My Final Undergrad Semester Begins!

Finally my last semester as an undergrad has begun. It's a relief, but one that comes with many regrets. I wish I had more time to retake some of the pre-pharm prerequisites. But I have no choice. I have reached the end of my degree completion plan, and the school knows it.  They even sent me an email saying, "The spring 2010 will be the last semester that you are permitted to attend San Francisco State University." to let me know that they know it.

With as impacted as a lot of the programs are at SFSU, more specifically the chem and bio departments, and the push to relieve that stress on the school (so far as to no longer admit freshmen and transfers for this Spring semester), that means I'll have to get lucky if I'm going to be able to take any of the prerequisites at SFSU.

There is absolutely zero chance of being able to squeeze my way in to any class through the Open University method (which is last priority, open to everyone including non-students), so I'll have to be on the look out for any prerequisites that are offered as night courses and pay a high per unit cost.

So how did my day go?

- My Cat & Getting to School

Well... my schedule is 8:10-9:00am Introduction to Psychology Research, then 9:10-10:00am for Genetics. I was doing well this whole week prior in getting my body adjusted for the morning commute across the Bay Bridge. That meant I would need to leave the house at 6:30am to comfortably arrive at SFSU, find parking, and make it to class.

Well... problem is that my cat got sick. He's 14 years+, he has cancer in his mouth, and lost all his teeth.  We're ready to put him to sleep sometime within the next several weeks, because it's getting hard for him to even eat the soft canned food. And he got sick over the weekend, constantly sneezing and having a hard time breathing. And he likes to sleep in my bed.

What this means for me is that while I went to bed at 9:00pm, he kept me up all night. I never slept for more than two hours at a time. I didn't have the heart to kick him out of my room.  I'd wake up and the clock showed 2:10, then 2:30, 4:00, 5:05. I was thinking that I'd get up shortly after 6:00am to get ready and be out the door by 6:30am. But when I woke up for the last time, it was already 6:53!

I got out of bed, threw on some clothes, grabbed a Nutri-grain bar, and headed off to school. Some teachers  drop students if they don't show up to the first day of class. Even though I left the house thirty minutes later than I planned, I was still able to get in the door only ten minutes late.

- Intro Psy Research

As I walked through to door, the teacher commented on how students shouldn't be late. (Perhaps she's new, she definitely isn't the regular Psy Research teacher who teaches all the sections.)  I didn't plan on being late of course, but I also knew I wouldn't the last to enter. It was the first day of class, and there hasn't been a single class that I've ever attended where students didn't keep on coming in late on the first day, as students fumbled through their new schedules. Especially morning classes.

I must have been the one of the first few people to arrive late, because sure enough, people kept on coming in up to fifteen minutes after I arrived. Her reaction was also exceedingly more and more harsh, so the point that this one girl froze as she entered because the professor grunted at her, then violently waved her hand in a hurrying motion telling the girl to go find a seat.

As I don't plan on ever being late, I don't expect to get that reaction anytime soon. But who knows.  Occasionally something happens.

- Genetics

Genetics was a much more pleasant reaction. Besides haven't to stand the entire time because the room was full of enrolled students and students who wanted to add, the teacher seemed friendly, laid out some straight forward grading policies, explained the book and the associated website that goes along with it, and overall created a very comfortable environment.

Later on today I'll be downloading the syllabus, and begin reading chapter one today (and finish reading it by Wednesday's class). I'm also going to be taking all her suggestions in working on the problems in the book, even though they won't be collected for points, as well as going through the activities on the book's website.

I'm excited to be in my first science course in a while, and especially one that's fresh material.  It's nice having a desire to learn once again. And applying that desire in a class that I know will benefit me in the career that I'm pursuing.