The Grades are in...

So, I've been really nervous about my grades this semester. Not because I have a potential to fail any courses, but because I want A's! I know that sounds corny and dumb, but I have really worked hard this semester.

It took forever to get all my grades in, but they are here..

I was so excited! I got an A- in Management, which I wasn't anticipating and AND! I got an A- in Readings in Shakespeare! That was a complete shock! I really was expecting a B or B-. But hey! I'll take it!

Overall, I now have a GPA of 3.9! And hopefully I can keep it there!

Thanks for everyone who was praying for my finals and my semester! I really appreciate it!

Oh the Places You Will Go

One of my Professors used to read this book to us on the last day of class. I thought I would share.

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don' t
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!

---Dr. Seuss

It has come to and end..

Well.. it has final come! The end of the semester. Finals are over classes are over. It is over!

I'm so excited to go home!

I've been having a lot of problems finding a job when I get home, so my wonderful father offered to pay me to work around the house. It is a nice offer and I think my only prospect, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be slavery. I have one more option, but I will probably not get that job either. So, slavery it is!

Although, I'm excited to go home I feel bad about leaving my Gramma here all by herself. She has mentioned to me many times that she will miss me and such. I want to go home, but I don't want to leave her. Ugh.. sometimes I hate caring.

Well anyway.. my room is packed and I'm ready to go!

Short and to the point...

Well it's been a while since I've updated, but I really don't have much to say lately.

I'm finished with classes (WooHoo). And now it is on to finals! I don't really think they are going to be very difficult. I have 4 exams and 1 quiz. The one I'm most worried about is Statistics. It is my only cumulative final so it's going to be very long. Other than that they are like normal tests.

It is pretty late and I need my sleep because tomorrow is going to be a very long day of studying.

Good Luck to all those who are taking finals this week!

Guess what this post is about....

MANAGEMENT!

I have yet another good example of bad teaching skills. For all you "soon to be teachers" this is a good example of what not to do.

So, about a week ago I took a second Management test. This time, because of the experience I had for the last test, I just read the book instead of looking over my notes. My notes are pretty much useless anymore. Here is a good example of my notes during any class.
Notice I bought new pens, sort of like crayons, to entertain myself. I'm getting off track.

Anyway, back to the test. So, I read and studied all three chapters that were included on this test. I was really confident going in. My "darling" teacher hands out the test and I became even more confident after I knew the first five questions. Well I finished the 80 question test in about 45 minutes and didn't waste anytime hanging around the classroom.

So, the next class my teacher had the tests corrected and ready. I say corrected but as I was notified SEVERAL times "he doesn't grade them the computer does." Gotta love scantron. Anyway, I get my test back and on the top was 60/80 75%. I was freaking out! How on earth could I have gotten such a low grade? I was so confident!! My teacher handed out the answer key and I was very interested to know what I did on this test. I went through it and I got the first 20 question correct, which were true/false. I was like I must have bombed the multiple choice. I continued to go through the test and I got to the last 20 questions and I only had 6 wrong. I was like whoa I must have trashed the last 20 questions.

I came to the last question and I only had 8 QUESTIONS WRONG! I was like hey now what's up with that? So, I raised my hand and of course my teacher had no idea what I talking about like normal! I took my paper up to the teacher to explain and he "tossed" my paper aside and said some bull crap like "I won't look at it now. After class." Now I was furious!

Well the end of class came and I politely asked if he could look over my test then (I'm dead serious I was honestly polite). So, I went to his office and I was like this is what happened and showed him my tests and the answers. And HE SAID "I find it interesting you were the only one who had this problem." WHAT AM I A CHEATER? I was so mad, but I kept it in so I could explain that I don't carry pencils or anything. And he just stared at me and then was like "well I'll look over it later." Again BULL CRAP! He would have just shoved it back in that folder and gave me a 75%. So, in desperation, I suggested that he had incorrectly recorded my grade at the top of the page. And of course I was once again reminded that he didn't correct the test, the computer did. You and I both know that has nothing to do with what I had just asked him. Then he's like "oh I have an idea." He whips out his folder and scans through the names and grades down to my name (I was looking over his shoulder at this point). And guess what it said next to my name? 72/80!!! Imagine that I only got 8 wrong!

