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I now have another three classes behind me.  Though I feel I have let my grades slip a bit, I am still doing great.  I completed “Communications and networks” class with an A-.  This course was fairly easy as I have been exposed to most of the concepts in my computer career.

The one that bothers me was my second C++ class.  This should have been an easy A, however I made a mistake on both the mid-term and final exam that cost me dearly.  They were mistakes that I had not encountered before during homework assignments or practice programming.  So I ended up with a B-.  That doesn’t sound too bad, but I had to see a computer class with less than an A-!

I managed to get a B+ on my Macro-economics course.  I found this class much less stressful and more enjoyable than the micro-economics class, even though I didn’t get as high of a grade.  Different instructor meant different grading techniques, however it was worth it not having as much stress!  I actually enjoyed that class.

Over all my GPA has dropped from 3.8 to 3.69.  I have some much harder courses coming up, so I must work hard to keep my grades up.  My personal goal is to graduate with no less than a 3.5.  Many people ask why I bother since the final GPA doesn’t really matter since I am already employed.  It is a personal goal!  That is why!

For the next 8 weeks, I have two classes.  The first is a 400 level class titled “Politics and the Family.”  It is a values seminar course that is required since I attend a Catholic University.  (I have to take 2 theology and a values seminar)  So far I have attended 4 classes and it seems interesting.

The other class I have is a 300 level class for fine arts.  I am taking Music: Modern Era.  I was required to take a fine arts or a music course.  This class is a fun class, however I may struggle on the exams.  It is one of those courses that I enjoy sitting in class and learning, but when it comes time to test on music elements or listening to music and identifying features….well I don’t know how well I will do.  But like I said, it is fun.

I will have a busy summer as  when these two courses are done, I have three more scheduled for the second half of the summer.  By the time I start those three, I will have enough credits to be classified as a Senior (not that it really matters).  I started this journey 17 months ago, and I only have 12 more months remaining!  I plan to take next summer off, and then go into the MBA program.  So technically, I have 12 months of undergraduate work plus about 2-3 years of Graduate work!  But we will take one step at a time!!

Wow, I received an A- in my MicroEconomics class!!  She must have curved the grade as my calculations came up with a B and pushing it a B+.  Hey, I’ll take an A- any day.  I can honestly say that I worked hard to get that grade, so yes I deserve it.   I am now taking the MacroEconomics class online with a different instructor.  I have many of the same classmates, and the discussion is everybody struggled to get through that last class.  This instructor seems to be taking a different approach and is concentrating on the concepts rather than the formulas and graphs.  That is a relief.  He also is not using test bank questions, instead he is only giving a mid-term and a final exam.  He is also giving weekly articles to read and discuss online as part of the grade.  Maybe I won’t struggle as much with this class!

I am also continuing with my C++ class.  Even though I messed up my mid-term in that class, I should still come out with a B+ or an A-.  At least I enjoy doing that work.  The first C++ class I took was easy as I was very familiar with all the concepts.  This second course is a bit harder as I have never learned object oriented before.  I have always wanted to learn it, so that is why I am taking it as an elective (my one an only elective!)

I also am taking a Communications and Networking class this session.  That class seems to be easy so far, but interesting.  Much of the material I am familiar with since I have been into computers for so many years. (22 years I have been dealing with computers)  Thankfully the course is suppose to meet twice a week, but the instructor has turned it into a hybrid course.  That means we will only meet once a week and do other work online.  I enjoy hybrid classes as it gives the face to face experience, but gives more freedom as well.

For the last eight weeks, I have been taking a Microeconomics course online.  This has been a real challenge!  I really struggled to get through the course.  I understand the concepts, but having to graph ATC, AVC, MR, MC, Price, Quantity, etc. (yeah don’t worry about knowing what those initials stand for, if you don’t already know them, you don’t want to learn them!), and then answer questions based on those graphs…. Yuk is all I can say.  I will say, I have been miserable though!  It should be over now.  I haven’t seen my final grade, but I think I managed to get a B out of it.

Now I start Macroeconomics this week.  I hope it isn’t another miserable eight weeks!  I will also be taking a communications and networking class.  That should be fun.  I will continue my sixteen week class in C++ as well.  I normally do good in computer classes, however I can say I bombed my midterm in C++.  Mostly because I was so frazzled over economics that I didn’t prepare for the exam.  Oh well, as long as I do good the rest of the semester, I can still pull off a decent grade.

It felt good this weekend to finally work on a few things other than school.  I managed to finish my final exam for microecon on Saturday morning, so that left me the rest of the day to work on moving this web site, working on fixing a computer for somebody, recovering 15G of pictures from another persons faulty hard drive and…. well I guess that was enough!

NOTE!!! To take the quiz, it requires a user name. Since this is publicly viewable, I recommend using only your first name and last initial, or use an alias!

I started back to on-campus classes.  I am taking financial accounting and intro to computer science (C++).  I think I will enjoy both classes, however since I have had exposure to both subjects, they are starting slow!  I am wishing I had taken a third class now.

I had three accounting classes 15 years ago and I worked in accounting for 2 years for Mack Trucks.  So I should do okay in the accounting class.  Everything is coming back to me as I read the book.  In class, I am amazed at some of the questions as they would all be answered if people would just give the class time to roll forward.  I believe it will get a little harder, but for now, it is easy.

The C++ class was also very basic for the first night.  Since I had some programming classes 15 years ago and I have dabbled with programming in other languages, this class shouldn’t be too hard.  Especially since this class is part one of two, and the good stuff comes in the second part.  I don’t have to take the second part as a requirement, but I might depending if I can fit it into my schedule in January.  I have always wanted to learn C++, so it should be fun.