School, University, and Education in General

[Shiny Motley]

Right, so once summer ends (which is a tragedy for sure), are you going middle school, high school, college/uni, graduate school, or you've already graduated high school but don't plan to get a degree? Favorite class? Best class? Elective courses you're going to take? Any teachers you don't particullarly like? What do you do during, say, your lunch break or during passing periods? Lots of things can be asked about school, so this is the topic for it~

For me, I'm going to be a sophmore in high school this August, and I'm totally looking forward to it. I mean, summer has been torturous for me so far, with my parents yelling at me to study fot the SAT and not being able to see my friends who're all on vacation and stuff. And even though nobody likes my school in general because it's so competetive (or, as we say, it's the "Asian Invasion" since about 30% of our school is, well, at least part Asian), school still does give me something to do.

I'm totally not looking forward to doing Pre-Cal, though, and I heard English II at our school was tough for some strange reason. As much as I love music and playing my viola, I really don't want to go back into the orchestra room anymore because our teacher/director is pretty mean. At least chemistry should be easier than biology last year. |D

Favorite class will probably be Humanities, which is basically trying to combine some world history, English, and other stuff together to make a fun class. It's the toughest class I know of so far, but because the teacher's great I think that makes up for the toughness. Least favorite... heh, Spanish. Don't get me wrong, I'm a quick learner when it comes to foreign languages, but almost all of the Spanish teachers suck at teaching and just sit at their desk yelling "SHUT UP" every five minutes.

... yeah that's all I can really rant about right now for school. So, what's your school/uni/grad-school life like? :3

 

[Shocari]

Come August, I shall be entering my Senior year at High School, which means only a few more months and then I'm free to go to the college that I ♥. I can't say much on my classes, 'cos I don't know if everything I signed up for has room, but I'm looking forward to being VP for Drama/Thespian club ^^ Then again, I'm pretty sure I'll have all the classes I want because I always have a knack of being slipped in right before they get filled up, so here's to that~

The hardest class I think I'll have will be Oral Communications, and that's not really saying much because that's one of the easiest classes at my school. Plus, it's only for one semester, so I'm sure I won't be suffering for too long. I do look forward to Drama because it is ♥ and ftw(and I'm planning on majoring in Drama...so yeah ♥) I don't think I'll like Chemistry just because I was dumb and didn't take it last year(we were told that you didn't need Chem for the diploma type I want, so I didn't take it. Turns out, you need it due to some revisions that were made ), but I am told by reliable sources that if you pretend it's Potions Class it's fun :3

One major plus: the teachers for my classes are uberfun, so I'm happy...unless I get put in a different class, which shouldn't happen because I didn't sign up for Advanced Placement or Honors classes, and there's only one Senior teacher per regular class subject..but you never know~

 

[Zachary]

Right now, I'm doing summer school so I can go onwards to my senior year and get done with my crappy education. I still don't know what I want to do with my life to be blunt... I was thinking of writing or acting because I'm incredibly good at both but the way my grades are as of now, I'd have to work for some cash to get into college.

But as of now, my career choice is Writing and Acting... Weeewt >>;;

Can't say I really liked school in the first place, the school I go to made me feel like I was incredibly stupid ever since Kindergarten, so once I'm done with high school, pffffffft, you bet your sweet ass it'll be a LONG time before I walk into a college campus... >>;;

 

[Cody]

I'm going into my Sophomore year, too. This is going to be an incredibly exciting year.
This year, I'm doubling up on Social Studies by taking Modern World History and A.P. US History. I'm dreading the second one. US History bores me. And I hear you don't really learn anything in that class, anyway. I'll be taking Algebra II (Yay?) because I really don't like math. I never plan on going further than per-calc in High School....
I'm also taking the basic stuff, English 10, Biology, Spanish III.
My last two classes are my "electives". Journalism I, which I'm taking because I want to major in Journalism in college (maybe photojournalism. Or maybe...double major o: )
I'm also taking ATP, which stands for Advanced Theatre something. It's either productions or something like that...It's a class that puts on a musical, bringing the number of shows my school does each year up to three. It should be tons of fun. I've got tons of friends in that class.

