This time last year, I took 12 credit hours at Western Kentucky University (online), while working 24 hours per weekend at one job (TRIMARC) and scattered hours at a 2nd job (Kinetic The Technology Agency). I ended up with a 3.00 GPA for the semester but was badly exhausted by the time Finals ended. I had made the comment, in a blog post on here, that Fall 2016 was tough because of a time balance.
Fall 2017 giggled at Fall 2016.
This semester, I again took 12 credit hours. However, I worked 40-52 hours a week at TRIMARC, 3rd shift on weekdays and the occasional Saturday. The time crunch I had in 2016 was 1/2 of what I felt this semester, especially after Fall break ended. I did a lot of homework and some studying before work (I’d get to work an hour early), during slow periods at work, and whenever I could get a few distraction-free hours during the day (which wasn’t as often as you’d think). I’ve been an exhausted mess for most of the last 2 months.
I took my final Final about 3 hours ago. Here’s where I stood in my classes, pre-Finals, what I got on my Finals (in blue), and my Final grades (or grade guesses):
CIT 330 – Systems Development: I had an 85.5% (‘B’); got a 97% (‘A’ – 20% of the grade). I wish I had a great guess on what the professor is going to do with this. My guess is that I’m around an 87% – ‘B’ – but it could be rounded, depending on what the Final scores look like. I’m happy that it’s sitting at least at a ‘B’ but I am doing the internal “What if…?” on that 3rd test (a 29.5/40 – 73.5%): it could have cost me an ‘A’ in the class.
CIT 352 – Database Administration II: I had a 72.2% (‘C’), got an 82% (‘B’ – 30% of the grade). I should have been over 80%, pre-Final, but I screwed up: I had the window open to take a chapter test but had to go to clock in. Rather than start the test and finish it when my first shift on one part of the city coverage was over (we could resume the test; we just couldn’t close it, without taking a penalty), I forgot to start it. Time ran out and I took a ‘0’. Unofficially, I have a 75.3% for the semester – ‘C’. Ugggh.
CIT 372 – Telecommunications I: I pulled this grade up by a bunch, from mid-October to the end of the class, last week. Had an 84% (‘B’), got a 72% (‘C’ – 15% of the grade). I don’t know the numeric value but I officially ended up with a ‘B’. This class was the cause of the majority of the exhaustion of the last few weeks.
CIT 482 – Systems Security I: this class is one of the few classes I’ve had that has equal parts worried me and made me anxious this much, mainly because of how much info there was (the info itself wasn’t terribly difficult), how far into the background I pushed this class in October (to focus on 352 and 370), and how the Final was structured. The Final – took it earlier today – was 18 questions, 10-20 points a piece, all written answers (and not one-word answers; we’re talking up to 1/2 page per answer), and worth 50% of my grade. To add onto the pile, there are still 4 assignments that the professor hasn’t graded, worth about 200 points total (there are 320 possible points that have been graded, not counting the final and the 4 assignments). Right now, I have 268 of those 320 points – 83.8% (‘B’). I could be anywhere between 85% and 95%, once the assignments are graded, pre-Final. I know that I didn’t fail the Final or get a ‘D’ (…. *I think*). I might have squeaked out an ‘A’ but I’m likely between a low ‘C’ and a mid ‘B’. I could end up anywhere between a low ‘C’ and a low ‘A’ for the semester grade.
I’m not going to make any grand announcements about Winter Break plans because, to be honest, they’ll probably just be some form of “working”, “occasional gym time”, and “keeping occupied while at home”. One thing they will include, at least today and maybe Thursday:
Sleep.
The Nexus 