OSU Enrollment Day!!!

Before any more time passes and I forget everything that happened, I should tell you about my enrollment day at OSU! Despite the fact that it was pouring rain and about 40 degrees, I had a fantastic day at my new home-away-from-home!

When I went there on Wednesday, they had a whole day dedicated to transfer students. I should mention that it began with the almost parking lot debacle. We were told to park at a specific parking garage, which is where I went, and that was fine. The only bad part about it is that I get a little bit claustrophobic in parking garages, and I had some trouble finding a spot. Have no fear, ten minutes later, I emerged successful! (I fear this is only a precursor of parking times to come...) I am glad that I toured back in October so that I had a clue of where I was going and wasn't stressed out by that, otherwise the day could have been much different.

Most of the day was spent in the Union, where they had our program. It began with us getting a cool OSU bag full of "freebies". (The program will eventually cost me $75, so I can't be fooled into thinking anything that day was necessarily free.) After that, I looked around at the departmental set-ups they had, and promptly found the College of Education table. It was a good thing I found them, because I had to fill out some paperwork. While sitting there filling out my paper, I was glad that I had no plans of being an Athletic Training major, because they plan on ending that program within the next year or so. (I heard that same conversation about 3 times within five minutes, just so you know.)

The next thing on the agenda was a choice of three informational sessions. I started out going to the LASSO center session until the program coordinator came in, informing us that no one was in the other sessions yet, and that we could come back at the next session. I decided that since I had no one else with me, I could manage coming back. So, I really went to the Campus Life presentation first. The guy who led it looked like what I think frat guys look like, which shouldn't be that surprising if you think about it. He had lots of great information about how to get involved on campus. So far, I think my potential choices for organizations are the ones just for transfer students. I say that only because there is an honor society just for transfers that I'm fairly certain I could qualify for. After his session was over, I went back to the LASSO Center presentation for the next session. (The LASSO center is like a tutoring lab/counseling office.) This session focused on academic success and other things of that sort. Okay, so really why I went was so that I could see about getting a job there next year, because that is at the forefront of my mind right now. The guy gave a wonderful presentation, and told us that there would be transfer student-specific activities during Welcome Week! There's an entire day for us, which culminates with an ice cream social. I really hope that it is as good as he made it out to be, because I now plan on going! After the session was over, I asked about the probability of me having employment at the LASSO center, to which he nicely told me that I probably wouldn't because of my transfer status. Ugh. I understand, but am frustrated because I actually do have experience and the grade qualifications. Oh well, such is life. There was the third choice of attending a Career Services presentation, but seeing as I am planning on being a math teacher in a state that is giving special incentives for math teachers and attending one of the best teaching colleges in the state, I doubt that I am in special need of career services. Also, I have never heard of a teaching internship, so probably unnecessary information for me.

After the sessions were over, they fed us a nice lunch, which exceeded my expectations only because I was expecting to have to buy lunch myself. Maybe I should have branched out a little more, but I did happen to see a girl and guy who were in my Physics class last semester, so I sat with them for lunch. After everyone finished eating, they brought in people from the Bursar's and Registrar's offices to give us even more information! I was starting to feel a little bit overwhelmed at that point, from all of the information that had been thrown at us already. I was also starting to get a headache. After an hour of listening to those presentations, they FINALLY released us to go with a representative to our respective colleges and get enrolled!!! I didn't really realize it until then, but there was a girl who was also from NOC, who I sort of knew, who was also going to the College of Education with me. By this point, I was ready to fully branch out and meet new people instead of clinging to the familiar. (Is that a bad thing?) She informed me that she had no idea of where we were going and that she would follow me everywhere. (Did I mention that we were given three clearly-explained maps in the bag of freebies?) Against my feelings, I was polite and told her that that was fine. (Maybe that was a bad thing?)

After getting to our college, which is housed in the beautiful Willard Hall, we checked in and were told to wait "in the room behind the astronaut". Yes, there is a display case of a NASA space suit, aka the astronaut, and there was a random hallway behind it that had a room that looked too nice to send students to, but we went in there anyway. Turns out we were in the right place, we were all just paranoid because about half of the people that came with us didn't go in there, and it took a while longer for us to be called back for our respective appointments. There were about ten of us in the room, and half of us used it as getting to know each other time. I met a seemingly nice girl who was from Texas, transferring from Baylor (I'm not quite sure why?), and a couple of girls from Tulsa Community College. Then, of course, there was me and the other girl from NOC. Although I was never told specifically, one of the TCC girls used to go to grade school with me, although she was a grade older, and I never talked to her because I thought she was extraordinarily obnoxious. After a while of talking with her, I found that she is still the same way, and I was glad that we never exchanged names, although I know we will eventually because she is a Secondary Science Education major. Maybe I'll be better prepared for that encounter when the time comes? We'll see.

After a while of waiting around, my adviser came to get me for my appointment. In a beautiful twist of events, it was the same lady that I visited with back in October. Even better than that, she remembered me!!! I honestly had no expectations to be remembered at a place as big as OSU, but I am glad that I was! (Possibly a perk of having a last name spelled like mine is...) She escorted me back to her office, and we began my enrollment appointment. I said it earlier, but I'll say it again, I am beyond thankful that I made the trip up there earlier in the year because it saved me lots of frustration and shock. My adviser was glad to know that I had already signed up for the OGET. She also told me that I would be a little bit behind on math classes, because I was lacking one prerequisite, but that I would be able to catch up in due time without having to take summer classes or stay an extra semester or two. I *should* be able to get out of a statistics and computer class, as long as the lady who approves class substitutions is still on her kick of approving classes, like my adviser said she was.

So, next semester I'm taking 15 hours and only 3 of those hours goes to a math class. That means that I will have 12 hours of education classes, which I am looking to! For the most part, my classes are all on MWF, with the exception of one that meets on a Tuesday evening. I will spend Tuesdays doing my teaching observations at schools that I will be later assigned to, and I have nothing planned for Thursdays! My classes are: Technology in the Classroom, Role of the Teacher, Adolescent Psychology, Field Experience in Secondary Schools (Observation), and Linear Algebra. The tech class essentially consists of learning how to use PowerPoints, SmartBoards, and other tech tools to benefit the classroom, and actually using them in this class. I believe that the Role of the Teacher class just consists of discussing teaching styles. Then, the psychology class and linear algebra are pretty self-explanatory. According to ratemyprofessors.com, I was enrolled into a class with a good professor, so we'll see how true that is. Otherwise, I'm excited about my next semester! After I finished enrolling, I submitted materials for the background check that I need to be able to observe. I also got my OSU ID, and another free t-shirt!

All in all, it was a good day, and I am super excited to begin this next phase of my education!!! Go Pokes! :)