1.06.2008

Econ

I would put the number of the class but I don't remember what it was. I was seriously a bit afraid that class was going to keep me from graduating. Senior year at Hampton. I've never been in a situation where even studying wasn't enough to make it sink in. School has always come easily to me. Math, science, social studies, English. A, A, A, A. Usually without studying. I used to drive my friends insane with that.

Sophomore year in high school we had to read something over the summer. One of those boat stories, a Greek one, and I think Oedipus Rex. I didn't bother. It just looked boring. No thanks. The first day of class there's a quiz. Great! So I make the people at the table tell me everything they remember about what they read. They do. I get 100 and they all get varying grades from 87 to 94. HILARIOUS! That was the highlight of my 10th grade English career right there. It's pretty much the only thing I remember. I know we had a student teacher who we loved far more than the actual teacher.

I never had a problem reading the assigned stories in my classes from a young age. Usually I liked them. All Quiet on the Western Front, Don Quixote. Liked those. Siddhartha, Things Fall Apart. Couldn't stand those. Worst of all? Anna Karenina!!! 27 (out of more than 900) pages about a field of wheat? Shoot me now. Most of the people in my 12th grade AP English class didn't even bother to finish it. I did just so I could say I did but I kicked and screamed the whole way. Very uncharacteristic. I like to read so much that just about anything will do. That's why I love getting the free books at work. Score! We did get one about the Americas and the Middle East. Pass and yawn. It's something like 900 pages. I started to try to read it but it's not worth the effort. Returning that to the newsroom to pass on to someone else who won't read it tomorrow.

When I got to college, I was determined not to flunk out. I'd convinced myself it wouldn't be this easy anymore!! (Mike, Corey and Marcus became my partners because they went to the library as much as I did. Sunday through Thursday for at least 2 hours. I stopped after freshman year. Time to party!! Lol. But mostly because in journalism, you can't read about it, you have to do it so the library was pointless for me.) I failed to notice that all of the classes were very entry level and very basic. All those classes that have no pre-requisite that are pointless. College math I and II? I took AP Stats in high school. This was essentially geometry, Algebra I, and trigonometry. I should've tested out of those ridiculous classes but thanks for the A+ GPA boosters. I started tutoring people in that and French. I did French homework for two of my friends just so I could keep the language in my head. Journalism majors weren't required to take a foreign language.

Enter econ aka bastion of my existence. Senior year at Hampton. Very, very basic econ class. This, like most math and science classes required for journalism and English majors, was so basic people in those majors didn't even take them. Yeah. It was basically econ for dummies. Have you ever been in a class where you're looking around wondering how all the idiots don't get this? Like why are they so stupid!?!?

The first day, the professor is going over some principle, covering the board with it. There are circles and arrows and numbers and letters. He gets to the end and asks, "Is there anyone who doesn't understand that?" 18/20 people raised their hands. HILARIOUS!! Yes, I was one of them. STU.PID. I have never felt so slow in all my life. No matter how many notes I took, no matter how much after class one-on-one sessions, I was like I will REJOICE over a C in this class. I think I actually ended up with a B because so many of us were just clueless. He got to the point where he was like if you can MEMORIZE the basic principles of economics I will let you pass above a C. Lol. That poor teacher. No I don't know any of them so don't ask!

13 comments:

Sparkling Red said...

I never took an economics class, but I'm trying to do some reading on the subject. Despite my intentions, I fall asleep when I'm trying to read about financial stuff. The graphs make my eyes cross.

Momisodes said...

Where were you when I went to college. I would have gladly handed over some of my homework....You may not have liked any of the microbiology and death and dying classes though.

LMAO- "to pass on to someone else who won't read it tomorrow."

maverick said...

lol..nice post..economics is a tough subject at times ...i barely managed to pass in Eco I n II at my univ...
laws of demand and supply..adam smith..ricardo...n all..they all take a toll on u...lol...btw found ur blog thru anothers...pretty interesting..happy new yrs..hope to cya at my blog sometime :)

the joy said...

27 pages on wheat? What was the book about that we can afford to spend 27 pages on wheat? That's like the scarlet letter, where they go on and on about the fact that she saw an A in the sky, but they never say its an A. Boo!

Oedepus Rex was about the dude that did his mom and killed his dad then gauged his eyes out. Don't think there was a boat in that one. It was actually pretty good. Funny story about one of the connecting books: we decided in 10th grade that we'd watch that version rather than read it, and it turns out that the version my 10th grade teacher rented from blockbuster was produced my playboy. Hella melodramatic, and uneccessarily topless. It was so funny! She was like, oh, we're mature enough for the nudity, but this is horrible acting!

p_nami said...

Happy Sunday!

LMAO...people like you are the reason I got an A in econ:-)

Anna Karenina...thumbs down. Same for Things Fall Apart. I got Spark Notes and never looked back.

Southerner in Suomi said...

Journo majors at LSU had to take a combined Acct/Econ class.

We all thought we'd die. I hate math in general. I've never made an A in math. Lots of B's, but never an A.

Chris said...

I never had to take econ/marketing or anything like that, praise God. Now my choices in foreign language (French) and Sciences (Physics) leave a lot to be desired.

Jameil said...

red... i keep up with financial stuff marginally well but theories suck.

sandy... i would've hated those. no one's gonna read this book.

mav... econ sucks. happy new yr.

joy... this is what i'm sayin. boring. i know what oedipus was. it was that AND a book abt a boat. your teacher sounds slow.

face... don't judge me.

v... i mean really what is the point? as long as i can balance my checkbook and invest.

chris... i love french. hate physics even tho in h.s. i was VP of the physics club (you just had to donate $5 to charity). we did VP like a bank. there were soemthing like 15 VPs.

who? said...

I wish I were a college student. Econ sounds fun and I 've always thought I'd make a fine journalist... Still not certain yet as to what will happen in this strange, everchanging life of mine.

Rashan Jamal said...

I never read what I was supposed to read. I pretty much gleaned what I needed to know from class discussion and busted out a well written paper to get an A.

Econ? I took it in high school and they made us start a business selling spirit towels, which were basically like the Steelers terrible towels, except with our high school logo on it. I sold exactly 3 (including the one I bought one myself)

Jameil said...

Caesar... so go to college. you're young. its never too late and its really not now. go ahead and apply.

rj... lazy. lol. econ is that garbage.

dreamyj said...

haha, i remember taking econ too, not my cup of tea, but i made it through, yay for surviving.

yet another black guy said...

does this mean you don't do your own taxes lol