Blog Post #3: "University Days"

I first have to note that I really enjoyed James Thurber's "University Days." There were a couple of times I actually laughed out loud. Thurber had a way of describing things that made the reader put themselves in his shoes. And I am realizing how much I have missed reading. I have always loved English and Literature classes because you are assigned to read things that you never would have read otherwise, but find that you really enjoyed. All of that aside, I have to say that I haven't really struggled in any immense way with any college course I have taken so far. The closest of these would have to be College Algebra. Up until now, almost all of the college courses I have taken so far have been online.

However, my first semester at college was when I was 18, and only a college freshman. I was completely oblivious to the way that universities sometimes use Teaching Assistants to teach courses, due to the numbers of students that had to take these introductory courses. I entered my College Algebra class and learned that my instructor was from Africa and spoke French. I also realized I could only understand about every other word she said. She sometimes would stop and ask us what word she was thinking of. We had no idea. I felt pretty terrible that I couldn't understand her, but it also definitely did not help that she had such a soft voice. It is important to note that math has never really been my strong point. I can definitely learn it if I pay attention and really focus on it, but it has always been my subject of least interest. So this class was an unfortunate combination of the instructor's inability to communicate with us, and my lack of inclination to take the initiative to dig into the text myself. Soon after beginning the class, I realized that I was pretty much trying to teach myself math. I would sit in class and stare at the teacher and what she was writing on the board, and try my hardest to understand her. Occasionally, I would look up and realize that my classmates seemed to be having the same dilemma. I ended up having to re-take the class, and interestingly enough, I took it online. Which meant I was again pretty much teaching myself math from the text books. Thankfully, this time I got through it by sheer willpower, and am officially done with all required math courses. I am thankful not to have to repeat the experience again.