So I think that I've pretty much decided that I am going to change my major to environmental studies. I saw an academic advisor today and got some information about transfer degree requirements for PCC and Portland State University. I changed my mind on some of the classes I'm going to take in the fall. I'm going to take my second of the two required chemistry courses, CH 105. I'll also be taking Statistics I (MTH 243). And an elective that sounds interesting, Environmental Science: Chemical Perspective (ESR 172). There is a series of 3 of these ESR classes (with field trips!!!) that also include Biological and Geographical. I may try to take the other two in the coming terms. I'll also take the Biology (2 req. - BI 211, 212, 213) and the Socialogy (204) classes later. And there are 3 other ESR classes required that I will need to take soon, but they are at other campuses. I am looking forward to these classes, but not the commute.
My speech on Tuesday about motorcycle land speed records went pretty well. Better than I thought it would. Everyone has to bring a VHS tape for recording their own speech. I still haven't watched mine. I need to soon because we have to evaluate ourselves. We also have to evaluate 2 others in the class. I've almost got those both done. Part of that is saying complimentary things about the speaker and their speech and one of mine was painfully horrible. She was so nervous. It was painful to watch. I felt bad for her. I think the whole class was. I hope she does better next time. Our next speech is a persuasive one. I'm thinking about advocating tiered operator licensing for motorcycles, much like Germany and some other European countries. And/or charging more to register larger cc bikes. And mandatory training to get an endorsement. I'm not sure yet though. I changed my mind numerous times for my first speech. I'm trying to stick with things that I am familiar with and know more about than most people. It worked for the first one.
Because of what we've learned and done in my scholarship classes, I completed my first application for the PCC Foundation scholarships. It's all done online, except for sending recommendation letters. I faxed two of those today from the Career Center at school. I will probably revise one of the 500-word essays. I have until Friday, Nov. 6 to do that. I'm just waiting for feedback from the writing teacher, which will happen in class on Thursday. You could only apply to two (or three if one was less than $900) of these particular scholarships. I applied to one that is $2000, but there is only one available. You need a 3.5 GPA for it, so I think my chances are better than normal. And I applied for another that is $1000 and has 25 awards, so that one seems like an even better chance. OSAC scholarships come next. I'll probably end up applying for 15 or more scholarships. I should get at least a few out of that. And I will have the matching funds from NAYA in about 3 or 4 months. With my contributions that will total $3000.
Economics is going OK. Lots of graphs and curves to remember. I got a 43 (high 'B') on the first exam. That was exactly the class median grade and more people got that exact grade than any other. The instructor commented that it was a pretty high average. I did kind of horrible on drawing some of my graphs. I was nervous for this test and didn't feel as prepared for it as I could have been. Right now we are learning about the 4 market models: pure competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. This is more interesting to me than the supply and demand stuff. I got to talk to the instructor for a while after class on Friday. We started talking about what I used to do and it turns out that I may have worked on her or her husband's BMWs at Portland Motorcycle. And we talked a little about our kids and going to college, etc. I did this because I want to ask her for a letter of recommendation. And it's good to start making more connections with people. I need to do more of that. I loaned her an economics-related book that I read a while back and found interesting. Economics is sometimes called "the dismal science". This book confirmed that. But, I'm realizing more and more that the description fits. Even so, I'm glad that I am learning it. It would be nice to take the Macro version of this class. She is teaching it next term. I think I'll get an 'A' in this one and would likely do it again in that one. I know what she expects and what the tests will be like and it uses the same textbook (saves $100 or more). bu it's not a requirement. But it's what's in the news now, I'm interested in it, and I'd understand the current economic situation much better. I guess I could wait on the math. It's the last one required for the transfer degree. I might even try to take an alternative at PSU. They have four different classes that will satisfy the requirement. I'll have to look into this a little more.
Almost 1 a.m.? Really?
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