Great class tonight, a lot of engaging discussions. Many of the students in this sociology course I'm in arrive early and leave a few minutes after the scheduled class ending time. So you can tell it's an interesting class. Our instructor is from Kenya, and he's been educated in London and Paris, so he has an endless wealth of knowledge and a more global perspective to share with us. I'm glad of that. I truly think that every college professor should not only have a requirement to be degreed, but they should also have had to spend a significant amount of time outside of the country. We need more instructors like this that cause us to think and really explore the world around us rather than doling out the conservative drivel of textbooks that tell us what to think.
Earlier, in the University of Maryland student cafe inside the main library, I wrote this rant centered around an assignment that I perceived was due today. Then, I later found out from a classmate that my assignment was not due until NEXT Monday --- whoops.
"So much for getting my first short assignment done for my class. I was sure that I had plenty of time today. However, I guess I have now learned both a better version of patience and to plan ahead more than I did.
The assignment was simple -- to use our textbook and two other introductory sociology textbooks, take the definition of sociology from each and then write a short bit about what school of sociology we think the author of the book hails from, according to how each definition was worded. However, we couldn't use any sources online, which is the avenue I would have chosen had I had the choice. I thought I'd just use the entire day Monday, since I was already off, to accomplish this. A whole day? Plenty of time, right? I'd sleep in and just hop on over to the University of Maryland's library since the one in Greenbelt, Maryland, where I live was closed.
I didn't count on a lot of things, like how long it would take me to get around on campus -- finding parking and figuring out the lay of the land. I couldn't make a copy of the book without a copy card. Well, in order to get the copy card, I had to buy one, which was $1 (minus the amount you then need to load onto the card in order to make copies and perform print jobs). However, as seems to be my lot in life, I was armed with credit cards only, and the machine would not accept them. I headed back over to the Stamp Student Union, from whence I had just come, to locate an ATM and withdraw money. Back and forth and around and around it seems I went to navigate so much just to accomplish a small few tasks.
Then, it turns out, in a university of this size and stature, there was only one -- count it ONE -- introductory sociology text in the entire library. The librarian told me they didn't generally carry textbooks.
So that was great news. I knew they didn't carry them in the Borders or Barnes and Noble types of bookstores any more than this library did, because I'd already combed through the stores throughout the week. So where does one find a sociology textbook then without buying one?
I'm going to arrive early and discuss this with my instructor today, but this is a really frustrating beginning to my studies.
Also, I was disheartened to discover that University of Maryland University College students are not offered access to the UMD wireless network, to which there are over 200 points on campus. We use the facilities and attend classes here, but we cannot access the wireless when we need to get on the Internet and do some research in the library. I find this very disconcerting. Even when I offered to pay for an account, I was told that the option is not even available.
One thing I believe about student life -- is that nothing is set up to be inexpensive or easy. It's as if college is not just about taking classes and showing your smarts but navigating many annoying, inconvenient levels of bureaucracy, paperwork and the lack of common sense, as if in a video game, to see who can remain patient and keep her wits about her.
I am already tired and my class begins at 7 p.m. and lasts another three hours. I hope to discover I wasn't the only one who had pains locating enough textbooks for our assignment. I guess we will see.
On the up side, I have my bearings better. I now have a clue as to where the Stamp Student Union is in relation to the McKeldin Library. This is the first time I've had the opportunity to glimpse the campus during daylight hours, and when I drove around at night before, I succeeded in nothing more than getting lost.
So at least I won't feel like such a lost soul. I'm now debating whether I might benefit better from just taking courses online from now on, to save myself the hassle of beating feet all over campus just to accomplish the things I need to do, to avoid the freezing cold commutes to Marie Mount Hall where my classes are held. But I'm afraid I'd let myself off the hook too much were I to just have my classroom contained within the framework of my laptop, which I could choose to open at will or not. Plus, the time-consuming walks from place to place have got to add to my daily exercise quota, right? That's got to be good.
Long evenings, costs, frustrations -- I guess without these things college just wouldn't be college, would it now? Besides, there are many other people who have undergone this process and lived to tell about it. I'm sure I can too, and that I will come out wiser and with gobs more patience than I ever dreamed of acquiring."
So, as you can see, I was very excited to find out I had another week on the assignment. I guess if I'd kept up with my syllabus and actually referred to it, I could have saved myself a lot of heartache today.
]]>I just hit Ticketmaster Online and bought my ticket to see Loreena McKennitt's international Ancient Muse tour that comes here to Washington DC on April 24, DAR Constitution Hall. I found out about it in the Washington City Paper, one of my favorite local publications in the area.
I'm so excited. I've always loved her music ever since she did the song "The Mummers Dance," and that was years ago.
She's kind of obscure to those not interested in this genre, kind of like a New Age, Pagan type of music
Oh I just love living in Washington DC -- finally I'm in the right location for me, a place where I can never get enough culture, art and music! DC totally rocks, IMHO.
In case anyone was wondering what happened with my earlier enthusiasm on posting about the upcoming Avonwalk for breast cancer, I just wanted to announce that I will not be doing it this year. I've thought about it, and since I didn't hear a lot in reply from friends and family, and I'm already working and going to school and feeling pretty busy lately, I plan on trying again next year since this is an annual event. I think once I've been here longer and know more people in the Washington DC area and once I'm more used to my schedule, I will give it another shot. So, it seems like a cop-out, but I just don't want to make a promise I cannot keep, because that's no better than not doing the event. For the people who expressed interest, I thank you and hope you'll keep me in mind for donations next year. My best gal friend at work is doing the event, and I'm going to be donating to the cause via her page on the Avonwalk website. If you feel that you'd still like to give and don't have any of your own close friends in mind for that, I'd like to suggest you consider Maureen as a representative. She is the spunkiest, coolest, most intelligent go-getter of a friend I know, and I know she would very much appreciate your support. You can access her page and see how far she already has come to her goal here. Thanks and take care! I was tempted to try, but I know how I am about taking on too many projects that excite me at once, and this is one cause I'd not like to shirk my duties on. Very worthwhile! Please check out. P.S. You do not have to live in Washington DC to donate, because it can be done online.
What did you dream about last night?
Honestly, it was weird - a girl with three arms, one on one side and two on the other - and two of her arms on one side were kind of grown together into some weird configuration, and yet I noticed she had all of her hands visible on those arms, and that each hand, despite the disconfiguration, was elegantly polished pink on its fingernails. That's all I remember, except for the fact that the dream had background music, which was the song "Ironic," by Alanis Morissette.
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