Lancaster Diary
10/25/04
Hiya!
Sooo…Classes. I knew they were going to be much different than at
Maine, but even having prepared myself for them they are still very
different from anything I would have expected. Us both being science
majors and in the Honors College, we spend lots of our time in the
lab and in longer lectures. I know personally I could be in class
pretty much all day long, with only short breaks in-between. Here
the longest day I have is 3 hours, and that is once a week on
Friday.
This
semester I am taking 4 classes: Community Biology, Management and
Conservation (both biology classes), Photography, and an American
Studies course that I will hopefully be able to get credit for
American Government with back at UMaine. Erica is taking all the
same classes except instead of photography she’s taking linear
algebra. Their semester classes are set up much different over here.
The first semester here is 10 weeks long however, each class doesn’t
necessarily span all 10 weeks. Some classes go from week 1-10;
others go from week 1-5; and others still from week 6-10. Right now
I am going to 3 classes that span all 10 weeks, but in another 2
weeks, I will start one that spans the last 5.
Every fresher comes in with a degree scheme chosen and they
matriculate from year to year completing only courses that they need
to fulfill their major and their minor (most students have to
complete a minor as well). Every first year student takes, for the
most part, the exact same modules as their fellow first years. The
same thing goes for the second and third year students. Because of
this system, the timetables are arranged so that none of the 100
level courses conflict with each other, none of the 200 level
courses conflict with each other, and so on. This system does make
it a bit tricky however for us American students who are taking
classes all over the board of levels (and departments). It takes a
bit of finagling to work out.
I
do enjoy how the professors teach their classes in such a way, that
even the freshers (or first years) are given a lot of independence.
There is a good emphasis put towards independent study. Next
semester Erica and I will be taking an independent study to replace
a lab we couldn’t fit into our schedule. Neither of us are quite
sure what this will end up entailing, but because it’s a field
course, it will likely end up with many trips to the lakes region.
We then must submit reports to the biology professor who is advising
us. It seems like a pretty exciting experience!
Check back later for more updates on classes. J
Erica and Jen
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