Teacher I'm not too found of: Last year, for English, my teacher could not teach. Sure, she was nice. She was very nice, actually, as a person. But this woman could not teach. She never graded our work, either. It took weeks to get the grades up. The last week of school, she had us do a five page research project....and she never graded it. Also she can't teach. I learned maybe three things in that class.

Aside from that, I've had pretty great experiences in my school career. My Physics teacher last year was phenomenal last year. Man knew how to teach, lemme tell ya. Also he had the coolest toys. Like a bowling ball attached to a rope in the ceiling that he swung on sometimes.

 

[Shiny Motley]

Lol, I'm also doubling up in social studies with world history AP and european history AP |D

Yes I had to throw that out there after reading Cody's post~

 

[Sir Red]

Come the fall I start my freshman year of college. I'm both incredibly nervous and excited. It's just going to so incredibly different and new. I just really can't wait to explore the area that I'm going to be living in, as it's a really cool part of Chicago.

I'm going to be going to DePaul and am currently thinking of studying Journalism (or possibly English? >>), but that's really not set in stone. I just want to do something involving reading and writing, as those are two of my favorite things. Not to mention that English has been my strongest subject for quite a while now.

I'm really hoping that my classes will be similar to the ones that I loved in high school, where the teacher is more laid back and it's not just "here are these facts, copy them down as I lecture you". My favorite type of classes are where it's just a big open forum of discussion and a comfortable exchange of ideas and opinions. That especially works for English classes, which is why I like English classes so much.

 

[Stark]

The American education system always sounds very alien to me, and I'm sure it'll be the reverse when I talk about my English education. But hey, here goes anyway. I'll try to explain it a little for you guys unfamiliar to our system too ^^

I'll be collecting my results for my AS Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics in August. These are classes you take for two years after the end of compulsory education here, called A levels. You do the AS level in one year, and then continue them in the coming year as an A2. I personally dropped Physics after finishing the AS because I didn't want to do the coursework attached to it. I saw my friend disappear for a month when he did his D:

So if all goes to plan and I get the results I want, I'm doing A2 Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry.

As for University, I probably need anywhere from 3 B's to 3 A's to get the Computer Science course in the Uni I want, so hopefully I can get me some nice results for my A2's next August ^^

I usually spend my breaks playing card games in the common room too, we have around 14 people who all come at different times to play all sorts of games, poker included, so that's pretty cool

 

[SineCosineTangent]

Come late August, I'll be entering my second year of college. I've got one doozy of a semester ahead of me, with both Organic Chem and Calculus III- not to mention Neurobiology XDD In case you're wondering, I'm going for a bachelor's degree in Biology, with a minor in Mathematics. After I get this degree done, I'm probably going to go to med school with a research focus, or maybe to some other awesome university research program. Either way, someday, I will be Dr.Sine XD

As for the school, it's UCF- I love it here, even if it is a bit hot. I'm part of the Honors college, and it's pretty awesome- the honors courses cap at 20 people, so it makes some classes a lot easier- mind you, you can't take -all- honors courses, but you can get things like Bio I with only 20 people and an awesome professor. It's worth it XD

 

[Psycho Monkey]

In just two and a half short weeks I will be returning to Coastal Carolina form my Senior year of college. Ironically, it will only be my second semester at Coastal since I spent the first two and a half years of my college career at community college earning my AA degree in Biology. I am currently working on a BS degree in Marine Science.

This coming semester I will be taking Marine Science II, Chemistry II, a lab for each of them, Japanese I, and Anthropology. The first two courses are obvious because I'm in a science major, but I'm also required to take a foreign language and thanks to scheduling conflicts with the other classes and labs, Anthropology was the only think that fit in my schedule that interested me. Plus I'm facinated by the hairless bipedal primates know as Homo sapiens.

