day at a time and will manage (with some days being much more stressful than others). All in all, it should be fun, but for now, I'm off to my first class. Good luck to all of those in the same boat as me and to those with semesters left before graduation, the light at the tunnel does keep growing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)