The ending of the first semester

11/20/2017

This is the last blog of the first semester, I will miss writing my two hundred and fifty words each week.  Most of my blogs might have not been as funny compared to some of my classmates, but I hope that they provided some good advice and information to those who read my blogs.  The time is coming to end for the first semester and I recently finished all exams.  Now all I have to worry about is all my finals.  I feel like I'm back in high school panicking about finals but now it feels like it's ten times worse now since I'm in college.  I've been doing pretty well in all my classes except for calculus.  I probably have a C or if I'm lucky and did well on my last week exam, then maybe I might have a B-.  In my English class, I have an A and our final is a timed write essay.  Hopefully he will give us a hint a few days before the final of the topic we would be writing about. For my Group Communication class, our final is a presentation about the effects of alcohol on college students and to write how our group worked together.  Lastly, I have my calculus lab which is a pass or fail class.  I'm almost done with that class, I just have one more lab to complete and I am done with the class. School is like a race.  In the beginning, you feel a rush of adrenaline and excitement.  During the middle of the race, you're starting to feel exhausted but you keep on running.  At the end of the race, you're exhausted and feel like you have no energy left but when you see the finish line, you stride as fast as you can to the very end of the finish line.

 

Time Flies

11/13/2017

It is crazy how fast my first semester of freshman year is almost coming to an end.  It's not like high school where you have two semesters for one class and now in college it is only one semester for that one class.  Just in a few more days, I will be able to pick my classes.  I already went to my adviser to talk about what classes I need to take for my major during spring, but we didn't really go over what general ed. classes I should be taking.  So far the classes I do know I'm taking is Computer Programming One, Calculus Two, Calculus Two Lab, and English 1007. Which is a total of twelve units.  I just need to find one or two general ed classes this weekend.  I'm almost finished with every exam. I just have one more exam in Calculus this Friday and then it is only finals for all my classes.  That's because in my English class we don't have any exams but one more essay. For my Group Communication class, I just took my last exam a week ago and I have a group presentation in December.  Lastly, my Calculus lab is credit or no credit, so it is not like we have a final but that we have to complete ten labs.  I'm almost done with the lab, I just have two more labs to complete.  So whoever reads this blog, please comment below of what easy general ed. classes I should take and the name of the teacher you took the class with and thank you. 

The little things that bring me peace

11/06/2017

College can become very frustrating at any moment.  I sometimes find myself worried if I will qualify for the teacher grant due to my g.p.a or how I will do on my next exam.  There seems to be stressful situations always popping out of nowhere.  Sometimes, it's the little things that bring me peace and joy.  For instance, last Friday I had a dentist appointment and I was dreading the day and hoping that Friday wouldn't come. However, after I got out of my English class, it started to rain.  Just seeing the rain coming down brought me a sense of peace which  made me feel relax about my day and my appointment.  Another thing that relaxes me is just hanging out with some of my friends in the game room to play rocket league on our laptops.  I will admit that I'm a person who stresses about a lot of things and that it leads to me panic.  I used to be worse when I was younger but I have gotten better about stressing out and that it took some time for me to realize enjoying the little things in life can lead me to a less stressful life and a peace of mind.  Even taking a walk around the campus and looking at the little waterfall and hearing the waterfall coming down is amazing.  It's so soothing to hear the flow of the water.  It is about finding the positive things in my life are the things that can change my type of day.

Difference of high school and college

8/30/2017

High school seemed like it was just yesterday, and now I'm starting a new a life at the university.  One thing I don't miss about high school is the drama.  There was just so much of it, even when you were just trying to get away from it.  That was one of the main difference, no more drama in college.  It could just because everyone doesn't really know each other or that we act more like adults.  Another thing I like about college is that most of my professor's actually care about helping their students and make sure they learn about the subject. I remember in high school one of my teachers would be late multiple times to class and we would be waiting outside the door for ten minutes.  Another high school teacher of mine would sometimes be on the phone for almost the whole class period, while everyone would just talk to each other and hang out.  And that class was an A.P. class, which I find it really sad how the regular history class learned more than us.  I don't know how to quiet phrase this but I felt like there was more of an personal relationship with the teacher in high school, of getting to know who they are and that they were a friend.  It is not the same in college.  I think it's because we only have a professor for one semester instead of having them for a whole year. The best part of college is that I don't feel like anyone is judging you on how you look or pretty much anything. Either way, I love being in college. It's a thousand times better than high school.

