Archive for the ‘School’ Category

Mid-term recap

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Polar_BearI’ve been really really sick for the last few days. A really sick bear. It started Tuesday when my classmate and friend went to the gym. As I finished running on the elliptical, I decided to go do some sit ups but my body decided otherwise. I collected myself and finished my workout thinking that everything was fine. It wasn’t and the food afterwards didn’t help. As I sat down to help another friend with her term paper my stomach started to make noises I’ve never heard in my many years. The pain soon followed and then the vomiting.  After several hours of pain and discomfort I passed out only to wake up long enough to send an email excusing my absence at work the next morning.

I hadn’t been able to study for the midterm that I was to take as I was still in pain. Even though i took the day off to heal I still couldn’t manage to stay conscious for more than fifteen minutes. My studying was heavily thwarted and I didn’t do as well on the test as I wanted. Right after the mid-term I made my exit from the class and headed across the street to the local sandwich shop so I could sit in a place where it was warm. I did this while my ride would know where to pick me up and I would be warm since there are no benches outside. As I made one single step outside the USF building, my stomach turned once again and my knees buckled. I ran to the side of the parking lot…OK I shuffled really fast holding my mouth shut with one hand while my other tried to comfort my belly. Apparently none of my classmates noticed what I offered the gods and I’m rather surprised by this but also very glad. As I finished my Linda Blair impersonation, I made my way to the sandwich shop, sat down in the lounge area and waited for my ride.

I watch people come and go as I waited for my ride to come, played a bit with my phone and curled up a bit too long against the wall. Enter Ed, my would be savior. Ed was no hero on a white horse, he was no stunning man but he was trying to be considerate and that was much appreciated. Ed is a Japanese man with a lightly muscular build. I figured he was into some sports but not weight lighting. An average man who almost reached five feet nine inches in height holding a rather nice figure I also noticed that he was drunk as drunk can be. I’m sitting down in this point just unfurling from my fetal position and I’m almost as tall as he is. As he talks to me asking if I’m ‘OK’ I’m realizing that he is less concerned about my safety but more so he is hitting on me. =)

Ed keeps saying, are you sure you’re OK? Are you sure your ride is coming? If your ride isn’t here in five minutes let’s go wait by my car. All of this while going on about how horrible he is but how lucky he is. I deflect by telling him that if something happens I can take the bus, I’m positive my ride is coming and it’s too cold outside. Apparently his wife was also trying to get a hold of him via cell phone but he asked that I call his phone as well. Luckily I have my cell phone number blocked so it doesn’t show up when I dial out. I call his cell phone and as it rings he smiles and says ‘I’m happy now. I’ll call you tomorrow’. This was a bit more than I was up for and I was done with Ed already. It was very flattering and very nice of him to be so-called concerned but I needed to say no. No, not only because that isn’t my lifestyle but because he was out of line as well. This didn’t take much really. When I stood up I extended my shoulders wider than they usually spread to make myself appear even larger than I already am. I call this technique Big Bear. Wouldn’t you know it… my little Ed woke up really fast as his words started to stumble and stutter.  Just then my ride appeared and I thanked Ed for his ‘concern’ and took my leave. Interesting mid-term if you ask me.

Equality?

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

equality_largeI’m a bit irritated about this email from USFconnect Message with a reply address of pleasedonotreply@usfca.edu.

First, before I get hate mongering emails I am stating that I understand that people feel and rightfully so, that there is complete inequality between genders. I don’t in anyway want to disparage my female friends, readers or loved ones. They have been my life, my benefactors and have supported me in every aspect of becoming who I am today. For this I am eternally grateful. In no fashion am I expressing that the female pride needs to be diminished. In fact, I think that females need more glorification and need to express more pride in themselves with confidence and support of the male community.

What I do not like however is in my time at USF (University of San Francisco) I have seen many female orientated emails, classes, special events and other offerings. Offerings that I would have loved to attend but was not allowed to because of my unfortunate coincidence of having a penis.

The continued suppression of men is truely irritating. Do I think that men need to stand on the backs of women to reach higher goals and achievements. Hell NO! What I do believe is that we can achieve betterment as a union rather than separate communities only joining together when it suits our needs or wants.

I will be writing a grant proposal and I believe that my idea is clear. My idea will be how to improve the quality of life for women by teaching males what the female challenges are and how males can help. I may be way out of my league here but it should be an interesting experiment.

For now I flame on and send a frustrated reply to the Chair of the university.


Dear USF Community:

Please be aware of and promote the President’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (PACSW): It’s Mission and Grant Funding for student groups at USF.

