Week 3: Uni-Verse

These titles are getting bad already.

This week my endless break finally came to a screeching halt, and I began taking classes at the University of Auckland. Here are my classes and what I thought of them (so far):

ENGLISH 109 - Drama on Stage and Screen

Should be a fun class, and pretty self-explanatory. We read plays, we watch movies. We compare the two. Might be a little beneath my skill level, given all the theater classes I've taken in the past, but I could do with an easy class or two, so I'm not complaining. :-)

MARINE 202 - Principles of Marine Science

Thank goodness I spent all those years in my youth playing "The Magic School Bus Explores the Ocean" on my computer. This class should be lots of fun, especially because we get to go on a field trip later on in the semester. I haven't been on a field trip since I don't know when, so I am definitely looking forward to it!

GREEK 100 - Introduction to Ancient Greek

This class was very interesting, and the prof was cool, but it was just not for me. I decided to switch it out for Intro Latin for a few reasons. It was difficult and tedious having to translate the Greek letters first into English ones, and then translating those words into their English meanings. I figure that Latin will be more fun because it uses the English alphabet, and still has a few uses in the modern world, whereas Ancient Greek, while cool to know and speak, has very few modern uses outside of Classical Studies. We'll see if I like Latin any better...

FTVMS 100 - Media Studies

Another class that will be fairly easy, but also informative and entertaining. This course focuses on the way information is presented in different media formats, such as TV, print, radio, and the Internet. The big thing about this class that I am not used to is that there are about 500 people in the class. It is held once a week for two hours in a giant auditorium, and the prof stands down at the front with a microphone. It's a really strange experience for someone who is used to an average class size of twenty people or so.

Another thing I am not used to is having a different prof lecturing each class period. My classes back home always have one set professor, but here it seems like there are at least 3 for each class, and sometimes even as many as six rotating professors (not including guest lecturers and the like). This makes it a little difficult to settle into a routine, but I am sure I will catch on quickly. Uni classes also have tutorials, which are optional (but HEAVILY encouraged, so basically required) study sessions that happen once a week. Hopefully I will find this helpful in studying for my classes, since I tend to be a bit lax on studying on my own when someone isn't telling me to get my work done.

On Saturday, a group of us took a ferry to the town of Devonport, which was nice, until we got rained out and had to head home. Other than that, not much adventure for me this week.

Stay tuned for a special report following next Thursday's Backstreet Boys concert. And for those of you who will choose to mock me for going to this concert and finally fulfilling the dreams of my 12-year-old self, you clearly are in denial. We all lived through the '90s folks; some of us have just chosen to embrace it, while others simply pretend that the entire decade never happened. I pity those joyless souls who have forgotten already the gleeful and mindless bubblegum pop of yesterday...

I'll write again soon, "As Long as You Love Me,"

;-)

-Connor