I thought it was just the diaphram, a pair of lungs, and an air tube!

So I believe this is probably going to turn into a school blog. You know, just like it turns into a baby blog when you have kids. So if you're cool with that, stick around. If not, well, you can request a topic and we'll see...

Tonight I started reading my textbook for next week's speech science classes--basically anatomy and physiology. And after about a half hour or 45 minutes I decided to peak at where the end of the chapter was, and it kept going and going...it's 84 pages. Seriously, I knew there were a few parts, but I was thinking probably 5-10 parts. Whoops. But in most ways I do like the challenge. I like having something concrete to learn because at the end I can say that I know all the ribs, all the types of vertebrae, parts of the lungs, and a bunch of stuff I haven't read about yet. It's easier to define than say, reading a great novel and saying what you've learned. Though I still love to read...

But yeah, being back in school brings up a bunch of anxieties that always happen at the beginning of a semester. Like the speech science class I'm reading for--last week the professor put up an outline for the previous chapter. That's the material we went through in class, and it was in less detail and breadth than what is in the textbook. So I'm thinking that we'll be tested on what she went over in class, or will we? But I really don't want to ask her either, for fear of looking like I'm trying to get out of work or being lazy.

Speaking of which...I forgot to mention in my last post that I am shocked at the behavior of some of the other students in my classes. For example, in my speech science class we were doing a partner activity, and being the old lady, I didn't have a partner. I turned around to see if there was anyone else partner-less, and there was a girl behind me who had her headphones on...during class. Seriously? This isn't a general ed. requirement...what was she doing there?

Then later in the day in my Intro. to DCOM (Comm. Disorders) class there was a girl behind me snapping her gum. Loudly. The whole time. As any of my students can attest to, I'm very distracted by sounds. I can hear a phone vibrating in someone's backpack across the room. So I was annoyed. And again we had to "talk to a partner" about the reasons we use speech. She was the only one left, and so I smiled and looked at her and said asked her what she thought. She gave me the look of death and said "I don't know." Come on! This is basically a question with a billion right answers. So I offered something, I think I said to get needs met, like when babies cry. Or to ask a question. She sort of said "yeah," and looked at the floor.

It was a pet peeve of mine when I was in college that there were people who didn't want to be there, and I find it all the more annoying now that I'm older. But I'm trying to be graceful, thinking about what else might be going on in their lives right now. I don't remember the exact reference, or much about where I heard it, but once I heard or saw a quote that said be kind to those you meet, for all are in the midst of a great crisis. Maybe these girls were, who knows. Or maybe they were just being bitchy on purpose. Who knows.

So yeah, I'm loving school, but as always trying not to show it too much. I'll save that for the MA program.