The class that is easiest for me is naturally Marine Science. In my first semester I got A's on all my tests and homeworks and only had to breifly review my notes to get everything memorized. I'm really looking forward to lab this coming semester because I will have Professor Xu, who was my lecture professor last semester. From experience, I can say he is really good and knows what he's talking about. I won't say he's my favorite professor only because Coastal has an excellent teaching staff and all the professors I've had so far have been great.

My hardest class to date was Calculus II, and thankfully I don't have to take any levels higher than that. I'm good at math and abstract thought, just not calc. I ended up with a C in the class which is good enough for me after the trouble it put me through. Despite my disdain for the class, the teacher was still a cool guy that was willing to help us every step of the way if we asked.

Between classes I usually go to the library and either do homework to get it out of the way, or I get on the computer. Depending on how much time I have between classes, I may just go back to my apartment to relax. Ah the benefits of living on campus. During lunch (if I even remember to eat lunch) I just head down to the cafeteria, see what they're offing, get whatever sounds tastiest, and eat. If I run into a friend, then we'll chat until one of us has to go to class.

The only club I am currently involved with is CAB ( Coastal Activities Board) which is exactly as the name implies, we plan all the outrageous and fun events that take place around campus. Some of our exploits include a Price is Right event, guest speakers/performers, movie nights, and a cacino night which involved poker, black jack, roulette, and other games you would find in a cacino. All the procedes from Cacino Night went to charity, while our other events are all free to attend. Much fun is had with that club.

 

[Keleri]

I recently dropped out of doing a Masters in Biochemistry since I realized that I hated my prof, hated my prof's wife (who was also a prof and evil), hated my project and hated the lab I was working in. I was a bit of a burnout case to be honest, really depressed and anxious. I'm feeling a lot better since taking some time to chill and travel, and this September I'm going to be doing a Bachelor's in Engineering in a new city and new university and I'm feeling really good about it. I'm really excited to take math and physics again and I'm not afraid of first-year courses. I just hope I get transfer credits to cover my electives. It kind of sucks to be starting over, but I'm looking at it like playing through a game for the second time as a different class--now I know what to expect better and hopefully I'll get a higher completion rate.

 

[Doctor Oak]

With any luck, I'll be starting my final year in Uni and working on my big project for the year.

It looks like we also have to do some rather pants looking modules, but one of them is a placement one - so I guess I'll be plumping for that one and trying to squeeze everything in.

It's going to be a hectic year, at any rate.

 

[Kerauno]

Oh, right, school. I'll be starting eighth grade in August and I'm both excited and miserable. I'm excited for Chorus for several reasons. The musical, for I will be the star, and the spring trip, and the concerts. And I will be able to see my friends. Of course, the library is something to look forward to, because they always are getting new books. Hopefully I'll be in Yearbook Committee and I'll be able to design the yearbook, and for a change, I will actually be in it.

I'm not looking forward to Physical Science, except experiments, because I am not good with stuff like that. Math/Algebra is going to be TORTURE. I hate Math, and because of my high test scores, I'll probably have Algebra, or Pre-Algebra, or GOD FORBID, HONORS ALGEBRA! Hopefully, I'll have a few good friends to share the torture. but, school won't be so bad once it starts. I just hope the school board doesn't screw up my schedule like last year...

 

[Indie]

The last week in August brings me to my first year in secondary. I've been looking forward to it for a while now, and thank God for the new system. Instead of being stuck with one teacher for a year(Primary school), I only have to suffer 45 minutes of any teacher. I'll be looking forward to Debating, German, English and lots of other stuffs.

 

[Blarg]

Well, one thing is for sure, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. In September, I'm going to a community college. The only class I'm excited for is a chemistry class I'm taking, so overall, it's going to be a boring semester. =/

 

[charmander91]

Right now, I'm doing summer school so I can go onwards to my senior year and get done with my crappy education. I still don't know what I want to do with my life to be blunt... I was thinking of writing or acting because I'm incredibly good at both but the way my grades are as of now, I'd have to work for some cash to get into college.

