School.....To Continue or Not To Continue

As the last two semesters of my AAS degree are beginning soon, I am starting to look forward to the future.  A future that seems blissfully easy after the hell I have put myself through for the last four years.  Constant work, school, studying and very very little sleep.  Not to mention no time to be social or spend time with my family.  I have taken being a hermit to an entirely new level.  I am also starting to think that my house may not come clean at all when it comes time to clean it.  The dirt may be permanent.  By this time next year I will be job hunting for a radiography position at a hospital. In the time that follows, I will be able to spend time on the weekends with family.  I will be able to take vacations to California to see my friends and family there. I will be able to drink myself into oblivion with my friends and not feel guilty or have to sit in class with a colossal hangover the next day.  I will be able to sit on the couch and read an entire book if I choose to do so.  I can spend entire days at the dog park with my pooches.  With these visions looming in my head, I am plagued by senioritis daily.  So the thought right now of continuing on to my bachelors degree makes my skin crawl.  However being the gigantic nerd that I am I can't help thinking about receiving more education.  I have been skimming over jobs on the internet and many of them are looking for "multi-modal" technicians.  This means that they want someone who is able to run at least an xray machine and a CT and possibly a MRI.  So it seems silly to me not to at least get myself certified in CT.  Midwestern State University here in Texas has a program for persons that already have an AAS in radiography.  There are not many more classes I would have to take to complete the bachelors.  All of the classes are online and you do not have to travel to the school at all.  Many hospitals have tuition reimbursement programs for their employees so I might be able to go to school for free.  I may have to be employed there for a year before I am eligible but a year off from school doesn't seem all that bad. I am plagued constantly by all of these options and so I thought I would write them down in my blog and see what everyone else thought about it.

Update on School Progress

I wanted to write a quick blog on what is happening at achool.  Last Fall I droppped my Math 350 (Intermeadiale Algebra) because I was getting D's on exams and just not getting it.  I think it was due to my instructor.  He wasn't a bad teacher but he is a calculus intstructor at heart and teaches algebra like it is calculus...which is not good for me at all.  Anyway, I went to the advisor in the health sciences department to find out some info and she informed me that I could not get accepted into the program without that class.  She gave me an alternative which involved taking my placement test again to see if I could test out of that class.  I have been studying weekly with my sister and thought I would do good on it but after taking the test this last Thursday, I realized that it was harder than I thought and I didn't test out of the class.  I went to the Health Science office feeling pretty defeated but thought I would make sure there was nothing else I could possibly do to apply for the program this year.  At first she told me, that no there was nothing I could do except take the class again in the fall and then wait until next year and apply again.  As I was getting ready to cry, she remembered that they made a mistake in the catalog and for the RT program only, you only had to have Math 304 (Elementry Algebra)  Which I have already taken and passed with a C.  I gave her my application and she said that I would hear at the end of March whether I am in or not.  So now I am not so patiently waiting to hear about my fate for the next couple of years.  I am a little nervous because I looked at the stats for last year and 297 people applied and there are only 30 places in the class.  The high score was 5.97 and the lowest was 5.13.  I am going in with I think 5.0 points, but I am even unsure about that because the advisor told me that you get .1 points for every 13 credit hours you have taken which would give me 5.21 points.  I am unsure what I will be up against this year but I guess we will find out.  I will post again when I find out.  If I don't get in this year then I will keep pluging away at my AA and BA degree for another year, get my GPA up another point and add some more credits onto my transcript to make my score higher.  I will keep you posted.

My Academic Plan

Well some of you have been asking me what I am up to at school and since it is quite a long story I decided to post it here.

I am currently working towards getting into the Radiologic Technology program at the community college I am currently attending.  I will be applying to the program next month and hopefully will get in.  I have one more hurdle to jump before that can happen.  I have to pass the Math portion of the placement testing to apply.  I am currently stressing on this quite a bit.  I have procrastinated and have one chance to take it and pass it.  If I do get in I will receive an associates of applied sciences in Radiologic Technology.  Once I have this degree then I take my state examination.  Once I pass that then I will be able to work in hospitals taking xrays.  Eventually I want to get certified to run the CT and MRI.

In addition to that degree I am also going to finish my Associates of Science at TCC.  This should give me a seamless transition into the four year college.  I am planning on going to University of Texas at Arlington to get a bachelors of Arts in Biology and then hopefully be accepted into their graduate program to get a masters in biology as well.  Once I do that I want to go on to get a PhD. in some biology concentration (as yet to be decided) so that I can teach college biology when I am really old.

