BUIC registration for classes: Term One, Academic school year 2008-2009
The fifth term in a five and half year period* started this last week and the Siamerican finds himself registered with 19 credits, classes scheduled on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, as is the schedule that follows. Half of his classes were attended and thus far, the term is not looking disheartening
Thursday: General Psychology; Communication Consulting and Training;
Friday: Managment; Introduction to Economics; Art Appreciation
Saturday: Media and Society; Communication and Development;
The Siamerican made it to school on Friday and today, Saturday as to get an idea of his classes, but chose to stay away from school on Thursday as to cool down after a scene he had on Wednesday morning in the city campus’s auditorium during the hectic class Add-Drop event.
To make a long story short, the Siamerican let impatience and arrogance get the best of him, taking his frustrations out on the University’s top man, the Dean himself, cursing and shouting in front of dozens of students and staff who could only pretend to be indifferent to the scene that very few could find the stress and guts to engage in.
The ineffective and system-less ‘circus’ that was in place had proved quite irritating and pressuring not only for students, but for the entire faculty that was in charge of straightening out student’s schedules and classes to suite each and everyone’s individual needs. On the bright side, such an redundant process has only one way to go in future times, and hopefully that’s towards a more systematic and effective system.
Nonetheless, after much contemplation and consideration, the Siamerican’s first agenda on Friday morning was to approach the Dean and make a gesture of apology in person, for whatever it was worth. The Siamerican realizes that yelling, shouting, and making demands of anybody, especially someone with prestigious shoes, is of no characteristic for a responsible adult, and best left in Kindergarten.
Initially after the dispute, the Siamerican ended up adding a different class on the University’s online system, than the one he initially intended for (which needed the Dean’s approval to add an extra seat to the already fully-booked class) and could move on with his life, taking one baby step forward towards the day, when he can leave the academia circle behind in Wonderland, and emerge fully into the real world of business.
Speaking of which, business has been busy as ever. The project that he has been managing is gradually moving forward, the monstrous state of California’s data gathering completion in the near horizon, of which the next states of Arizona and Nevada can be soon conquered. Building, managing, and maintaining a remote team has proved to be the ultimate test.
As for this semester, the Siamerican will diligently struggle to maintain the balance of academics and business, applying knowledge and application across the clashing boundaries of two opposing, yet similar worlds. However, as the Siamerican is no longer in need of a long-shot ‘perfect student’ scholarship and all the stress and politics it takes to convince the University to award such an honor, academics loses out on priority this term and here on. Rather than be determined to intentionally maintain the high GPA, the Siamerican will show up when he needs to and do his best when there, but will purposely award no stress energy to his academics, as he needs all the reserves he has to devote to the project which pays his bills, and will be his stepping stone into the real world.
In other words, there probably won’t be another blog here bragging about straight A’s or complaining about redundant systems, for that has already been covered. If anything, it’s get the C, Degree, as to Flee with Glee, and anything beyond that will be what it is.
Stay tuned…
*Initially starting the first half of 2003, after a trip back to the USA coming back to study all of 2004 at BUIC, 2005, 2006, and 2007 were an extended break away from the academic world, instead writing as a journalist/columnist for a English magazine full time, the while teaching English, part time.
Alas, mid terms have been completed. Last week, the Siamerican had four exams followed by three more this week. Five of the exams were multiple choice, short term memory stimulants, while the other two essay exams requiring the SW to make arguments on relevant topics.
The first exam last Wednesday for Media & Society included three essays covering Media regulation, government control and capitalsim. The SW reviewed his powerpoint slides diligently over the next several days to successfully execute exams in Psychology, Economics, Consulting & Training, Management, and Art Appreciation. Yesterday, was the last exam for Communication & Development course which also had three essay questions regarding Semiotics, Access to IT/Digital Divide, and Community Radio as a Democratic stepping stone.
Midterm scores have been announced and the Siamerican Wanderer proudly announces his results as follows:
Communication Consulting & Training: 17.5 /20
Management: 69/70 (Class and Section High)
Psychology: 49/65 (Section High–there were a few scores in a different section that got higher)
Economics: 38.5/40 (Class and Section High)
Art Appreciation: 43.5/45
Media & Society 97/100 (Class High)
Communication & Development: 97/100 (Class High)
The school term is winding to its end now coming on the final week of exams.
