acid-stars.com

Let me get something off my chest: I did really poorly last semester. School was not a priority… mainly because I thought I had it “under control.” I ended up with a GPA that is almost a whole point below last term’s. However, things will be different this semester.

In CIS 22, we’re actually going to be programming. In C! We’re also going to learn some C++, so I’m excited. (Last semester’s CIS classes were assembly language programming and discrete mathematics. I did not enjoy either. Particularly the latter.) It doesn’t hurt that I’ve taken a CIS class with this professor in a previous semester so I know what to expect out of his lectures, homework assignments, and tests. That and I’ll be programming in C! I love C.

My Music class isn’t very exciting. There are about 200 students in an auditorium, listening to the music our professor decides to play for us that day. There are no textbooks to buy — only three CDs. One of which is a 3-disk classical music compilation. The class doesn’t seem hard but requires “active listening” to music, something I am incapable of doing. (I just know when something sounds good to me. I have no idea what’s actually going on in the song.) We listened to Maurio Bauza’s “Bolero,” during which I got a migraine.

If you know anything about migraines, you realize how sensitive one becomes to light and sound. Listening to this African-inspired Puerto Rican medley only exacerbated the situation. As soon as the professor let us out, I made a mad dash to the Rite Aid just off campus, where I bought an outrageously expensive — and ridiculously tiny — bottle of Excedrin.

From there, I made my way to Existentialism. I was still battling the sight distortion and the pain in my temples when I found my classroom. When class began, I was feeling better. However, once the professor started describing the oral presentations she expected of us, it kicked into high gear again and I was desperately trying to keep myself from becoming physically ill in this woman’s classroom.

I was still experiencing the pain in my temples (felt as if I’d spent the night clenching my jaws) as I sat in my CIS 27 class. The professor was about 15 minutes late… but got immediately into professor-mode as soon as he stepped foot in the classroom. He talked of silicon chips, logic gates, and circuits. I wanted to cry. There’s a reason I’m taking software engineering and not hardware engineering! Circuits, wires, chips… All that stuff is lost on me.

However, I think if I actually put my mind to it and actually focus on the work, I’ll do fine this semester. I better do fine. I’m at risk of losing my scholarship if I don’t.