[Alielle]

So, I'm going to a community college here in the middle of Podunk, North Carolina. I have been working on getting a 2-year Associate's degree.

I am now attending for my third year.

This has something to do with advisors not doing their job right. It turned out that I didn't have enough credits to graduate by the end of last year, and nobody had told me anything beforehand, not even to tell me that I wasn't taking enough classes. So, I ended up needing 18 more hours. 18!!! This wouldn't have been so bad if the classes I signed up for would actually give me proportional credit for the amount of time I spent on the class. I go to school on average 4.5 hours a day, adding up to around 24 hours per week. This is for 15 credit hours of class, mind you. (I'm also taking an class over the Internet.) This could only mean one thing: either homocidal/suicidal raging doom, or drop my most hated classes: PE and Music Appreciation.

My college's PE class requires a book. Don't ask me why. It consists of a one-hour class where we watch a stupid video or something, and a two-hour class in which actual PE-like things are done. Total 3 hours a week; 2 credit hours.

This is how Music Appreciation goes: "Here, I will go over a very short list of vocabulary words of VERY basic musical terms, and I will play the same damn clips of music over and over to show you examples of them, even though the definition is already written on the page." I have to cut my nails before to that one, or else I'll end up tearing out my scalp.

So, today I called my dad to tell him, "Hey, I'm dropping a couple of classes." Of course, he flipped out, repeating the same things about 15 times, like how I probably just want to goof off, or because my boyfriend was somehow influencing me. Mind you, I'm not an idiot, and I definitely don't want to spend more time here than I have to. It's not a case of extending the classes out, it's a case of not wanting to go insane and kill people because of mind-numbing classes that won't give me enough credit for my work.

Finally, he saw my side (not without asking the same damn questions, but still...) and let me decide for myself what was best. So I'm less likely to blow my head off, at least. This will give me time to work and generally not go crazy.

I'm sure there are people who could handle this better than I can, but I can't help the way I am. When I take a class, I expect to actually learn something. When I'm not, it makes me very upset. And when I'm upset, I can't concentrate on doing well in my other classes.

I could go on about how annoying it is to realize that I've wasted my time here anyway, since I'll be going to art school next year, but I won't.

There's a lesson to be learned in this, surely, but I'm really not sure what it is exactly. Something about planning. Yeah.

[neko-chan]

>_>

I would like to say something nice to you Alielle but I can't say anything, mainly because I never understood how US scolar system works...

Do you just need to spend time in a class in order to gain access to next grade? I don't understand... Explain something to me please! ^_^

[Alielle]

In order to get my Associate in Arts degree, I have to take a certain amount of "credit hours" of classes in specified categories (like English, math, science, etc.), plus a certain amount in electives (the total is 70, I think). It's a pretty basic degree that transfers to larger 4-year universities, and is much cheaper than going to a university for 2 years.

My main problem with this system is that for some reason, some of the classes are way longer than you actually get credit for. The usual "academic" classes like English are 3 credit hours for 3 hours of class a week. However, some classes (for example) are 6 hours a week but are only worth 3 credit hours. (But I'm keeping the 6-hour art classes because they're fun.)

The other thing is that some of these classes are extremely slow and boring, as in the case of the Music Appreciation and Phys Ed. classes. I don't learn anything there, and I could just as easily do those things on my own. Plus, they make you buy extremely expensive books, which are unfortunately only useful for tests.

In other words, they were a waste of time and money. And I could easily earn the credits next semester with something much more interesting.

[pixelate]

Practically the same position I'm in but a year ahead of me.

[Nidarrock]

I left the community college I was in after a year. I understand your problems because the one I went to was just as messed up, why do you need a Phys. Ed. class for an art degree? I was going for an art degree too. Once I left I went to a College in Philadelphia, what a major change that was, and if you took an hour and half class you were given 1.5 credits, 3 hours = 3 credits. Good luck.

[Last_Saiyan]

Bummer chica, didn't you calculated and match your own requirements for graduation? I've always done mine because I had some friends who went through the same thing you did and it sucks royal to have plans and then to find out that you're just a few credits short. Well, on the upside, you can pick on and beat up all the noobs on campus

[Alielle]

Yes, it was my fault in the first place for not planning it out better. However, you'd think that advisors would do a better job of helping people figure out how to arrange classes. I didn't even know how many credits I needed until the 2nd year; nobody tells you at first, and it's not even on the website. -_-

It was my fault for picking those classes, too... it looks a lot better on paper, but when you attend class and realize it's a waste of time, well... *blam*

[Ness]

So this is where you were all this time. I thought that you lost interest in PSOW and I would never see you again. I have school as well , but it's high school.

[Ian D]

Yeah, I know how classes can be boring except I'm only in High School. We have block scheduling so each class is about 1 hour 45 minutes and it's mind-numbingly boring. It's probably not as bad as yours are, but I think I have a relative understanding of what your going through, at least with the boredom factor.

[KodiaX987]

*Facepalms*

Dude, from which page did you pull this one out?!