That's one week of classes down and just a few
more to go. Just kidding. Really, this week went pretty well. Here's
more detail than you ever wanted if you've never been to college and a great
reminder of what college classes are really like if you have already
been.
Psychopharmacology: My prof (sidebar: his name is Dr. Richard Hooker. I'm sure people have been snickering for years. Poor guy.) is very compassionate. He seems to really care about what he teaches and it makes me see it as important. He was honest that the first three chapters are going to be a pain but it will be more routine after that. These first few chapters are chemistry, how cells and other things are made up on a molecular level, how drugs enter into your system: intramuscular, intravenous, subcutaneous, topical, intraperitoneal [typically animals only], and via inhalation (plus two other whackado ones) and the advantages (and disadvantages) of each type. There are 5 steps from administration to excretion and he was very clear this is key information for the course.
Thank you!! Sometimes (see: a lot of times) in math, I wouldn't really understand something but I thought "Alright, I'll just get through this chapter test and I'll do better next chapter" but then the next chapter was that concept amped up. And I thought "Shoot! Why didn't I just learn that one thing well in the first place. Dang it." Also, I hate math.
Anyway, the point is, I appreciate that he points out things that are important and doesn't do it in an obnoxious way. Once we get through the first couple chapters, we are moving on to individual drugs and studying their short term effects, long term effects, and withdraw symptoms/risks. Sweet!
Addictions Theory: I have this class right after psychopharm with the same prof in the same room. It has it’s advantages, like being able to chat with him in the interim (his young daughter plays soccer, making us kind of insta-buddies) but sometimes is awkward when kids are coming in for the second class. Today, one of them said the term “double header” in reference to the class schedule and I thought that was pretty accurate.
Addictions theory is interesting to me as a concept. Depending on what you believe caused the addiction, your treatment method will change. In the early stages of treating alcoholics, sometimes they would bleed them or blister their ankles or induce sweating. Yuck. Things have shifted since then.
Minority Group Relations: I sort of made a fool of myself the first day of class. I will take the time to tell that story because it made me red in the face and sharing that kind of hilarity is sort of the point of the Internet. My prof called a student and that student was to share their name, grade, major, hometown, their favorite animal and why.
I’m the kind to plan this thing in my head and anticipate any kind of response from the class as best as possible, rehearsing meticulously in my head until it’s my turn. As soon as he got to G last names, my heart was pounding. Also this is why I hate being randomly called on in class. I had an answer for when it was my turn and plenty of time to prepare saying facts about myself that I have known for a long time and felt my blood pressure rising. Imagine how stressed I am when I get called on when my hand is not raised about things I’m just taking in for the first time. NOT cool.
Anyway, he gets to me and I say “Hi, my name is Bethany, I’m from the North Shore of Chicago, I’m a sophomore psych major with an addictions counseling minor and my favorite animal is a sea turtle because, uh, they’re pretty cool” or something very close to that. My prof says “Oh okay, have you ever (short pause) swum with sea turtles” and out of my mouth comes the following statement “I don’t think swum is a word.” And the whole class busts out laughing.
Now, people had laughed in good taste at the responses other people gave but he had to let the laughter die down before he could respond by saying “As I said it, I questioned if it was a word or not and I was pretty sure it wasn’t.” Hopefully he sees me as well educated but not a snob. Shoot. I could have been a lot snottier in the way I said it, but I kind of caught myself as the words were coming out of my mouth. It likely wasn’t that big of a deal, but this is my blog and my brain kind of spills out on this web page in a very non-CSI kind of way.
All of this to say I like my prof and his teaching style. The class subject makes me uncomfortable but he said that would happen. I don’t have a realistic grasp on how much work it will be over the course of the semester. Only a few people in the room are psych majors because this course can count as a gen. ed. credit, so that’s a nice shift. Pretty much all the rest of my classes are psych majors, psych and addictions counseling double majors, or addictions counseling majors.
Statistics for Social Sciences: One of the very first things my prof said about herself was that she doesn’t like people to use laptops in class. She will allow it but she has seen studies and it doesn’t help you learn. She also told the class in rather short order that she talks very, very quickly. NOT a great combination. We are doing video projects in that class, like read a script and be creative. I hate that kind of thing. One of our classes was shortened because of our academic convocation and she whipped through the material in 30 minutes and was “so pleased we got through it all!” but I was very lost and not pleased at all. I have a feeling that class is going to require a lot of brainpower. I’m also not super pleased I have to take another college math class but I know I have to do well because this is a prerequisite for a lot of classes for my major.
Social Psychology: I have the same prof for this class as for stats and both of these classes are T/TH. That sort of stinks because my hand is gonna cramp up like it’s nobody’s business. The first class was mostly spent discussing the minute discrepancies between social psychology and sociology. I was not getting a great vibe if you have to explain why this subject deserves to be separate even though they’re pretty stinking close. To be fair, this was the 5th and final new classroom I had to enter at the beginning of this week, so my “be open minded!” energy may have run out by then.
The talking fast bothers me because I know I can listen and process that fast. The issue is that I cannot remember all that stuff without writing it down and because she talks quickly, it’s a lot more stuff to store in my brain than it would be in a classroom where the prof takes a breath. I realize I’m being a little unfair but that’s my prerogative.
I know I have to give my Tuesday/Thursday prof a little more grace. I don’t want to hate 2/5 classes! It’s been an overwhelming week.I have a much more encouraging post coming on how much I enjoyed chapel on Friday. Until then, happy weekend!
