Milestone

My finals are over.

These should be the last couple of classes I need for my associate of arts degree, And I passed these both with A's.

The British Literature final was over Pygmalion and Harry Potter and felt more like an AR (Accelerated Reader, a program in public schools to encourage reading) test. The questions were all over details and never any deeper than what you could read on the pages of the book. This makes sense because we didn't go very deep in class, either.

The US History final was little tougher. I spent an hour last night studying and did a little more this afternoon. The studying paid off with a 96 on the final itself, which covered mostly post-WWII but also included material back to Lincoln.

I talked to one of the advisors that works at Central Texas College today. She looked over my transcript and said that I had a few holes. One of the holes should be filled by AP scores that the main campus has. (Apparently, CTC and the "campus" here keep two separate sets of records.) The other hole is a basic computer proficiency course which was only offered once and filled up before I could take it. I told her I could easily demonstrate my computer skills - I worked as a graphic artist and did a bit of web design before incarceration. I just don't know that there is any way to get credit for knowing this stuff if I don't take the class.

Now I'm just waiting to hear what the solution is. Until then, I'm researching colleges to attend on release.

Rabbit Trails

The Brit Lit class I am taking is two and a half hours long but only about an hour is spent in instruction. The rest of the time is spent way off topic and is initiated by both the teacher and a few of the students. Today i kept track of the topics that the teacher brought up, just curious to see where we went today.

First, we traveled into the past as we heard about a teacher that our instructor's kids had. Our instructor told us about the grudge she held against this teacher for correcting her kids in class about some conservative idea. Our instructor said she was glad to watch this teacher's kids grow up to be the harlot and drug dealer of the school without their parent's knowing.

Next we went to her home as she bragged about her vintage roses. She proudly displays them in front of her house, even though they are so untrimmed that the local code enforcement officer has asked her several times to trim them. She then complained that the code enforcer seemed to pick on her more than anyone else in the neighborhood and that she constantly argues with him. One guy asked her why she doesn't do something nice for him, like make him some cookies. She replied that she didn't like the guy.

Finally she talked about her furniture that has been passed down through her family. It's supposed to be worth bazillions of dollars and last longer than the last cockroach. Yet, she said it wasn't comfortable at all. Why have furniture if you aren't going to use it? Or, a better question, why are we discussing old furniture in a Brit Lit class?

She Walks in Beauty

The first exam of the new classes was today in Brit Lit II. We have to write an essay over our choice of one of the poems we covered in class and turn it in before each exam. This exam covered Wordsworth, Coleridge and Blake, so last night, before I did my studying, I wrote about Rime of the Ancient Mariner Coleridge's amazing imagery.

I finished the exam pretty quickly and , as I usually do when I'm confident and speedy, I made a few a couple of stupid mistakes. After the exam I had about two hours until class ended so I read poems for the next class. The new poets are Byron, Shelley and Keats. After I read a few poems I decided to memorize one. I haven't memorized any passages in a long time, so I chose a short 18-liner by Byron - She Walks in Beauty.


By the end of class I had the poem memorized. I read an article a few eeks ago in which the author talked about memorizing poetry and the feeling of ownership of something beautiful that she could recite any time, like an old companion. I hope that I can store more in my brain and make it into a gallery to look at and enjoy during slow times.





She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Grades are in

Finals are over and I have my grades for both Trig and Brit Lit. My Trig grade is right where I expected it to be - an A. Even though we rushed the last week, we left quite a bit out, which made the final easier.

Brit Lit, however, was a different story. After the final yesterday, I received my grade - a B. Looking back over my grades, I could not figure out how my grades came to a B. I averaged them several different ways and still couldn't come up with a B. I had a 92, 94, 100, and 83 for my test grades and an A, A, A, and a B for equally weighted essays. There were no other grades.

I asked the teacher how she graded but she gave me a vague answer, saying that's the way she has graded for ten years. She told me that a B was still a good grade for a college course. I replied that it may be good but it was not what I was aiming for., what I deserved, or what other schools want to see when considering my application. Too bad; it's not getting changed. It just does not seem like fair grading to me.

To see opportunities

I talked with Will during Brit Lit today about his plans for getting out. He doesn't have any place to stay, so I'll be praying for something to come his way and looking for ways to encourage and help him out.

Late tonight Opie and I talked about video games and our lives before incarceration. It was fun to reminisce about the fun we had and hear about our different backgrounds. At one point he said he is trying to improve himself inside. What an opening! I told him that the thing that has helped me most has been my faith and relationship with Christ. I said that I believe God has a plan for him and loves him.

I really want to see the guys around me succeed in here, but especially when they get out. I continue to look for opportunities to encourage them towards healthy and productive activities, knowing all the time that God is at work. I hope they come to see the world of opportunities like me (sounds conceited, I know) instead of a set of roadblocks not worth the bother.

Exams but no spring break

My first set of exams for this term ended today. The first one, a Brit Lit exam over Beowulf and old English, was yesterday. I honestly believe the test I took in high school over the same material was harder, much harder. I don't remember doing any "matching" sections in the high school class, and the chronological ordering of the story that had to be sorted in high school was quotes from the text, not an outline of the plot. I haven't gotten my grade yet but I feel pretty good about it.

The Trig test was more challenging, but I feel pretty good about it, too. There were a couple problems that gave me trouble, but I was able to figure out my math - I'm not very careful with numbers and often get ahead of myself when working problems. I've learned to double- and triple-check myself so I don't turn in bad work. Now I get to wait through spring break - no vacation here, though - until I receive my grades.

College Inside

I've been to both my classes - Trigonometry and British Literature - and here are my first impressions of each. though they are similar impressions for each.

British Literature was yesterday and I was forewarned about the teacher. Everything I heard was correct - she loves to talk and goes off topic all the time. Nearly every time she begins to get into the material, she begins to talk about her family or how it relates to something in her past. She is a short, yet large, woman who loves both British writers and her over sized sunglasses.

The material for both classes is at least 3/4 stuff that I've covered in high school, even readings for British Lit. I will probably be able to coast through nearly everything and still maintain A's in both classes.


The Trigonometry teacher has wild red hair - think Mrs. Frizzle from The Magic Schoolbus - and also like to drift off topic. Like me, she understands the math well, but has a hard time getting other people to understand it the same way. I feel sorry for a few of the other guys who were confused today. The math is not going to get any easier for them.

I'm happy to be getting these classes out of the way. After these, I only have two more classes I need for an Associates degree. I really hope they'll have the ones that I need for the next term. I've been working towards a BAchelors degree for four years now and am only halfway there.