Moving Forward

Greetings all! And a very Happy New Year to you and yours!

All in all, 2010 was not the worst ever for me. I made some major life changes and moved schools, had some interesting experiences and learned a lot. Going back to school was a very intimidating thought for me in the beginning, but now I feel much more confident in my learning and studying abilities and for the most part I’m enjoying the educational experience.

Last semester was very intense. My Comp II class was very challenging for me, and Spanish I was a whole new experience in torture, but I persevered and managed to end the semester with a 4.0. :) I was very, very excited and happy with that.

I am now moving into my final semester at CF. In all honesty, switching to CF from Rasmussen was pretty much the best decision I’ve made educationally. Rasmussen was not able to give me the kind of education I was looking for, and CF has allowed me to ease back into the real college environment and get prepared for transferring to a regular four-year college. I’ve had issues with wrangling with financial aid, and some of my instructors have been a bit hmmm....not great, but the actual experience and education at CF is heads and shoulders above anything Rasmussen could have hoped to offer and I am really, really happy.

Moving forward, classes have now begun for my last semester at CF. I’m both excited by this and a little anxious. I know that these next couple of months will be challenging, but also that they will fly by and I will be dealing with moving schools, moving states, trying to find work and a place to live and things are going to be very, very crazy. That aspect of things I am not looking forward to. But I am looking forward to moving on in my education and getting closer to my educational goals.

I made the most of my time off from school during winter break by picking up some writing books and got some really great writing done over the break. I also spent some time with the family and was able to enjoy the Christmas holiday with my family all together for the first time in about 14 years. So it was a good break, very palate cleansing, and I have returned to classes refreshed and ready to learn.

My first classes were Liberal Arts Math and Acting I. From the syllabus posted online, I had the feeling that my Liberal Arts Math instructor might be a bit of a dick, and he didn’t disappoint in our first lecture and going over the syllabus. However, he did explain things in a very knowledgeable manner and I’m hopeful that as the semester progresses, he will warm up to us and us to him. We have already covered the first chapter and will have our first exam next Wednesday. I have already had to make use of the math lab on campus and am asking lots and lots and lots of questions during the chapter reviews before the test. He’s been very helpful and knowledgeable in answering the questions so....I have hope that I can survive this class this semester.

My Acting class so far has been fun and I’m looking forward to getting more and more involved in that class. I think it’s definitely a better choice than yet another public speaking class. I’ve taken tons of those and there’s no challenge in it for me. This class will have some challenges involved, which will be nice. All of the other people in the class are sooooo young though. They’re shiny and new and just....way too energetic. There are some getting-to-know you game activities that remind me of team-building exercises from when I worked at various jobs (and I am not comfortable with those kinds of exercises), but I am trying to play along and allow myself a little freedom. Most of all, I hope this class helps me get a handle on voice, movement, blocking, and other aspects for my animating in the future, and also helps me with being able to perform my own poetry and short stories at slams and readings. Wish me luck!

My Biology and Wellness classes are the banes of my existence this semester and really irritate me personally on many levels. To start off with, my Biology professor is about 70, getting ready to retire, and just really doesn’t want to work anymore. Every lecture is a series of vignettes and stories he tells where he gets off topic, and they are very sexist and insulting on many levels. He also has “offered” people opt-outs on the final if you a) do 20 hours of community service, b) give blood, c) agree to be an organ donor, or d) engage in a weight loss program during the semester. Well....I’m not a convict and I have limited amounts of time so option A is out for me. I do not believe in giving blood or organ donation/transplants so B and C are out and as far as D is concerned, that is just really inappropriately getting into people’s personal business in my opinion. He’s already informed us that he’s been a coach for however long and loves to call people fat, etc. and that.....is just not the kind of stuff to say around me. I don’t appreciate the sexism and I don’t appreciate a professor using a position of authority to pass judgments on others. Especially not for a class I am paying for. However, I am holding my tongue and just keeping my head down, doing the work and trying to make it through the semester. Unfortunately, this instructor is also the instructor for my lab class so....woe is me.

This “Wellness” class is yet another serious irritation point for me. I’m a bit offended (actually, a LOT offended) by being required, at a state college, to pay for a class that is pushing agendas from the insurance and drug lobbies. The instructor for this class also requires gym days and I have already spoken to her about the fact that unless she is an M.D. with the credentials to back up dealing with my injuries, I’m not doing anything against my well-being. This course REQUIRES you to create a “wellness plan,” and engage in enacting it during the class. This just....irks me on many levels. If I want to change anything about my life, I will do so on my own. I don’t appreciate paying my good money to be forced to take a class that intrudes on my privacy and personal business. It just....really rubs me the wrong way. Plus, I’m almost 40 damn years old – if I wanted to take gym, I’d go back to high school. Ugh. The instructor is all very into the propaganda being enacted in our society through the Big Brother Just Wants You To Be Healthy campaigns, which is just another way for the government and insurance and drug lobbies to keep Americans occupied getting into one another’s business rather than noticing what is being done, and not done, in our country.

Not sure what I’m talking about? Here’s an example. Big Brother tells you to blame the fatties for the high costs of insurance – it costs so much to keep fatties alive right? WRONG! I’ve worked for insurance companies and THEY are the ones creating the BMI charts NOT the government. The insurance lobby pays to have the government enact these BMI charts as what is healthy and what is not. Check out the following for a little eye-opening example of what I’m talking about:

http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/

So....insurance companies are telling everyone to blame fat people for their rising costs of insurance rates. Well...here’s a little newsflash – that’s all bullshit. Fat people can’t get insurance in most cases and if they do, they are paying 3-4 times what everyone else is paying. Also, doctors are so fat-phobic that right now, trying to find a decent doctor is almost impossible, which helps to encourage fat people not to see the doctor. When and if emergencies arise, fat people are treated at the hospital and then go bankrupt when they receive the bills. This, in NO WAY affects anyone’s insurance costs. But the insurance companies won’t tell you that. They’re not about to stand up and say, “Hey! We’re a bunch of money-grubbing greedy bastards and we’re changing the BMI charts and raising costs just because we feel like it and want more money! If we change the BMI charts, we can charge more of you more for your insurance because you’re technically ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’ now – okay? Thanks!” No, they’re going to say, “Hey! Don’t blame us for your costs increasing! Blame those fatties!” All the while skipping to the bank while everyday Americans turn on each other and spend more time getting into everyone else’s business and judging one another rather than paying attention to how things are really functioning in the country. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!

So....yeah....I have issues with being REQUIRED to PAY GOOD MONEY to be FORCED to take this stupid, intrusive class where all of this government-sanctioned PROPAGANDA is being shoved down everyone’s throats. *Ahem* (Sorry about that....let me just get off of my soapbox here and put it back in the corner....) So....yeah. Again, I’m just trying to stay cool, keep my head down, and survive the semester. Wish me luck y’all.

So....that is the latest here. Lots and lots of homework this semester with five classes, one being a math class and two being science classes so....updates will be sparse. But as things progress I’m sure I’ll wander by with little tidbits and anecdotes. So....until then...back to the Biology reading and note-taking.

Cheers all – thanks for reading.