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January 30, 2004

Drowning in Physics

Somebody asked me how school was going. I'm only a few weeks into the semester, so it's going as well as it will ever go, as I haven't had a chance to completely and utterly fuck up yet.

I'm taking a physics class this semester, as I have every semester since I restarted school. Only this time, I may be in over my head. For one thing, I'm not as far along in math as I ought to be, although I suspect that that is not going to be as big a deal as it might. So far I understand all the math I've needed.

One pleasant thing about this class is that we're required to keep a normal lab notebook, with prenumbered pages and written in pen. I was surprised last semester that we were supposed to use a spiralbound book and write in pencil, but I guess that's just a way of gentling you into the notebook thing. It felt weird, and I was compelled to do a more carefully edited job than I usually would with a lab notebook, on account of having erasability. Anyway, I feel more calm with the normal setup.

I'm also taking a math class -- second semester calculus (I ought to be in third semester calculus for this physics class) for the second time. I don't know why last semester was so hard, but I suspect it had to do with having math in the afternoon. That, and the teacher completely ignoring the textbook.

The rest of my classes are studio/craft classes: photography (black and white), ceramic sculpture, and woodworking.

The woodworking class is a bit slow-paced; the teacher talks very slowly and quietly, and he's a bit of a stoner in personality type if not in fact. I'm hoping we get to some real meat in the class soon.

Photography got off to a good start: we shot a roll of slide film and discussed composition, then had a tour of the darkrooms. I'm excited about having access to the darkroom all semester for just a $15 user fee. I'm trying to get my hands on a large-format camera so I can try out the developing on the cheap at school. We shall see.

Ceramic sculpture is also interesting. With the teacher I had for ceramics (Don Santos). We had one field trip to a gallery to see some ceramics, then I missed the day when we learned alternative wheel techniques (which is a bummer because I saw the beginning and it was very exciting), and then in our last class we worked quickly and excitedly to prepare pieces of stuff which we're going to use to make some wall pieces next week. I worked on press molds, because I think I'm too short to use the extruder effectively. Bummer, because I love the extruder and was looking forward to making things with it this semester.

So that's this semester in a nutshell. I also get to fill out financial aid forms, and wait anxiously to hear back from the schools I applied to so I can know how I will be spending my next three years. I'm glad I bought that extra-large bottle of Maalox.

Posted by ayse on 01/30/04 at 6:09 PM