So, I get some corny apology and some excuse about how the other students were disruptive. WHATEVER! Just give me my A and I'll be on my way.

But guess what?!?! ONLY TWO MORE CLASSES TO GO!!!

I'm so excited about that!

And that is the end of the most recent rant.

Somebody's getting, somebody's getting, somebody somebody somebody somebody's getting married!

Before I start another rant I just thought I would like to tell you all that my sister got married on Saturday, November 22, 2008! I was a pretty awesome wedding! They are on their honeymoon until Saturday and I am going in Bethany withdraw! lol

Here is a picture of the wedding party!

Quote of the day

Here is a quote courtesy of my economics teacher

"We didn't just hand them a few bobbles and say, 'here you ignorant boobs go play with your toys.'" --Dr. Carpenter (speaking about the purchase of Manhattan Island for $47 worth of trinkets.)

There's nothing like another Management-based rant

So, I had my Management test today. I was very surprised that it was not horrible. Must be something sunk in during those three hours of reading the chapters. However, this is not the subject to this post.

While I was taking the test I was flying through the questions. I felt so confident after I actually knew the first five questions. I was filling in scan-tron bubbles like nobodies business. I finally got to question 58 out of 80. Of course my teacher couldn't hit the enter button one more time to make the full question on one page, so I had to turn the page to get the possible answers of question 58.

I turn the page and there is question 73. Wait, where was the rest of 58 and 59-72. So, of course like a fool I flip the packet over and look through it, like I would have missed 10+ questions. As I was flipping through I caught my neighbor doing the same thing I was doing. We looked at each other and she, being the better student (one of the Bobsey twins (that's a whole other story)), raised her hand and informed my oh-so-prepared teacher about the error.

He checked with EVERY single person in the class to see if it was a class wide mistake and of course it was. So, he left to make copies after mumbling something incoherently about being prepared and not freaking out. I'm not sure if the statement was for us or himself.

Anyway, he returns and hands out the missing page and then informs us that because of the error he is going to give us the answers to 5 questions that we, as a class, weren't sure of. The whole class was like "what!" But we didn't argue. The first person raised their hand and he gave us the answer to that question. Then another, then another, and another, another, another and yet another. I'm not being dramatic here. His five questions ended up being 7 questions!

So, a test that I wasn't sure of ended up not being that hard AND I got 7 free answers from my oh-so-prepared teacher.

The End.

Management or lack there of

So, I want you to imagine something with me for a second..

Imagine that my Management class at Mansfield University is a business, which is what the teacher likes to think. In my Management textbook I am reading about "Criteria for Effective Goals" in a business. There is a list of characteristics of "good" goals. These are (1) specific and measurable, (2) cover key result areas, (3) challenging but realistic, (4) defined time period, and (5) linked to rewards. So, seeing how my class is a business my teacher should be aiming at these criteria for our classroom curriculum and organization, correct?

So, then, with that in mind, let me describe a typical day in my MANAGEMENT class. The place we are "learning" these principles and criteria for goals of a well thought out business.

So the class starts at 11:30am. I begin by writing out the time in 15 minute increments on my paper so I can count down the time until I leave the class. My "darling" teacher stands in front of the class with his oh-so-thought-out powerpoint presentation AND READS THE SLIDES TO US! That's it! An hour and a half later, after tears, drawing an elaborate replication of a picasso painting on the back of the chair in front of me and perhaps writing down a sentence or two we all burst out the door and kiss the floor in the hall way. FRREEEEEEDDDDDOOOOOMMMM!!!