Procrastination

10/23/2017

Procrastination

Procrastination, you can either love it or it can be a nightmare.  I don't try to procrastinate but last week I pushed all my math homework, English essay (This I believe essay), Group Communication papers to the weekend so I could study for my calculus one exam.  I know that doesn't sound like a good idea to procrastinate and put off everything but in Calculus, the exams are worth a lot of points.  Right now, I have a C in the class and our professor told the class that if we do better on this exam, he will get rid of the other exam grade and switch it with the new grade of the second exam.  Hopefully all the studying I did will pay off for a better grade and now for my weekend, I have to suffer and work on the pile of homework.  Would I recommend to procrastinate? Well, I believe that it is ok to procrastinate if it will be beneficial for you to do so, just like how I spent my time studying for my exam instead of working on homework. However, if you are just procrastinating to play games and watch TV, then I would not recommend to procrastinate. I would tell you to get your butt off the couch and start working and after you are done with everything, then you can relax and watch Netflix. To be honest, I just find procrastination to be stressful and I find myself just worrying if I'm going to finish it by today or that I am going to bed at four a.m.  

Picking Classes

10/16/2017

Picking classes

At the freshman orientation, our group leader would help us pick classes but I felt like it wasn't that great except for barely understanding how to pick the classes online and finding out what classes there were.  Our group leader didn't explain what classes we needed for our general ed, except that she said that all the information was inside the booklet that we received in the beginning of the day.  I signed up for like eighteen units but I had no clue if they counted for my general ed.  However, a majority of the classes I picked were wait listed.  It was when I got home, I had to look up what classes I needed for my general ed and for my major.  I have twelve units but all my classes were wait listed by one or two people and it was until a day before school stated that I got all my classes.  I was really happy but I wish that I could have gotten my classes sooner because I didn't buy any of my books. Luckily I didn't need any of my textbooks for the first two weeks, except for my calculus class but he a lot of the class didn't have the textbook either.  So we would all take a picture of the page from his textbook.  I like all my classes and my professors except for my calculus lab professor.  He acts like he's better than everyone else, and no one in the class likes to ask him for help because then he gets annoyed with you for asking for help and he looks at the clock for the last five minutes just so he can leave.  It's sad that he doesn't really care about his job but besides that I like all my other professors and classes.  

Spending money on food

10/18/2017

Spending money on food

Well I don't have a job to pay for food so my mom tells me that she will give me money to go get food at school or fast food.  But I feel like that would be a waste of money and that it will become really expensive, really fast.  To buy a meal at the school with a drink costs from six to ten dollars and fast food costs pretty much the same as the school.  If I only got lunch at school for a whole week, that would cost thirty to fifty dollars. I will admit, I don't like to spend money when I don't have too.  So when I go  grocery shopping with my mom, I get some food I can take to school so I don't have to make my mom buy me food at the school. For instance,at Costco we got the pizza pocket box with 14 of them for ten dollars.  At Walmart, we got twelve instant lunch top Ramen for five dollars.  I also make myself peanut butter sandwich at home for school.  All of that would last me for a few weeks or longer. Usually a lot of people would be fine taking money from there parents but it makes me feel irresponsible.  Right now, I'm going to apply for a job at Stanislaus to be a tutor for K-12.  At least then, I can make a little money and help pay my car bill instead of my mom always paying for it.

Textbooks

                     

Textbooks

                    It's crazy how in high school textbooks are free and until you are in college paying over five-hundred dollars for five textbooks.  This semester I  have twelve units, three classes and one lab.  I got very lucky and paid under hundred dollars for for all my books.  In my english class, I didn't have to get a textbook but a book for us to read, which only costed ten dollars on amazon.  It was called This I Believe Two.  For my Group Communication class, I rented the textbook on amazon for twenty dollars.  We also had to buy a novel called  The Glass Castle, which was another ten dollars.  In my calculus one class, my teacher recommended the textbook with calculus one through three if you are planning to become a math  major or that your major requires multiple calculus classes.  The library at the school did not have the textbook for calculus one through three until October.  So I tried to look on chegg but I wasn't able to find the right textbook.  Then I was looking on amazon for twenty minutes and I finally found it.  The best part about it was that I bought the calculus one through three textbook for thirty five dollars.  This will also save me money for two other semesters since I am a math  major and for the calculus lab we didn't have to buy any textbook.  Many freshman's have told me that they have spent two-hundred dollars for just one textbook.  Even some of my friends have spent eight-hundred dollars for all of their textbooks and a access code.

