Back-to-School

Nate's already covered the Summer Vacations thread, so I'll bring up the topic everyone's trying to forget about: school. For many of us (at least, in the Northern Hemisphere) school either will be starting soon, or if you're particularly unlucky, has already started. And, I'm sorry, but it will inevitably arrive at some point, no matter how skilled a procrastinator you are. We might as well embrace it!

So, what are everyone's expectations for the next school year? What classes are you taking? Maybe you're starting high school or college/university; what are you looking forward to, or worrying about? Is anyone participating in Newspaper, Creative Writing, or other writing-related courses?

Personally, I'm transitioning from a small, private Catholic school to a massive inner-city public school, and I know a total of eight people out of 2,700. Any suggestions?

...that's not a massive school. XD

Still, I have no advice for you. But I love you!

I am GRADUATING this year. Woohoo!

My classes this quarter?

Genes and Gene Expression

Nucleic acid structure and function; gene expression and its regulation; replication; transcription and translation; transmission genetics; molecular evolution.

Professionalism and Ethics in Genomics and Biotechnology

Real and hypothetical case studies to illustrate ethical issues in genomics and biotechnology. Training and practice in difficult ethical situations and evaluating personal and social consequences.

Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Introduction to laboratory techniques of organic chemistry. Emphasis is on methods used for separation and purification of organic compounds.

Chemical Engineering Laboratory

Laboratory experiments in transport phenomena, chemical kinetics, and thermodynamics.

...a rather light load, but hey!

haha you said "inevitably"... and your name is Evi... ahem.

Well, this is going to be my last year of school! During the first period, I'll have like a thousand classes and I'm going to die, but then it'll get lighter. I'll also be taking my matriculation exams, which are the exams you have to take to graduate. So that should be interesting. And of course I'll be getting lots of admiration from the younger ones! (not)

I'll be taking same classes as before, but I'll only have one maths class ever, and I'll throw a party or something when I'm done with it. xD Also, lots of classes preparing for the exams... which by the way are English, Swedish, German, French, and Finnish.

So this autumn will be quite busy for me but in the spring I'll have about three classes altogether!

And eight people is good! You'll get to know many many more

Evi, I'm sure you will be just fine. The nice thing about larger, public school environments is that you can find a group of people whom you can readily identify with--no matter who you are. Try to relax, and be open to meeting new people. I used to have to tell myself, "Okay, I need to talk to [ ] new people today" when I was feeling particularly shy and/or cynical about the human condition. You meet lots of interesting personalities that way, and you learn to be a little more accepting of everyone. =)

As for me, I'm headed to Maine (after spending my summer in Maryland!) to begin classes at tiny college in the middle of nowhere. My new roommate is from Los Angelos.

Classes include:

Thinking in Mathematics - This is basically a course centered on understanding how animals and other organisms (generally considered to be of lower functioning than humans) utilize math in their daily lives.

Russian 101 - This....is exactly what it sounds like.

Atomic and Molecular Structure - This is the basics of molecular chemistry. It includes a lab program (which means that every Friday begins with four and a half hours of chemistry).

Politics of the Muslim World - This area of the world basically encompasses my lowest area of understanding. So this class will be interesting!

Evi, eight people is a great start and I'm sure you'll make more friends! I'm starting a new school for first semester :S I'm excited and scared! It's for a business program, although I don't actually know what I want to do when I'm older.. It's just a general idea.. But ya I don't know anyone and this will be my grade eleven year.. My classes first semester are: English, Math, Accounting, Marketing. I'm actually liking these classes I <3 English first!!

Evi, you'll be fine. My suggestion, though, would be to join any clubs that interest you. That way, you can meet a lot of people who have the same interests as you.

I start September 1st, and unfortunately freshmans don't have many options to chose from. You have five required courses (English, Integrated Math, Integrated Science, Integrated Health [One Semester Health, One Semester PE], American Society) and two electives--I'm taking French II and Drama. There is a creative writing course you can take at my school, but not untill Junior Year. There is a literary magazine that you can submit short stories to, though, so that should be cool.

Anyway, I'm both excited and very scared.

Well at least you know people Evi

Little ol' me is starting high school this year! August 31st (wee. -_-). It's the first time me and my sister will be in the same school together. (She's a Senior me a freshman...*gulp*)

I'm well...freaking out xD I know I'm going to be fine once I get used to it but before that if you touch me without warning I will probably bite you.

