The "A" List

Summer session is finally over! I was taking statistics and an independent study. I'm not a math person, but I actually realized I knew (and was using) statistics already, I just didn't know that was what you call it. I just that all math was math. I never took that hard stuff...trig, calculus, heck I failed algebra the first time i took it, in high school and college. But this summer I got an A. I figured I could do better taking it in the summer - because it was only 4 class meetings (thanks to the July 4 holiday) over 1 month. In the fall it would have been 3 months, and alot more work.

I also took an independent study, which if kinda like "whatever you can do and justify how it is applicable to your degree program" to get a grade. I chose to make podcasts (video and audio) of my statistics classes. This helped me and my classmates because you could hear the lesson and questions from class again. Pretty cool.

I found out I wont be able to graduate this fall as I had planned. I would have the hours, but the last 2 classes; Research (for your thesis) and Thesis I can't take them at the same time - because (theroretically) you can't write your thesis until you have learned to conduct the RESEARCH for it. I thought this kinda silly, but this is part of the dance so my options are limited. The upside is I get the student tax break for that much longer.

Grad school is different from undergrad in many ways I had forgotten about since it was like 10 years since I was in undergrad. For starters, grad school is not included in the valedictorian/salutatorian thingy at graduation, so a 4.0 gpa is like...SO! Also, the other thing, you know the cum laude stuff, is on a different scale as well. So to get Magna Cum Laude (the highest one) you can only get one B.

I'm contemplating a Doctoral program. Do I want to do that now? I don't think I want it right now, I'm tired of being financially strapped, a less admirable aspect of student-dom. I didn't realize how much a masters degree can impact your salary for a job. I mean you can just ask for 20-30% sometimes more off the bat, just because, whether its actually in your field or not, which is kinda twisted to me. But don't stop now. :-)


So now I got a month off before the fall semester. What are YOU doin? Maybe we can hang out, I got a grill and some mixtapes.