Year One Complete

just finished my exam for the online course i took this summer. so now i guess my vacation officially begins...on august 7th lol. actually, in truth, i barely did any work for this course...peace and conflicts studies- roots of conflict, violence, and peace...quickly the solutions to global warming, nuclear weapons, and conflicts in the middle east popped into my mind. so that was no biggie. besides that ive spent the summer working in hells kitchen, this little pizzeria with a satan reencarnate boss :) besides the boss being a tad crazy its alright. the rest of the staff is nice and ive become a master chopper. dont let any mushrooms, tomatoes, or onions cross my path unless they want to be swiftly, thinly, and artfully diced, sliced, slashed and gashed. in other summer news, my drivers test is on monday so hopefully at 19.5 years of age i will finally acquire my license- im not holding my breath though.

review of first year classes

ENGL 108M: Youth & Adolescence (taught by diane jackaki or something along those lines)
-this was an alright class, very relaxed classroom setting, small size, reminded me of highschool which acted as a calming influence of sorts. teacher was pretty cool, treated us like equals. i enjoyed all of the books we read: the graveyard book, riddley walker, and alias grace. graveyard book had a "tim burton lite" vibe about it, it wouldnt surprise me if he adapted this to a film with johnny depp (naturally) playing jack. riddley walker...lol. it wasn't written in english, an interesting made up language the author developed in hopes this would gain him literary recognition, and judging by the ass kissing reviews on the back cover he got it. i enjoyed the discussion and analyzation of this book more than actual reading it. to be honest, i hated reading it. i enjoyed complaining about it, watching my friends reactions as they tried to read it, and finally, finishing it so i could say ive read it. but for reasons other than bragging rights i definitely don't recommend that one. finally, we read alias grace which i LOVED. this book just spells best actress nomination so someone should hurry and make it into a movie. overall: the teacher was eager to help, good marker, fairly easy grade. one prob: high risk of pretenious classmates

ARTS 122: Quest for Meaning in the Modern World (prof theissen)
-all we did was watch and discuss foreign films, and good ones at that. one final essay project that was long, but, as i tested, capable of being completed the night before to good results (88). this course was at conrad grebel college and i loved it. fun walk through a wood trail to get there, watch a movie, leave. i had problems waking up to get to this class - i mean it was 10 in the morning!!- and sometimes problems staying awake through the movies, early morning + light turned off + silence = zzZzs. the professor was an older lady but she had this cool attitude about her. she was very laid back, approachable, and knew a whole lot of great movies. my favs from the class were: turtles can fly, east is east, and city of god. looking back, i have fond memories of italian for beginners as well.

SPCOM 223: Public Speaking (jo harvie)
maybe my favourite. i love hearing myself talk so its no surprise. i was probably the youngest in the class of mostly second and third years; there was also a grad student and other latetwentiesomethings. i wasnt intimidated being younger because my class wasnt very strong at public speaking anyway. i remember my delight in getting to follow a foreign kid for my first speech:) we did three speeches: informative, i did h1n1; persuasive, you should visit http://www.freerice.com/ (you should!); entertaining, the evolution of the vampire from dracula to edward cullen. overall i think my speeches stood out and they were generously received by my peers. could have been a bit more generously received by my prof but i digress.. overall, helpful, learned some good tips.

ECON 101: Introduction to Microeconomics (larry smith)
had the famous larry smith. he lived up to his name. i was absolutely enamored with him. hes the kind of guy who seems to have answers to all lifes questions, but unlike ayn rand you aren't tempted to hit him over the head with the human emotions bat. learned more about history, politics, business, and world figures from this class than i would have in their respective classes. you get a reference sheet (dont call it a cheat sheet...) to bring to the midterms and exam. use your brain and get the big picture and youll do fine.

PHIL 100: Introduction to Philosophy (richard something)
-loved this prof, such a good guy. im sad i cant remember his full name. actually i think its richard holmes. ok anyways. this class wasnt my first choice but because of enrollment problems i ended up with it. the discussions allowed me to go off into many rabbit holes of thought and i enjoyed the non formal structure he allowed for our essays. this guy was great, the exact opposite of what i thought a phil prof would be- totally down to earth, cool, and grandpa like. super accomodating, allowed students who were ''sick'' to write their midterms whenever. gave me a 94 on my midterm, and im definetly no nietzsche. this was his last semester working and i got a little emotional hearing the dean of arts discuss his life. i liked him, not my fav class, i *gasp* skipped a few times, but the lessons left a mark on me.

ENGL 101b: Introduction to Rhetoric (michael macdonald)
-i thought i was fated to miss this class. first day i couldnt find it, when i finally did it was past the fashionably late mark and into the awkward-turn-and-stare- at-girl- who-just-burst-into-class zone. skipping the awkwardness, i showed up to the next scheduled class to find no one there : apparently the class had been cancelled. thankfully, before i reassessed my life and major i made it to the next class- and ppl were there! i ended up loving this class. the prof was smart as could be, and a bit arrogant which i liked about him. he had some vendetta against tim hortons though so i was sure to bring a coffee to the next class after i discovered that. i found the articles- dare i say- enlightening. however, being a blonde, baby faced teenager of chronic lateness my fellow horn rimmed glasses, anthropologie wearing hipsters failed to take me seriously. i found frowning and publically denouncing pop music and corporate america helped my cause. o and having grizzly bear obviously blaring from my ipod was an asset. sadly that meant having to listen to them. despite the annoying ppl rhetoric attracts i hope to take another class from mcdonald.

SPAN 101: Introduction to Spanish (betty something spanish something spanish something spanish)
i likedit. fun, bubbly, crazy prof. we got to do a couple skits, which while being very gradeschool were mucho fun. this course progresses super fast and by the nd we were writing essays in spanish. well not essays but stories consisting of multiple paragraphs. however, lying in bed last night i couldnt form one sentence in spanish, hopefully all is dormant and not lost. especially sincei still have to do span 102. great learning resource http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpVuaSejtrk ¡leche!

ECON 102: Introduction to Macroeconomics (larry smith round 2)
-took this with a whole bunch of friends. still learned a lot, the economic perspective of why hitler rose to power and fell was very interesting, a highlight. by this point larry's charm could not cover up the fact this was a 3 hour long night class. my attention waned a bit and i even skipped once, i blame the poor influence of my friends... my mark wasnt as high this time around because of that but my midmorning cram session with friends made up for that in fun, the crazy frantic variety.

POLISCI 110: Introduction to Politics in the Contemporary World (jingjing huo)
hardly went to this after i learned it wasnt necessary. this class was my highest grade (87). also, was the first time i went to an exam was literally no sleep from the night before. yay for new experiences. 8 hours, 3 breakdowns, 2 friends, and 1 tub of rocky road made for an interesting, and surprisingly thorough review. wont be my last polisci class thats for sure. jingjing was a cool guy, young, a bit soft spoken but i liked him.

CS 100: Introduction to Computer Concepts (alternatively titled, computer for dummies)
-made a hilarious middle earth wiki page for the geographical places assignment
-sweet buffy the vampire website
-lots of ''help'' from my cs friend
-barely got by on the exam
-its harder than ppl say, or im just really incompetent (very possible)

spring course

PACS 2o1: Roots of conflict violence and peace (online with nathan funk)
-one of those great classes like econ with larry where you get a broad view of world issues and a course sizzled with everything from psychology, sociology, politics, and history. recommended.

half way through this i got the sneaking suspicion ive already done a post like this before. but i have a feeling this ones more detailed so o well.

COMING SOON: highlights of first year, vanessa's life lessons, moving into my first house ever!, and saying goodbye to windsor