For some reason, I need nine hours of science credit to acquire a degree in journalism. I've gotten over this fact but I'm still getting through the classes, and it's been terrible. There's a reason I didn't choose to be a science major.

But you've already heard my rant, so I'm going to focus on another topic--community college.

Six of the required nine hours of science credits have to be the same science, and since I took and almost failed my first astronomy class at UT, I decided I'd try the second at a new and exciting place--Temple College.

Ok, I lied. I was not in any way planning on taking astronomy again. Ever. In my life. It just so happens that astronomy is the only science or math class that would transfer to UT from TC, so I was stuck either doing no school work or learning about space again, so like the nerd I am, I chose astronomy.

And it has been amazing.

At UT, I understood absolutely nothing. When I got there, it was like everyone in my 300+ class already knew all the formulas for energy and velocity and whatever else the professor was talking about, and I was immediately left in the dust. It was assumed that all of us had learned basic science concepts during high school, but that's simply not true.

(For the record, I don't blame my high school teachers, I blame myself for doing the minimal amount of work that would get me an A without actually attempting to learn or understand. It is rather suspicious, though, that I could not understand anything during science class in high school yet still get all A's.)

So I get to my classroom at TC, sit in the back as I always do, and notice my 23 classmates are almost all at least 10 years older than me and have at least six more tattoos than I will probably ever get. My professor sits at a small desk in the front of the room with four Diet Coke cans and a smile.

I like this place.

From the moment my professor started his lecture to now, two weeks into a five-week course, I've understood more about the subject of astronomy than I ever did at UT. And a few class periods in, I realized why.

He started from the beginning. He explained basic physics concepts as if I'd never heard them before, and I learned them as if I'd never learned them before (because I probably hadn't). Instead of assuming that I was already an expert, he treated me like a student, and that has made such a difference.

I can't speak for every community college out there, or even for Temple College as a whole, but having that kind of class this summer taught me concepts I will still never master but that I will maybe understand.

It's nice to learn at my own level and at my own pace.