My Second Day
On Tuesday, I departed from work at 2:00. I have a Music Appreciation class that is at 3:30 on Tuesday and Thursday. This was the first time that I would have to park under normal parking conditions and I was a bit worried about finding a space. I went to the Park Street lot that I had located a week ago and from the road it looked pretty much like it was full. There were people leaving but whether it was because they were unable to find a space or because they had just left a space, I couldn't tell. I entered the lot and cruised the tight aisles and God smiled down on me. I found a space in the third aisle. I maneuvered my way into the spot and some poor soul saw my car moving and sat there waiting to see if I was leaving. He gave up as I got out of the car and moved on.
I retraced my steps of last week and walked to the Fine Arts Center. I was really glad I had searched for the building last week because it wouldn't have helped my upset stomach if I hadn't known where I was going. I entered the building and went in search of room 198. The building really does have a confusing layout but I found my room without having to retrace any of my steps. I stopped at the door and peered inside. Classical music was playing and there were maybe half a dozen people sitting in various spots throughout the room even though it was another 20 minutes until class would start. I saw that "Music Appreciation???" was written on the board so I figured I was in the right spot.
The man that I assumed was the professor, Mr. G, was sitting behind a podium at the front of the room and he nodded at me as I entered. The room was laid out in a sort of semi-circle. There were curved tables on each side of a center aisle. I sat at the end of the third table from the front. It was interesting to watch people come in and sit down because the majority of them would sit at the ends of the tables and until they were all taken and then people started filling in the middle of the tables.
As the starting time approached, nearly all of the 81 chairs in the room were taken. Mr. G started out by saying that we are going to do something that we only have to do once this semester. He proceeded to call out names of people alphabetically and tell them where to sit. He started at the front of the room and worked his way back. I was quite thrilled that I would get to sit near the back of the room. If there was a person on his roll that was not there, he would leave an empty chair. The person that was just in front of me was not there so there was to be an empty chair at the end of my table and I was to sit in the 2nd chair. I was all the way across the room and by the time I got there, there was a girl sitting in my chair. I asked her which chair he told her to sit in, just sure that I was supposed to be in seat two. She wasn't really sure and didn't really care that much. So I had the honor of stopping him in the midst of his list and asking him where I was to sit. He looked back through it and said, "Second chair." The people after her were all mixed up too. So he basically had to start over from our point and tell people where they were to sit. The reason for seating us like this was to be able to take roll easily from now on. We are always to sit in the same spot and if a seat is empty, that person is absent.
After we were all seated, he went over the syllabus with us, then he laid a few ground rules out. The room had just been redecorated so there was to be no food or drink in the room. He doesn't like to see cell phone, they just annoy him so turn them off and put them away. And then he said that one rule he has because it's a personal pet peeve of his is: Never, never, never, ever put your head down on the table. He has been teaching since 1971 and over the years a lot of students have told him that they listen better with their heads down but he naps better with his head down.
After finishing with his little talk, he told us that his full-time job is as the head of music at the Presbyterian Church downtown and that is where we can reach him other than Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. He went on to tell us that there is a reason that teachers give their phone numbers and e-mail addresses to the students. He said there may be occasions that a student may be going through something and may need help or just need someone to listen or a shoulder to cry on, etc. and that help is available if we will just ask for it. He is available to talk to any time someone needs something. I thought that was very nice and a good thing he said it because I would really have been intimidated approaching him after the little speech we had just received.
It was very hot in the room and he let us go early "to find some place cool." I stayed to ask him about the extra credit opportunities he said are available. Two of the opportunities are music concerts at his church on a Tuesday and Thursday of the same week. We won't have class that day but if we show up we will get extra credit for attending. It starts at 7:30 and I have a class from 5:30 to 7:15. I asked him about the possibilities of showing up late (at the time I thought the class lasted until 8:15) and he said he would be willing to work with me on that. He also offered to find other opportunities if those wouldn't work for me. I think that he will be a good instructor if the students just act like adults.
I returned to my car and made my way down to South Campus, the community college part of WKU, where I was hoping to enroll in the Intermediate Algebra class. I had tried to enroll in this algebra class when I enrolled in all of my other classes via the internet but because I'm a university student instead of a community college student, I'm only allowed in the class if there is room on the first day of class. I did something I thought was very bold, for me, and called the professor, Mr. D, a month or so ago and told him my dilemma of working full-time and needing this evening class. He told me that he would make sure that I was able to get into the class and that I should just show up on the first day of class.
Traffic was really snarled but I still arrived by 5:00. I was sitting in my car when I noticed another Mennonite girl several cars over get out of her car and go inside. It was Carol and I decided not to bring attention to ourselves by hollering at her.
