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Student Mamas...New thread!! - Page 8

post #141 of 288
9/21/04 at 2:54pm
JellyFishy, even though it's a bit later than you wanted, CONGRATULATIONS on graduating! That's a major, major accomplishment.
Hi, new student mamas - nice to see you here.

I'm supposed to be studying for a test I have tomorrow. I'm terrified and have been studying for 3 weeks. I still feel like I don't know the material well enough.
I've even been sneaking listening to the lectures and the vocab words that I recorded while I'm working, in the hopes that some of it will sink in somehow.
I'm scared. Somebody hold me!

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post #142 of 288
9/22/04 at 1:25am
Collegemama~ Good Luck

MeChelle-i've recently been wondering about MT...it's something you could do from home, no? and what about the school? can you do that from home? can you post me some more info personally?
post #143 of 288
9/22/04 at 9:27am
Thanks, freegirl23cat, I'm gonna need it.

You know what's amazing to me. 5 years ago I was able to memorize the whole study guide, word for word, for my economic and business law classes. Got A's in those classes even though that sort of thing doesn't come naturally to me and I really didn't understand half of it.
Now, I'm in a class that I find really interesting, it's a subject that I have passion for and I understand the material, but I just can't seem to memorize the specifics the way I used to.
I've been studying for so long for this test and I stayed up late last night studying but I still feel like I'm going to do poorly on this test. I just can't retain the freakin' details! :
Maybe this is happening to me just so I can tell my son from my real-life experience that it really, truly is harder to go back when you're an adult. The old brain just isn't what it used to be. Will I ever get that back, is it just out of practice or have I become stupid in my old age? (I'm not really old, just 30, but you get my gist.)
post #144 of 288
9/22/04 at 9:35am
I'm starting the get the heebie-jeebies over algebra and chemistry.

It's been many long years and I'm nervous.

Do they assume you remember anything when you take these classes in college?

DB
post #145 of 288
9/22/04 at 9:45am
Debra,
I had to take algebra 1 & 2 last year and it was awful for me! Dreadful and scary and i had to have a tutor!

I do algebra like math when i work, doing drug calculations, drip factors and the like, but it really didn't help me with the FOIL reality, kwim? :LOL

Thankfully its all over, i was successful as you will be I'm sure. Now all i have to do is worry about Statistics. I am trembling as i type this.....
post #146 of 288
9/22/04 at 10:30am
I was scared of statistics too, but ended up acing it once it clicked with me (a few weeks into the class.)
I love statistics now! I bet you'll do just fine.
post #147 of 288
9/22/04 at 11:21am
Thank you for the encouragement, Collegemama.

I might come looking for you when the class starts.....
post #148 of 288
9/22/04 at 1:50pm
I took Algebra a few years ago, after being out of high school for 8 years. It was really hard, but I managed to get a B. I got an A in my next math class. I have another one coming up this fall.

Statistics was brutal and I'm so glad to be done with it. I cried a lot over that class.

I've never taken chemistry, not even in high school. It's not required for my major. I took oceanography and astronomy. I have to take biology and then I'm all done with the sci req's.
post #149 of 288
9/23/04 at 9:14am
I definitely encourage anyone who's taking a difficult math class to go to a tutor. Most university's offer free tutoring. I only needed one tutoring session for my stats and that happened around the time that it started clicking for me, so it just reinforced that I was on the right track. Maybe stats are like geometry and algebra, some people get it and think it's easy, some people can try and try and never be comfortable with it. I was really good at algebra and stats, but geometry would make me want to bash my head against a wall.

I took my test yesterday. I was absolutely shocked to find that I remembered much more than I thought I would and I think I may have gotten an A. I'm not getting my hopes up, but part of me thinks it's possible that I got a 100%. There was one small part of one of the essay questions that I messed up, but I did a bonus essay question, so that may have made up for it. At the least, I got a B, which is great! I was so happy last night and it was soooo nice to be able to come home and devote all of my time and attention to DS, without worrying about needing to study. Phew! What a relief. It was nice to give myself a night off too.
post #150 of 288
9/24/04 at 1:23am

taking dd/ds to school?

are there other mommas on here who take their dd/ds to school with them? i am just curious to hear about your experiences doing that...i've often heard of people taking their young babies to class with them...i tried this recently and i found it extrememly difficult to share my energy with dd and to pay attention to the class? any helpful hints? experiences? just wondering....
post #151 of 288
9/24/04 at 10:25am
ive taken ian to school with me but he is older, and honestly i was o.k. not great not bad either. i guess that doesnt help much now does it?
maya
post #152 of 288
9/24/04 at 1:34pm

Taking babies to class

Last fall when dd was I think 3 or 4 months old my sitter couldnt make it at the last minute (she met me on campus to watch dd until dh got off work) and that night dh was working out of town so he couldnt get to school in time to pick up dd for me to get to class.

