I just finished my final paper for international economics. I learned a lot, especially about Germany's economy. And Iceland too, which was my partner's country for the final group report. I'm glad I took this class and it was a good introduction to the subject, but I really didn't like the online environment. It really makes a difference how things are set up and requirements. My online health class is going well and works fine. I think some subjects are better suited for online classes than others. I would have liked closer supervision and more interaction between classmates. I like in-person lectures for stuff like this so that makes a big difference to me. But if I wanted to take this class I had to do it online. From what I understand, there are a lot of classes like this one that are only offered online and/or during the summer term. You take what you can get. I do feel a lot more comfortable with my level of knowledge of international econ, but my new knowledge barely scratches the surface and only covered some of the basics. I'm pretty sure I will be taking at least one more class on this subject when I go to PSU. I didn't get to see a lot of the work done by my classmates, but I'm pretty sure I did much better than most, maybe even all, of the others. I got A's on all my exams and assignments and have no reason to think that my final grade will be any less.
Wednesday night I turned in my final take-home exam for environmental science. There were 6 short-essay questions and 2 long-essay questions that ended up being 11 pages long. The hardest part was being able to sum up big concepts that we learned throughout the (short!) term in a comprehensible and cohesive way. I already got my grade back and got 102%! There was an extra credit question that asked up to relate what we thought about our 7 field trips. This was a fun and pretty easy class, just like the last one, but only 8 weeks instead of 12. I'm pretty confident that I will get an "A" in this class. We had to do a literature report again, this time on the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. I have been wanting to read this book for a while and was happy that it was assigned. Written in 1962, this book was instrumental in making people aware of the problems associated with chemical pesticides and herbicides like DDT, Aldrin, and other related compounds. This is another well-written book that I highly recommend to everyone. Our field trips were to Whittaker Ponds, which I think I wrote about in an earlier post, the Portland waste water treatment plant, a walking tour of alternative methods of storm water control, Metro natural pest control, a visit from a representative of the Oregon Environmental Council, the waste recycling center, and the reclaimed St. Johns landfill. The focus of this term was pollution and I learned a lot of good things. Just like before, this class is wide, but not really very deep. Even so, I will still try to take the last class in this series when its offered this winter.
My health class continues on. Nothing all that special. Some of my posts have probably upset and annoyed some of my classmates, but I try to be respectful and accurate. Some people don't like it when you question their weak and hyperbolic (this is my new favorite word and I have been using it a lot lately) statements. I'm still eating a little better than before I started this class and am getting more exercise, although I've been slacking for the last three days and haven't done anything and haven't lost any weight for over a week. I need to step it up and get a bicycle. Or something. A bicycle would probably be the smartest move. I know I can find something decent on Craigslist for under $150. And I still haven't made an attempt to quit smoking. Maybe the bicycle and the quitting smoking can go together. Do it lame-o. Don't just talk about doing it. Anyways, there are 3 more weeks of this class with 2 quizzes and one final exam (non-cumulative, its only on the last three class weeks). I should be able to get an "A" in this class.
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