Dependency

I know - you thought I had abandoned you, right? Fear not. I have not abandoned you, nor have I abandoned this blog. I have about five posts sitting in drafts right now that I can't seem to fully flesh out into something that can see the light of day*, but I'm working on it - promise.

So in the meantime, I thought I would share a little rant with you. Just a tiny one because I miraculously woke up in a fantastic mood this morning. Miraculous because today begins school again, in honor of which I have shifted my work hours from 8-5 to 7-4.

In case you can't do the math, that means I have to get up a whole hour earlier than usual. And we all know how much I love mornings.**

So today begins classes. It is Wednesday, so I should have o-chem lecture followed by o-chem lab. Yesterday I found out that I did not have lab until next week. That was a happy moment. But for the last two weeks, I have been stalking the o-chem website for some information on the course schedule, syllabus, notes....anything. At first it was just casual curiosity. I mean, I would rather be prepared than caught without notes on day one. But as the students invaded the chat room on said website, some of whom are taking o-chem for the second or third time, and planned a study group that begins after the first class I began to get nervous. I mean, don't get me wrong...I have faith in my intelligence. But I'm also not immune to mass hysteria. The reputation for o-chem preceeds the class. It's tough. And if everyone else is already freaking out....well....

So I look for a syllabus. Some notes. A schedule. Something to prepare me for the first day of class.

And it appears....today. At 1:06pm to be exact. For a class that begins at 6:00pm.

And these lecture notes...they're not small documents. I would say they average 40 pages with the largest being 56 pages. Fifty-six pages! And the first lecture dives right into the material. Oh, and the syllabus suggests that to succeed in class, I should read the material ahead of time.

Okay. I'll do that in the, um....hour I have before class. Thanks Mr. Professor, sir!

Now, I realize that I am not a traditional student. I truly do. And I realize most full time students might have time between lunch and their evening class to do the required reading. But I still think that this timeframe is a little short. I mean, I believe that professors begin their school year before the students, right? And I know they're busy people, but part of preparing for their classes is informing the students of what's going on in that class, right? I mean, my first tuition bill was due the 18th... Is it too much to ask that when I pay tuition I have access to my course information?

I'm just so frustrated. I could go on and on.

To his credit, now that one thing is available, everything for the class is available. So I can work ahead to my heart's content. But I just feel like this weekend I will be playing catch up doing the reading for the material that we will cover tonight, instead of being able to read ahead. Again with the non-traditional student, but with classes M-Th evenings, I only have so many hours in which to study.

I guess I should read instead of blog, huh? Okay okay, point taken. Any chance one of you is an organic chem tutor on the side?

*Must work on the snark. The snark, it is heavy in those drafts.

**Personally, I think the iced vanilla latte did a lot for my mood this morning. And I may have stumbled in at 7:10am. Sigh. I'll aim for better tomorrow. I have all semester to perfect the early work arrival.