Sure, three assignments all year sounds cool… until you realize that the two tests are worth 25% of your final mark each and your final exam is worth 50%. Yeah, three assignments sounds coo. Until you completely bomb one of them.
Yesterday began normally. I woke up at 8:00 because I was planning on getting pancakes from BOC, but wasn't in the mood, so I instead went to the cafeteria and had Froot Loops again and happily discovered that they do, in fact, have apple juice.
The tables in the cafeteria are quite unfortunate. They are round and have about seven or so seats around them. Quite different from my high school, where there were three or four long tables and you could sit by yourself one chair away from anyone else and it was fine. Here, it's pretty obvious that you're sitting alone or with someone. I usually sit by myself, unless I see someone there I know, or someone asks to sit with me. I don't much care that I'm by myself, but I feel like I'm using the whole table and it's a waste. Anyway, Desmund was eating lunch with two people from his house and he waved me over to sit with them.
Sometime after that, I went off in search of David S. Howes Theatre, so that I would know where to go for Astronomy. I've found this to be quite a good idea, trying to find classes beforehand. For one, you know where you're going, and two, you can often find an easier way to get there. I ended up going all through the Walker complex to get there but then when I left, I realized I could get there quicker from the Tower.
At around two o'clock, I went off in search of the gym so that I could pick up my OSAP loan. The Walker complex area is kind of freaky, because it's the gym and fitness area and just not somewhere I would normally be. I also had never been there before (or so I thought), which made it doubly weird. When I got to the gym, I realized that this is where they had set up booths at Smart Start for all the different programs, and suddenly, I was oriented.
And then suddenly, I check my alarm clock to see how much time was left until class, because the line-up of kids waiting to get their loan was long. This whole experience had me freaked out, because I know nothing about money and my finances. But, as it turned out, I didn't need to worry. I just had to sign some papers saying that yes, this is my income ($0), yes, this is how much I'm getting, that sort of thing. Then they told me that they would deposit directly into my school account how much money I needed for tuition and the rest would go to my bank. Hey, pretty convenient, right?
It ended up only taking half an hour, which wasn't too bad. I went to the cafeteria to have a quick lunch, just a cinnamon bun (mmm…!) and a diet Pepsi. This trip to the cafeteria made me a very happy girl. When I walked in and heard the words "chicken fingers", boy, was I in heaven. I looked up at the menu, and there it was. I am now officially set for dinner for the rest of the year. After I picked up my cinnamon bun, I went searching for a microwave to heat it up, but instead found a waffle maker! Waffles are a new love of mine, after the little Australian boy taught me how to use one in Florida. I'm starting to find more things to eat, so I shan't have to eat leaves again.
Finally, it was time for my very first class, Astronomy. Off I went, taking my new shortcut to DHowes. I walked in and was surprised to find that nearly all the seats were taken. I took one about four rows from the back and then realized that I was supposed to try to be near the front. It's true, you know. Sitting in the back means there are five hundred other kids in front of you to distract you (and yeah, there were five hundred kids there), and you do get distracted.
I was also surprised to see that there were no desks. I mean, I should have figured, seeing as it's called a "Theatre" and not a "Lecture Hall" or "Classroom". I also noticed a couple of people with laptops, so I decided I would bring mine to my next lecture, as I wasn't sure whether I would need it or not at first, so I didn't bring it that day.
The professor has a bit of an accent, Russian maybe?, but I could still understand him. The big lecture halls have sound systems and the professors wear headsets, which is really great. He did speak in a bit of a monotone voice though, so I did zone out a few times. When he went over the marking scheme, everyone was pretty scared. Two tests and an exam? For our whole mark? What did we get ourselves into?! I smiled at all these people freaking out. What did you expect? Is he going to mark five hundred papers every week? My high school teachers had enough trouble marking thirty. You know those teachers that never seem to hand things back? Yeah. It's like that. Only worse.
