Sunday, September 28, 2008

Fall Is in the Air

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Fall Semester. I hope every one's Summer Session went well and that everyone is geared up for the Fall. Even though it is the end of the Baseball season this weekend, we all start a brand new semester at Berkeley. I start the most difficult semester in my Berkeley semester as I am taking 4 classes all 4 credits. This is my time to push my steadily decreasing GPA back up to something that I feel good about. I am taking Fundamentals of IT, Principles of Marketing, Managerial Accounting and World Cultures. Again I have a Monday- Wednesday and Saturday classes. I am really looking forward to the Fundamentals of IT because it is something that i would use daily at my job. Especially since we will be preparing the new building in the next coming months and we hope to be moved in by the beginning of next year.

As we move into the next semester I will be starting that meet the faculty segment of the blog. Our first faculty member will be Professor Michael Montlack who currently teaches the Oral Communication classes at Berkeley. I have even bigger plans than school this semester as begin my quest to become a sole proprietor. I already have three customers lined up and I am sure i will be able to get many more. My service business is geared around tutoring and educational help as well as technical services. I pretty much have my Christmas list which will mainly consist of IT tools such as Crimpers, Wire cutters and spools of RJ-45 cable. I wont release the company name until it is official so stay tuned for that.

This semester i will need help from all you current Berkeley college students. I need some professors that you want me to interview in the coming months. It can be at any campus as I will more than likely call or email any professor that is outside of New York. I want a good variety of different courses and departments. This will truly be an interesting semester which will be complicated by a couple of holidays and obviously the Presidential Election. It is funny because my son talks a lot and we discuss the presidential races from time to time. He cries when I mention McCain so i guess he is a little Democrat in the making but you never know.

Now it is time for the Rebecca and Jose corner. Rebecca is getting over a cold that daddy gave her which obviously makes me feel horrible. Yet despite the cold she still is growing especially in her vocabulary. She now says hi, Jose, grandma, mama,dada,sniffles,kat,up, uh-oh and many others that she doesn't necessarily use that often. Me and my wife taught her touchdown so that every time we said it she puts her hands up in the air and then claps and says "yay". Jose is becoming more and more vocal. We can tell when he is upset and when he is happy. He is starting to develop a laugh and sounds so cute talking. That's all for now, see you Wednesday and i will let you know how the first three days of class went.

Friday, September 12, 2008

New Semester, New Topic

Hello everyone and welcome back. I again apologize for the lapse between posts but there is a lot of personal issues going on. Never-the-less I do want to wish everyone good luck as we enter finals week. I hope everyone does well and will get to enjoy the week off before the Fall starts. A reminder to all current Berkeley students, the deadline to clear for the Fall semester is fast approaching. Make sure all your paperwork is complete and you are ready to go come September 29th.

As the Fall semester approaches I was contemplating what I can do to spice up the blog scene for Berkeley. I have decided to add a new column that will appear either once or twice a month called "Meet the Professor" or "Meet the Faculty." This is to give prospective students as well as current students an overview of different professors at Berkeley. I will need some suggestions beside the professors I have already taken so please post your suggestions as a comment with the Professor or Faculty member full name and email address/ phone number at Berkeley. All campus are open but since I only attend Manhattan i will need every one's help on this matter.

As I prepare for what will be my toughest schedule yet at Berkeley I try not to dwell on the time constraints that from my personal life. As my therapist pointed out I have a lot going on that can easily overwhelm the common person. I told him that, that might be a fact but I am not worrying to much on it. I have already made a schedule for myself to spread out when I will do homework and other activities. I will be taking the most credits i have taken at Berkeley with 16 and my only breather class looks to be Accounting 104 on the grounds I already took it. This is only a small portion of a Prime time student's life. The good thing is i have yet to find a professor that has not been supportive during my trying times which is always a plus when i look at my experience at a school. Trust me there are always going to be frustrations with college, whether it is tests, cost of books/tuition or just the professors themselves. The key to getting by is to not worry to much that it will get you physically, mentally and emotionally sick.

As the Fall semester begins, it is usually the time when H.S. students begin their freshman year at college. The first semester is key to getting off on the right foot. Just like anything that is new, there is an adjustment period. The best way is to take things in stride and always ask fellow college students that have been through it before. Don't become flustered and frustrated to easy as that will never help you in the long run. Use the first semester to build basic foundation blocks that will allow you to take part in all the different school activities that are available. I usually tell freshmen to wait until the second semester before you join a club or pledge to something. This allows you to take the time to transition from H.S. to college. I have seen too many freshmen go into college and bomb because they never took the time to adjust and decided just to dive right in. College can be very fun but very lethal if not balanced properly. Do it right and the next 2-4 years of your collegiate life will fly by.

Now it is time for the Rebecca and Jose corner. My children continue to grow as individuals as Jose is now making cooing noises to communicate and is smiling a lot. Rebecca continues to learn how to use certain things and continues to be an excellent helper and sharer. She even shares with my mother-in-law's dog Sniffles. She is very protective of her brother and loves to talk every one's ears off. Tomorrow they go for shots which means me and my wife are going to have a fun weekend. To top it all off i have the onset of a cold, my poor wife, pray for her. That's all for now, see you next time.