Wahoo! I passed the WEST-E with flying colors! I am done with standardized testing forever! Or at least for my current goal purposes...
Other than that, I am an official student at Seattle Central Community College, which will make taking classes there actually possible and thus a lot easier to do. Hooray!
I was able to sign up for the math class for elementary school teachers, but it cuts into my Kumon schedule, so I'll be working even less now. Yeugh. Oh well, at least I'll be knocking three prerequisite classes out of the way. Three more to go in the next few quarters, so hopefully I'll be able to find some kind of income by then and pay for it all. Damn you, financial pitfalls.
School things aside, this weekend I helped Kevin move two flights up, where he now has a view of Elliot Bay and a roommate who knows how to do dishes and vaccuum. This couldn't be a better situation. The kitties are confused, but they are having a good time bouncing around a new apartment.
Showing posts with label WEST-E. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WEST-E. Show all posts
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Rachel K. Community College
It is the calm before the storm! It is the Sunday before fall quarters at the University of Washington and Seattle Central Community College (SCCC for short) commence! I had a few misadventures at SCCC on Friday, but in the end it turned out well enough (I think.)
Friday morning I leapt out of bed and, after a week of studying factorials and quadratic equations to review my high school math concepts, I was going back to SCCC to retake the Compass placement test for mathematics. I had performed abysmally on my first try at the test (If the thought, "who needs to study for this?" ever pops into my head again, I'll know better.) I had placed in Math 098, which is essentially algebra 2. While teaching at Kumon and studying for the GRE have given me a firm grasp of mathematics concepts ranging from K-8 to college algebra, I had forgotten to review high school math. As I now know, the Compass test feeds the user harder questions for every question answered correctly, and easier questions for every incorrect answer. Due to this egregious, but totally reasonable manner of testing, I never got a chance to show off my skills with complex numbers. Instead, I placed in a level I accomplished when I was 16. Damnation.
But why worry? The placement test could be taken again for a small $17 fee, and I would certainly place at a higher level this time around. Placing even one course higher would earn me the prerequisite necessary to take the elementary school teacher math course offered this fall at SCCC, which I had only recently discovered.
I was nervous, but confident when I showed up at SCCC that afternoon. This soon vanished when I was told that I needed to wait 90 days before retaking the compass test. I asked the receptionist (pleadingly) if there was another way. She told me I could talk to Mr. Appleton, the head adviser, who could waive the waiting period. I dashed off to his office down the hall, but he was out for the day and the entire office was closed. This was a significant setback, but I had other things to accomplish at the community college that day, and I went about doing them. My next step in becoming a full-fledged student at SCCC was to show my transcript to the lady at admissions and prove that I had taken a course in English composition, which would opt me out of the English writing Compass test. The admissions lady told me that my English & Literature course did not count for composition, and neither did my numerous scriptwriting courses. Furthermore, there was no proof of graduation on my official transcript. I am still not sure why I would need proof of graduation to apply for classes at a community college. In any case, I left the Capitol Hill campus completely enervated and bummed out.
When I arrived back at my apartment, I immediately set out to make things right. If I couldn't prove I had graduated from RIT on my transcript, well then damn it I WILL BRING IN MY DIPLOMA. If my transcript couldn't opt me out of the English composition course, then damn it, I will bring in my GRE writing scores and barring that, I will take the damn placement test. So, I made an appointment with Mr. Appleton for 9am Monday; the day that my math class would in theory begin. I then set about e-mailing the professor of the math class and explaining my situation. She, in her infinite benevolence, told me that she would waive the prerequisite and that she would send me a link to the syllabus.
So now, after all that, my Monday morning plan is to meet with the head adviser to sort out my English composition nonsense. After that, I'm going to buy the math textbook and notebook that I need for class. Then after Kumon, which I will now have to skip out of 2.5 hours early to make this class that I can't afford to be late to, I will hop the bus back from Greenwood to Capitol Hill for my first math class. Really, my first college class in four years!
As for my UW classes, they are set to begin on Wednesday. I am still on standby for both the geology and geography classes, but I am hopeful that I will be accepted into them and that I will be taking 15 credits of prerequisite goodness this fall quarter.
Tomorrow morning I will behold my test scores for the WEST-E exams from earlier this month. Dear God I hope I passed. I can recover from almost anything else so long as I passed this exam.