Psychopharmacology: My prof (sidebar: his name is Dr. Richard Hooker. I'm sure people have been snickering for years. Poor guy.) is very compassionate. He seems to really care about what he teaches and it makes me see it as important. He was honest that the first three chapters are going to be a pain but it will be more routine after that. These first few chapters are chemistry, how cells and other things are made up on a molecular level, how drugs enter into your system: intramuscular, intravenous, subcutaneous, topical, intraperitoneal [typically animals only], and via inhalation (plus two other whackado ones) and the advantages (and disadvantages) of each type. There are 5 steps from administration to excretion and he was very clear this is key information for the course.
Thank you!! Sometimes (see: a lot of times) in math, I wouldn't really understand something but I thought "Alright, I'll just get through this chapter test and I'll do better next chapter" but then the next chapter was that concept amped up. And I thought "Shoot! Why didn't I just learn that one thing well in the first place. Dang it." Also, I hate math.
Anyway, the point is, I appreciate that he points out things that are important and doesn't do it in an obnoxious way. Once we get through the first couple chapters, we are moving on to individual drugs and studying their short term effects, long term effects, and withdraw symptoms/risks. Sweet!
Addictions Theory: I have this class right after psychopharm with the same prof in the same room. It has it’s advantages, like being able to chat with him in the interim (his young daughter plays soccer, making us kind of insta-buddies) but sometimes is awkward when kids are coming in for the second class. Today, one of them said the term “double header” in reference to the class schedule and I thought that was pretty accurate.
Addictions theory is interesting to me as a concept. Depending on what you believe caused the addiction, your treatment method will change. In the early stages of treating alcoholics, sometimes they would bleed them or blister their ankles or induce sweating. Yuck. Things have shifted since then.
Minority Group Relations: I sort of made a fool of myself the first day of class. I will take the time to tell that story because it made me red in the face and sharing that kind of hilarity is sort of the point of the Internet. My prof called a student and that student was to share their name, grade, major, hometown, their favorite animal and why.
I’m the kind to plan this thing in my head and anticipate any kind of response from the class as best as possible, rehearsing meticulously in my head until it’s my turn. As soon as he got to G last names, my heart was pounding. Also this is why I hate being randomly called on in class. I had an answer for when it was my turn and plenty of time to prepare saying facts about myself that I have known for a long time and felt my blood pressure rising. Imagine how stressed I am when I get called on when my hand is not raised about things I’m just taking in for the first time. NOT cool.
Anyway, he gets to me and I say “Hi, my name is Bethany, I’m from the North Shore of Chicago, I’m a sophomore psych major with an addictions counseling minor and my favorite animal is a sea turtle because, uh, they’re pretty cool” or something very close to that. My prof says “Oh okay, have you ever (short pause) swum with sea turtles” and out of my mouth comes the following statement “I don’t think swum is a word.” And the whole class busts out laughing.
Now, people had laughed in good taste at the responses other people gave but he had to let the laughter die down before he could respond by saying “As I said it, I questioned if it was a word or not and I was pretty sure it wasn’t.” Hopefully he sees me as well educated but not a snob. Shoot. I could have been a lot snottier in the way I said it, but I kind of caught myself as the words were coming out of my mouth. It likely wasn’t that big of a deal, but this is my blog and my brain kind of spills out on this web page in a very non-CSI kind of way.
All of this to say I like my prof and his teaching style. The class subject makes me uncomfortable but he said that would happen. I don’t have a realistic grasp on how much work it will be over the course of the semester. Only a few people in the room are psych majors because this course can count as a gen. ed. credit, so that’s a nice shift. Pretty much all the rest of my classes are psych majors, psych and addictions counseling double majors, or addictions counseling majors.
Statistics for Social Sciences: One of the very first things my prof said about herself was that she doesn’t like people to use laptops in class. She will allow it but she has seen studies and it doesn’t help you learn. She also told the class in rather short order that she talks very, very quickly. NOT a great combination. We are doing video projects in that class, like read a script and be creative. I hate that kind of thing. One of our classes was shortened because of our academic convocation and she whipped through the material in 30 minutes and was “so pleased we got through it all!” but I was very lost and not pleased at all. I have a feeling that class is going to require a lot of brainpower. I’m also not super pleased I have to take another college math class but I know I have to do well because this is a prerequisite for a lot of classes for my major.
Social Psychology: I have the same prof for this class as for stats and both of these classes are T/TH. That sort of stinks because my hand is gonna cramp up like it’s nobody’s business. The first class was mostly spent discussing the minute discrepancies between social psychology and sociology. I was not getting a great vibe if you have to explain why this subject deserves to be separate even though they’re pretty stinking close. To be fair, this was the 5th and final new classroom I had to enter at the beginning of this week, so my “be open minded!” energy may have run out by then.
The talking fast bothers me because I know I can listen and process that fast. The issue is that I cannot remember all that stuff without writing it down and because she talks quickly, it’s a lot more stuff to store in my brain than it would be in a classroom where the prof takes a breath. I realize I’m being a little unfair but that’s my prerogative.
I know I have to give my Tuesday/Thursday prof a little more grace. I don’t want to hate 2/5 classes! It’s been an overwhelming week.I have a much more encouraging post coming on how much I enjoyed chapel on Friday. Until then, happy weekend!
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