Well there you have it.  I have a long road ahead of me but I can't think of doing anything better than learning stuff for the next 8 years or so.

Spring Semester 2010.

Spring semester started this week for me on Tuesday.  This should be a great semester for a couple of reasons 1) I don't have to take a math class this semester and 2) All of the classes I have are fun and intersting.  I am taking English Compsition II on Monday and Wednesday from 12:20-1:40.  I have the same instructor I had for comp I that I loved so it should be great.  Also on Monday and Wednesday I have Intro to Philosophy from 1:50 to 3:10 pm.  I didn't get to meet my Philosophy professor because we did not have class on Monday due to the MLK holiday and then on Wednesday I had to get my wisdom teeth removed at 3pm.  I made the appointment months ago before I signed up for his class.  Wisdom teeth removal was NOT fun let me tell you...I don't think my body has been so violated ever.  I can't believe I have two giant holes in my head that I elected to have put there.
Anyway moving on.  On Tuesday and Thursday I have Biology for Science Majors at 11am.  This class will be great fun this time (see dropping biology blog April 2009) because I have an instructor who cares about whether or not we learn, and I am taking this class with a coworker/friend that is also super smart.  After Biology on Tuesday I have my American Literature up to 1865....this would be really boring if it wern't for my super cool ex-hippie cigarette smoking professor!  She is really cool and I think she will make this class super fun.  Also on Tuesday I have my Biology lab with the same caring instructor as for lecture and my same super smart friend.  So tuesday is the long day...starts at 11am and doesn't end until almost 5pm.  It is Okay I will take snacks.
So far I think this semester will be great fun and possibly even relaxing.  I think I will learn a fair amount of history in my Lit class and I get to write which is my favorite thing ever.  I will post anything I write here for you guys to read...but I warn you it will be about Literature so you may have to do some reading of Lit to understand or care about it.
The only thing that I do not like so far is the parking.....but most of them will be weeded out by the next month and closer to the end of the semester I can pretty much park where I want.
As always thanks for reading.

Fall Semester 2009.

Finally! This school year is over and I am officially on Winter break! So far I have wasted several hours playing with my Farm on Facebook, started picking up the house a little in preparation for a serious scrubbing and caught up on a couple of my episodes of House that I had saved up on the DVR. This is my third blog post in two days which is pretty awesome. The semester went great and compared to my first Fall semester it was fantastic! I was reading my blog that I wrote pretty close to the end of the 2008 Fall semester and I am amused at how stressed I was (see "On Being Tired" Nov 2008). This semester seemed easier and went by faster even though I was taking much harder classes. Most of you know, I took Human Anatomy and Physiology II plus the lab, Computer science plus a lab, and U.S. Government. I also started with Intermediate Algebra but as some of you know I had to drop it because my instructor for that class was confusing the hell out of me. I ended up with A's in A&P and Computer science and a B in Government class. I am a little bummed about the B but I tried my hardest and a B is really not a tragedy (maybe a little one). My GPA is 3.7 which I think is pretty respectable and should get me a spot in the Radiology Tech. program. I am really looking forward to my time off from school and already have some fun stuff scheduled. I am going to sleep in everyday until I don't feel like sleeping anymore and I am hoping to finish my novel I have been reading; Fyodor Dostoevskys' "The Brothers Karamazov". My brother John is going to fly me out to the California Bay Area for a five or six days in January, one of my co-workers and hopefully soon to be buddy Stephanie, has planned for a couple nights out on the town for us, another work buddie wants me to take some engagement photos in downtown Fort Worth, and I want to go see my friend Lisa and her beautiful new daughter Ava. I am also spending some time with my sister and the kiddos on Christmas Eve and some time with the rest of the family in Texas on Christmas Day. I don't have plans for New Years Eve but I am looking for something to get into. I plan on resting a lot and doing pretty much what I want when I want to. I am already looking forward to the next semester but am really going to enjoy my time off...I won't get anymore until next Winter break. Keep your eyes peeled for new and exciting blog posts. Thanks for reading!

Mid Term Progress Report

So the semester is half over and I thought I would let everyone know how I am doing. TIRED is how I am doing! Right now I am doing 3 things at once in addition to writing this blog. At least I have become better at this. Last year during my first semester I felt this tired from about the fourth week on. Today I am tired because I spent the last couple of days studying until all hours of the night, getting little sleep and being stressed about tests. But usually I am pretty good. I think the key is just not worrying about that which I can do nothing about. For example, the hell hole that I call a home with the piled up laundry, dishes, and mail I will get to it when I can and until then it isn't going anywhere (unfortunately). The amount of hair on the floor in the corners is probably pretty damn close to the amount of hair on the animals themselves. I am really glad I have lost some weight (due to stress, work and the fact that I rarely have time to eat) because now I have more scrubs to wear to work so I can to do laundry less often. Most days I get enough sleep and I have gotten in the groove enough that a lot of things can be done on auto pilot. My backpack and my coffee travel mug are some of my only friends.

