I am taking 8 credit hours at Owens Community College. Since I registered a bit late, I was only able to get classes at the OCC campus in the building with The Source, downtown, since they started a week later than the other campuses. Let's talk about going to school downtown. It's interesting, to say the least. In my FYE class, I am the only Caucasian, well, technically there are 2 of us...but one is a, uhm, a "Cracker". That's what my husband calls white guys who try to "act black". I don't think this is the right term, but I really have no idea. He only showed up for class one time, so I guess that leaves me.
I am by no means racist. Everyone deserves to be treated equally. I do judge, but not based on skin color. I would be more likely to judge you based on what you are wearing. Hee! I never thought I was naive, but I must admit that my eyes have been opened to things I have never seen before. I could go into great detail here, but would end with a novel instead of a blog post. Let's just say there are some definite cultural differences between me and my classmates.
I am one of 2 Caucasians in my Comp. I class. The other lives in a trailer park and considers student loans an "Income". Cultural differences here also. I absolutely love this class. The instructor is fabulous. The class is fun and interesting. I love the writing assignments and I love the peer review. Regarding the peer review...uhm, the cultural differences are loud and clear here. Proper English is NOT being used in my classmates essays. They are writing in African-American Vernacular English. In my mind, it seems that the instructor should be correcting this, but while talking to some friends - teachers, spouses of teachers, I learned that the instructor is probably not allowed to correct the grammar, for fear of hurting feelings. Weird. So, these people are going to go through life speaking improper English and think that because they passed their college english class, that there is nothing wrong with the way they talk. Again, cultural difference here.
I'm taking Comp II over the summer, a condensed 8 week class, which means I will be writing one paper a week. Did I shoot myself in the foot? I guess we shall find out.
My PSY class is fun too. This class started full, but we now have 6 students who attend regularly. A little more ethnically balanced in this class. The instructor is really cool, a dorky guy in his 30s who grew up in Detroit proper. He dropped out of high school and became an auto mechanic. After a few years he decided that was not for him and got his GED. He attended a community college and studied his butt off and was accepted at U of M where he earned his BS and MS. I like his story almost as much as I like him.
I love school. I'm excited for the future. Things are so different for us right now. I never thought 2011 would end. It was so horrible. I am glad it is over, and I am so happy to be on a new chapter.
Onward and Upward.
