Life in the Country

Life has been so wonderful since getting out of the military! My Dad's house is amazing (pics to come). I've been going to the gym regularly with my brother and spending time with family. I have also been working on finishing my pre-calculus class through UMUC. Actually there is a little story to this class -

In high school I was never great at math but I still managed to get decent grades as I remember it. When it came time for college math, I took the placement test through UMUC and was placed in remedial math, which cost money but did not count for any credits. Outraged, I arrogantly refused to waste my precious time in a 'worthless' class, so I studied at the public library for a few weeks and then retook the placement test. My new score allowed me to take algebra, trig, or pre-calculus. I took pre-calculus because it was worth more credit, and because I was sure I could hack it. Well, it turned out that the commute to the college was significantly more intense than GoogleMaps had led me to believe (over an hour each way in East Coast traffic), and when I got to the classes I was lost. What the hell was this guy talking about? I struggled through the class and by sheer force of will received a C.

But this was not the end of it. By this point I was looking at architecture, and determined that I probably needed to complete higher level math classes. So I enrolled in an online calculus class through UMUC, figuring that I could invest all the time saved by not commuting into more study time. Well, let's just say that this plan did not produce the desired result, lol! WTF WAS THIS GUY TALKING ABOUT NOW? Derivative? WHAT??? Once again, by sheer force of will I made it through this class with C.

At this point I knew it was time to be real with myself. An architect needs to KNOW math, not just have gone through the academic motions. I enrolled in an online college algebra class through San Jacinto College in Houston, a course which required a lot of devoted study and produced excellent results. I received an A in this class, and built a very solid algebraic base. I am now re-taking pre-calculus through a UMUC online course, and it is actually very easy for me now. All that remains is the final exam, and I am confident that I will receive an A in this class. More importantly, I am ready to re-take calculus, and I will rock it.