Most of my classes are going well I have an A in my computer class because everything is online and all of the tests are open book taken at home…Thank goodness for this class! I don't have to really go if I don't want to and that has afforded me extra time in the math lab before tests (the only time I miss this class). There are some weird people in there like the guy who sits behind me…he has a glorious mullet and is really nice but rather odd. I moved away from the computer nerds with no books so it is better but still painfully boring most days. It was really hard to stay awake today.

A&P lecture class is going great! I love this class I am learning so much and love going even though it is my early class (9:30 am on Tuesday and Thursday). I made a 96.8% on my first exam and took the second one today...I think I did just as well as the first but we will see. This class by far takes most of my time. I try extra hard here as well because I will get bonus points toward my application to the RT program. Lab is not going as well as lecture however; I took my first of two lab practical's yesterday and got a 75% on it. I am more than a little bummed about this right now. I thought I did better than that and I studied a lot. It isn't the end of the world I guess I just need to study harder and spend some time in the Science Learning Center at school reviewing before the next one. I can still get an A even with this C as Lab is only 30% of my grade.

Math Class is not going well at all right now. I got an 87% on my first test but D's on the last two...I plan on spending more time in the math lab studying and hopefully can save this grade. Rather than give myself an ulcer over this I have already resigned to sticking it out no matter what and if I have to take it again in the spring instead of College algebra then I will. Math is hard for me and I can't realistically expect to just sail through it.

Government class is alright, my teacher is really old and kind of strange…some days I wonder if she knows what is going on but she is sweet anyway. I have a B in that class and am going to study harder the second half of the semester to bring it up to an A. I took my mid term on Wednesday and I got an A on it so that will help.

I am anxiously awaiting the end of this semester so I can have a break. Six whole glorious weeks of freedom from school! I can hardly contain my self. I am also planning on taking one of those weeks off of work so I can do absolutely nothing but hang out with my family, friends and dogs for a week. Since I went to summer school this year I have not had a break since last winter break. I will stock up on good beers and hopefully get to go out and have some fun in public with other humans.

So there you have it, so far so good, just tired today. I will keep you all posted in the blog and on facebook. Thanks for reading leave some comments if you want! I will try to find some time for some more meaningful blogs (I don't have high hopes about this).

Start of the Fall Semester 2009

So... school started on Monday August 24th for me, and seemingly everyone else in North Texas! The first day of the Fall semester is so different from any other semester. There are Freshmen everywhere!!! None of them know where they are going, know how to drive, park or observe the driving rules. As I am doing my best imitation of a Sherpa lugging around 100 pounds of books, I get stopped about 3 times a day with questions about where things are, which I don't really mind answering (unless I am late for a class)however, I can't help thinking about my first day last fall and that I figured it out myself. The parking lot is ridiculous! It takes me longer to find a spot than it does to drive to school. I don't remember having this problem during the spring semester but by then most of the freshman have decided that college is not for them, in fact throughout the fall semester the herd thins and by Spring only the serious ones are left. I try to remember when it was my first day of school and how I felt but it is hard. I can't believe I have been at this for a year already!

My classes this semester are OK. Not spectacular but OK. I have a Federal Government class on Monday and Wednesday from 12:20pm until 1:40pm. This class is amusing on so many levels. The students I am in this class with are mostly 18-19 year old teenagers that are still spouting off Mom and Dad's political views they learned at home (which in Texas means mostly ultra conservative, pro gun, pro life, and for the most part, anti anything Democrat). My instructor for this course is quite humorous as well. She is an older lady that grew up in the 60's and didn't start college until she was 47 years old. Her favorite thing is arguing ...and even better for her (but not so much for me) watching opinionated people argue. So as you can imagine she stirs up conversation in class that is inevitably going to lead to arguing. All of this would be fine except these are passionate teens who think they are right so instead of having a discussion and presenting each others side in a calm collected manner they immediately start getting defensive and yelling. Now normally this would be quite amusing, unless it is Monday morning and I am tired and have a headache in which case I want to stab my eye out with a pencil. We will see how this class progresses.

