Stream Reclamation

OKAY - in addition to many other defects in my son's uni, they stopped a few years back helping the students find internships or any kind of fieldwork relating to wildlife or fisheries majors. My son has been looking for projects/internships completely on his own, which is damned difficult to do. HOWEVER

THIS looks very promising vis-a-vis mine reclamation/stream quality projects. So - send out a little positive energy for my Boy, because he's just dying for a chance to clean up our Appalachian waterways.

Yesterday, in one of his classes, a guest lecturer attended, and was asking the students probing questions about the fisheries program. The more they told her, the more concerned she got. It sounded like an excellent chance for the students to 'make some noise' about deficiencies in the school to someone who actually would be able to help. As he told me about it

Him: So, the other students were beating around the bush about things . .

Me: So, um, you cut down the bush and walked over the top of it?

Him: And then set it on fire. Yes.

Me: {snif} ThAT's my BoY!

So, college students, teachers, and parents may be familiar with Chegg.com, a subscription-based site for study/homework help. We have used it in the past, and, as much as I hate subscription services, it has been very valuable at times. But today I got this:

In which it appears that HBO, Door Dash, and TINDER(!?) are in some kind of partnership with Chegg . . . I am . . . boggled.

It's all about the carbon

Well, my son has decided that a "See one - Do one - Teach one" strategy will help him in organic chemistry. So, I spent time this evening sitting at his big desk, listening to him explain how Lewis Structures sorta transition into less complicated, bond-line diagrams. I guess this is my life, now. Weeknights, chemistry with him; weekends, chemistry with my daughter.

My late father, who absolutely buried that desk in an avalanche of paperwork, tchotckes, and small, broken objects, would probably be happy that it is now much cleaner and more functional.

Winter break is almost over

K will go back to her dorm this weekend and start spring semester classes on Monday. I can't stand it. She has another semester of chemistry, we still have to figure out a plan for her to retake the first semester, I'll be doing hours of tutoring (and studying it myself, first) each week.

Son will ALSO have a chemistry class this semester. I don't know if I can. do this. Her school provides good help for students who need it, and she uses that - but still needs more. His school does NOT provide any meaningful help for struggling students. They just do not.

I just feel absolutely awful about this. I just don't know how we're going to get through it all. Just venting.

Mom to the Mom Friend

K was supposed to stay at college this weekend, because there is a fancy event on Saturday. I was surprised, therefore, when I heard a car pull in mid-afternoon. I looked out, and beheld her stomping across the yard.

Apparently, it was a shit week. She was stressed about classes, tests, and Rosalie's injury. Her friends keep coming to her with their stresses and upsets. She doesn't want to BE the Mom Friend right now. So she came home.

I prescribed hot, cheesy lasagna, time spent with Hero, and a monumentally stupid animated movie (The Croods, Part 2). Now she's out in the kitchen with her brother, who magically managed to visit right when there was leftover lasagna, having her second dinner. Yes, we eat like hobbits. But she's laughing and sounds 100% better than she did 5 hours ago. She'll head back there tomorrow at mid-day, and be in time for the event.

Countdown to finals. All the college students are feeling it.

Fish Phylogeny

I just spent over three hours helping my son with a phylogeny assignment for ichthyology, wherein all the info required was NOT in the book, and when we researched it online we got conflicting info on the nitty-gritty details. Which is a big issue in fish phylogeny! Actual experts do disagree! But since that is the case, the professor should be making sure they know WHAT resources HE considers to be accurate! But, no! He just turns them loose to learn it on their own . . knowing that a good bit of the info out there is outdated or that nobody has an actual, definite answer yet!!!

I'm just - - - ARGH!!

Ray-finned fish, man. There are way too freakin' many of them.

Sheer Poetry

K has an upcoming assignment for creative writing class to write three poems. She is a creative person - but doesn't lean toward writing, so this initially seemed impossible to her. I printed out two poems of mine so she could look at the structure and sort of get started by adapting that structure to her personal experiences. One was about being stressed - I'm entirely certain that a college student will be able to come up with a couple of stanzas of things that stress her!

Then, this week, she sent me a copy of her first poem. The professor had had them read an Ode, then copy that structure to write about their own experiences. I got a laugh out of that. Made me feel like a competent teacher! Her first effort was quite good, and she feels more capable of tackling the assignment, now.

Then I remember that she wrote one, ONE poem when she was in grade school. I saved it (of course I did) and was able to FIND it this morning (wow!) and sent it to her. I thought she'd get a kick out of that.

(I found it? I found it! I FOUND IT!!) hurrah for Me.

Chemistry

Aaaaauuggh(heartfelt wail of frustration)

I have spent HOURS this weekend working out the problems for K's chemistry assignment and then tutoring her through them. The weekly assignments average around 40 problems, and they're almost all math. This is MORE a math class than a chemistry class. I can do it. I can do it! But, working at 'tutoring speed,' it takes so long. Even a student who was good with math would take quite a while to get through this. (I should probably have timed myself in doing it with no distractions; I would like a baseline. Maybe I'll do that next week.)

So, anyway. we know SO MUCH about molar mass and grams to moles to molecules conversions. Also balancing equations. And using balanced equations to calculate moles of reactants and products. And then grams of reactants and products. Or vice-versa.

I need a freakin' large-print periodic table for people with very poor vision.

I should probably balance the rant with a positive note. In one of the early labs, K got overwhelmed by the math and the fact that all the students around her were moving through it more quickly and easily. She took a moment to put her head down and gather her courage. The teacher noticed her discouragement right away, came over, and offered her extra help. Prof also has regular tutoring available (K has been taking full advantage of that) and is just KIND about everything. That is a way better experience than my son had at his uni.

Dyscalculia, man. Sucks turnips. I, a person who went to teacher's college and got a degree specifically to be a math teacher, never even heard of dyscalculia until I read a post about it on Tumblr. For god's sake. It's really, really a crappy disability to have.

Scholarships

It seems like the 'online scholarships' category is just as full of weird, scammy, predatory bullshit as . . every other financial things these days. Damn.

I don't know if I have the fortitude for this shit.

Fall (semester) begins

We moved K back to her dorm today; classes for both kids start tomorrow. She knows and loves her roommate, she knows her way around campus, she knows what to expect from vet tech courses, and we're all a little less fraught. But. Boy do I miss her already.

In sickness and in college

It's just over two weeks until college starts back up for my kiddos. We just got results back from that very, very expensive blood work for my son. Positive for babesia. Start (once more) the double antibiotic and the malaria meds that taste so foul and mess up his head. I can feel tears at the corner of my eyes. Can he even cope with his classes with this shit going on? He's going to be immune compromised and catching every damned cold/flu bug on the whole campus. He's signed up for 400 level classes, at least two of which will not be repeated until Fall 2026 if he misses them. Are we going to have to arm-wrestle the disability office for help (again)? Is he going to be sleeping 12 - 15 hrs a day (again)? I'm. just.

College

One thing I do NOT like about modern college is that, instead of sending you Stuff, they expect you to go on a scavenger hunt and find it. Get a card in the mail with your grades for the semester? No! You must go to the website and find them. Get a bill in the mail? No! Go find it yourself. you disgusting peasant. And, because of two factor authentification, I can't even do THAT unless I also have the kid (with his/her phone) helping.

Went lookin' for K's bill this morning. She found it, and showed it to me. It. Is a bill, all right. It just seems to be missing. The big, helpful scholarship credit. help. help.