It kind of made me happy that everyone was freaked out like this. Hey, maybe they'll drop it. But then, my hopes were dashed when the teacher told us that the tests would be multiple choice. Everyone went "phew" and reverted back to their previous beliefs that this would be a bird course.
Honestly, I don't know whether it will be or not. This teacher professor reminds me very much of my high school business teacher and my grade eight English teacher. They make the course really easy, really straightforward. They make tests easy, multiple choice, so that you have a better chance at doing well. They don't try to trick you, they tell you all the answers. And everyone goes "hey, I don't need to study. I don't need to pay attention. I don't need to come to class" and they fail. This is exactly what is going to happen. Some people are going to come to class, do the work, and get really good, really inflated marks. The rest of the class isn't going to do anything and wonder why they failed and argue with the professor and generally be assholes. I know, for this all happened once before.
I was feeling good about the class, so afterwards, I made a trip down to the service desk that I had been avoiding to report that I didn't have a light bulb in closet. Weird thing, you know. I swore there was one when I moved in, but a couple days ago, I woke up, and the light didn't work. Probably because it wasn't there. It didn't fall out onto the floor, so I'm assuming someone must have taken it. I have had my door open a few times, but only when I've gone to the bathroom for a minute. Since I've found the light bulb missing though, I've decided it's best to lock it every time. Unfortunately. Anyway, the man at the service desk made a note of it, so hopefully I'll get a new one soon. (Though I don't think maintenance concerns like that are top priority).
I talked with my mom on MSN and then she called me up on the phone. I also spoke with my brother who told me about his classes and teachers. My grade 11 English teacher remembered me (I told my brother then that he was set for her class — for one, she likes guys better than girls, and two, she's afraid of our mom), as did my Peer Tutoring advisor teacher, a guidance counselor, and — shocker of shocks — my Creative Writing teacher. When my brother told me he that was peer tutoring for her English class my reaction was "wow… you're fucked". He's going to have a fun year ahead of him, I never realized how many terrible teachers we had at our school and he's got a lot of them, poor kid.
I went down for dinner at 7:30 or so and ran into Kayce, Natalie, and Hailey. They had just finished eating, but they offered to wait and sit with me. When I went in to get food, I found that everything was closed. Another student there told me and some other guys that they were closed until 8:00 and that we'd have to come back. So, the other girls left and I didn't bother to ask them to come down again at 8:00, since I'd feel weird eating and them not. I finally had my beloved chicken fingers, after waiting quite awhile at the "after hours grill" line. I ended up not having to wait at all after ordering. "Just chicken fingers?" the lady asked, "wow, that was easy".
I sat by myself again, but two other girls came by and asked to sit with me. Their names completely escape me, but they were also staying in DeCew. They asked what I was studying, I asked what they were studying, as is the common question that always occurred. One girl said that her sister had taken a computer science course and said it was really boring. I said yeah, most people find it boring, but I love it. The other girl had also ordered chicken fingers and she really liked them too. I asked if they served them every day, and she said they did, so I was pretty happy about that.
I went back to my room and had an early shower so I could go to bed early so I could get up early for my class the next day. Shower was uneventful, except I forgot my big towel in my room, so I had to use a little one. After that, Stephanie invited me to her room to watch "Red Eye" with her and Natalie. The movie was just over an hour, which was surprisingly short for new movies, but a very good length nonetheless. I hadn't heard anything about the movie, but they told me it was a thriller. One thing I quite liked about it, is that there's a chase scene (if you can call it that) in a house near the end, which took place in broad daylight. You don't see many of those. I don't know if it would have been scarier had it been in the dark, but I really hate when they do that, so I'm glad they didn't.
I could really go for some ketchup chips right now. Do they have them in the cafeteria? It's too early for lunch. Hmm, should I go before or after class? I don't like eating early, because then I get hungry late at night. Bah.
Anyway, that's about all that happened yesterday. Today was, well, intense. I guess I'll write at the end of the day, since I still have some more classes to go to. Boy oh boy… university is just a little crazy.