First Day of School Tomorrow

I am SO very excited...tomorrow I go to my first day of classes for my BS in computer science. EEEEEEEE!

I've got two classes this semester, which are prerequisites for just about everything else: Programming I (Java) and Discrete Structures (I know it's spelled different from "discreet" but it still always makes me giggle..."shhh, it's math"

).

I'm all sorts of dorkily worked up to go to my first classes since 2001, when I took an intro CIS class at a community college back in AZ. Before that, the last time I was in a classroom was 1997 when I graduated with my geology degree. I'm a little worried that I'll be blown away by my peers, as I've got NO background in programming whatsoever and it's been eons since I have used math higher than algebra (and I'll likely be one of the oldest students

). I did take up to Calc II but that was back in 1994, and I haven't really used it since. I've skimmed through the first two chapers of my math book to refamiliarize myself a bit with the terms, symbols, etc. and some of it is coming back to me, thankfully. It's way back in the far reaches of my brain, I just need to coax it out!

I'm going to try to get a good night's sleep and get to campus early tomorrow...there's a blizzard coming (when is there NOT a blizzard or snowstorm coming in Chicago lately?!), so I'll probably need some extra energy & time to dig out and maneuver my way there. I also want to try to FIND my classrooms before, say, classtime rolls around too. I've only got 10 minutes between classes and I don't want to be getting lost...yeah, that might be a little embarassing on the first day!

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Comments

undomiel

Have fun with it! I've always thought that every good sysadmin should know a bit about programming. Boo hiss to blizzards in Chicago though. They made me miss my flight in December!

skrpune

Thanks undomiel! I would totally trade Chicago winters for Phoenix winters (if you can call them that) right about now...I lived there (Tempe) for 9 years, and I miss it so!

snadam

skrpune wrote: »

Thanks undomiel! I would totally trade Chicago winters for Phoenix winters (if you can call them that) right about now...I lived there (Tempe) for 9 years, and I miss it so!

you can always come back

have fun at school!

dynamik

This is a stupid question, but where are you actually going? I saw you were looking at WGU, but that thread got too long, and I don't really care about them, so I stopped paying attention to it. Did you decide on something else?

Regardless, good luck! Programming isn't too bad if you have a good head on your shoulders (which you do). The syntax will come with a little bit of practice, but people who can't think pragmatically will struggle no matter how well they know the syntax.

mikej412

skrpune wrote: »

there's a blizzard coming

Blizzard? They still haven't cleared the road out front yet from the last dusting! Time to make an emergency bird seed run!

Yeah, which school? University of Chicago? Northwestern? U of I? ITT? DePaul? Loyola? Northeastern Illinois? Roosevelt?

Or that Computer Learning Center that advertises on radio that you should get the salary you deserve?

skrpune

mikej412 wrote: »

Blizzard? They still haven't cleared the road out front yet from the last dusting! Time to make an emergency bird seed run!

Yeah, I know...no fair! I'm still sore from digging out the car yesterday, now we'll have to do it again, ARGH!

mikej412 wrote:

Yeah, which school? University of Chicago? Northwestern? U of I? ITT? DePaul? Loyola? Northeastern Illinois? Roosevelt?

Or that Computer Learning Center that advertises on radio that you should get the salary you deserve?

Very funny!

I'm going to NEIU, doing their computer science BS with a concentration in IT. Or at least that's what my major will be once I fill out the paperwork this week. I looked into University of Chicago's online program, and if for some reason I can't hack it as an in-person student at NEIU, or if I have to start working full time or if we decide to have kids, then I'll transfer over there after I get my prerequisites done (you need at least two semesters of programming and a couple other things I've forgotten offhand).

dynamik wrote:

This is a stupid question, but where are you actually going? I saw you were looking at WGU, but that thread got too long, and I don't really care about them, so I stopped paying attention to it. Did you decide on something else?

Regardless, good luck! Programming isn't too bad if you have a good head on your shoulders (which you do). The syntax will come with a little bit of practice, but people who can't think pragmatically will struggle no matter how well they know the syntax.

Thanks! Yeah, I got turned off to WGU after I realized that I could do their entire curriculum without ever having to go there, and after I kept getting canned-sounding emails from them. In my opinion, it's more of a place to go if you're already experienced but just need certs/degree to back it up. That's not quite where I'm at.

Nobylspoon

Good luck.

Classes don't start until next week for me. I have Intro to Programming (C++) Fund of Networking and Into to Computing. I just started on an Information Security associates.

skrpune

Nobylspoon wrote: »

Good luck.

Classes don't start until next week for me. I have Intro to Programming (C++) Fund of Networking and Into to Computing. I just started on an Information Security associates.

Thanks and good luck to you with school too!

aordal

Oh man C++ is fun! your favorite output will be "hello world" and your favorite variables will be "foo" and "bar"

at least mine were =d

the_Grinch

Now remember to dress nice and play nice with the other children! All joking aside, good luck and enjoy it! Don't worry too much about the other students and ask a question if you got them. I was lucky to have a lot of courses with adult learners and they were great at asking questions. Always remember, if you have a question someone else probably does too!

benbuiltpc

C++ was the first class I took towards my B.S.. Never cared much for programming, which sucked because that's what my degree focused on. Now I'm enrolled in the online MIS program at UIS. More business/systems admin focused.

The best part is, I don't have to drive in a blizzard to get there.

Chicago blows... why do we continue to live here?