Mission
www.usfca.edu/pacsw/prop.html
To promote gender equity and justice in the University community. The Committee consists of representatives from University staff, students and faculty.
The Committee’s work includes: assessing University policies and procedures relating to women staff, students  and faculty promoting policies and procedures that will benefit quality of life for  women in the University environment physically, educationally and spiritually surveying women staff, students and faculty about issues they confront as women in the University context educating the university community about issues facing women in professional,  educational and other contexts encouraging women to take leadership roles in the University, Church and  society encouraging dialogue and debate around the roles of women in the University,  in the Church and in society at large providing funding and support for projects that promote the advancement and equality of women in the University context and beyond.
(more…)

USF Library Fees

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

expanded_mathThe person who calculates fees at USF must be named Peter. I have a overdue book. This book is over due by a good amount of time at 51 days. On the USF website,they have a breakdown of their fees that they will charge someone. I’m thinking that they must charge someone at least $60 bucks in processing fees. This is outrageous! I will never borrow another book from USF again as they are ridiculous in amount that they charge one person for one book. If we ditched the processing fees and went solely with the fines per day I’d end up owing $25.50 for a book that if I bought would cost me $15 tops from Amazon.com. I have contacted USF via email, two different phone lines (both which went to a answering machine) and in person yesterday.

When I talked to the librarian yesterday and asked simply to drop my book off at my library campus… I couldn’t. Huh? Isn’t this a USF library? So we are second class yet again? Maybe it’s beause I’m not feelign great, maybe i’m getting whiny or maybe I’m just being a bitch but I really hate feeling like a second class student and paying so much for these classes. I mean hell even the offerings that they send us via email that say ‘hey look at all th great thigns you can do…if you were in SF and had free time on a weekday and didn’t have to work for a living…like you do…ok well look what neat things we’re going to exclude you from.’

Fuck you USF Library!

I am Chong

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Again, last night, we were to sign a sheet of paper and this would determine not only what topic we did as a group but also the topic of our individual presentation. Upon reading the group assignments, the teacher exclaimed in a rather confused tone something like ‘Wow, Chong you really like to write and Eziel you must hate writing’. Apparently, what happened was that lil Miss Eziel had written Chongs name down for a group instead of her own.

Really? Who forgets to write their own name let alone write someone elses? Who forgets what their name is? So funny!
She is now and forever will be Chong to the rest of the team.

It is amusing and endearing that Chong2 has taken this ribbing so well. I am glad that they are both in our class as they have shown great character. While I know that we tease each other mercilessly I also know that they, as are the rest of the class, good people.

Implicit norms

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Last night I started a new class with familiar classmates. The course is on Group Dynamics. While I am enjoying the company of the people I am lucky enough to be working with, I wonder about the people that I have not worked with yet and why I have not worked with them. I believe that we as a class have created implicit norms simply by sitting in the same seats for the last few months. After thinking about bucking the implicit norms and mixing things up, I have decided that this is what I will write my first journal entry on.

When David came in & sat in a particular seat did he really deserve such harsh treatment? Granted he needed to do his share of work (and apparently came up short) but the one action of sitting in a seat he did not know was ‘reserved’, does that warrant being ostracized. Has our not mixing this seating up stunted our mixing somehow? What would happen if I sat where Jamie normally sits? Would anyone notice if ‘the Chongs’ swapped places?

I think that we should mix it up occasionally however we should also remain comfortable. Balancing what a student has grown accustomed to and having them experiment something different is a difficult task to complete.

What would we achieve from changing this implicit norm?
We may achieve a better understanding of who we work well with and whom we cannot stand to be around. Passing out papers last night before class made me realize that I am just now learning the names of the people I spend a good amount of time with. I know those that I have worked with but struggled to remember a few of those that I have not worked with. I feel ashamed that I stuttered when handing out papers and did not automatically know who was who by their face.

Open Question #2

Friday, February 27th, 2009
Open Question of the day

During class last week I was asked to write about my life. The autobiography has to be about 6 – 10 pages. That shouldn't be to terribly difficult however the kicker is it has to have a thesis or main topic. I don't know if my life has a main topic or point to it. For some reasons I am reminded of the Wiccan way which to my understanding is simply reduced to 'harm none'. If I were Wiccan I might use that but I'm not.

Todays question is:
When you look back on your life, can you form a thesis that you've lived by? A way that you've always tried to live your life? If so what is it and if you're comfortable in doing so share some examples that back up your 'thesis'.

The silent killer

Monday, October 6th, 2008

NO! I’m not talking about my farts here.

I don’t know who wants to know this or who cares or really what this will matter to anyone but I’ve found or discovered something that if I don’t learn to deal with in a constructive way is going to be my undoing. As you may or may not know I’ve recently re-entered the school life to get my paper and better myself. The long term goal is to use the paper once it’s complete to get a better career that earns me quite a bit of a different kind of greenish paper. Isn’t that one of the most common goals for graduates though?

What I’ve found though is I’m not well equipped for this life. Tonight I had a mid-term in QBA and I don’t know how I made it through the day. While work was busy which is an anomaly I think it was a blessing in disguise. All day I was bouncing off the walls in anticipation of this exam. I was up and down…more down. The stress of this test was just insane. If I was an objective viewer this stress level would have measured in the phenomenal range.

