So for the past week now I have been grading undergraduate papers and I'm under the impression that schools are not teaching kids how to write. I'm not really a grammar nazi. I have my little hang ups like everyone else, but I'm not an english major and I don't GA english classes. It does bother me though when I see a paper that you can tell no one proofread. I really don't read for minor things like punctuation placement because half the time I don't know where to put a comma. I'm talking about using informal abbreviations and when your tense doesn't agree. The abbreviations j/k or LOL have no place in a paper. I really wish I could take off more for stuff like that but I have to follow the ruberic that the prof wants for grading.
I took two exams today and then turned in a 13 page paper that I have kind of just been holding onto because I've been too lazy to print it off and turn it in. I feel like I did well on the first test but I wish there had been some open ended questions. I don't mind objective tests, but I really perfer to take tests that have a subjective section to them because I am pretty good about B.S.ing a few paragraphs about a subject.
I only have one more exam and then I will be done for the semester. I'm looking forward to it being over so that I can go back to North Carolina for a few weeks before I head out to my summer camp job. I still have to figure out what I'm getting my mom for mother's day, but I will probably just go in with my brothers and sister to get her one big gift instead of 4 small ones. Looking back, my first year of grad classes has been a bit more difficult than undergrad, but really just in the sense that I have been forced to learn how to read more effectively, aka skimming. Doing things like just reading the first and last sentences of a paragraph to get the main idea has really cut down on my reading time and been beneficial. I like to read for enjoyment so I have to force myself to skim. I try to read it all so that I can highlight important quotes to use in papers or just for my own benefit, but by learning how to skim better I have been able to look for key words and phrases that show me when to highlight. Also, I think taking 12 graduate credits while working as a graduate assistant (which is essentially a full-time gig) made it a little more difficult.
I guess the most exciting thing that has happened recently is that I'm packing things up to move this weekend. My roommates and I have been living in the same house for about 2 years now; however, in the last 6 months we have gotten a terrible neighbor who complains about everything. In the past 6 months she has:
Complained about our yard (which the landlord handles not us)
Called the cops on us multiple times (the best time was when she said that one of the dogs bit her despite the fact that our dogs stay in a fence and are just a danger of licking you to death or possibly it was when we put our garbage in her trash can)
And my favorite, blamed us for vandalizing her property. By property I mean a bird house she hangs outside and on an extremely windy night it fell down.
I'm going to be subletting my room for the summer since I won't be in state, but it will just be nice to know that I'm done with our neighbor and will be living closer to campus in a better house for a cheaper price. Anyway, I need to get back to studying.
I took two exams today and then turned in a 13 page paper that I have kind of just been holding onto because I've been too lazy to print it off and turn it in. I feel like I did well on the first test but I wish there had been some open ended questions. I don't mind objective tests, but I really perfer to take tests that have a subjective section to them because I am pretty good about B.S.ing a few paragraphs about a subject.
I only have one more exam and then I will be done for the semester. I'm looking forward to it being over so that I can go back to North Carolina for a few weeks before I head out to my summer camp job. I still have to figure out what I'm getting my mom for mother's day, but I will probably just go in with my brothers and sister to get her one big gift instead of 4 small ones. Looking back, my first year of grad classes has been a bit more difficult than undergrad, but really just in the sense that I have been forced to learn how to read more effectively, aka skimming. Doing things like just reading the first and last sentences of a paragraph to get the main idea has really cut down on my reading time and been beneficial. I like to read for enjoyment so I have to force myself to skim. I try to read it all so that I can highlight important quotes to use in papers or just for my own benefit, but by learning how to skim better I have been able to look for key words and phrases that show me when to highlight. Also, I think taking 12 graduate credits while working as a graduate assistant (which is essentially a full-time gig) made it a little more difficult.
I guess the most exciting thing that has happened recently is that I'm packing things up to move this weekend. My roommates and I have been living in the same house for about 2 years now; however, in the last 6 months we have gotten a terrible neighbor who complains about everything. In the past 6 months she has:
Complained about our yard (which the landlord handles not us)
Called the cops on us multiple times (the best time was when she said that one of the dogs bit her despite the fact that our dogs stay in a fence and are just a danger of licking you to death or possibly it was when we put our garbage in her trash can)
And my favorite, blamed us for vandalizing her property. By property I mean a bird house she hangs outside and on an extremely windy night it fell down.
I'm going to be subletting my room for the summer since I won't be in state, but it will just be nice to know that I'm done with our neighbor and will be living closer to campus in a better house for a cheaper price. Anyway, I need to get back to studying.
