int main ()
{
cout << “LOL, look I am a geek!” << endl;
return 0;
}
Hahahaha! Yeah…so I have accepted the fact that I am a giant nerd. I always suspected I was, but seeing how much I am enjoying school I now know it to be completely true. I don’t wake up in the moring with the “Ugh, I have to go to work” feeling, but with a “W00t! I have school today!!!!” feeling. It’s great! Here’s an update on my classes and what we are learning. …if you even care, LOL!
Computer Science, by far my favorite class. We are learning C++ and it is insanely hard to wrap my head around it. We are working on structs, and boy, I thought I would never get the hang of it. Then I was sitting in class just working on some homework, trying to make a struct for ‘car’ with the variables ‘milesPerGallon’ and ‘yearManufactured.’ I was having a hell of a time just trying understand what the heck I was doing. Then it just it clicked. It all just came together! I don’t even know how, I was looking at it, then I just started typing the code, I complied it and ran it and BAM it worked! I wanted to get up in class and dance! I know I had a stupid goofy grin on my face!
I have created about 7 different structs. They are no big deal now! I want to learn more and I want to learn it NOW! I am loving computer programming. Even though I get lost or confused I want to figure it out, and when I do it is awesome! I never thought I would ever describe a class as addicting, but it really is!
Networking Principles & Applications, now this class is not bad…just a bit overwhelming. Right now we are learning about Networks (WAN, LAN, DAN, etc) and Topologies. (Star, Mesh, Bus, Hybrids like Tree, etc) This class is not a difficult class, it is just very hard to keep everything straight. It seems like too many terms are getting thrown at us. Routers, modems, switches, fiber optics, bridges, token rings, transceivers, repeaters, hubs, CSU/DSU, ACL, BDC, DAP, DN, ITU, LDAP, NDS, NOS, OU, P2P, PCD, SAM, GAH! I can’t keep everything straight. I have read thru the chapter multiple times, but holy crap it is a lot to take in all at once.
Computer Architecture, I love this class too! Last week we completely took apart computers, then we had to put them back together…and they had to work! Mine did! It was awesome! I was always hesitant even look at the inside of a computer, but not anymore! Not only that, I now know what everything is! You can be told what a mother board is, but until you are holding in your hand after removing 567,890 wires from it, you really have no idea!
We are also being introduced to Binary. We were shown the basics of numbers and the Base 2 system. I really like it! I have always enjoyed math, so binary is coming pretty naturally to me. Looking forward to learning the more advanced stuff!
Introduction to Computers, this class is a giant waste of time and annoys the hell out of me. Next week we are learning how to open a word processor….really. We have done NOTHING in this class so far. The professor just stands in front of the class and spews off random statistics. She said 97% of the Internet is porn. I find that very hard to believe. I even asked where she got that statistic and she just said she read it some where. I guess it just annoys me going from Computer Science to Intro to Computers…there is just something wrong with that, lol. You have to take the class for the degree though. So I’ll just suck it up and try to enjoy this easy A.
Small Business Management, wow, just wow. This is another ‘Why am I taking this class? Oh yeah, I have to for the degree…’ type of class. I am not interested in Small Business Management at all. I will never own my own business. I give props to people who do (Hi Katie!) cause that is a ton of responsibility, but it’s just not for me. The class is online. We have 3 days to read a chapter, then we have a quiz on that chapter. Holidays, weekends, etc, do not matter. So every 4 days I take a quiz. We cannot work ahead, the quizzes are locked until the class gets to that chapter. That is kind of annoying. The quizzes are 10 multiple choice questions, we have twenty minutes to completely a quiz. Where is the challenge in that? If you don’t have the answer just grab your book, you have 2o freaking minutes! If you can’t find it in the book then ask trusty google…
We also have to post on the forums and have discussions on the chapter we are currently on. My problem is I am not interested in the class at all, therefore it is extrmemly difficult for me to be disiplined enough to get home and read the book especially when it is so tempting to just not read the book and wing it on the quizzes.
One thing I do like about this class is it is easy to track our grades. I am getting a 195% LOL! 39 points out of 20! I do all the extra credit as it becomes available. I know I will need it once we get to the later chapters as I am not really applying myself. Maybe it will get more interesting. Maybe because the class is not challenging at all is why I do not enjoy it.
It’s weird, in high school I loved the easy slacker classes, now they annoy me.
I want to learn.
That is awesome Dagger. I am very happy for you and your growth. Sorry to say it but you are growing up.
*she throws a tantrum*
Nice try. You want to learn, the slacker classes bore you, you have grown as a person and yeah, anime cosplay aside (we all have our ways of being young at heart), you are growing up, if not grown up already. =)
Have I said grown up enough yet?
