 |
| It has been a long time since I was rushing to get rides in before sunset |
Since last semester I have been
waiting eagerly for the start of my 4th semester at the University of Houston (GO COOGS).
The reason is because this will be the first time that I will finally be in my
major specific classes. Which for those that do not know is electrical
engineering, and to be more specific EE with EE option. For the past few
semesters I have been mostly just getting basics out of the way as well as a lot
of math and sciences classes. Actually based on my flow chart I am finally done
with all the math classes I need for the rest of my degree plan.
When I was registering for my
classes I had a little drama with just the fact that my scheduler opened up a
few days later then most of the rest of campus.
This caused me to be unable to get the times and spots that I wanted for a lot of my classes. Several emails later and a few meetings with some professors I finally was able to get into most the classes that I wanted. However school is not the only thing that is going on in my life. As I start this semester I will also be in my first year as a professional cyclist with Astellas and I did not want to do too much at once. I have had long talks with my coach as well as my dad about what would be the best plan of action for when it comes to making a school schedule. I did not want to choose classes that will put me too far behind in terms of hours, or be too overwhelming and hurt my grades and my cycling.
I ended up registering for 16 hours
with the hopes that I will drop one three-hour class to bring my schedule down
to a more manageable 13 hours. The classes I registered for were:
- ECE 2300 (Circuit Analysis)
- ECE 2100 (Circuit Analysis lab)
- ECE 2317 (Applied Electricity and Magnetism)
- ECON 2304 (Micro Economics)
- ENGI 2304 (Technical Communications)
- ENGI 2334 (Intro to Thermodynamics)
 |
| Thermo Kind of stood out |
From just looking at those classes part
of me gets really excited while the other part of me realizes that I finally
made it to the part of my education where I will finally specialize in
something that is not just a general subject. Looking at those classes the two
most important classes would end up being my circuits and my applied EM
classes. Which I have heard are also some of the two harder classes in my
major. Going through winter break I was thinking that I would go to all my
classes for the first two weeks and probably end up dropping EM and staying in
Thermo (EM and Thermo were my two courses that were on the chopping block), that all changed.
During finals week last semester. Where I
met with a few of my professors to get an idea of what to expect in their
classes as well as let them be aware of my cycling situations and the way that
I work and function. This worked great as many of my professors in the ECE
department (Electrical and Computer Engineering) were very helpful and full of
advice and knowledge that can help me out. Fast forward to the first week of
school and these same professors were more then willing to listen to what I
have to say and get an idea of what I have to say. Doctor Gülin (ECE 2300) and
Doctor Jackson (ECE 2317) were happy to sit with me and talk with me in length
about what to expect in their classes. Even when I showed up to their first
classes the way they taught and handled the material was some of the best I
have ever had at UH. Both professors in the first week of school were so good at teaching that I feel like they have
taught me more then all of my my entire semester of my electricity and magnetism physics class I took last fall. However, not
only were both these professors coming to class with notes, energy, kindness
and able to listen and help students out. I also had several friends in these
classes. Friends that I study well with, and feel that I can learn from if I
have questions.
Thermo was quite a different story.
I came to a few classes and the professor seemed un-motivated, there was a lack
of energy in the classroom and I had no friends in the class. Not to mention
this class was late enough in the day that it would effectively take out of two days of cycling from my calendar a week. I came to meet with this professor to let him
know about my situation with cycling and how I am considering dropping a class.
Not only was this professor not being helpful with me, but he could not even hold
eye contact with me while I was taking with him.
It was a combination between how motivated and great of a instructor my EM professor was combined with the fact that I have friends I can study with that led my hand to dropping my Thermo course.
 |
| Almost halfway! (Green is what I'm taking. Red is what I took) |
Now I have my 13 hours set for the
semester and plan to grind through it. I know that it is going to be a hard
spring, but I am highly motivated and want to learn these materials. It is the
first time that I am coming to class motivated and eager to learn new material
for the first time since maybe calculus in high school.
I am also excited with what is on
the horizon with Astellas. My first race of the season will be Tour of New Braunfels,
which will be in two weeks (Feb 1stand 2nd). The first
time I will be meeting and racing with my team will be at team camp, which will
be early March for the week of my spring break (perfect timing).
For those of you that have wondered
how am I going to race while in school. All I will say is that Astellas puts
lots of emphasis on education. They are willing to move my race calendar around
school dates and exams to make sure I do not miss a day or exam. They have been
amazing with this and it makes me feel like I made the best choice for teams to
continue my growth in my education and cycling.
 |
| Getting caught by dark on rides can really stink, but the sunsets have almost been worth it. |
No comments:
Post a Comment