But as of now, my career choice is Writing and Acting... Weeewt >>;;

Can't say I really liked school in the first place, the school I go to made me feel like I was incredibly stupid ever since Kindergarten, so once I'm done with high school, pffffffft, you bet your sweet ass it'll be a LONG time before I walk into a college campus... >>;;

I had the same attitude when I left high school in 09' and once I went to college I was totally unprepaired. I slept in till 4 p.m on days I had to be at school at 10 a.m Blew off homework, etc luckily I literally kicked my ass to get me in shape. My word of advice get your goals straight before you commit to anything

 

[Rayn_Shyu]

Well, I'll be a senior once school rears it's ugly head back at my face.

After marching band is over at the end of October, I'll get about a month of peace before the school decides that I need to start working on my Senior project. Which doesn't even happen till like April and could probably be done in a month or so with a good work ethic. Wait, that will get done with a bad work ethic in a month, 'scuse me >>;. Oh, and it uses a format that isn't taught regularly to most kids till then. Good thing my teacher thought it was a good idea to teach us that...

Whether or not I got into Jazz band or not is kind of concerning. I did reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaallllllly crappy on the audition, but I'm a freaking senior dangit, and that sophmore is gonna get another chance. But the alternate classes I chose would be cool, Zoology and Photo (a semester each).

As for classes I am sure about... Microbio (DNA stuff!), AP English (smart kids!), Graphic Art II (sleep!), Band (friends!), Seminary (being a Mormon!), German (BF in Germany!), Honors Econ (cool teacher!) and no math. Cuz I only had to take 3 years! Muwahahaahahaha! I was in Intro to Cal or Cal I or what ever, so I should be set for life anyhow... It actually kind of screwed me on my ACT because it was hard math and it was easy math on that test...

Speaking of the ACT, (it's a test that colleges look at to decide to let you in or not, like the SAT) I got a 28 over all. I got a 32 in the Science part, which I was least sure of, and Math had 23, which brought it down cuz it was too dumb. I'm doing it again so I can raise it a bit and get a scholarship to Brigham Young University (Mormon school), to study what ever the heck I want really. I'm gonna try to be a writer anyhow, might as well be a smart one.

 

[Linkachu]

The best way for me to describe my schooling education is by going over its history. I graduated from highschool in 2002 and went on to take a university level Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from fall 2002 until spring of 2007. After graduating from the program I worked full time for roughly 8-9 months and never enjoyed a day of the work, just as I never enjoyed it throughout my actual education. I decided to go back to university and enroll in a Maths undergrad winter of 2008, but after a single semester I realized that wasn't what I wanted either and chose not to continue the following fall. Strangely enough all of my marks that semester were great, but I'd dropped my core Calculus course 4 days into the semester (which was kinda mandatory for the program). Too much time away from maths made me forget it all... Shame, but that's how it goes. =/

It wasn't until after obtaining my current job at the college that I decided to go back to University again. In winter 2010 (aka. January to April), I took "Teaching English as a Second Language" (graduate level course). It was really fun and I'm glad I took it. Now I'm enrolled in an online summer course called "Teaching ESL Literacy Learners" that runs from mid July to mid September. It's a pilot program and only 10 people total were allowed to take it, so it's quite nice that I was able to get in. ^^

Mmm... While my Astronomy courses were definitely fun, my top favourite course - hands down - was Existentialism Philosophy. I adored all of my Philosophy courses, but that one really spoke to me - and our professor was filled with eccentric awesome. A lot of the concepts we discussed mirrored my own views on life/the world/emotions and rationality/etc. so it was REALLY fun discussing them with an entire class. Even concepts I didn't wholly agree with hugely interested me, but I've always been a philosophy nut. XP

 

[Jenova]

Once school starts I'll be in eighth grade....yippee.