BradleyHU

yo good luck with that. I start grad school next week. I'm taking 2 classes, 1 undergrad & 1 grad class...Calc II(because i didnt take that in undergrad) & Operating Systems Security. I'm definitely not looking forward to Calc II at all...and the fact that i took Calc I in summer 2002 doesnt help either. My last math classes were stats & discrete structures and those was in spring 2003. this is going to be an interesting semester to say the least.

mikej412

skrpune wrote: »

I'm going to NEIU

I always get Northern Illinois and Northeastern Illinois confused. But in the past one of the popular "high end" staffing agencies would actively recruit graduates at one of those two -- so I've worked with herds of new graduates (from one of those schools

) who seemed to know their stuff.

Finally checked the weather report -- it's a blizzard because of the wind and blowing snow, not the actual quantity of snow (only 2 to 5 inches across Northern Illinois). But I did pass a fleet of IDOT plows already standing by at the local hospital.

Slowhand

My classes don't start until next week. Well, my class, I should say. I'm only taking English 1B this semester, focusing a little more on certs and working to earn money for paying off debts and taking care of a few things that have been nagging at me for a few years. Next semester will be a bit more exciting, with me taking Calc I and a groovy multi-cultural studies course that covers rock, pop, and jazz in the US and their roots in other cultures. Sadly, my full-time endeavors won't see the light of day until 2010.

Here's to a fruitful year for all of us, both academically and professionaly.

jnwdmb

I get the feeling that your excited little lady!

captobvious

BradleyHU wrote: »

yo good luck with that. I start grad school next week. I'm taking 2 classes, 1 undergrad & 1 grad class...Calc II(because i didnt take that in undergrad) & Operating Systems Security. I'm definitely not looking forward to Calc II at all...and the fact that i took Calc I in summer 2002 doesnt help either. My last math classes were stats & discrete structures and those was in spring 2003. this is going to be an interesting semester to say the least.

Calc II is a breeze. When I did my BSCS I had to go through Calc IV and two Diffy Screws. XD

You don't want Diffy Q's if you don't need them. I have yet to get a job where I used that info!

skrpune

jnwdmb wrote: »

I get the feeling that your excited little lady!

Gee, could ya tell?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that tonight I'll be a lot like that little kid on the Disney commercial ("too excited to sleeeeep!")...so I'm trying to tucker my brain out so I might be able to fall asleep at some point before midnight.

skrpune

Slowhand wrote: »

Here's to a fruitful year for all of us, both academically and professionaly.

Well said, here here! And let's all remember to balance this

with some of this

!

@bradleyHu, congrats on grad school, good luck!

UnixGuy

Enjoy, Java will be interesting, and don't worry about discrete it's easy and much easier than calculus

paintb4707

Good luck! I'm going to visit suny sometime this week thanks to your suggestion.

Hager

Good Luck skrpune,

My wife starts her IT classes tomorrow as well. She goes from 9 AM - 7:00 PM on Thrusdays. She is finished with her General Education classes, and now will be working on the Core classes for an A.A in Network Administration, then she will go to the local private college, to finish up her degree in Computer Science (Cheaper to go to the local Community College first).

At the same time I am starting WGU February 1st, so I can study along with her while I go to work during the day.

Aldur

How was your first day of schook skrpune? Alot of useless orientation I bet

The start of school/semester is always the same, after a while you look forward to it, one more day of not doing home work

Anyhow I hope it goes well for you, I'm just finishing up my BSCS degree and this thread reminds me of how excited I was when I first started school up again. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Kasor

Take it easy. Programming is all about logic. Remember the title, keyword and method on doing "loop statement," "searching," Top-2-bottom, box-in.... It is all about logic.

It was a little confusion in the beginning, so ask question and try to move ahead to the lesson and it will save your time in front of the computer at night doing program while you buddies are out on the town to drink with the hottie

skrpune

First day went well today. I did lots of running around campus and I'm dead tired, but it was a good day. A lot of the class time was typical first class blah blah blah, but we actually did cover some light material. Hopefully we'll get into some more meaty stuff in the next classes.

paintb4707 wrote: »

Good luck! I'm going to visit suny sometime this week thanks to your suggestion.

Awesome! Hope it works out for you. Stony Brook is a great school and it's a great campus too.

@Hager - good luck to you and your wife! You're right, it's much cheaper to go to a community college first to get those core courses out of the way. I totally lucked out with my transfers...my previous bachelors satisfied just about all my general education classes. Other than my comp sci classes, I just have to take one poli sci class on state government/IL constitution & pass a state constitution exam. Phew, good to know that first bachelors wasn't for nothin'!

the_Grinch

You should see if you can CLEP the poly sci course. My college allows you to CLEP so a lot of people would ask what the minimum score the college wanted and then would study for and take the exam. Cheaper then taking a course that isn't related to your major. Bad thing about education....every department wants a piece of the pie! On a me note (can't go too long without talking about myself haha) my diploma should be coming in the mail anyday!

skrpune

nope, it's a state requirement, nothing to do with the poli sci department itself - for some strange reason, you're required to take the state constitution exam in order to graduate from a state university in IL. No getting out of this one...

the_Grinch

Bah that sucks! I always liked poly sci courses (kicked butt in my required International Politics course), but couldn't imagine doing it if I didn't like it. Oh well, glad to hear you had a good first day and you are one of the few people I've heard say they were excited to go to school!

vCole

Good luck & enjoy!