Your first week of college classes is a big deal because you have no idea what you're doing. Your second first week of classes is hilarious because you think you know what you're doing and then swiftly remember that you do not. So, here is my recount of my second first week of classes.
First up was my 10:10 macroeconomics class downtown in the DePaul Center. Figuring out when to get up was a challenge, but I decided on 8:00 so that I would have time to eat breakfast and allow myself a comfortable time cushion in case the L was delayed. It was a good call because I forgot that I hadn't gotten my textbooks for my business ethics class that was 10 minutes after econ. I rushed downstairs to grab books and then went up to the 11th floor to eat an incredibly unhealthy breakfast because the real breakfast food was not in stock yet. I figured that I should get to my class early so that I could choose a good seat, but by the time I walked in the room, a lot of the chairs were already taken. Luckily, one in the front was not. Contrary to most college students, I like to sit toward the front of the room, especially in any sort of math class. I think it helps me focus…and stay awake.
The professor walked in wearing what looked like a tailored blue suit. He had long hair, but it wasn’t gross or unkempt. It was European long hair if you will. As soon as he spoke, my definition was proved correct. He had some sort of European accent. German maybe? No French, definitely French. I really couldn’t understand much of what he was saying in the beginning, but by the time the first twenty minutes was over, I could make out most everything.
He really made a great impression, mostly because he was excited about the class and gave us a very unusual assignment. He had us write about something we wish he knew about us. That was definitely the first time that any teacher had ever made that request of me and I really enjoyed it.
My next class was right across the hall. An older lady entered with a giant smile on her face. She smiled a lot actually. She took attendance rather slowly and commented on almost everyone’s name.
“It’s not red!”
Wow. Never heard that one before.
She told all the business majors that this business ethics class was going to be the best class we have ever taken because it will keep us out of jail. She outlined the syllabus, like every teacher does on the first day, and then, after a long fight with the projection screen, played a video about the Enron scandal. I felt a little behind as I had never even heard of Enron or its economy-altering scandal, but I guess that is how the first day feels sometimes.
The next day, I woke up at 6 am for an 8 o’clock class. My roommate and I had breakfast at the Student Center before we walked to separate classes. Mine was a seminar on Walt Whitman. Someone walked in and set his bag near the computer and I was sure that it was a confused student. Turns out that I wasn’t entirely wrong as he is a graduate student, but he was the teacher of the class. When he was reviewing the syllabus, I could tell that he was a literature nerd by the way he was genuinely excited whenever he had the opportunity to read Whitman. I figured that it was similar, if not the same, to the way I feel about Edgar Allan Poe. Needless to say, I think I will have a great time in that class and get along well with a fellow literature nerd.
My final class of the day was the history of sexuality in Europe. Interesting right? I got to meet back up with my roommate and squeeze into the tiniest and least efficient desk I have ever seen. The professor had some kind of European accent that I still cannot seem to place. She wore large, pink-rimmed glasses and completely pulled it off. The class is nothing like the usual history classes that I have taken in the past and I don’t think that it will be anything like my classes in the future.
Despite my previous confidence, I can tell that this quarter will take a lot of getting used to just like last quarter did. With any luck, I will make fewer mistakes this time around and learn a lot of new things. All I can say is that DePaul has an incredibly unique college experience and I never know what each day will bring.