Friday morning I leapt out of bed and, after a week of studying factorials and quadratic equations to review my high school math concepts, I was going back to SCCC to retake the Compass placement test for mathematics. I had performed abysmally on my first try at the test (If the thought, "who needs to study for this?" ever pops into my head again, I'll know better.) I had placed in Math 098, which is essentially algebra 2. While teaching at Kumon and studying for the GRE have given me a firm grasp of mathematics concepts ranging from K-8 to college algebra, I had forgotten to review high school math. As I now know, the Compass test feeds the user harder questions for every question answered correctly, and easier questions for every incorrect answer. Due to this egregious, but totally reasonable manner of testing, I never got a chance to show off my skills with complex numbers. Instead, I placed in a level I accomplished when I was 16. Damnation.
But why worry? The placement test could be taken again for a small $17 fee, and I would certainly place at a higher level this time around. Placing even one course higher would earn me the prerequisite necessary to take the elementary school teacher math course offered this fall at SCCC, which I had only recently discovered.
I was nervous, but confident when I showed up at SCCC that afternoon. This soon vanished when I was told that I needed to wait 90 days before retaking the compass test. I asked the receptionist (pleadingly) if there was another way. She told me I could talk to Mr. Appleton, the head adviser, who could waive the waiting period. I dashed off to his office down the hall, but he was out for the day and the entire office was closed. This was a significant setback, but I had other things to accomplish at the community college that day, and I went about doing them. My next step in becoming a full-fledged student at SCCC was to show my transcript to the lady at admissions and prove that I had taken a course in English composition, which would opt me out of the English writing Compass test. The admissions lady told me that my English & Literature course did not count for composition, and neither did my numerous scriptwriting courses. Furthermore, there was no proof of graduation on my official transcript. I am still not sure why I would need proof of graduation to apply for classes at a community college. In any case, I left the Capitol Hill campus completely enervated and bummed out.
When I arrived back at my apartment, I immediately set out to make things right. If I couldn't prove I had graduated from RIT on my transcript, well then damn it I WILL BRING IN MY DIPLOMA. If my transcript couldn't opt me out of the English composition course, then damn it, I will bring in my GRE writing scores and barring that, I will take the damn placement test. So, I made an appointment with Mr. Appleton for 9am Monday; the day that my math class would in theory begin. I then set about e-mailing the professor of the math class and explaining my situation. She, in her infinite benevolence, told me that she would waive the prerequisite and that she would send me a link to the syllabus.
So now, after all that, my Monday morning plan is to meet with the head adviser to sort out my English composition nonsense. After that, I'm going to buy the math textbook and notebook that I need for class. Then after Kumon, which I will now have to skip out of 2.5 hours early to make this class that I can't afford to be late to, I will hop the bus back from Greenwood to Capitol Hill for my first math class. Really, my first college class in four years!
As for my UW classes, they are set to begin on Wednesday. I am still on standby for both the geology and geography classes, but I am hopeful that I will be accepted into them and that I will be taking 15 credits of prerequisite goodness this fall quarter.
Tomorrow morning I will behold my test scores for the WEST-E exams from earlier this month. Dear God I hope I passed. I can recover from almost anything else so long as I passed this exam.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Rachel K. Blergh
I've been terrible about posting since I started camp... but now that I'm done with camp I can get back into blogging and trying to fill up my free hours of time and sadness. Hooray!
Camp was awesome. I worked there for eight straight weeks as an assistant director, which had me busy learning how to be managerial and to create order out of chaos. I also had to learn how to balance my newly acclaimed power with NOT being the director, which sucked. I'll probably apply for director next year since I think it'd be sweet to have LIMITLESS POWER AND INTRIGUE. And y'know because it's good money and good fun and it's the only decent job I've had in over a year now.
So now I'm back to not being in a graduate school program and to not having a job or job offer. It sucks. I've been enjoying these last warm days of Seattle summer and have been applying to the odd evening-friendly job like at hotels or costplus world market or the elusive apple store. Hopefully one of them will hire me and I'll have some kind of source of income to pay for my ridiculous pre-requisite classes for the graduate programs I seek to join.
I've taken one of the teacher exams, the WEST-B, which I passed with gusto! It was a four hour exam testing me on the basics of reading, writing and math. It was brutal simply because it was SO LONG. The next one is the WEST-E test, which has more specific questions aimed at elementary school endorsements. I need to study up on all the little modules such as the properties of light and color, elementary level physical education, language arts, history etc. I'm having fun studying for it (it's not like the GRE where it's difficult for no particular reason,) and I'm hoping to pass the test with flying colors come September 11th.
The next important date will be September 17th, which is the date that my application to the University of Washington is due.
Aside from the WEST-E test, I'm working on planning out and completing my pre-requisite courses for UW and Seattle U. I'm on standby as a non-matriculated student for a Geology 101 class and I'm hoping to take a geography one at the University of Washington as well. The only downside is that the classes are $1500 a piece and I have almost no money because I have almost no job. So, I'm hoping to take the rest of the classes I need to be considered for the grad programs at a community college because truly that is how dreams are made.