I wonder about that Introduction To Computers course as well. We had to take it when I tried out for that power line apprenticeship a few years ago and it was a joke of a class for me but for a few others, this class had merit.
I think it is more of a formality these days but it wasn’t that long ago that this was a necessary course to take.
I loved that part about ‘getting it’ in that first course. Nicely done. =)
Comment by E_Dragon — September 4, 2009 @ 7:34 pm
Of course we care!… LOL…
I agree, it’s pretty awesome that it just clicked. Sadly, math is not my strong suit. Nor is reading boring textbooks. Give me a good book, with regular quizzes (as opposed to energy-sapping, mood-killing study guides) on the subject, and I’ll be a good student. Give me a story to write, and I’ll be a damn enthusiastic student! One who loves overkill.
Twenty-nine pages of overkill. Boo-yah.
Now, what’s this about growing up? Eh, I wouldn’t know anything about that.
Comment by Fupas — September 4, 2009 @ 10:43 pm
“Routers, modems, switches, fiber optics, bridges, token rings, transceivers, repeaters, hubs, CSU/DSU, ACL, BDC, DAP, DN, ITU, LDAP, NDS, NOS, OU, P2P, PCD, SAM, GAH!”
I think that deserves a “Holy crap!”
You’d think I’d have learned by now to get everything into one comment. But I always think of certain things AFTER I’ve hit ‘Submit Comment’. Let’s see. I will wait, and rescan the blog for good replies.
…
Okay, how about this?
You’d think they’d offer to test you on your knowledge of introductory computer skills. That way, if you pass, you could skip the class, and if you fail, you take it. That’s how I’d do it if I were in charge.
Comment by Fupas — September 4, 2009 @ 10:48 pm
Although the porn industry in general makes more money, 97% is a number that some divorcee with a shitty attitude would give.
Although some things might seem boring, treat every class as though you are going to learn something. Even if you ONLY learn that the professor is not as smart as you, you’ve learned. Don’t hate the class, or it will be hard to do that one.
For example, it is VERY likely that you will get a job, and not run your own business – BUT … you will be working for … you guessed it … a business. Therefore, when someone says, “can you write something that will help me with the AP and AR reconcilations so I can get some decent numbers to work with”, you can say “Yes” and actually understand what you just said you can do.
I am glad you figured out struct[ure]s. Don’t worry about all of the acronyms. Anyone who tells you know that they know all of them is lying. Sorry, but it is true. I have been doing it for 20 years, and tomrrow, there will be a new one.
Comment by NIAC — September 4, 2009 @ 11:48 pm
*Julie is grinning at all the nerd talk*
I don’t think I had to take the intro class, but it may have been because my Dad was a math/computer teacher at the community college I went to. That and I was the teacher assistant for the class.
At that time though (1985-87). Computers were very new to most people so they were literally learning where the on/off switch was and how to use a computer without worrying they were going to blow it up. You will probably learn a few (small) things in that class. If you don’t know how to do powerpoint and stuff like that, it could come in handy later in other classes when you may have to do presentations.
Programming can be so satisfying when you are trying to figure out a problem and suddenly figure it out. I actually haven’t done C++. I have done C programming (we use it in my current job). Once you learn the basics of one programming language you can apply it to most other languages.
… and Mike is right, you don’t remember all the acronyms. That is what google is for.
I didn’t take networking when I got my undergraduate degree. It was an elective and I took databases instead. I did end up taking it as a prereq before I could get into the graduate program I did a few years ago. That and Java didn’t exist when I was in school before so I had to take that too.
There is so much to learn with computers and that is what is fun about it. Since is it always changing there is always something new to learn. My boss purposely tries to give me at least one new project every year that will allow me to learn something new. It can be challenging, but it makes the job interesting.
Comment by JulieMac — September 5, 2009 @ 1:32 am
Jules makes a good point, too. You CANNOT be an expert in everything. I know of network admins that can’t write simple batch files without a book open; programmers that can do all sorts of amazing things, but can’t monitor network traffic because they have no clue how it works; teachers that can teach a language out of a book, but can’t tell you a bit of how a simple set of electronic components can add or store or display data.
Comment by NIAC — September 5, 2009 @ 9:26 am
Smart is sexy! That is so awesome that you are enjoying your classes and sounds like you will be top of your class in no time.
Comment by seth — September 8, 2009 @ 8:29 am
nerd speak is so over my head….
Im just glad your enjoying school little sister!
And maybe I will make you use that business managment class to help me manage my business! So pay attention!!!!
Comment by jane — September 9, 2009 @ 4:21 pm
No pressure, Jenna.
Comment by Fupas — September 9, 2009 @ 6:19 pm
Comment by Korben Dallas — September 11, 2009 @ 4:43 pm