First Day of Classes

So, for me personally, I tend to prepare myself for the worst when it comes to new experiences. I have listened to what everyone (Tecwyn and Emily mainly) has told me about classes in Europe and expected it to be VERY hard to transition. I love the structure of classes in the states and I like being tested throughout the semester (as much as I complain about it I really do like being tested. I feel like it is a great opportunity to prove what I am actually learning and it is a good way to show I'm getting the grade I deserve. So, when I was being told the classes (or modules as they call them) here are very laid back and not structured I was a little worried to say the least.

Today my first class was at two, so I had plenty of time to psych myself out and get really nervous before class. I knew the class I had at 2 was going to rather large because it was in a lecture hall that holds 300 people. Coming from a small school with my biggest class being around 30, that was a little intimidating. So, I arrived at ten to 2, plenty of time to get a third row seat in this humongous lecture hall! The class didn't actually start until ten after so there was even more time to psych myself out. The teacher entered the front of the class and got herself accommodated to the classroom and it was obvious it was her first time in this lecture hall also, so that made me feel a little better. I was also a little nervous about being able to understand her.... yes understand her. Even though they speak English here, it is still very hard to understand some of the people with really heavy accents. So, to my great pleasure, when she started talking I could understand her completely! Yey! Secondly, everything she introduced us to, I was a little bit familiar with since they were topics I have some prior knowledge with since I have taken multiple science classes already at St. Ambrose! Yey #2! Thirdly, I was sitting in the front of the class which made it much less intimidating considering I couldn't see the 200+ people behind me. Yey #3! And finally, I was told lectures are typically exactly what they sound like, the professors going on and on with the students frantically taking notes and no feed back from the students. This was so not true! Maybe just because it was the first day, but I hardly took any notes and the professor actually encouraged class participation! I didn't participate because I did't want to be pegged on the first day of class an American. But anyways, overall it was a great first experience to my first class, and there are even 2 open book online quizzes throughout the semester! I know I'm crazy for being happy about having tests throughout the semester but it is a little nerve racking having only one chance to show what you know in the class. The weirdest part about this class is, we will have 6 different professors teaching it, so that will take a little getting used to. I think it will be fun!

The other class I had today was the required class we typically call "Over Here". It is the class that Tecwyn teaches and it goes hand in hand with our field trips. We basically learn all about what it is to be Welsh. I think it will be a great class and it will be taught as a cross between a class in the States and a European style since Tecwyn has taught in both.

I will discover what my Celtic Angelo-Saxon Art class is like tomorrow. Should be smaller than Ecology but will be totally different from any class I have taken in the past.

Until tomorrow...

~Amy