Until then I keep working part-time at Kumon and praying for some more employment, even if it's not a fulfilling or interesting job. I will sell chocolate or computers. Somebody hire me for the love of God.
On the plus side, Ian is getting back on Wednesday from Japan and I will have someone to commiserate with and go to art museums with!
Camp was awesome. I worked there for eight straight weeks as an assistant director, which had me busy learning how to be managerial and to create order out of chaos. I also had to learn how to balance my newly acclaimed power with NOT being the director, which sucked. I'll probably apply for director next year since I think it'd be sweet to have LIMITLESS POWER AND INTRIGUE. And y'know because it's good money and good fun and it's the only decent job I've had in over a year now.
So now I'm back to not being in a graduate school program and to not having a job or job offer. It sucks. I've been enjoying these last warm days of Seattle summer and have been applying to the odd evening-friendly job like at hotels or costplus world market or the elusive apple store. Hopefully one of them will hire me and I'll have some kind of source of income to pay for my ridiculous pre-requisite classes for the graduate programs I seek to join.
I've taken one of the teacher exams, the WEST-B, which I passed with gusto! It was a four hour exam testing me on the basics of reading, writing and math. It was brutal simply because it was SO LONG. The next one is the WEST-E test, which has more specific questions aimed at elementary school endorsements. I need to study up on all the little modules such as the properties of light and color, elementary level physical education, language arts, history etc. I'm having fun studying for it (it's not like the GRE where it's difficult for no particular reason,) and I'm hoping to pass the test with flying colors come September 11th.
The next important date will be September 17th, which is the date that my application to the University of Washington is due.
Aside from the WEST-E test, I'm working on planning out and completing my pre-requisite courses for UW and Seattle U. I'm on standby as a non-matriculated student for a Geology 101 class and I'm hoping to take a geography one at the University of Washington as well. The only downside is that the classes are $1500 a piece and I have almost no money because I have almost no job. So, I'm hoping to take the rest of the classes I need to be considered for the grad programs at a community college because truly that is how dreams are made.
Until then I keep working part-time at Kumon and praying for some more employment, even if it's not a fulfilling or interesting job. I will sell chocolate or computers. Somebody hire me for the love of God.
On the plus side, Ian is getting back on Wednesday from Japan and I will have someone to commiserate with and go to art museums with!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Rachel K. Standardized Testing
I continue to be the busiest person on earth, but in a totally wonderful way.
First and foremost : GRE - CHECK. DONE. VANQUISHED!!!!
The GRE is finally over and I have a majority of my life back! WahooOOoooo! After a week of hardcore crunching for the math and verbal sections and a quickie crash course in the writing sections, I took the test. I borrowed my grandfather's trusty vehicle and drove (the hell) up to Montlake Terrace where the test was held at some strange computer testing center. It was hella sketchy. The testing people made me empty my pockets and they checked up my pant legs for CHEATING STRATEGEMS (maybe). Anyway it hadn't occurred to me to hide answers up my pant legs, so I was allowed in and took the test.
Nothing more interesting about it really, but it's over and my score was about 140 points over what I wanted it to be, which is turbo awesome. I'll have to wait and see about my essay scores, but at this point I just don't have the energy left to care. I'm done and that's all there is to it!
Having my life back, I rejoined society spent some time with the roommate, the boyfriend and my roommate's new kitten, Yogurt. Yogurt is a wonderful distraction to all the things I should be doing. I could be studying for my up-and-coming teacher exams (the WEST-E and WEST-B exams for Washington State), but there's a KITTEN now and instead I can just wiggle a string in front of her for hours and hours. And I do.
Now it's crunch time for iD Tech Camps, where I'm assistant directing all summer long. I'm in San Francisco currently for camp training at UC Berkeley and am visiting with friends Natanya and Amy (former JET members like me) while I'm down in California. I had an online meeting for admin stuff today and I feel really good about the position; I think it'll have enough responsibilities to keep me busy, but it's a job I'm very qualified for. It feels nice to be counted on once in awhile, especially because I'm waiting to hear back from my UCDS job interview and the more I have to wait, the more I assume I don't have the job and start to panic.
I just have to keep a cool head about all this. If I don't get the job, it will be crummy. I'll have to find some other source of income for next year, which won't be easy and I really don't want to have to take a bunch of steps backwards and work somewhere at a coffee shop or retail store again; but if that's what it comes to, I guess I'll have to swallow my pride. Anyway I can't do anything about it until I hear back, and I haven't heard back so that's that for now.