I’ve tried many tactics on how to deal with my stress and I’m just not good at it. I simply do not know how to manage it. When something is important to me, or something means a bit to men, or if I am nervous about something I stress and do this to a hardcore extreme. I don’t know anyone else who has literally broken a sweat stressing other then me. I need help realizing that whatever happens will happen and I will be OK. I put way too much pressure on myself for such things when all I can do is my best. I have to learn to realize that if my best isn’t good enough then whatever or whoever isn’t or wasn’t ready for me. This is damn hard for me and what makes it hard is not only my own psyche but at times I have people around me that while I’m sure they mean well with their well wishes or advice rather it feels more like a berating or verbal beat down.

I just can’t accept that while I try to do my best at these times sometimes I can’t control everything or the outcomes of everything all the time. Today was one of those times.

On the plus side of things though I *THINK* I nailed the test and believe I will get that A for Awesome-ness that I so seek. We’ll see though. I know I’m still stressed and need to find an major outlet and soon as this is not a good sign when you log into Facebook and see this.

Hi Stanford fans, you might be interested in watching a new National Geographic documentary about the science of stress. "Stress: Portrait of a Killer" will have its US broadcast premiere on Wednesday, 9/24 at 8pm on PBS (check local listings). 

You can also learn more about Prof. Sapolsky’s research, tips for managing stress, and the film at http://killerstress.stanford.edu. If you could help us spread the word, that would be wonderful!

Cheers, Ian

Another reason I hate QBA

Monday, September 29th, 2008

All weekend I sheltered myself inside with minimal to no luxuries of going out or having friends over or doing fun things.I did have lunch with CW and Star stopped by but that time was minimal and purposeful. I mean we HAVE to get the kegs situation for Halloween taken care of right?

Anyway, I studied and studied and studied expecting a difficult mid-term when I got to class today but our professor hadn’t covered everything yet. This is both good news and bad news.

It’s good news in the sense that I have more time to study for the QBA mid-term and now I have a lot better understanding of the transportation network problems.

It’s bad in the sense that … I COULD HAVE USED THIS TIME TO STUDY FOR MY MID-TERM THAT I HAVE THIS WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to studying.

F U SJSU

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

As a student of SJSU I was sent an email that I didn’t ask for in regards to public transportation. OK so cool I can use that spam so I forgive it for being spam. Then when I read it I get a bit more excited. It reads as follows:

As a new student, please pick up your Tower Card (SJSU student ID) at the
Student Services Center located on 9th Street and then the AS Eco Pass
sticker at the Transportation Solutions Center located in the Student Union
Building.

Tower Card information: http://www.sjsu.edu/bursar/services/towercard/

With AS Eco Pass and Tower Card, SJSU students can ride free on all Santa
Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) bus and Light Rail lines during
the semester. Just show your validated Tower Card to the bus driver when
boarding or to the Light Rail fare inspector on board.

So this all sounds groovy right? What are you pissed about now Zen Guy? Well I’ll tell ya. Then I get this email offering me MS Office 2007 Ultimate for $60 bucks. Ok so that didn’t explain why I’m pissed because that’s another great deal.

I’m pissed because I try to look more into taking advantage of these deals (especially the transportation one) and it requires me to get a SJSU Tower Card. I equate this to a student body card. OK that shouldnt be too hard right? So I look up the office times and location on where I can get this card and the place is on campus as expected but open only from Mon-Thurs 08:30 – 16:30 or on Fri 0900 – 16:30.

What monkey shit is this? How do you call yourself a commuter school and close your offices before most businesses close on a daily basis? That’s complete jackassery making someone take a day off or time off from work in order to be there for your office hours. Thats bullshit or as Diddy says bitchassness. For that I give you the double duce. Both fingers straight up loud and proud.

Bitches! I will take your sheepskin and I will use it for all it’s worth but you’ve already failed me. No wonder Stanford is going to kick your ass in football. If you can’t serve the customers why would the customers want to serve you on the field?

School & Those Damn Hippie Chicks

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Today I cut work short because I needed to take care of some business for me. I’m a little disappointed by one of the people at work because they just don’t seem to have any drive. Every time I walk into their office I see them doing things other then work. This is fine once in a while but every time bugs me. So before I left work i tasked them with something that should be a 30 minute job but I have a feeling it’s going to take them much longer. I jumped into moms car and we went to SJSU and I talked to a counselor. I have lots of classes to take and it’s going to be a long haul but I can do it. I’m excited that I getting so close to actually sitting in a class room and learning. I’m super excited. Who would have ever thought that would have been said especially by me?

Tonight I went on a date with a gal that I met on-line at eHarmony. It was my first outing with that site so I was both skeptical and anxious. Her name is Liz and she’s a sweet gal. I had a really good time with her and hope we can go out again. Tonight we went to Siam Royal and had a couple dishes. Tofu Pad Thai and Basil Tofu. Lots of tofu tonight as she’s a vegetarian. We talked about everything and I don’t think I laughed so much in a long time. After Siam Royal we decided to go to Lavanda for a night cap. She’s defintely a cool chick though she’s definately more enviromental or green then I am.  We’ll see what happens but I know one thing, I made a new friend tonight.