My classes are:

Honors World History
Feelings: I'm wicked excited for this one! My sister got the same teacher this year (good luck to her, dealing with both of us) and my sister has had her before, and she sounds totally awesome Also, I know that two of my friends will be in this class <3 It's my first period on the first day, WOO

Algerbra I CP2
Feelings: I'm not at all looking forward to this. I suck at math. Horribly so. I have a tutor that I've been seeing all summer and I'll still see her when the year starts but I just cannot understand math. It's impossible. There are a few things I'll get, but other than that? *fart noise* So, that outa be interesting. And to my knowledge, pretty much none of my friends are going to be in this class. Which is a good idea because I need to really focus in this period.

Theater Arts I CP2
Feelings: I'm excited for this class! I've heard the drama teacher is really nice and I love drama It's so much fun! *wants to join the Drama club this year* So far, I have no knowledge of my friends being in this class but I can hope.

Enviormental Science CP2
Feelings: This confuses me. On my sheet, it said I was going to take Biology but my friend said she got this class too...so I don't know if its a mistake or not...Ehh I'm excited though It sounds cool!

Honors Freshman English
Feelings: I'm a little worried about this one. Because, English last year was just a tipsy-tovy world of "WTF IS GOING ON?!" and I barely made it out with a passing grade. God knows why she reccomended me for Honors O_O

French II CP2
Feelings: Same as English xDD

Introduction to Wellness
Feelings: -_-

Good luck to you, Evi! I'm sure you'll make many friends.

I start school on the 26th of August. It will be my seconds year of High School and I'll have all my regular friends from my Freshman year, minus my senior friends that left me for college. These are the only classes I know I'll be taking:

Honors English
I love English class, so I'm really excited for this one! The teacher is said to be really cool and funny too, but, at the same time, a no-nonsense type of guy.

Spanish 1
Hey, why not?

Honors Chemistry
Tee-hee! I love all science classes.

Individual Sports
Things like archery, karate, and golf. All those one-person sports out there.

Theatre Arts 2
I'm so excited for this one! I love Theatre Arts class.

Regular History
I suck at History and Social Studies. Anything pertaining to the past is not my strong point. As my title says, I have the attention span of a goldfish and these type of classes tend to get extremely boring, when they do, I just zone out.

Algebra
I don't know if I'm taking honors or not.

Speech 2
This is just making and giving speeches. Now, I'm not sure if they took my request to be changed into this other class where we learn about small animals. How to take care of them and other things. I hope they did change it, I don't want to take Speech again.


A good way to make friends is to join clubs. We have this one club at our school called The Game Club where a bunch of kids just bring their video games and movies - always anime - and we just sit around playing rock band and watching Death Note. It's so cool.

Evi, you'll make tons of new friends! That's the beauty of large schools.

@Demeter: I think we're in the same year.

@irishfire: My sister and I are the same way, except she's the freshman and I'm the senior.

@Shepherd: I LIVE IN MAINE! :]

As for my classes, here's what I've got:

Statistics: I don't know how to feel about this. It's math. Math and I are not friends. And now I have math FIRST THING in the morning. >_> At least my best friends have math at the same time as I do. Just...different classrooms.

Film Production/Photography: Exciting times a million and three. I get to make two films---stop motion, and a live-action film for a final. In photography, we take pictures. (Surprising, eh?)

Library Aide: I volunteer in my school's library, which also functions as a semi-public library. I love it---it has THE BEST perks ever. And the librarians are cool beans.

Honors Spanish IV Esta clase...estoy muy nerviosa sobre la tarea y la inmersión de la lengua. Translation: This class...I'm really nervous about the homework and language immersion. My Spanish is still terrible, as evidenced above. I don't know how I keep passing honors with A's when I stink at Spanish. -_-

Creative Writing: AKA BEST CLASS EVER. My favorite teacher in the world is teaching this year, and it's basically a year of making AMAZING friends, eating yummy food, and writing fantastic pieces. We even get t-shirts. I love it.

AP English: I love English. I have high hopes for this class. I got a 4 on my AP US History exam, and I love English way more than US History. xD

Study Hall and Lunch: Also great, even though it's late in the day. I have lunch with this guy who's not only my best friend, but I have a sort of thing for him...so this could turn out brilliant or sour. I'm anxious to find out which

AP Human Geography: I It's about where people live, why, and how they live and affect the environment. The teacher is this adorable, yet super amazingly intelligent old woman. And I have a few friends in this class as is.