Let's think about this for a little bit. In accordance with these criteria this business is going to go down in a large ball of flames. And he wonders why no one comes to class or participates. He teaches management where he learns about how to keep the employees attention and how to keep their attention. SO WHY DOESN'T HE USE THE TECHNIQUES HE TEACHES??????

I'm so frustrated. I have a test tomorrow on things I don't even remember him every saying. Probably because after the second slide I tune out and start staring at the clock or working on my masterpiece on that chair. Well I can say confidently that if my teacher were my manager at an organization he would be quickly terminated from his position. Perhaps I should write a letter.......................

Trip Home

So, this weekend I decided to take a trip home. It was very spur of the moment, but I'm glad that I went.

On Friday morning before my classes I was talking to my mom and she was saying they had nothing planned for this weekend and one of my classes was canceled on Monday so I figured what the heck, lets go!

So I told my Grandma that I was going and of course she was depressed because I was leaving and I told her to come with me. Well Grandma doesn't do things spur of the moment, so she said no she couldn't.

I had to leave for class in two hours so I ran upstairs and packed my bags and I heard something downstairs. And then my Grandma yelled up to me and told me she had decided to go.

It was quite funny. She was fretting the whole time about never doing anything like this and everything. She was quite comical running around the house trying to pack.

But anyway, while I was home my mom got an outfit for Bethany's wedding. It is really cute! But of course I'm partial because I picked it out lol But her outfit is a pair of really baggy dress pants. Come to find out they are called palazzo pants (who'd thought) and a black shirt with gold treading and sequins work. Describing it in words doesn't really do it justice, but it was really nice.

Well there are only 10 days until Bethany's wedding. It's hard to imagine that she's getting married! I'm very excited for her! They are too cute together and their kids are going to be so cute! Maybe that's jumping into the future too much lol.

Well once again studying is calling my name again! Blah...

Almost the End

Well I took my "oh so important" economics test today and guess what! Studying paid off! I think I actually did really good. That is a relief. But I still have another test to take in Marketing. I really don't like Marketing. I feel that I could learn the stuff myself without every stepping foot into that class. But of course the teacher knows that and makes attendance mandatory.

Anyway, I started crocheting again. I use to crochet back in the day (haha that rhymed). I decided that I'm going to make an afghan, well at least attempt to make an afghan. It is kind of funny because I now live with my Grandma and I'm crocheting. My sister always told me I was a 70 year old woman at heart. What can I say I enjoy a good Matlock or Murder She Wrote and I like to crochet.

Perhaps I need younger friends!

Well it is now time for Shakespeare! I am sure you can see my excitement!

The Beginning

I'm not really into blogging, but I thought it would be a great way to let everyone know what was going on in my life and it would be a great way to get things off my mind.

Anyway... I started at Mansfield University this past semester. I really love it at Mansfield! It was like a completely new start. I could be whomever I wanted. But of course, as most people know, my intolerance and sarcasm came tearing out of me before I had time to create a new Tracy.

I'm not really sure if Tracy, the sarcastic, intolerant person, is so bad, it just gets me in trouble. A LOT! I try so hard to be tolerant of people, but seriously when someone sits besides you in a class, let's say accounting 101, and answers every single question and laughs at every one of the teacher's jokes, no matter how corny or stupid, does that person not deserve to be not tolerated. SERIOUSLY! (That sentence was kind of confusing. To make it easier "teacher's pet/suck ups=Tracy not tolerating).

Ugh.. there it comes again. The old, ugly sarcastic intolerance.




Anyway.. I am now procrastination. I really don't want to study for economics. Although I'm afraid not to study. That class is really difficult, but the book is really dry and boring. I wish there was a way to sleep on a book and learn everything in it. Ha ha.. if that were possible there would be billions of rocket scientist and doctors around.

Well, it's late and I need to finish the end of "the wedding singer" (I love that movie!).

Happy Halloween!