spring: when a man’s attention turns to school?
so…it’s that time of the semester to select my schedule for the spring semester. I’m only taking two classes this semester — I say only as if I normally take more, but I don’t — I’m taking Calculus I and Hydrology.
It’s becoming more and more difficult to pick classes around my work schedule. I’ve taken almost all of my core classes, which only leaves classes towards my major and minor, which of course are either all during the day, all at the same time, or all later at night — night classes wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t bound by a commuter rail schedule and a 55 minute train ride.
- PHIL 220: Environmental Ethics (TUTH 5:30-18:45)
- MATH 141: Calculus II (TUTH 4:00-5:40)
- E&GSCI 110: Earth’s Dynamic Systems (TU 10:00-11:15, TH 11:30-12:45)
- E&GSCI 225: Weather and Climate (TUTH 10:00-11:15)
- E&GSCI 350: Basics of Groundwater Flow (TUTH 4:00-5:15)
- E&GSCI 480: Special Topics: Massachusetts Contingency Plan (M 18:00-21:00)
- CS 210: Intermediate Computing with Data Structures (TUTH 5:30-18:45)
- CS 240: Programming in C (MW 4:00-5:15)
- ENVSTY L246: U.S. Environmental History (TUTH 10:00-11:15)
I know that there is going to be a huge project at work that is going to take up a bunch of time, and occupy most of the year. My boss has been accepting of my schedule so far (this semester I’m pretty much out of the office for 2-3 hours around lunch everyday), but I think that good will is beginning to run thin, so I’m not considering the classes before 4:00.
I’ve been looking forward to taking the Groundwater Flow class (the final project has you defend one of the four sides in the Woburn well contamination case, a.k.a. A Civil Action), but the professor just told me that while there isn’t a pre-req for the class, I should take Applied Hydrogeology first. That means I have to wait another year for this class (it’s only offered in the Spring).
The MCP class deals with the protocols of dealing with contaminate spills in MA, and would look great on a resume if I decided to get a job with an environmental consulting firm. Plus it’s a 400-level class, and there are only so many of those available. The bad part is that the class runs until 9PM — I have a 30 minute T ride to North Station, and then a 55 minute train ride home — if I miss the 9:40 train, I’ll have to wait an hour for the next train, and I won’t get home until 11:30PM!
I should take Calc II, only because it will be fresh in my mind. And the two CS classes wouldn’t be too bad, but I need to weigh the following: taking a class in Java, and a class in C while learning C# at work.
There’s also the fact that I haven’t taken three classes in any semester in years. I don’t think the MCP course will be much of a class, aside from reading, but I don’t know if that is going to fool me into taking it with only one other class, or two, or *gasp* three classes which would give me a full course load!
Now if I could only get that Ethics class to not overlap the Calc II class. Maybe I’ll take C, Calc II, and MCP…suuuure, that won’t be too much work.
Maybe I could find a TUTH 2:30-3:45 class, and take that before Calc II, with the MCP. I could use a history class to satisfy my core requirements.
- AMST 206 The Sixties
- ART 230 Architecture, Design, and Society
- HIST 111 Foundations of Western Civilization
- HIST 112 Modern Western Civilization
- PHIL 345 THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
There’s also the little problem with tuition reimbursement: my company will reimburse upto either $5200 or 12 credits per year, but no more than 9 credits per semester. Calc II would be 4 credits, Java 4, C 3, MCP 3, and the rest 3. Those 4 credit classes screw every thing up…
hrmmm…