First Day of Classes
Quite possibly the last day it will be the first day of classes.
So, I have no classes on Mondays or Fridays this semester. But I do have a 6 hour block of classes every Tuesday and Thursday. It evens out, I guess.
I walked up to classes today because:
1. I don't have a parking permit and don't feel like getting one
2. I could park in Lot C where campus security never checks for passes, but I'd still have to walk a good distance to get to my classes
3. I'm an out of shape waste so walking a bit will do me some good
4. Starting a car's engine, especially in the cold, hurts the engine
5. It's fun complaining about walking when it's really shitty outside
Right before the first class of the day, I was walking around Park. There was a blonde girl sitting and reading on some bench and as I was checking her out, she spotted me. No big deal. I walked to my class, sat there, and the class began. About a minute into class, the very same blonde girl walked in, apologized for being late and sat down. Awkward.
We did the standard first day of class bullshit. Here's the syllabus, here's what I expect from you, etc. Then we did the introduction to the rest of the class crap. Hi, I'm Rob, I'm a screenwriting concentration (obviously since this is a senior screenwriting class). I fucking hate that shit.
75 minutes later, class was over. Or, it should have been. Professors sometimes think that their class is the only class in the world and they don't mind holding you extra. To be fair, she was answering some questions some of the students had. This shit always pisses me off. Parkies do it a lot. Instead of maybe approaching the professor with their question after class, or writing an e-mail, or seeing them in their office, they extend the class for everyone else in order to get some stupid question answered. Then the rest of the class feels compelled to stay because leaving would be impolite for some reason.
I was particularly agitated because I had 10 minutes in between classes (in the same room, no less) and wanted a cigarette. Finally, after politely waiting for the dumb questions to be asked and answered, I sprinted down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the side door to have a cigarette.
Next class wasn't so bad. Same introduce yourself bullshit, same syllabi crap, same policy stuff. I think by now, I've figured out that Ithaca College is against plagiarism, but thanks for the incessant reminders.
Another smoke break, then my final class: Non-fiction film theory I took this class because the professor told me I should and she personally told me the workload wouldn't be too strenuous. Over break, she e-mailed the class with our book requirements. There were about a dozen books to read. Then we get the syllabus, which was 29 pages long. I spent the 3 hours and bonus 20 minutes of class wondering to myself "Why the fuck did I drop Ideas & Ideologies for this?" Oh right, you wanted a 4 day weekend, and a good letter of recommendation from this professor.
We did get to see a really well made documentary called Darwin's Nightmare. It was really well made, very moving, and very convincing.
Here's a basic summary:
There's a fish in Lake Victoria (2nd largest lake in the world, source of the Nile River, located at the borders of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya in East Africa) called the Nile Perch. It's a massive predator that was introduced to the lake in the 1950's by scientists. The Perch prospered in the lake, but all but destroyed many local species of fish. The economies of many shoreline communities around the lake now center around the Nile Perch. The fish are caught in the lake by cheap local labor, processed by cheap local labor, and then the best parts of the fish are sent on cargo planes to Europe and Asia. The less desirable parts are used as food by local people in the surrounding area since they cannot afford to pay for the better meat. Ironically, the area surrounding the lake, despite being surrounded by fish, is impoverished with many people starving. Moreover, the planes that haul the fish to Europe are said to be bringing in weapons and ammunition to sell to various warring groups in East Africa.
It was a very interesting and poignant documentary on an interesting subject. It was also very well done and well shot. The documentarian uses mostly conversations with people like the Russian pilots of the cargo plane, local homeless children who melt the fish boxes into glue for sniffing, local prostitutes who are hired by European pilots, local fishermen, a local newspaper writer, a local artist, a local priest, and others to help create a comprehensive perspective on the area.
And that was (possibly) my last first day of classes.
So, I have no classes on Mondays or Fridays this semester. But I do have a 6 hour block of classes every Tuesday and Thursday. It evens out, I guess.
I walked up to classes today because:
1. I don't have a parking permit and don't feel like getting one
2. I could park in Lot C where campus security never checks for passes, but I'd still have to walk a good distance to get to my classes
3. I'm an out of shape waste so walking a bit will do me some good
4. Starting a car's engine, especially in the cold, hurts the engine
5. It's fun complaining about walking when it's really shitty outside
Right before the first class of the day, I was walking around Park. There was a blonde girl sitting and reading on some bench and as I was checking her out, she spotted me. No big deal. I walked to my class, sat there, and the class began. About a minute into class, the very same blonde girl walked in, apologized for being late and sat down. Awkward.
We did the standard first day of class bullshit. Here's the syllabus, here's what I expect from you, etc. Then we did the introduction to the rest of the class crap. Hi, I'm Rob, I'm a screenwriting concentration (obviously since this is a senior screenwriting class). I fucking hate that shit.
75 minutes later, class was over. Or, it should have been. Professors sometimes think that their class is the only class in the world and they don't mind holding you extra. To be fair, she was answering some questions some of the students had. This shit always pisses me off. Parkies do it a lot. Instead of maybe approaching the professor with their question after class, or writing an e-mail, or seeing them in their office, they extend the class for everyone else in order to get some stupid question answered. Then the rest of the class feels compelled to stay because leaving would be impolite for some reason.
I was particularly agitated because I had 10 minutes in between classes (in the same room, no less) and wanted a cigarette. Finally, after politely waiting for the dumb questions to be asked and answered, I sprinted down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the side door to have a cigarette.
Next class wasn't so bad. Same introduce yourself bullshit, same syllabi crap, same policy stuff. I think by now, I've figured out that Ithaca College is against plagiarism, but thanks for the incessant reminders.
Another smoke break, then my final class: Non-fiction film theory I took this class because the professor told me I should and she personally told me the workload wouldn't be too strenuous. Over break, she e-mailed the class with our book requirements. There were about a dozen books to read. Then we get the syllabus, which was 29 pages long. I spent the 3 hours and bonus 20 minutes of class wondering to myself "Why the fuck did I drop Ideas & Ideologies for this?" Oh right, you wanted a 4 day weekend, and a good letter of recommendation from this professor.
We did get to see a really well made documentary called Darwin's Nightmare. It was really well made, very moving, and very convincing.
Here's a basic summary:
There's a fish in Lake Victoria (2nd largest lake in the world, source of the Nile River, located at the borders of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya in East Africa) called the Nile Perch. It's a massive predator that was introduced to the lake in the 1950's by scientists. The Perch prospered in the lake, but all but destroyed many local species of fish. The economies of many shoreline communities around the lake now center around the Nile Perch. The fish are caught in the lake by cheap local labor, processed by cheap local labor, and then the best parts of the fish are sent on cargo planes to Europe and Asia. The less desirable parts are used as food by local people in the surrounding area since they cannot afford to pay for the better meat. Ironically, the area surrounding the lake, despite being surrounded by fish, is impoverished with many people starving. Moreover, the planes that haul the fish to Europe are said to be bringing in weapons and ammunition to sell to various warring groups in East Africa.
It was a very interesting and poignant documentary on an interesting subject. It was also very well done and well shot. The documentarian uses mostly conversations with people like the Russian pilots of the cargo plane, local homeless children who melt the fish boxes into glue for sniffing, local prostitutes who are hired by European pilots, local fishermen, a local newspaper writer, a local artist, a local priest, and others to help create a comprehensive perspective on the area.
And that was (possibly) my last first day of classes.
posted by rob | 9:39 PM
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