I honestly meant to post after my first week of classes. Honest! The homework load, though, was so overwhelming that I didn't have time. "Surely," I thought, "Things will settle down in week two!"
...no.
Week three?
...yeah, no.
In my head I saw this quarter as being just as easy as last quarter. Enough of a challenge to leave me feeling slightly stressed but mostly proud of myself, but not so much that I wanted to fling myself into oncoming traffic. A nice, soft, teddy-bear squish of a quarter.
I opened my arms, prepared to embrace the squish and got mauled by a grizzly.
Ah god. The schedule is killing me. Having classes every other day is just stupid. We cover three or more chapters per night in Math and must complete the home work in two days, whilst keeping up with A&P studying/flashcards/quizzes twice a week, and Psychology discussion boards/Crazy-APA-Obsessed-Professor/reading/chapter tests. While working full time. I'm in school or at work fourteen hours a day.
This is the point in which you may imagine Our Heroine weeping in the corner, trying to set fire to her textbooks.
Okay, so I exaggerate. A little bit. But not much. I spend every waking (and evidently sleeping) moment trying to crowbar information into my skull - on my lunch break, the forty minutes I get between work and school, however long it takes me between school and bedtime. I wake up several times a night, gasping out anatomical positions or Algebra equations, depending on the day of the week. I give myself the time it takes me to eat breakfast to read the news, blogs and catch up with Facebook, but that's about it for "scheduled" free time. I did take last Saturday "off" from homework to watch Phil play Bioshock in preparation for Bioshock2 coming out, and felt guilty afterward.
Speaking of Phil... I know I've said it before, but I really honest-to-god could not do this without him. Without complaint he makes my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He's taken over the food-shopping duty so I have more time for homework. My one meager kitchen duty (unloading the dishwasher) has been quietly relinquished. I hate it passionately. There's nothing I can do, though. I simply do not have the time to take care of anything but work and school. I tell him constantly how much I appreciate him taking care of everything, and that dear man shrugs and smiles and tells me he'd much rather I study than fold laundry. He supports me 100% and I am so thoroughly blessed.
Quick rundown of classes before I have to go study a skull...
Psychology 100
This is my online class. The professor is, pardon the language, fucknuts crazy. I thought at first he was a nice man because he uses smiley emoticons. DO NOT TRUST THE SMILIES. He refuses to post what you need to know in an easy-to-find location. You have to hunt for every little nugget. And he highlights and italicizes random text so A) it's hard on your eyes, and B) you never know what is important because IT'S ALL RANDOMLY HIGHLIGHTED AND ITALICIZED. He marks you down if you turn in your assignments the day they're due, instead of BEFORE they're due. He nitpicks on APA format without telling you how your content was. I got a C on my first Psych test. C! Stupid prof. I keep telling people my goal last quarter was A's. My goal this quarter is to pass. That's all.
Math 92
Just like Math 91, I'm picking up on it really quickly. First Math test was a 92%. My good bud K from Math 91 just happens to be in my Math 92! We are conspiring to take 99 together because together we are UNSTOPPABLE. Math Prof is a nice, quiet little man who started out quite taken aback by K and I's antics. Now he just shakes his head and keeps going.
Anatomy & Physiology 241
According to Dr J, my A&P prof, they cram three quarters worth of material in to two quarters at our school. This, my friends, is killing my softly. Yesterday we were told to memorize all the bones and bone markings in the skull. Guess when we'll be tested on this? THURSDAY. One week to learn, in intimate detail, the human skull. When I looked at the list she gave us, I fought tooth-and-nail against a panic attack. This is crazy. I don't have time to give this the attention it deserves. My first practical lab test was an 82.5% - really good, according to everyone, but it makes me scowl a little. Dr J is a good teacher though so I am picking it up pretty quickly. One week at a time, Katrina...
So that's that. Now I'm going to kiss my man and sit down on the couch with a picture of a skull...
