Chapter Thirty-One: Time is like a Big Bowl of Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff

It's the little things in life that make you realize everything isn't as simple as it seems.
If you have been wondering where I have been for the past couple of days, blame college! I briefly mentioned in my last chapter that I am taking a college course with my local community college this summer. It started about ten days ago, and my life has been turned upside down ever since. It was stressful enough planning and packing for my upcoming university experience (I'm moving out in less than a month!), but this summer course has really added the cherry on top.

Accurate representation of my summer

Seriously, though. I thought AP classes were fast. The speed in an AP class is NOTHING compared to a Summer II Session class. Now, I don't mean to scare everyone and make you dread college. No. Go to college. The reason why I am being such a wimp about this is:

• It's a Math Course (Trigonometry)
• Absolutely No Lecture
• Way Shorter Semester (Normal Semester is around 15 weeks...Summer II Session is 5 weeks)

I know many of you have heard this multiple times, but AP CLASSES PREP YOU FOR COLLEGE. For real. Now, we all know what happened to my AP Chemistry class (If you don't, catch up here), and I'm sure many of you have experienced a terrible class here and there where you walked away feeling like you didn't learn much. (How I feel about the majority of my past math classes). But I'm here to tell you that when something happens, we are given an opportunity to grow wiser from the experience. What have I learned in all of my AP classes? A lot of good information about a certain subject, but the one thing I have walked away with is good note-taking skills. Ever since my first AP class (sophomore year), I have noticed an incredible improvement in my notes, mostly because I was graded on them all throughout high school. 

Yes, I made a color-coded Table of Contents for my spiral...

This Trigonometry course I am taking is an online course, meaning the only source of learning I have is from the book. That's it. No lecture. No in-class examples. No classmates. 

Because of this, it is essential I take exceptional notes in order to understand the subject. Thankfully, I've done pretty well so far in the class (99.6% average so far! Wooooo!)

Despite the rapid speed, I am actually enjoying myself in the class. I haven't really enjoyed math since middle school, so feeling good about math is...refreshing. There are a lot of perks that come with this class, such as:

• I get to go to class in my sweats/pajamas
• I complete lessons/homework/quizzes on my own time
• I can take "class notes" however I like!
• I can take as many breaks as I need...Doctor Who has been a popular stress relief!
• I don't have to deal with people
• I'm actually...learning

I know that last bullet seems a bit odd, because, hello, haven't I been learning for the past thirteen years of my life in school? I have, don't get me wrong. But now that I am completely learning on my own, I'm realizing more and more how worksheets and memorization just were not enough in the past. This is the first time I've looked in a math book to take notes since my freshman year. What have I been doing for the past three years in math class?! Worksheets. Worksheets. Worksheets. 

What ever happened to telling the class to take notes on pages 315-324? I know, you are all groaning and adding up how many pages that is to read, but honestly. All school is now is learning how to memorize.

Let me give you an example. I took Calculus my senior year (a higher level math than Trigonometry!). Right off the bat, I was handed a Unit Circle, and told to memorize it for a quiz the very next day. 

Wow, look, a big circle with a bunch of confusing numbers!

When I first saw this, I was completely overwhelmed. How was I supposed to memorize this?? Throughout the year we were taught all these "short-cuts" and "tricks" to memorize it, but did I ever learn it? No. 

Surprise, surprise, I didn't do too well in my Calculus class. I got all A's in class, but failed the AP test miserably. Now I'm taking Trigonometry, which is basically Pre-Cal, and now I am learning concepts from Calculus...backwards. The deeper I get into this course, the more I learn the reasons behind the concepts in Calculus. Now when I look at the Unit Circle, I don't see a bunch of numbers to memorize, but I see how it is made up of multiple special right triangles, all with specific angle measures. 

I am learning the "why" behind the "what"

My feelings about Math in a nutshell

To me, this is a huge deal because knowing the reason behind what I am doing makes me understand so much more. And I was obviously lacking this in my Calculus course (and many math courses before).

Anyway, if my posts are lacking for the next three weeks, please forgive me and pray for my success in this math course. All thoughts and prayers are very well appreciated!

Advice to you: Do what you need to do to learn something. Do not expect the instructor to instruct. Sometimes they just don't. But do not let that stop you. Keep working hard...you'll get through in one piece. (and have a better foundation for college!)

P.S. Don't worry, you will still have free time. It may not be as much as we like, but we do get small moments of joy and relief from studying. 

On Monday night I went out with my girlfriends to go see Much Ado About Nothing...this was so nice because this play was done outdoors in a beautiful park...We brought our blankets, picnic basket, and had a wonderful, enriched evening. 

Yay!

On Friday, we went out again to go eat Pho for lunch. Yummy and fun!

Yum Yum Yum!

That's all for now, folks! And just remember, life isn't just a straight line of experiences..."Time is like a Big Bowl of Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey...Stuff."