For clubs, I'm on Debate Team, which is great. I'm also on the staff of the literary magazine, one of the editors, and I'm a newbie part of my school's newspaper. I'm also planning on playing an intramural sport, and holding down a job.

I'm still not that excited though. Maybe it's the only having 6 or so close friends when I'm used to upwards of 20. xD I started a new school last year. So, my social life has taken a dive and it is terrible.

Seventh grade... nine days. Waaaah. But I gots stuffses!

(If your inner grammar cop just facepalmed... mine did too.)

I don't have a schedule yet, but my list of classes:

Language Arts: AKA the class in which I will rule the world. We don't have creative writing ( ), so this is the closest I get. Spork, I am SO jealous.

Math: I like math. And I'm basically guaranteed a good teacher, so I'm psychedeliumed. (My word, don't cry, grammar cops.)

Science: Apart for the truth all middle schoolers must acknowledge about seventh grade science (Not saying it), I'm psyched. I really like science, and experimentations are fuuun.

Texas History: Makes my heart break a little. I don't wanna! I DON'T WANNA! I hate history, and I don't think Texas history will be any better. I liked World Cultures- why can't I have that?

Athletics: Making me shake in my boots. I'm terrified. I'm not a sporty person, I'm not in incredible shape, and I haven't practiced AT ALL. Besides which, most of the coaches are essentially insane.

Intermediate Communication Applications (Intermediate, or CommApps): It's basically drama. First half, my sister says, isn't much theater, but I'm still excited because I love the teacher.

Tech Systems Data: Keyboarding. Eh.

Advisory: Homeroom.

Library Assistant: I'm just sad it's only half-year (Keyboarding's the other). I like our librarian and the library... loving sigh.

So. My classes.

Library assistants *high fives NCM*

And it's okay to not have Creative Writing in middle school. I think, if the high school you go to has CW, you'll like it much more as a high schooler. But that's just my opinion.

Shepherd wrote:
Politics of the Muslim World - This area of the world basically encompasses my lowest area of understanding. So this class will be interesting!

Booyah! I would so ace that.

Anyway,

Classes for Freshman year:

Creative Writing (Elective) : Full year: M-W

Advanced Trig: Full year: M-F

AP Sophomore English: Full year: M-F

Life Science: Full year: T-F

French: Half year: T-T

Spanish: Half year: T-T

Gym: Full year: F

Art: Half year: T and T

Music: Half year: M and W

Journalism (Elective): Full year: M-F

Oops almost forgot: World History: Full Year: M-F


And those are my classes

Snoink, 2700 is the size of a small town over here, thus making it a massive school. And you guys are all so supportive! Thanks for the encouragement and tips. (Demi, I envy your linguistic prowess. And Shepard, Russian 101 sounds awesome. All you library aides rock my socks. Jasmine, how on earth are you taking Advanced Trig as a freshman?!)

I'm taking Drama 1, which's enjoyability is highly dependent on the teacher I get, as some are riveting and hilarious and others are about as exciting as sacks of potatoes. Also Pre-AP Algebra 1, Pre-AP Civics, and Pre-AP English 1. I've yet to see if "Pre-AP" is just another label that means very little, or if it actually means the class is more difficult. And then Physical Science which I'm sort of dreading because science and I tend to have epic throw-downs when forced together. Also, Comminucations, Health/PE, and Spanish 3. Comm and Health/PE are freshman requirements which I will be happy to get out of the way, and Spanish 3 will hopefully be awesome because Spanish in general is awesome.

I'm sorta good at math even though I hate it. I'm probably gonna drop the class, waaaaay too annoying with the homework and such. Forgot about the clubs!


Drama Club
Debate Club
Languange Club
Key Club
International Club
Lit Mag

Sports:

Fall-

Soccer

Winter:

Basketball

Spring:

Tennis

Freshman year is gonna rock!

Oh and Evi? At least you know 8 people. I'm starting at a new school, an enormous public school in the city as opposed to my normal small private school. OMG. That's like the same thing as you. Lol. I know absolutely no one there, other than this one teacher who works in a different building. I'm gonna be so lonely.


~Jas