Next is Tuesday and Thursday morning bright and early 9:30am to 10:50am (those of you that know me know how early this is for me), Anatomy and Physiology II lecture. I love this class and my instructor!!! Nuff said! Except I think there will be a lot more "I want to peel my skin off rather than study this" moments this time. We are starting with the endocrine system... hormones are pretty cool actually (such a nerd I know).

My computer class is from 11:00am to 12:20pm Tuesday and Thursday, and makes me want to take a nap every time I go. In addition, I have no idea what is going on in that class I just do the assignments that are posted. The only humorous thing about this class so far, are my two neighbors. They are your typical computer gaming nerds that think computers are the coolest thing on the planet. These types make me a little nutty (they don't generally smell very good either) as they don't really want to help you, in fact they are far more interested in you thinking they are cool because they know how to do it and you don't... I think it is important to point out at this time that neither of them have the book for class and so, of course, want to use mine.

Math class is from 12:30pm -1:50pm Tuesday and Thursday. I haven't decided how I feel about my Math teacher yet. He is a cool, "I was brought up in the 60's" kind of old guy. But his way of teaching math is unlike anyone I have ever seen. This is either going to be very good or very bad for me. I am hoping that this guy is finally going to make me understand math in a way that makes sense to my artistic, scientific brain. He keeps referring to our math class as not a real math class (as in, we are not at Harvard or Princeton) and insists that he is just trying to teach us how to evaluate things for ourselves and not believe everything that teachers and grown ups tell you. I learned this lesson a long time ago and don't really need it again, but whatever.

On Wednesday at 10:10 am before Government class I have my A&P lab. My instructor for that class is awesome as well. She is really straight forward and keeps things simple. I am not sure what could possibly be uncool about this class...or looking at transverse sections of testicles under a microscope for that matter.

All in all the first week of the Fall semester was good. It was kind of cool being the one who knows where everything is and feeling like I have accomplished something good, I have finished one whole year of school and have a 3.87 GPA. I am looking forward to learning a lot this semester and will keep you posted on the cast of characters at school and how I am doing. As usual thanks so much for reading and your comments are always appreciated!

A&P I

So I have been taking an Anatomy and Physiology class (the first of two I have to take) at TCC this Summer session. It started on May 27th and ended today. That was by far the hardest I have ever studied for a class. We fit a lot of information into five and a half weeks. I have been studying, sleeping, working, or eating for the entire session and today I took my last test in the lecture portion. I am so proud of myself I have an A!!! For those of you who are new to my academic goals/plans, this is the best news ever!!! I am applying for the RT program at TCC in November, the program had 233 applicants last year and only 33 of those got in. It is incredibly competitive and only the best get accepted. They take your overall GPA and then the GPA for your science classes and accept you based on those two things. So it is really important to keep a high overall GPA as well as a 4.0 GPA in these science classes. Anyway I am really happy and wanted to share this with the blog followers. I get to relax a little for the second summer session as I am only taking Medical Terminology. Thanks for all of the support form friends and family and understanding why I have turned into a geeky weird hermit type person (I rather like being a nerd). I will keep you posted.

Summer School.

Well today was my first day of summer school at TCC. I am taking Anotomy and Phisiology I this session. I had quite a bit of anxiety about this class because I did so poorly in my last science class(Biology for Science Majors I). But now that I have gone to class I realized what I knew in the back of my mind all along. I had a really horrible teacher for my Biology class. My Professor this time is great! She takes time to go through everything and makes sure we understand it. I am really looking foward to class and I am sure I will be able to come away with an A! I need to get over my anxiety anyway if I want to be a biology major and I think this class is going to be my stepping off point for that. I like her so much I am going to check my list for fall and see if she is teaching A&P II in the fall semester. I hope I will have time to keep everyone posted on the blog but this is a hard class and it goes really fast in the summer. We have a test every week in lecture and a practical every 3 weeks in lab. I will keep you all posted on my grade!

I Made It!

Well I made it. The first semester back at school is done. I am physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. My house looks like a hell hole, my animals are bored and my car is a hot mess but I am really proud of myself for making it through. I managed to get all A’s except in my math class where I got an 87 %( it doesn’t count toward my GPA). I am really looking forward to my time off. I plan on cleaning my house until it is spotless, spending a lot of time with the pets, socializing with my friends, spending time with my family and resting A LOT! I am not yet looking forward to the next semester but I am sure I will be soon. I am taking Biology for Science Majors with lab, Psychology, Human Sexuality (woo hoo!) and Beginning Algebra(the next step for the mathematically challenged) for a total of 13 credit hours. I want to thank everyone who gave me support weather it be with encouragement, help proofreading papers, or just listening to me complain about lack of sleep.