It's not that I hate my school or hate going to school (unlike what I've said in chat occasionally,) but seeing how small my school is, I know I'm just going to see the same people again. Every school year there's going to be a new kid or two, and they'll fall into some group. It's funny how I start off the school year waking up early and going to school early and yet when I end school, I wake up late and end up going to school also early. Each day will be the same, although some days will be better than other days, etc.

As of now, I'm still trying to finish my portfolio for a particular art high school I want to go to. As far as my friends told me, it's difficult to get in, and now I'm having some doubts myself. Especially since I'll have to go to school earlier than I already do, I'll probably get lost on the first day (the school used to be a library and kind of looks like a museum on the outside), all that stuff. However, even with that, my portfolio...is rather limited in variety. I can't paint, I can't use oils, make sculptures, and I probably make a bad photographer. The only thing I know how to do is use pencils. It's a giant risk I'm taking, but hell, I'll take that risk. I want to learn all kinds of art techniques and I've spent the past decade constantly trying to improve my abilities. I probably won't be successful in life because of this, and maybe there's a chance that I'll come to regret it. However, this is the set path I'm willing to take.
My school reputation, aside from grades, has always been about my drawing skills. No lie. I'd even made it a point where I'd bring a blank notebook and a pencil to lunch every day, eat whatever I could, and spend the rest of my time drawing while other kids watched.

Whoo, in all, I've always been known as an artist and a good student in school. While I don't really care about the school year that's coming up, I'm worried about high school. So yeah :V

 

[Doubled]

Tomorrow, I'll be starting my year as a Junior (11th grade). I'm starting to feel old, as now me and my buddies only talk about how lucky the little kids have got it (what with their small vehicles). I'm dreading it, as I've barely been passing school. My report card had an alomost complete alphabet last year (with the exception of F, thank God), so I'm nervous about having to take Trig and Chemistry. I literally have a zero attention span, so it will be hard for me to stay awake.

But I've also got to start racking up Community service hours, as I only have this year and the next. Luckily, at my school, Sophmores and Juniors get out at 2:15 versus 3:15, so I may beable to find something out there. But I've also had a change of heart of what carrer I've got to take classes for, as now I want to be a computer technician. However, it doesn't pay as well as a Psychiatrist, I just don't know what to do.

So anyway, time for another year of "Do this" and "Do that", with my friends as the only leverage for this academic hell.

 

[Brendan Savem]

As a junior, my job shall be to bring snacks and drinks for all my IB pals, so that's going to suck a little.

My education has been a bumpy one; it has had ups and downs, and huge cliff drops that almost reach Satan's fiery pits. I often get issues about homework, and paying attention in classes, and I often sleep in them. Having undetected glandular fever for nearly two months doesn't help much either. I have difficulty implementing new methods of learning because I'm so used to what I do now, though I'm hoping this laptop I'm using now will change things.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

I am soon to start my second-year as a Biology major at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Some not-biologically-related bullshit like Physics involved otherwise, it's pretty damn awesome.

 

[Secad MS]

Class started yesterday.

Here is me, mentally, yesterday: *throws up arms and starts running around screaming, panicked*

By now, I have a decent plan on how to handle my classes. I'm a junior in credits, but I'm still at community college. *Hisses: Thanks, evil admissions office for calling me 'too young!'

I'm also a senior this year. No more hell that is mandatory schooling.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

This coming Monday, I will be starting my fourth year at my college. I'm don't think I'm quite a senior yet because I don't have enough credit hours. You see, I'm on what you call the five year plan because I changed my both my Major and Minor at the start of my third year from Psychology and Spanish to History and Anthropology. However I'm not bothered. I was never in a hurry to graduate--I prefer to take my time. However I just looked at my academic evaluation and realized I'm within a year and a half of graduating. The full gravity of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks and I'm trying not to get overwhelmed. I definitely plan on taking a year off between undergrad and grad school. I've been going to school every year since I was five (like pretty much everyone else)...I think I'd like a break to put my life together without school.

As for grad school, I'd really love to go far away from home. My first choice is the University of Washington in Seattle ♥