When you take a second year undergraduate course

I am guilty of many things, and one of them is that I typically only has one speed -- warp 9.8 -- and another one is that I over-estimate people's level of intelligence.

Often these traits (among others) come back and bite me.  Take the most recent example of my Greek Mythology midterm.  One of the questions was to describe three examples of how mortals got punished by the gods for transgression, even though the mortals' actions were purely innocent and it was actually the gods themselves that overreacted.

Now bear in mind that was the question.  Identify and discuss three examples where mortals were innocent, etc etc.  OK?

So I gave my answer, which I thought was on point.  What happened?  I got 36/50 for that question.  WTF?  I emailed the TA and asked what I had missed.  I was thinking maybe I had missed some parts of the stories, or got the characters' names wrong or something.

The response (and I gave him credit, he replied in five minutes!) was that I didn't explicitly state that these mortals were innocent.

Come again?  The whole point of the question was their innocence, no?  So why is it necessary to state that they were innocent if I identified them for the answer?  I mean, I wouldn't be using these stories if the characters were not innocent, right?

Well, ok, I still aced the midterm despite that question, but it seems kind of silly to me that I should need to state it explicitly.  I think my fault there is that it's a second year course, and the TA is marking based on a grading scheme the prof sent, which called for this and that to be stated.  Lesson learned.  Play the part of the stereotypical 19 year old second year student.  I said stereotypical, since I know from experience that there are very many exceptional students in that category who will likely think the way I did.

It also probably didn't help that I sent in my exam with an hour to spare.  The guy probably felt I didn't make use of time available...  Oh well.  That's just me.  When it's done, it's done.

OK, got two more midterms this week, so it's time to get back to studying.  Note to self: spell it out.

The Dental Saga Continues

This morning, in consultation with my dentist, I decided not to do the root canal after all.  Instead, we will remove the old bridge and extract the problem tooth.  And then deal with the gap afterwards.  Apparently the root canal might not totally solve the problem which can resurface and bite me (pardon the pun).  Plus, the bridge costs thousands...  Now that I am a poor student...

On a side note, my student health plan (via the student union) actually gives me BETTER prescription drug and dental and vision benefits than I got from Blue Cross via Etown.  Pretty damn amazing.  Yet another reason to be a student forever!

So anyway, this Thursday, instead of a root canal, I will go and have the old bridge removed (part of it anyway).  And then at a later visit (to be scheduled) I will go in and have the tooth extracted.  The good thing is it reduces the impact this has on me this week, when I face two midterms.  So, back to studying now.

More later!

University Administrative Staff Who Give a Damn

A typical view of university/college administrative staff (e.g. Registrars, Academic Advising, Student Affairs, etc.) is that these are heartless folks who don't give a shit about students.  I don't mean departmental staff, like support staff who help keep a department organized.  You know, folks like Shari at Etown, etc.  They are basically part of the faculty, IMO.  But administrative staff, like those in central offices, most have a tendency towards a god complex when it comes to their interaction with students.  At the last two colleges I worked for, this view would be demonstratively justified.  For those of you reading this, if you are of the same opinion, you know what I mean.  Regardless, share your comments with me even if your experience is to the contrary.  Perhaps I am simply biased.  I have been known to be exactly that.  As (one of my idols) Sir Charles once said, I may be wrong, but I doubt it.

I'm happy to note, though, that the administrative folks I have had the pleasure to interact with at the Faculty of Arts at UOttawa are every bit the opposite of this stereotype.  Since even before I enrolled at UOttawa, I've had nothing but pleasant experience dealing with the folks in the Faculty of Arts.  Really first rate people who actually give a damn about students.  So what prompted me to put up this blog entry?

A couple of days ago, out of the blue, I received an email from Student Advising at the Faculty of Arts.  First off, the email was very courteous and friendly (you know, like starting with Hi, Ed, I hope you are doing well and that the semester is progressing wonderfully, that sort of thing).  Nice touch.

Anyway, the person, who is one of the academic advising staff, wanted to check in with me to ensure I take all the right courses to graduate.  She listed out what I still have to complete, etc., which is very helpful especially since at these big institutions, there's no individual advising like we had at SNC or Etown.

I am on the right track to finish in May next year, so I just thanked her and so on.  Then, on second thought, I re-read the email and noticed an anomaly.  You see, the program I am in, a Bachelor of Arts (no major or minor) was changed this year to a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies.  And some of the program requirements have changed as well.  Under the new program, we must complete X number of 3rd and 4th year courses from the Faculty of Arts, as opposed to X number of 3rd and 4th year courses, period.  I am still okay, since I meet  the new requirements (that's why I didn't think much of it at first).

But wait, I switched into the program BEFORE it got changed.  So I thought, shouldn't I be grandfathered under the old regime?  As I said, I am okay either way, but you know how anal I can get.  So I emailed them this afternoon, and asked for clarification (in a VERY nice way, seriously).  I was just curious.

Okay, so you email an administrative department at 4 pm on a Friday.  When do you think you'll hear back?  Well, I got a reply from them (actually the same person I interacted with before) at 5:22 pm.  On a Friday.  No shit.

So it was a computer glitch that put me under the new program requirements.  She was very apologetic, and confirmed that my suspicion was correct.  I am NOT under the new program.

See, it's really a small thing.  But it's nice to know that they cared enough to respond right away, and clearly communicated what the status is.  Stuff like that.  Makes me feel like I am more than a number to them.

I am so happy that I chose to come to UOttawa for this adventure.  This has been a wonderful experience, and the admin folks at the faculty of arts are simply wonderful.  Now, I don't really know what the folks at the other faculties are like first-hand.  But this is such a nice personal experience that I can't help sharing with you.  I am sure I will look back with very fond memories once this degree is done.