Was It Something I Said?

This was unexpected! I got a letter congratulating me on my academic achievement which has earned me “the distinction of Part-Time Dean’s List Scholar”. The “part-time” designation cracks me up. It’s true, but it sounds so cheap! The annual tea party, where the certificates are distributed, is in May. (If I don’t attend, I can still get the certificate.)

I ran into Dorrie from last semester’s Italian 2 class. She and one other person from our group have boldly enrolled in Italian 4. She seems to be enjoying it, but I still think I am better off waiting and taking Italian 3. In the meantime, I will be attending two “Italian Immersion” weekends at UCLA extension, and I am still working my way through Pimsleur.

I’m sure my reasons would disappoint the teacher. I need a science in order to earn a degree. I started by finding qualifying non-lab courses. I eliminated those that were obviously intended for science majors, or which appeared to be much too difficult for any reason. Then I found those actually being offered this semester, and that would fit into my current schedule. That narrowed it down to about five classes. Then I eliminated them based on how likely they would be to generate tedious debates in class. (For example, the class on human evolution will inevitably spark controversy.) Geology won by default.

Last night was my first class of the new semester: Geology 1. What a difference there is in taking a class from a scientist! There was none of the chaos I have come to expect here. No time was wasted on administrative matters (which typically have consumed nearly the entire first session – and often a good deal of subsequent sessions – in other classes). He did not take roll, but simply sent a signup sheet around the class. (Because he gives a quiz every week, in future classes he will not need the sheet; he can determinate attendance by the quiz.) He did not spend class time dealing with people who wanted to add the class, but saw them during the break. He started with a brief introduction, handed out a syllabus, concisely explained the class format, and immediately began to teach the subject. He was well-organized, using two overhead projectors, one to display the outline of his lecture, the other to display definitions of terms. He was easy to understand, and used visual aids to illustrate his points. I was impressed. I took five pages of notes.

There is a tremendous amount of reading to do, plenty of scientific terminology and concepts to learn, and those weekly quizzes. Certainly this class will be challenging. But in its own way, it should be “easy” because the presentation will make the required material readily accessible to anyone willing to do the work.