Spring 2014 Semester Review

Wow, what a tough, rough semester. I am so thankful that I am done and that I am laying in bed at home in St. Louis writing this out!

Accounting 211

This class was a lot harder than it really should have been. My professor was pretty awful. It was a woman, which I was kind of more excited for because most of my professors in the business school are male, but she was a typical blonde: super ditzy, always flirting with the cute quys in the front row, super forgetful, and super unorganized.

Unorganization in an accounting class is pretty uncalled for. I mean, it’s accounting. That’s what they are known for. It was just frustrating having to deal with her. She would get super offended too when students said she was wrong about an answer to a problem or just differed in opinion on a subject.

We did a ridiculous amount of group projects in there, too, which were a complete waste of class time. For each chapter, we had an in-class activity (I felt like I was in elementary school, and not in a good way) and then we had two big group projects. Let me explain how stupid they were. For absorption costing (which is just a way that you can allocate your costs in a business) we made paper airplanes and wrote down what our costs were. What a waste of time.

But I’ll stop ranting about this stupid class now. Just hallelujah I don’t have to take any more accounting!

Credits: 3
Final Grade: A

Finance 325

This is the first finance class I have taken, and oh my gosh, my professor was such a hoot. He was just the craziest person I have ever met. Imagine him talking like Al Capone and you pretty much have his voice. He would go on side rants all the time about the importance of life (not money, family) which would be interesting, but not related to finance. So he wasted a lot of class time when it could have been used to better prepare for the midterm and final.

Which brings me to the sucky part of the class. Your grade is 50% midterm, 50% final. That’s it. So stressful. He was a good professor, but the way the class was set up made me stress so much. I’m not the best test taker – I tend to make stupid mistakes and get confused or not understand what the question is asking. So I got my first B in college in this class. :(

But honestly, I was super proud of that B. I only got an 85% on my midterm and I barely studied for the final (completely accidental). I was laying on the floor the night before studying and kept falling asleep so I thought, “I’m just going to get a really good night’s rest and wake up in the morning to study so it’s all fresh in my mind.” So I set my alarms for seven and went to sleep. I didn’t wake up until 15 minutes before the final started. I freaked out. I was crying on the way to the final and crying on the way home after the final. I was so sure I had just completely botched the final. But somehow I pulled a B so I’ll take it, a little grudgingly.

Credits: 3
Final Grade: B

Business Law

What a stupid class. It was so nitt-picky and over things I would never use in my life. My professor was a lawyer and just so weird. He would talk to international students like they just got off the plane yesterday, like they were just idiots to American ways and history. Heck, they probably know more about America than I do and I’m American!

Tests were what the class was made up of, and they were all ridiculously hard. A lot harder than they should have been. He thankfully gave like a 10% curve on each test, but even so, I only pulled an A-. :(

Credits: 3
Final Grade: A-

Communication Studies 110

I really tried to push this stupid class off as long as I could. I hate public speaking, but even more so being graded on it. It was as stupid and dumb as I thought it would be but thank goodness it’s done and out of the way now.

We did have to write a tribute speech, though, so I wrote one for my grandpa back here in St. Louis. When I finished, I formatted it so it would be easy for him to read, made him a cute little card that said I loved him, and sent it in the mail. My mom said that he read it and just bawled, that he couldn’t believe all the nice things that I had said about him and that no one had ever paid tribute to him like that. He called me and thanked me and said he really appreciated it. My sister said that he shows it to everyone now, that he loved it so much. :love: So there was that positive from that class.

Credits: 3
Final Grade: A

Business Statistics 309

The class from hell. Ugh, what a hard class. My professor wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t really good. He was just a “PowerPoint professor,” someone who stands in front of a PowerPoint and reads. Which I don’t know about you, but statistics is pretty hard to learn by a slide. There were a few days in the end of the semester where he taught just by his own notes and everything was so clear. Kind of disappointing that he limits himself and the students so much by it. But anyways, Done with statistics forever! Hallelujah!

Credits: 3
Final Grade: A

My overall semester GPA was a 3.74 which brought my cumulative GPA to 3.914. Not to shabby. I wish I would have done a little better, but I did the best that I could and that’s all I can do.

This was my hardest semester so far, which is why I was practically nonexistent the last four months or so. I just never had any time. It was hard, too, because I really hated all of my classes. They didn’t interest me, in fact, it was things I didn’t like. It made me really wonder if studying business and finance was really what I wanted to do with my life.

I thought about transferring to the school of education for elementary education, but ultimately I decided that that wasn’t really right for me either. I think I just had to get through these courses, and I just happened to take them all at the same time. I think that maybe the next semester will be kinder to me. :)

7 thoughts on “Spring 2014 Semester Review”

  1. It sounds like you did pretty well overall, although I don’t quite understand the grading system in the US. Well done anyway!

    Best of luck with the next semester. :)

  2. Congratulations on finishing another semester and year in college! It is so amazing how you’re able to get awesome grades in your classes and keep the GPA up! Especially since you’re also working on the side so mega props to you~

    I took Accounting, Business Law, and “Business” Stats too! But in different semesters. I feel you about Accounting.. I had an awful professor for the first section of accounting and she gets offended when students answer wrong too!! It should be a sign that they’re doing something wrong with their teaching. We also made paper airplanes too (for the section section)! I didn’t mind that part too much since we don’t have all of the in-class activities besides the big manufacturing project. At least you got an A for it!

    I feel you about not being the best test taker and all. Despite of all of the things that happened, you managed the class :). It’s so sweet of you to make a tribute speech for your grandpa! And even better that he loves it! I can’t imagine learning math from a powerpoint though.. I thought it’s more effective if you do it on the board and everything.

    Hopefully the future semesters will be great to you! For now, take a nice summer break :P

  3. Woot, these classes seemed very hard from what you’ve described and a lot of work, but they make the victory all that much sweeter. Good job! ^_^ You deserve some cheesecake XD or some other sweet. I don’t know, but you did a great job. Glad you had a good semester over all and kicked some butt. Have a nice summer~ I know I’m enjoying my summer. Hahaha

  4. Wow! That seems like a pretty rough schedule–congratulations for getting through it successfully! I hate when teachers aren’t great. When it’s a combination of a not-so-great teacher AND a hard class, it makes for a really sucky time. I remember getting my first B last year. I cried. Seriously, B’s suck. But hey, they’re better than C’s!

    As for the wedding planning–the guest list is really one of the most important parts in my opinion. There’s a lot of decisions that depend on the list–like venue, food, etc. I don’t know about you, but my guest list is 275 people! I’m a bit overwhelmed with that but luckily my parents are helping out a lot.

    1. Haha! I feel ya on the guest list. We’re at 218 right now… and my fiance still needs to add a few people. But we’ll figure it out!

  5. Sorry to hear that you had a rough semester! Classes that only count midterms and finals for your grade are so stressful. It’s too easy to bring your grade down with just one thing.

    I’m not a fan of public speaking either, though I had to get used to it for doing work demos. That was sweet of you to write a tribute to your grandpa :) I’m glad he loved it!

    I feel like it’s hard to learn and pay attention when the professor only reads from slides. It’s not much different from just being sent slides and reading them on your own. I hope next semester will be better!

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