Thursday, December 10, 2009

Pat on my own back...

So I already blogged about Kyle being super smart in his classes, and I don't care about receiving the praise (except from Kyle) but with this semester ending, I feel the need to recap. I took a full load this semester, expecting it to be like any other semester. Oh boy was I wrong. This semester was busy busy busy and seriously kicked my trash (I feel way mormon saying that.. haha) There is one professor at SUU who I seriously used to dread taking classes from. He has been a defense attorney, a prosecutor and a judge... he knows his stuff and he doesn't let people "skid by". So how did I end up taking 2 classes from him? One of the classes was my senior seminar... talk about a waste of time! Seriously! He did a good job but the class focused on immigration, something that I care nothing about. My only real complaint about illegal aliens is that they don't speak English, well it was until my research paper at the end. Professor Admire grades you after each class based on participation. He wants people to speak up and to voice their opinions. What if I don't have one on the particular subject? And how many times do I really need to say "Yeah, but would we have that problem if they spoke the language?" Then we had to write our senior paper. Admire is tough... he doesn't grade lightly. He knows what he is looking for and doesn't settle for less. I turned in my proposal, which was "The cost of illegal immigration on public school systems" and come to find out there is ZERO information out there on that topic. So I changed it to "Illegal aliens receiving In State tuition at U.S. Universities". Oh did that ever change my opinion on immigration. Utah is one of 11 states that allows illegal aliens to receive the BENEFIT of in state tuition as long as they graduated from high school in the state of Utah. What a bunch of crap!!!!! How is it fair that I'm a citizen and paid $6500/semester and they have NO legal status and pay $2200/semester! Well either way, I pretty much aced the paper. It was only 10 pages when it was supposed to be 15-20, but I went in to talk to him about some things and he said not only is it well written but I have a good grip on the topic and extra wording is not needed. Awesome!
My criminal procedure class is the second class I took from Professor Admire. This has been my favorite class of all time! It is pretty much "who does what and why"... I LOVED it. Every day I was like a kid in a candy store, just soaking up useful information. But yet again, it was NOT an easy class. Admire doesn't teach in the "traditional" format... he expects you to read the assigned chapters before coming to class and come to class and know the material and be able to discuss it. we went over specific supreme court cases and how they have shaped and changed the laws into what we know now. I know all sorts of random details about the law now. Admire also doesn't test in a typical format... there is no true/false, multiple choice here. It was more like "here is the situation... so and so did this and the cops did this... argue from the defense attorney's side and the prosecutor's side" It was applying what you had learned and making it work it a "could be real life situation". I scored a 92 on the first test (most people scored in the mid 70's) and a 96 on the second test (highest grade in the class when no one else cleared 90) This class totally solidified what I want to do with my life. I apparently have the right way of thinking, and I like to argue (although most attorney's don't do that anyways). If I score well on the final I will finish thatclass with the highest grade in the class! It's a super hard class so I'm very excited to be able to say that!
I also took an Abnormal Psychology class, this class was definitely interesting. It was not at all what I expected. We visited a lot of places around town where the people who resided or worked there had certain diseases or mental illnesses. This was also my first psychology class since general ed classes, so it was a tough class for me. I scored very well in the class and finished with an A. He gave us a print out of all of our scores and he said I was missing an assignment that I know I turned in, so I went in to argue him about it. It was only worth 10 points and I already had an A, so the professor looked at me like I was stupid. But I worked hard for my grades, and I like them to be a good reflection of the work I did that semester.
Either way, I did better than expected this semester, we'll have to see how next semester plays out with the baby and everything, but it is my last semester and I will not just slough off... I have worked too hard and too many people have made too many sacrifices for that. I feel good after doing such a good job and I know it makes my parents and my husband super proud and for once, I'm proud of myself and what more do I need?

1 comment:

  1. A healthy cute cuddly baby. That's all the more you need!! HEHE. Congrats!! That's aweosme that you did so well!

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