Blog Post #1

When I first signed up to take EDM 310, I was very excited. My sister, Alex Howell, worked for Dr. Strange for a while and she always told me only good things about the class. She seemed to love every minute of taking the class and working for Dr. Strange. After hearing the opinions of many others, I feel as though my sister was the only one that enjoyed it. Leave it up to her to love something everyone else hates. Almost everyone that I have talked to that have already taken the class say only bad things. Most of them just kind of groan and put their hands over their face. I have to say getting that reaction from people terrifies me. I don't think I fully know what to expect. It's odd because after reading over the syllabus for the class and the master checklist, I wasn't really intimidated. It's everyone else's reactions that scares me, but I think that as long as I plan out when everything is due and complete everything without procrastination then I will be fine. If I have any fear about the class, it's that I get paired up with people that don't truly care about their grades. I don't want to be stuck doing all the group work by myself. I hope I get paired with motivated and driven students.

EDM 310 is unlike any other class that I have ever taken. I'm only a sophomore so I've only taken core classes up to this point. This is the first semester that I'm actually getting into my "major specific" courses. All of my core classes have been about the same. We simply listen to the lectures, take notes, view power points, write papers, and take tests. It's very obvious that EDM 310 is not like any of those that I have already taken. One thing that is different about this class than the others is that in EDM 310 I am required to keep up with most of the work on my own. It's my responsibility to make sure I check the checklist and complete everything on time. In most of my other classes, the teachers were constantly reminding me of what to do and when to do it. Also, EDM 310 is basically done entirely on the computer and I love that. I have never had the pleasure of taking a class like that until now. Although EDM 310 is different, I'm excited for the change from the "cut and dry" classes to something unique.

Despite the fact that I'm excited, I do think I will have some difficulty in one area of this class: time. Dr. Strange wants us to devote at least nine hours a week to EDM 310 work. Nine hours is a lot to me. I am taking 19 hours this semester in school and I have a job in which I try to work twenty to twenty-five hours a week. Also, I am still young and I would like time for a social life. It will be hard for me to devote that much time to one class, but if I have to do so in order to make the grade then I will. I think the best way for me to approach this difficulty is to just take things one day at a time. Whenever I'm overwhelmed and complaining to my family, my dad always says, "Ashley, how do you eat an elephant?" My initial response was that you don't eat an elephant but he always replies, "One bite at a time." Although nine a hours a week may seem like a lot, I'll just have to take it slow and do what I need to do.

To sum it up, I'm a little excited and a little nervous about what this class will bring. I don't have any questions or concerns at the moment but as the semester progresses I'm sure they will come to mind. Here's to a good semester!