Classes wrapped up a few weeks back, the previous week being the first week of exams in which the Siamerican Wanderer completed three exams:
Media & Society was the first on Wednesday; this consisted of four essay questions focusing on Media’s role and responsibility regarding Violence in society, Media management in Crises situation–particularly in regards to the Bangkok International Airport (Suvarnabhumi) siege by protesters several weeks ago, Media roles and responsibilities in Political Communications in light of Thai political turmoil in recent times, and one broad yet intricate question regarding the current ‘knowledge based’ society and how to to align current realty of social-economical-educational gaps and the common vission of an information society of equality and universal access and application.
Thursday’s exam was a 75 multiple choice question exam for General Psychology. These questions covered everything from Personalities, Dysfunctions, Disorders, Sexual Development, Personalities, Therapies, Psychoanalytical, Behaviorism, Humanism, and Social Psychology.
After this exam, the SW began to come down with a terrible code and head sickness. The psychology material he was studying the previous day suggested that stress and a loss of perceived control could very well be a prime cause to the ’sickness’ but then again, what the hell did psychologists ever know…
Going in to Friday’s Economics exam Friday afternoon with a full on fever and cold was torturing. He was prepared for the most part doing his best to choose the best possible answer in a hundred questions regarding consumer and producer surplus, Nominal and Real GDP, Deflation, Savings, Investment, free trade, tariffs, supply and demand curves, shifting equilibrium, and all the basic formulas to calculate theoretical yet fundamental economics.
If anything, the SW has a clearer insight into all three subjects mentioned, and should be in full health for the next exam on Tuesday, December 23 in Communications Consulting & Training. Christmas Eve will have two exams–Management and Art Appreciation, with the final exam in Communication & Development on Boxer day.
stay tuned…
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Tuesday afternoon commenced with Communication Consulting & Training’s 60 multiple choice and two short essay final examination. The Siamerican was prepared to confidently pass, areas covered ranging from consultancy business ethics, role playing & experiential learning, to the fundamental dos and don’ts of training-informative presentations, managing and working in a start-up consultancy regard developing,as well as maintaining and managing client relations and expectations– recognizing scope (job contract) change creeps, and perhaps even more important, recognizing and exploiting business opportunity from threat in the rapidly evolving market of corporate and organizational training and consultancy markets.
Wednesday, Christmas Eve morning kicked off with a 100 question multiple choice in management covering eleven chapters from the text foundation, “Management in the New Work Place” –a broad yet vital scope covering the continuing evolution of management from agro-industrial factories of a classical multi-tiered, vertically structured skeleton, to the flexible horizontally empowered models of mobile and remote network ports of today and tomorrow. To keep it simple: the attaining of organizational goals via planning, leading, organizing and controlling of organizational resources.
Wednesday afternoon required even more memorization for yet another multiple choice exam. This time 80 questions for the one hour, one credit required Art Appreciation, covering certain western artworks from the Middle Ages, Gothic, Romanesque Renaissance, 19th & 20th (Modern), and Contemporary and post modern periods: Da Vinci, Flemish, Celtic Monks, Frank Lloyd Wright, Titian, Manet, Monet, Andy Worhal and a whole lot of others in between.
Finally, today, Boxing day, exactly four years aniversery of the South Asian Tsunami, the final exam for Communications & Development was completed, consisting of four essay discussion questions in light of Government PR, Political Communications, Crisis Management, and the prospects of Thailand progressing development as the a regional ITC hub and leader (Software for SMEs)…
And that officially concludes academics for 2008. Tuition for five classes was paid on Christmas Day, and perhaps one/two more will be added second week of the New year when siamerican will begin the second term of 2008-2009 academic year.
Prospected completion of Communication Arts degree: With 19 classes (57 out of 129) remaining, it is targeted and realistic to have reached the goal at the end of the second term of 2009-2010, May 2010–approximately 17 months from now…