Tales of the Trivial

I Quit

Rachel — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 03:51:45 +0000

I dropped my class, ’cause I suck and I’m a loser. Well, I just had no desire to do the work. And I don’t want to force myself to do something that I don’t want to do. It’s looking very unlikely to me at this point that I will actually get my master’s degree.

#1 Teacher

Rachel — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 02:23:46 +0000

Today at work, after Trevor finished his math worksheet, he drew an airplane on it where the exhaust said “#1 teacher.” I asked if that was referring to me, and he said yes, so I said thanks. And he said, “I want you to be happy.” And I said, “Good, ’cause I am happy.” And then he drew a spaceship on it that said “you’re the best.” Awww.

School

Rachel — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 14:23:03 +0000

Classes have started again. I’m only taking one class this semester, because that was all I felt like taking. I would have taken two if something else good was being offered. There was one M-W evening class that might have been worth taking, but I can’t take classes four evenings a week, because then I won’t be able to work enough hours. The class I’m taking is called Set Theory and Metric Spaces, with Professor Oh. I don’t really like the teacher. He’s the same one I had last semester for Algebra, which I dropped after two weeks. His lectures don’t really add anything to my understanding, and since he pretty much just lectures from the book, I decided to try a new strategy: don’t take notes, just follow along in the book while he’s teaching. So far, we’ve done Chapter 1, which was not too bad. It’s a small book with six chapters, so we’ll probably go through the whole thing this semester. Oh also assigns a lot of homework, but since he had difficulty keeping up with the grading for Algebra, he’s decided to try something new with this class. He still assigns a bunch of homework, but instead of turning it in, we post it online on the message board. And since only one group can get credit for a problem, because once it’s posted we can all read it, each person/group (I’m working by myself for now) is only required to get 1/15 or 15% (I’m not sure which) of the homework problems to have full credit for homework. So after he posts the homework assignment, we have a few days to kind of claim which problems we want to work on, and then on a specified date we can post our solutions. I haven’t started on the first homework assignment yet, but I need to, because it’s supposed to be posted tomorrow, and if I don’t post my solutions immediately, someone else who was working on the same problem will probably beat me to it. Anyway, I think this homework scheme is kind of ridiculous.

Last semester worked out okay. I ended up with As in all of my classes. Advanced Calculus was a close call, since I initially got a C on the final, but rewriting it correctly gave me back half of the points I missed, so I had enough for a 90%. Non-Euclidean geometry, on the other hand, was an easy A. The grade was just based on the tests, which I did very well on, so I ended up with a 99%. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get an A or not in Psychology. I did well on all the tests, but I did skip class many times, and there was something in the syllabus that said we lose all of our participation points if we skip more than four classes. But maybe he didn’t take attendance all the times that I was gone.

Not so much

Rachel — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 02:43:17 +0000

I tried a few different pictures and it gave me different celebrities for each one.

Test me!

Rachel — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 01:21:16 +0000

Just got back from taking a test in Non-Euclidean Geometry. It was exciting, because it wasn’t too easy like the first one. I took the whole time to finish it (half the class was still working when I left), and I even had to ask the teacher about something. But I did well. I’m pretty sure I got an A. Tests put me in such a good mood… yeah, I do know I’m a freak. But I love me anyway, and you should too.

In other news, one of my ACT students at work brought his score up 4 points (from a 22 to a 26) from his last practice test (he has had 20 hours of instruction, 14 of which were with me, so I’d like to think I can take at least some of the credit), and Eric thanked me for doing a great job, and later when I asked him what to do since I had a half hour that I wasn’t scheduled with any students, he said he didn’t have anything for me to do, but he said, “For now, just know that you’re fantastic. And I really do mean that, ” which made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I love it when people are happy with me.

Oh, and another thing that’s pretty cool: for the last month approximately my mood has ranged from okay to excellent, mostly good. It’s like I don’t get in bad moods or get unhappy anymore like a normal person. There was only one day recently when I was in a slightly bad mood for about half an hour prior to falling asleep because of some stuff, but other than that I have not been sad or angry or anything like that in a long time. Even when I should have been PMSing I was in a great mood! I don’t really know what’s wrong with me.

I guess my life has improved.

Rachel — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 03:53:51 +0000

It’s a higher score than it was last time. And as I’m sure you know, internet quizzes are the most accurate way to judge how good your life is.

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	6.9
Mind:	6.1
Body:	7.7
Spirit:	5.9
Friends/Family:	5.6
Love:	2.9
Finance:	7.9
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Since I haven’t posted in a while.

Rachel — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 03:44:57 +0000

So, I dropped Algebra like I said I was going to. We just took the first test in Non-Euclidean Geometry, which I got 100 on, and in Advanced Calculus, which I got a 55/60 on. So school is going well now. I got a raise at work because Eric noticed that I am super awesome (okay, so those weren’t his exact words, but it is true). Otherwise, nothing of note has occured since I last posted. I have such a boring life.

School

Rachel — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 01:30:24 +0000

I started school last week. So far, most of my classes seem okay and I like the professors… except Algebra. Algebra is hard. And between work (working two jobs now instead of three, for a total of about 20 hours a week) and class (taking four classes) and homework, I’m feeling like I don’t have nearly enough time. I could also use a little bit more money, but that would require time, and then I wouldn’t get my homework done. So… blah. And I’m still unsure if this is really what I want to do. For some reason, I thought I would be more interested in school this time and be a better student, but let’s face it, I still don’t really care that much about school; I skipped two of my classes today for no good reason, just because I didn’t think we were doing anything important and I wanted to sit around at home and watch Grey’s Anatomy. (My roommate is to blame for getting me hooked on that show.) Basically, school is just like it used to be: slightly interesting, but stressful. Wouldn’t be worth it to do just for fun, but once I have my master’s I’ll have better job opportunities, like teaching at a college. So… I think I’ve changed my mind about getting teacher certification. Why get about $10,000 more of debt so I can teach in high school, where I would most likely make less money than teaching college? Plus, now that I’ve remembered that I’m not terribly fond of school, I’m thinking I probably don’t want to do the work. So I’ll probably just get my master’s in math and be done with school.

Consecutive Cellphones

Rachel — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 13:00:51 +0000

Last night, as I was sitting at a stoplight, I looked up and noticed the woman crossing the intersection in front of me was talking on her cellphone. The strange part is, three more cars went by after her before I got a green light, and they were all driven by women talking on their cellphones.

I have a keyboard!

Rachel — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 01:54:48 +0000

I bought somebody’s used Casio WK-1300 for $50, so now I can practice at home. Yay! It’s so much fun ’cause I keep getting better. I think I might actually stick with it until I really know how to play. Lately it seems like I have started things and then kept with them instead of starting things and then promptly abandoning them as is my usual habit. Perhaps I am becoming more patient or less lazy or something. Cool.