11 day course not so bad

Tuesday was the last day for my May ‘mester class. I stuck around to get my final score which was another A. I asked the professor about taking a course in 11 days and how much would we retain, I was surprised by his answer. He told us that most of us would retain quite a bit of the information. I think he is probably correct for those of us who were there everyday, took notes, read every word of the text and participated in the class lecture. I’m sure that I’ll forget minor details such as dates and numbers. However, the subject was Sociology and for the most part relevant to what I’m interested in and that is probably why I’ll retain the information.

The first week of class was the hardest! Sitting in class for 4.5 hours, five days a week for 11 days is physically hard on the body, even with two breaks. We had our first test on the second day of class and it covered the first two chapters, I scored 29 out of 30 which was a surprise. There was a total of 7 test and four quizzes during the 11 days. The professor commented about this class being the highest scoring in all of his 20 years of teaching and on top of it, it was an 11 day course. After achieving 200 points out of a possible 210, I realize that I can do more than I thought I could when it comes to learning and applying the information. I have wondered if we (Americans) are for the most part, a lazy bunch of people when it comes to academics. Could the root of this come from watching too much television, as many studies suggest? I have found that there isn’t much to watch that is edifying, and while I’m taking short semester classes I don’t have time to watch it anyway. This isn’t to say that we don’t have a television or that we don’t watch it. However, I do think it a better idea to read and actively learn than to sit mindlessly watching TV.

My next class is Government, which starts on Monday. This is another 15 week course crammed into four weeks; it’ll feel like a vacation after the 11 days class. I have started actively reading the first two chapters and hope to get through two more before Monday. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy taking Government; so far it seems to be more like a history course. I’m guessing that we will cover at least 4 chapters a week which works out to be one chapter a day (four day week for summer classes).

Thank you for your prayers, they are working as I continue to learn with comprehension and still have some brain cells left to carry on conversations, write and do all the other stuff we all have to do on a daily basis.