This is only a test…

Wow! Things get very busy very quickly! Let’s see if I can recap some of the highlights:

Last week was a very busy one: It started with my marathon Tuesday as usual. Went to my classes, went to the gym, did a good amount of work/studying in McKeldin Library (I found my comfy spot on the second floor! Lots of power outlets). My Campaign Ethics seminar is where things got quite interesting: we’re working on our personal campaign ideas to implement over the rest of the semester. Mine is (surprise, surprise) reproductive justice related. Still trying to pare it down, but I want to ensure that people of all genders can have conversations about reproductive access without stigma. As we were analyzing our own ideas, we stepped into a new stage of the process: canvassing.

I hate canvassing. I hate the thought of bothering someone who is somewhere doing their own thing only to be interrupted by someone they don’t know trying to pitch them on something. And being someone who looks considerably older than most other people in the building, I didn’t want to take on the role of creepy old guy. So I had my reservations.

Our teachers helped us process our fears as we went downstairs to the concourse of the ESJ Building: ask for only three minutes of time and say this is for a class. They all have projects and will get it.

And you know what? They did. I spoke with four students about what I’m trying to do — three women and one man. The results were pretty well-expected: the women were encouraged about more conversations about resources on and off campus, and the one male student wasn’t really that interested in learning about these resources because he’s “in a STEM major and there’s a lot of work.” This coming week I have to do more canvassing, and I certainly need to get more feedback from men on campus.

And after that afternoon class? I had my biology lab “practicum.” This was a weirdly choreographed adventure through everything we had learned in the previous three weeks. Our TA prepared us for this by showing us the actual test sheet the week beforehand. However, the variables were at different lab stations around the lab classroom. And we had five minutes at each station — whether we needed all that time or not. Ten stations were reading and/or collecting measurement data. (How much liquid is in this graduated cylinder? What about this micropipette? What are the relative absorbance of these solutions which we need to put through a spectrometer?) And the last two? Well, those were stations where the TA needed to observe our work. We couldn’t talk. And there was no partial credit.

Question 11: Here’s a slide on a microscope. Bring it into focus at 400x. I couldn’t. Zero points.

Question 12: Measure out 11 microliters of solution and transfer it into a tiny compartment of gel suspended in water. I used the micropipette just fine to obtain the 11 microliters. But my liquid didn’t fall fully into that compartment — which is the size of the = key on my keyboard. So — zero for that as well.

I ended up with an 85%. I’ll take it.

Thursday the 27th was my day of two exams! Studied my butt off for both of them. First was psychology — the test was open book and open note. That meant we could use our textbook if we had a hard copy of it. Which none of us do. Because the bookstore made a mistake in telling us they had it. But I was able to manage well with my notebook full of annotated slides. The exam was very comprehensive. Got a 91%. Not too shabby…

And then it was off to my biology test! The word had spread that our professor loves to give hard test questions which entail multiple parts in order to come up with an answer. But he also posted past exams for practice. I ended up getting a lot of practice simply by answering other students’ questions on our class GroupMe! I also made my first Quizlet, so that was fun. The environment was a smidge intimidating — with a HUGE CLOCK on the front screen. I took the photo up top when I was done with the exam — which I started at 9:30 am. The class period goes until 10:45. I was in the first half of students who turned in their tests.

(We just got our tests back today. 88 points total, but our grade is out of 80. The average score was 49.6/80 (62%). One person got a perfect 88/80. Five others got a score of 80/80 or higher.

My score? 79 out of 80. 98%. Kind of proud of myself!

Friday’s Psychology Lab Session was canceled last week. Although we still had our weekly research paper due at the same time. Was nice not having to wake up early to travel to College Park…

I’ll wrap things up by stating that we’re still in the very beginning of the semester. And a whole lot could change. But at this very moment, I’m at a 4.0 for the semester. Which is something I have never achieved in college before.

Look – I’ll be happy even with passing grades and a diploma in August. But the thought of all As? Wow.