stop me before I think again

[ambar]

There was a plan for this quarter. (Stop snickering, you.) The plan was to take 7+ units of upper level Bio classes so I could graduate.

Then there was the adventure with University Advising. So suddenly I had to hunt up something that would fulfill the C4 GE requirement, if I didn't succeed in petitioning to use the class that they were disallowing. Thus, having been burned in the past by less than tolerable instructors, I registered for a 10am class with a known quantity, and a noon class with an unknown quantity, figuring on dropping one. (The noon class lets me get a whole eight hours of sleep the night before.) Both of these were in the Philosophy department, as it happens.

Today was the first day of classes of my last quarter. And I am registered for 16 units. With me so far? Good.

Not ONLY am I contemplating taking BOTH these courses, which is just plain unnecessary, but I also spent a truly laughable amount of time today (anything over 30 seconds is truly laughable, but I think it was about a half hour of research) working out that if I took four courses this quarter and four in spring quarter, I could fulfill a Philosophy minor along with my existing Chem minor.

You see what I mean? Some of you reading this claim to be my friends. Don't let this happen. I'm begging you, and you know how ugly it gets when I beg.

(Why am I tired? Well, due to a misunderstanding about my work schedule on Monday, I went to bed at 2am, got up at 6am, and will be working until 1am today. In the middle there, I drove 90 miles from home to Hayward, attended 4 lectures, did a round trip to Palo Alto, conferred with my allergist, got another allergy shot, got my glasses fixed, and avoided standing in line at the post office. Damn right I'm tired.)

Comments

[blackswan666.livejournal.com]

*beating you with a nerf noodle* Noooo! Dear Goddess, no!! NOT another minor! >.< *whimper*

Don't prolong the agony!! *runs away screaming*

[charleshaynes.livejournal.com]

Are you out of your fucking mind?!

Just back away slowly from one of those classes and no one gets hurt.

[r-wolfcastle.livejournal.com]

First of all, what charleshaynes said.

Secondly, I, too, faced the dreaded "need one course to graduate" thingie, only I knew it all along. But I was broke and therefore desperate to graduate, so I resorted to the following:

1) Typed up a letter from my Dept. Head to the class scheduling folks, explaining that this student had completed work previously that was not credited on his transcript, that the credit would be confered this semester, and that the apparent illegal overload of classes was actually just a result of this ex post facto course crediting. All this was true, so he signed it, but I carefully put no numbers in the letter.

2) Signed up for 27 semester hours of courses, mostly grad-level CS but also grad-level psych, chemistry, and linear algebra (this last is a whole war story of its own, but I digress). The absolute limit was 18 hours, but I had this nice open-ended letter, so they let me do it. I then proceeded to kill myself for 4 months under this class load.

3) About a month before graduation, I confessed the above to my dept. head. I had read him correctly -- he was much more impressed than angry. Then I told him that technically I was not eligible to graduate, but in the catalog where I was closest my only lack was having taken statistics for dummies rather than statistics for smart scientist guys. I reminded him of his years of refusing to grant me any credit towards graduation for my co-op work (where I learned a vast amount I could never learn in his college, but I didn't tell him that). Finally, I pointed out that, if he made me stay another whole semester to take one lousy course, he would have to put up with me. That clinched it, and he signed off and let me graduate. Hence my 4-year CS degree in only 5 semesters of college (spread across 4 years anyway due to co-op work and illness).

So you could always threaten them with your continued menacing presence on campus...

[ambar.livejournal.com]

One of the classes I am taking this quarter is taught by my adviser, who hasn't had me in a class before. I predict it won't take more than two weeks before he, too, is dying to have me gone. :-)

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

You're completely mad. Step away from the edge.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

A philosophy minor, although nifty and shiny, will do nothing for your marketability or your future job as a vet. The fact that you took *some* classes is what matters to develop you as a person.

Like Kit said: step away from the edge, Ambar. We like having you semi-sane. :)

[src.livejournal.com]

I think you have my disease, which is not knowing what to do with space in one's life. When I am not completely overloaded, then I have to make actual choices, which is threatening as all hell. When I overload myself with work and volunteer responsibilities, then I am at the mercy of my self-imposed regime and my physical limitations.

Problem is, it only prolongs the issue, doesn't resolve it. Someday I'm going to wind up flat on my back for an extended period of time because of this lifestyle, with nothing but time on my hands, and fewer choices about how I get to fill it. Worked great in my 30's. Now, in my 40's, it's not such a hot strategy. I suggest you reorient now, before it ingrains any more deeply as a habit.

[jcgbigler.livejournal.com]

"Not ONLY am I contemplating taking BOTH these courses, which is just plain unnecessary, but ... if I took four courses this quarter and four in spring quarter, I could fulfill a Philosophy minor along with my existing Chem minor.

"You see what I mean? Some of you reading this claim to be my friends. Don't let this happen. I'm begging you, and you know how ugly it gets when I beg."

Did you notice that little voice of reason inside yourself? Think about the times you've heard it in the past. How did things work out when you listened to the voice? How did things work out when you didn't?

If you're really enjoying both courses, take one and audit the other one. Potential employers will probably be at least as favorably inclined when you demonstrate that you can actually set reasonable limits for yourself as they would with the double minor.