So I put her in the sling and went to class. The prof was very laid back and was understanding about the situation, but I really couldnt concentrate. Although dd slept for most of the hour and a half, I got up a few times to rock her in the hallway. It was no way to learn anything. And I was frazzled at the end of the class (which fortunately got out early that night)

So I wouldnt recommend it. I have taken dd to meetings with study groups where we were just kind of assigning tasks. Once I tried bringing her to a practice session for a mock trial team. Again, left frazzled. It is so funny afterward to have people tell me that I make it look so easy .......
post #153 of 288
9/24/04 at 2:50pm
I guess if I had to I could take Julianna in class with a few books but, thankfully, my son in law works about one mile away from my school. He has already watched her once and has offered if I need his help.

She's in Kindergarten and has a couple of days off that the older kids don't have and I will likely have Kev. watch her those days but if he can't I'll take her with me.

Debra Baker
post #154 of 288
9/24/04 at 2:53pm
Once I told a professor I'd have to miss class because dh couldn't be with dd that day. She told me to just bring her to class. She was 5 months old at the time. I put her in the Snugli and went to class. I got so many dirty looks. Then, 20 minutes into class, the teacher asked me to leave. DD wasn't being noisy at all, she was just squirming. And I would know if she was noisy, I'm very sensitive to that and always take her out of the room at the slightest sound.

So I don't know what that teacher was expecting from a 5-month-old baby.
post #155 of 288
9/24/04 at 4:26pm
Greaseball,

That's such a sad story.

I'm hoping that I'll get an understanding professor next semester because dd is in Kindergarten and starts school at 12:35. MWF classes run from the hour for 50 minutes (in my case from 1:00 until 1:50.) Parking is a bear and I've timed my trip and it takes between 21 and 24 minutes to get to the parking lot.

My mom told me to talk with the professor (she suggested I chose a female professor) and hope to get someone who is a mom and sympathetic to my cause if I'm a few minutes late now and again.

I will be taking my algebra class from 2-2:50. Thanks for all the thoughts regarding taking algebra. I'll get help early and often. I actually seem to be able to "get" concepts if they're explained to me so I guess I'll be ok.

Debra Baker
post #156 of 288
9/25/04 at 1:48am
thanks for all your thoughts/stories mommas!!

bottom line is that is seems like it is possible, but not the "dream situation" i had hoped it would be...i did take dd to a meeting at school today and she slept in the sling most of the time...i love what you said sweetest about everyone saying you made it look easy...there were about 25 people in this meeting today and i'd say nearly half of them told me just that afterwards...and i was just thinking "thank god it's over and we made it"!....

...and the dirty looks thing..i've definatly gotten this!...i am fortunate to have a very feminist-mom professor for the class i took dd too in the beginning of the semester...when i told the prof after class that i was sorry i had to leave a couple times to quiet the baby and that i hoped it wasn't too much of an interruption...she said "no problem...and if there are anhy 'baby-haters' in the class, they can just drop!!"...i wish everyone were this great!!!

well, i better get of mdc and go write my student's test!
post #157 of 288
9/28/04 at 9:27am

WEEEEE!!!
I got my grade back on my first test. 98%
Wow! I'm so happy and proud of myself. One of the essays that I messed up a definition for, I must have added so many details no one else thought of (a formula, the name of an obscure person whom I quoted, etc.) that she went ahead and gave me a 9 out of 10!
I can't tell you how happy I am. I'm so pumped up that I've started studying for the next test already! I want to get an A in this class!!!!!
I complained and worried to you girls so much, I thought it was only fair to share the good news!

Re- taking kids to class. I admire you for doing it, but now that DS is 2, I couldn't imagine pulling that off. Even when he was a little newborn, I think I'd be so busy gazing at his cute little nose that I'd not get much done. I spent a lot of time gazing at that stage.
post #158 of 288
9/28/04 at 10:53am
Congratulations!!!!!

db
post #159 of 288
10/4/04 at 12:42am

burnt out this early in the semester?

What is wrong with me this semester? Last year I felt so much more motivated to keep on top of things. I have never liked writing papers but I didn't avoid them until the last second and when I sat down to write I felt like I knew what I needed to say.

This semester I am loving my classtime and am thoroughly enjoying my readings. I don't even really mind studying for exams. But everytime I sit down to write a paper of any length I just cannot think of anything to say. I have a 7 page paper due in the morning that I read 1 book and 2 articles for. It is on a topic that I feel reasonably well versed in and I still cannot think of a single coherent thing to write. Instead it is 11:30pm and I am typing this (no problems coming up with stuff to say here!) even though I only have 1/2 a page written so far. I am going to be up all night at this rate and every time I go back to this paper I just stare at the screen like an idiot. What the hell is wrong with me!!!! :

How smart was I to choose history as a major? So little writing with that major.
post #160 of 288
10/4/04 at 9:32am
Oh Nicole, I've been there! Writer's block is the worst. The only thing that worked for me was to just dive in and start writing, even if it all seems like crap at first. The important thing is to get something on paper and break through that psychological barrier. Set a limit for yourself -- say, that you'll write one page, or the introduction, or whatever -- and just do it. You'll feel better that your actually writing something, and you might surprise yourself and be happy with it!

My other advice, at the risk of sounding like a grade eight English teacher, is to work from an outline even for the smallest assignment. Personally, I tend to go on tangents when I write, so it really helps to have an outline to refer to, that shows me what I'm going to say and where. Often, when I'm working on the outline, I manage to write enough thoughts here and there that I find I've actually written most of a section!

Good luck!

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