Saturday, January 28, 2012

School's in Session!



I am happy to report that I have survived my first week of school.  For those of you who don't know, I am taking Chemistry 101 and Biology 107 this semester at Montgomery College.  (see Hello Internet! post for more details about my plan to become a Dietitian)  It is quite an experience being back in school and I had some rather interesting "first week" kinks to work out.

The school week started with attending my first Chemistry lecture in about 10 years.  I walked in to the classroom about 5 minutes late because apparently Montgomery College does not have enough parking spaces for all of its students and I struggled to find a space.  Anyhow, the first thing that greeted my arrival was an older gentleman ranting and raving, in an accent I could barely understand, about how technology is ruining our brains and how the billionaire corporations are all Ponzi schemes.  To my surprise, he was the Chemistry professor and that was part of his lecture.  I sat through about 3 hours of his "teaching" and only learned approximately half of the scientific method.  I was crushed and could not accept that this man held the keys to my success in Chemistry.

I discovered that my Chemistry lab professor, who I learned more from in 5 minutes than I learned in 3 hours from the other professor, had an opening in a section of her class that meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.  I quickly rearranged my schedule and switched in to her class faster than you can say "polyatomic ion."   

To make one thing clear, I am going to school to LEARN.  As an adult going back to school, I'm not messing around.  I am taking my studies very seriously and want to get As.  There are many more science classes in my future and if I don't get the right foundation with the basic courses I am doomed.

As I had imagined, I am in classes with a lot of 18 and 19 year-olds.  Luckily, though, my evening Biology course is mostly adults who work during the day and attend school at night.  It is great to know that I am not alone in the "adult going back to school" endeavor.  Wish me luck!

3 comments:

  1. I started reading your blog because I am also interested in becoming a registered dietitian. Like you, I just started classes toward this goal this week. I'm taking three classes at two different universities. I've run into several other older students as well.

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    1. Thanks for reading, Kathleen! I am happy to know there is interest in my blog from other dietetics students. It has been somewhat confusing figuring out the path so I thought it would be interesting to write about. Where are you taking classes? Good luck on your semester!

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    2. I'm taking two classes at the University of New Hampshire (Nutritional Assessment and Health Care Systems) and one at Great Bay Community College (Anatomy and Physiology I). I earned a BS in applied physics in 2007, so this is quite a change for me. It is going to take a while to get used to all of the rote memorization. I'm not enrolled in the dietetics program here yet, but I hope to be next year.

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