How to deal with Exams

Seth Emsheimer
9/25/2017

 How to deal with Exams 

For instance, last week I had my first two exams.  My Group communication exam was this Thursday and my calculus exam was on Friday.  I was extremely nervous for the both of them.  For my group communication exam we had to choose one book of the three and she let us choose.  Of course for myself, I hate to read because sometimes I feel so bored out of my head that sometimes when I read my mind wonders off and is thinking of something else and I have no clue of what I read.  However, I choose The Glass Castle which was an amazing novel and I felt that it was easy for me to not get off track of what was happening and I think it might now be my favorite novel.  For the exam, we had to relate characters to some of the words from our textbook.  During the exam, I felt that time went by so quickly that I had to rush in order to finish the rest of the questions.  After the exam I wished I had paid more attention to how much time I had so that I could have gotten a better score.  Now for my calculus exam I knew I had to pay attention to the time and use every minute wisely.  Before the exam I studied for an hour and then I headed straight to my calculus class.  I would definitely say studying before the calculus exam was a smart idea to help refresh me on the the two chapters.  During the exam I looked at how my many problems I had and saw how much time I had to finish the test.  It helped me see how much time I should take on each question. There was ten questions but there were multiple questions in each question.  I think I missed two questions but that doesn't mean I will have an 80 percent on the test since each question can be worth more or less.  To be honest though, I wouldn't have gotten as many questions correct without my math teacher postponing the homework to Mondy.  Luckily my math teacher Brian Jue was nice enough to let us turn in our homework on Monday instead of the usual due date off every Friday.  If I had to do the homework in that class this week, I would of have gotten a zero on the the exam.  I haven't gotten my score for my calculus exam yet so I don't know how well or poorly I did.      

What to do between breaks

What to do between breaks

This semester I have 12 units and some of my days during the week, I have a two to three hour break. Mondays are when I'm the busiest and I have two 2 hour breaks.  I would recommend doing homework or studying for an exam but sometimes everyone needs a break after class. After my english class and the workshop has ended, my two hour break begins.  Usually I don't eat breakfast before my english class , so I go and eat some brunch in the game room and relaxed.  One week on a Monday, I had no homework to work on so I called my friend to hang out and we watched Netflix on the tv in the game room for an hour and a half.  For those who don't know where it's located at, its between the warriors grill and the lounge.  So if you want to watch tv in the game room, it's only a dollar to rent the tv and the hdmi cable to hook up to your laptop and you can pretty much watch tv as long as you want.  However if all the tv's are taken and you have had the tv the longest, then you will have to return the hdmi cable and wait later on in the day until there is another open tv for use.  For my other two free hours on Monday's, I eat lunch and work on my calculus homework.  Throughout the whole week I'm usually working on homework during my break or I'm relaxing in the game room.  Last week I have seen people bring their hammocks to school to either take nap or read a book, which I thought was a pretty smart idea.  

Why picking a major is scary

Seth Emsheimer
9/11/2017

Why picking a major is scary

It seems that by the time we as high school graduates go to college, we should already know what are major is going to be or that maybe we pick a major and we are scared that it will later be a horrible decision and will be a waste of our time.  For me, I already know what I want to major in and it is mathematics.  I would like to be a high school math teacher.  However, I'm not the best at math but I'm not the worst at it.  The scariest thing for me is will I be able to pass my calculus class and if I don't, should I keep on pursuing to be a math teacher.  Last year I was in calculus 1 in my senior year of high school,  I didn't do that well but I'm hoping that since college is not that long as high school, I will have more time to focus on that one class. At freshman orientation, our group of math / engineer majors were told by the math professors to take all these math classes and I felt that this list of classes was way more than I had thought or maybe to handle.  I try to not let fear hold me back because it is not how smart you are in order to pass a class and learn from but it is about how persistent you are.  For my other classmates who don't have a major, I don't think it's a bad thing but that they are trying to find a path that will suit them in life.

The hassle about parking/ cost

Seth Emsheimer 

9/06/2017

The hassle about parking/ cost

Well, for myself I have an advantage compared to many college students.  Luckily, my friend lives two or three blocks away from Stanislaus and that she allows me to park at her house for free.  That will save me $1,456 plus $546 if I parked there during the summer.  From what I have seen walking to the campus, cars are parked everywhere and that multiple cars are driving around the parking lot looking for a place to park.  Other students have told me that they have been late to class, just trying to find a parking space for fifth teen minutes.  For other students who try to save money and park on the side of Stanislaus, they have to show up early between six and six thirty am.  It seems that Stanislaus needs to make another parking lot.  I would suggest building the parking lot by the round about, the area that is covered in dirt.  Unless that land of dirt is going to be used for something else at Stanislaus.  With all the money that Stanislaus collects from students buying the permits each semester, I'm pretty sure some of it can used to create another parking lot.  If the university couldn't even do that, then they can raise the price so that they could create another parking lot.   Since there is no room to park at Stanislaus, it leads college students to park in front of someone's house and walk to there classroom.  Which may lead Stanislaus to lose money in the process if there is no room to park over there, it will also lead students to stop buying permits.  Creating this new parking lot may lead the university to receive thousands of dollars or hundred of thousands after so many years.