I've heard from one person on my craigs list ad for private tutoring, which I'm trying to fill up my Saturdays with before climbing. I figured if I charge $25 an hour I can make some quick money doing something I like doing and have a bit of experience doing! We'll see if this works out, but I am hoping to hone in on this skill that I have been practicing since I was hired at Kumon last summer.
[ooh they're playing Soulja Boy on the radio! San Francisco coffee shops have earned new respect from me]
Other than that there's still the matter of getting my UW application together since that's due in mid-September and I'd best finish up most of it as quickly as I can. I still need a second letter of recommendation, which is proving arduous since none of my RIT professors are getting back to me... boo. I will persevere! I also have to investigate where and when to take these multiple pre-requisite courses like lab science, math, US history and early child development... that might actually end up being a lot easier if I DON'T get the UCDS job, which would really be the only good thing to come out of that.
For now, I'm going back to enjoy my time in San Francisco. Today I went to the Asian Art Museum downtown and saw some beautiful government buildings and sculptures. Tomorrow -- Golden Gate Park with Amy? I should also mention that I'm staying with Natanya and her wonderful parents who have a beautiful blue home in Daly City! San Francisco does not shy away from color. I thought Seattle was crazy!
Stay tuned for the next entry:
UCDS Spells Success OR Job Rejection Leads to Jumping from Golden Gate Bridge
First and foremost : GRE - CHECK. DONE. VANQUISHED!!!!
The GRE is finally over and I have a majority of my life back! WahooOOoooo! After a week of hardcore crunching for the math and verbal sections and a quickie crash course in the writing sections, I took the test. I borrowed my grandfather's trusty vehicle and drove (the hell) up to Montlake Terrace where the test was held at some strange computer testing center. It was hella sketchy. The testing people made me empty my pockets and they checked up my pant legs for CHEATING STRATEGEMS (maybe). Anyway it hadn't occurred to me to hide answers up my pant legs, so I was allowed in and took the test.
Nothing more interesting about it really, but it's over and my score was about 140 points over what I wanted it to be, which is turbo awesome. I'll have to wait and see about my essay scores, but at this point I just don't have the energy left to care. I'm done and that's all there is to it!
Having my life back, I rejoined society spent some time with the roommate, the boyfriend and my roommate's new kitten, Yogurt. Yogurt is a wonderful distraction to all the things I should be doing. I could be studying for my up-and-coming teacher exams (the WEST-E and WEST-B exams for Washington State), but there's a KITTEN now and instead I can just wiggle a string in front of her for hours and hours. And I do.
Now it's crunch time for iD Tech Camps, where I'm assistant directing all summer long. I'm in San Francisco currently for camp training at UC Berkeley and am visiting with friends Natanya and Amy (former JET members like me) while I'm down in California. I had an online meeting for admin stuff today and I feel really good about the position; I think it'll have enough responsibilities to keep me busy, but it's a job I'm very qualified for. It feels nice to be counted on once in awhile, especially because I'm waiting to hear back from my UCDS job interview and the more I have to wait, the more I assume I don't have the job and start to panic.
I just have to keep a cool head about all this. If I don't get the job, it will be crummy. I'll have to find some other source of income for next year, which won't be easy and I really don't want to have to take a bunch of steps backwards and work somewhere at a coffee shop or retail store again; but if that's what it comes to, I guess I'll have to swallow my pride. Anyway I can't do anything about it until I hear back, and I haven't heard back so that's that for now.
I've heard from one person on my craigs list ad for private tutoring, which I'm trying to fill up my Saturdays with before climbing. I figured if I charge $25 an hour I can make some quick money doing something I like doing and have a bit of experience doing! We'll see if this works out, but I am hoping to hone in on this skill that I have been practicing since I was hired at Kumon last summer.
[ooh they're playing Soulja Boy on the radio! San Francisco coffee shops have earned new respect from me]
Other than that there's still the matter of getting my UW application together since that's due in mid-September and I'd best finish up most of it as quickly as I can. I still need a second letter of recommendation, which is proving arduous since none of my RIT professors are getting back to me... boo. I will persevere! I also have to investigate where and when to take these multiple pre-requisite courses like lab science, math, US history and early child development... that might actually end up being a lot easier if I DON'T get the UCDS job, which would really be the only good thing to come out of that.
For now, I'm going back to enjoy my time in San Francisco. Today I went to the Asian Art Museum downtown and saw some beautiful government buildings and sculptures. Tomorrow -- Golden Gate Park with Amy? I should also mention that I'm staying with Natanya and her wonderful parents who have a beautiful blue home in Daly City! San Francisco does not shy away from color. I thought Seattle was crazy!
Stay tuned for the next entry:
UCDS Spells Success OR Job Rejection Leads to Jumping from Golden Gate Bridge
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