I went to the Dean's Office to find out where the class was located. I found the room and was relieved that Mr. D was in the room and told him who I was. He pulled a paper out that already had my information on it and all I had to do was sign it. It made me feel so much better that he had actually remembered me. I figured I would get there and he would draw a blank on who I was and it would be a big hassle but all I had to do was sign my name and sit down.
Mr. D seems to be a very easy-going person. His full-time job is teaching at the Juvenile Detention Center downtown. I had talked to Mr. D's father, whom I had called by mistake when trying to reach Mr. D, and he told me that Mr. D has a heart for people getting back into the school setting. His father was just sure that Mr. D could do wonders for me. So far, he seems to be correct. Now the trick will be whether he can actually teach me algebra or not.
He gave us a diagnostic test and I might just as well have blindly filled in the bubbles on the Scantron for how much I knew. He had told us that we aren't supposed to know this stuff but still...I wouldn't mind having something look familiar. I have my serious doubts that I should even be in this class. When I took the math placement exam, I knew how to do maybe 4 or 5 of the problems. You had to get 6 right to qualify for Intermediate Algebra and I think I got 7 right so 3 or 4 of those correct problems were total guesses. I guess if I flunk, I flunk. And if I flunk, then I'll know for sure that I should take Math 055 first.
He dismissed us after we finished the test and as I was walking out to my car, who walked out in front of me but Carol. She reached her car first and was inside before I got out there and she didn't see me until I was unlocking my car. She motioned for me to wait and pulled up next to me and rolled her window down. Now keep in mind that I know who Carol is and may have talked to her a few times but we aren't more than casual acquaintances.
"I am so glad to see you," she said.
We talked for a few minutes and Idiscovered that she is intending to become an RN and that she had eitherstarted school just that day or on Monday.
"I just told my sister the other day that they say Western has 19,000 students but they should say they have 18,999 normal students and one Mennonite,"she said.
"Make that 18,997 students and three Mennonites," I said.
"People tell me that I'm so brave to go to school, but if they just knew how I feel..." Carol said.
"...then they'd know just how brave we aren't!" I finished.
We both feel that we aren't qualified to be in our respective math classes so we just enjoyed a few minutes of commiserating. How, out of 19,000 students, did Carol and I happen to be at the same place at the same time? I know that Kris is attending but unless we make an effort to be somewhere at the same time, our paths don't even cross. I think God knew I needed a few minutes of commiserating and wanted me to realize that I'm not alone in my feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. It's interesting how a shared experience can make two people, that normally have nothing in common, really glad to see each other.
I retraced my steps of last week and walked to the Fine Arts Center. I was really glad I had searched for the building last week because it wouldn't have helped my upset stomach if I hadn't known where I was going. I entered the building and went in search of room 198. The building really does have a confusing layout but I found my room without having to retrace any of my steps. I stopped at the door and peered inside. Classical music was playing and there were maybe half a dozen people sitting in various spots throughout the room even though it was another 20 minutes until class would start. I saw that "Music Appreciation???" was written on the board so I figured I was in the right spot.
The man that I assumed was the professor, Mr. G, was sitting behind a podium at the front of the room and he nodded at me as I entered. The room was laid out in a sort of semi-circle. There were curved tables on each side of a center aisle. I sat at the end of the third table from the front. It was interesting to watch people come in and sit down because the majority of them would sit at the ends of the tables and until they were all taken and then people started filling in the middle of the tables.
As the starting time approached, nearly all of the 81 chairs in the room were taken. Mr. G started out by saying that we are going to do something that we only have to do once this semester. He proceeded to call out names of people alphabetically and tell them where to sit. He started at the front of the room and worked his way back. I was quite thrilled that I would get to sit near the back of the room. If there was a person on his roll that was not there, he would leave an empty chair. The person that was just in front of me was not there so there was to be an empty chair at the end of my table and I was to sit in the 2nd chair. I was all the way across the room and by the time I got there, there was a girl sitting in my chair. I asked her which chair he told her to sit in, just sure that I was supposed to be in seat two. She wasn't really sure and didn't really care that much. So I had the honor of stopping him in the midst of his list and asking him where I was to sit. He looked back through it and said, "Second chair." The people after her were all mixed up too. So he basically had to start over from our point and tell people where they were to sit. The reason for seating us like this was to be able to take roll easily from now on. We are always to sit in the same spot and if a seat is empty, that person is absent.
