Schedule!

Since I had some holds on my account, I wasn't able to sign up for classes until a couple of weeks ago. Some of the classes that I want are full and I'm on the waitlist for them, but I am really lucky and managed to get a lot of classes that I need/want.

I'll be living in Van Hoosen next year, which I'm super excited for, so I tried to schedule most of my classes to be nearby. My first schedule was fabulous, all of my classes were either at the Business College Complex or the Eppley Center, which are both across from Van Hoosen, or at Wells, which is a 5-10 minute walk.

Sadly, my schedule was rearranged, but I still got a lot of classes that I want. Here's the classes that I'll be taking for the fall semester:

IAH 204: Asia and the World. Since I messed up my schedule first semester and didn't take as many university required classes as I should have, I'm making up for it this year. IAH is required, and I have a particular interest in China and Asia, so most of my classes revolve around those topics. This helps me stay interested and focused. 

EC 201: Introduction to Microeconomics. Can't say too much about this, but I'm taking this because it's a required class for my intended new major. I'll post more about my major change, hopefully soon, because I want to be accepted into the major before I tell anyone.

CHS 201: Second-Year Chinese I. I'm taking Chinese again this year, and I plan on making it my additional major. I'm so excited because I really love learning languages, and I love the Chinese curriculum and the way it is set up at MSU. 

ISB 200: History of Life. Another required class. This is supposedly not too boring, according to Koofers. If the class that I want to take becomes open (or I find out that I don't need this class, because I took CEM 141 and I can't remember which class that replaces), I'll probably drop this and just take it next year. Also, I hope to take a summer class that will cut the ISB requirement for me, so fingers crossed.

ISS 210: Society and the Individual. Required! I'm going to take this if I can take the summer class and drop the ISB class. And then about half of my requirements will be done!

So, that's my schedule for the fall semester. Let me know if you're taking any of those classes, maybe we're in the same section!

Here's a review of the classes that I took last semester, with tips for books and professors.

CHS 102: First-Year Chinese II. I can't say a lot about the Chinese classes because it all depends on the TA that is teaching your section. For me, second semester was much better than the first. There are typically two teachers (TA's who are usually graduate students), and for second semester I had two ladies. One had taught me first semester, and I liked her a lot, but she was kind of a push over and didn't want to do immersion, so I preferred the other teacher. The other teacher was fabulous, although a lot of other students in my class didn't like her. She spoke mostly immersion and was really helpful, and when we had to do pair work and my partner wasn't there, she would partner with me, which really helped me grasp whatever lesson or concept we were learning. I really like the Integrated Chinese books that CHS 101 and 102 use, because they teach everything in a very easy-to-grasp way. 

For the books, I mentioned before that I got a fabulous deal on all of my Chinese books, because I bought the lot of them from another former Chinese student. I believe that I have all the textbooks for CHS 101-402, and I got them for $100. You still need a workbook, which is usually around $15 online. And they want you to get a character workbook, but I only bought one for 101, and then I used notebook paper for 102. It's an extra $15. It makes it a little bit easier because you don't have to haul out the textbook to find out the characters each time, but I'm too cheap. 

WRA 125: 010: American Racial and Ethnic Experience. For this class, the section is important. Section 10 with Johnson Cheu has an Asian-American focus. I 4.0'ed this class. I really, really loved it. It helped that I was super interested in all of the topics. He's a pretty strict teacher (any papers that are turned in late receive half a grade down, and you can only miss 5 or 6 classes), and I'm really surprised that I 4.0'ed it. I will admit that I probably skipped about 10 times or so, and he still didn't take points off. Especially since I missed on all the paper-return days. But he shows quite a few movies (Joy Luck Club, Who Killed Vincent Chin) and he is hilarious. The only reason I skipped was because 8AM was way too early, otherwise I would have gone to every class. I highly recommend his section. One thing is that not all of the books are necessary. Woman Warrior and Screaming Monkeys are, since they're the first books so he focuses a lot on them, but American-Born Chinese and M. Butterfly are not so much. Neither are the "Curious Researcher" and the other required WRA book. I didn't buy either of the WRA books because I was conceited and figured that my MLA formatting and stuff was just fine, and I didn't even need it. I did, however, buy all of the books because I really wanted to add them to my collection.

CEM 141: General Chemistry. Yes, I did re-take this class. Here's some tips since I have two semesters-worth under my belt! Go to every recitation. Even if your TA sucks or whatever. In the event that you dislike your TA, switch sections. Do ALL the homework. If it's Connect, find a study group and work on it together. If it's OWLs, use screencaps to help you if you're too lazy to find the answers by yourself. Don't buy the book (along the same lines, don't rent the book and then forget to return it.) Buy the exam & answers booklet (used/older edition is fine... Not a big deal.), and start preparing, going through every question, at least a week before the exam. Buy the lecture notes book and use that as your guide, because the answers to a lot of the questions on the exam can be found in the lecture notes. I sat through four teachers: Morrissey, LaDuca, Hong, and Harrison. Morrissey, I had first semester. He is boring as all else, I could not pay attention in his class, I do not recommend him. At all. Same with Harrison. Hong was super nice and had a passion for chemistry, but I had scheduling conflicts and I had to change sections. I ended up with LaDuca and I have to say: IF YOU CAN GET LADUCA AS YOUR CHEM PROFESSOR, DO IT. DON'T PASS GO, DON'T COLLECT $200. He is so fabulous. He explains everything really well, and things that I had been beating myself over since high school were explained in seconds by him. He is funny and really grabs your attention. I credit my passing grade with him. 

I'm also planning on taking a few classes online over the summer, either at Lansing Community College or Schoolcraft College. I'll let you know how that goes!

There you have it! I hope this helped. I'll try to post a review of each class/teacher at the end of every semester, and I'll post the classes that I will be taking as well.

Rakuzen