After we were all seated, he went over the syllabus with us, then he laid a few ground rules out. The room had just been redecorated so there was to be no food or drink in the room. He doesn't like to see cell phone, they just annoy him so turn them off and put them away. And then he said that one rule he has because it's a personal pet peeve of his is: Never, never, never, ever put your head down on the table. He has been teaching since 1971 and over the years a lot of students have told him that they listen better with their heads down but he naps better with his head down.
After finishing with his little talk, he told us that his full-time job is as the head of music at the Presbyterian Church downtown and that is where we can reach him other than Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. He went on to tell us that there is a reason that teachers give their phone numbers and e-mail addresses to the students. He said there may be occasions that a student may be going through something and may need help or just need someone to listen or a shoulder to cry on, etc. and that help is available if we will just ask for it. He is available to talk to any time someone needs something. I thought that was very nice and a good thing he said it because I would really have been intimidated approaching him after the little speech we had just received.
It was very hot in the room and he let us go early "to find some place cool." I stayed to ask him about the extra credit opportunities he said are available. Two of the opportunities are music concerts at his church on a Tuesday and Thursday of the same week. We won't have class that day but if we show up we will get extra credit for attending. It starts at 7:30 and I have a class from 5:30 to 7:15. I asked him about the possibilities of showing up late (at the time I thought the class lasted until 8:15) and he said he would be willing to work with me on that. He also offered to find other opportunities if those wouldn't work for me. I think that he will be a good instructor if the students just act like adults.
I returned to my car and made my way down to South Campus, the community college part of WKU, where I was hoping to enroll in the Intermediate Algebra class. I had tried to enroll in this algebra class when I enrolled in all of my other classes via the internet but because I'm a university student instead of a community college student, I'm only allowed in the class if there is room on the first day of class. I did something I thought was very bold, for me, and called the professor, Mr. D, a month or so ago and told him my dilemma of working full-time and needing this evening class. He told me that he would make sure that I was able to get into the class and that I should just show up on the first day of class.
Traffic was really snarled but I still arrived by 5:00. I was sitting in my car when I noticed another Mennonite girl several cars over get out of her car and go inside. It was Carol and I decided not to bring attention to ourselves by hollering at her.
I went to the Dean's Office to find out where the class was located. I found the room and was relieved that Mr. D was in the room and told him who I was. He pulled a paper out that already had my information on it and all I had to do was sign it. It made me feel so much better that he had actually remembered me. I figured I would get there and he would draw a blank on who I was and it would be a big hassle but all I had to do was sign my name and sit down.
Mr. D seems to be a very easy-going person. His full-time job is teaching at the Juvenile Detention Center downtown. I had talked to Mr. D's father, whom I had called by mistake when trying to reach Mr. D, and he told me that Mr. D has a heart for people getting back into the school setting. His father was just sure that Mr. D could do wonders for me. So far, he seems to be correct. Now the trick will be whether he can actually teach me algebra or not.
He gave us a diagnostic test and I might just as well have blindly filled in the bubbles on the Scantron for how much I knew. He had told us that we aren't supposed to know this stuff but still...I wouldn't mind having something look familiar. I have my serious doubts that I should even be in this class. When I took the math placement exam, I knew how to do maybe 4 or 5 of the problems. You had to get 6 right to qualify for Intermediate Algebra and I think I got 7 right so 3 or 4 of those correct problems were total guesses. I guess if I flunk, I flunk. And if I flunk, then I'll know for sure that I should take Math 055 first.
He dismissed us after we finished the test and as I was walking out to my car, who walked out in front of me but Carol. She reached her car first and was inside before I got out there and she didn't see me until I was unlocking my car. She motioned for me to wait and pulled up next to me and rolled her window down. Now keep in mind that I know who Carol is and may have talked to her a few times but we aren't more than casual acquaintances.
"I am so glad to see you," she said.
We talked for a few minutes and Idiscovered that she is intending to become an RN and that she had eitherstarted school just that day or on Monday.
"I just told my sister the other day that they say Western has 19,000 students but they should say they have 18,999 normal students and one Mennonite,"she said.
"Make that 18,997 students and three Mennonites," I said.
"People tell me that I'm so brave to go to school, but if they just knew how I feel..." Carol said.
"...then they'd know just how brave we aren't!" I finished.
We both feel that we aren't qualified to be in our respective math classes so we just enjoyed a few minutes of commiserating. How, out of 19,000 students, did Carol and I happen to be at the same place at the same time? I know that Kris is attending but unless we make an effort to be somewhere at the same time, our paths don't even cross. I think God knew I needed a few minutes of commiserating and wanted me to realize that I'm not alone in my feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. It's interesting how a shared experience can make two people, that normally have nothing in common, really glad to see each other.
posted by Sharon @ 11:31 PM
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