Classes

Sooo… as you know (or don’t know), I am double majoring in Marketing and Organization & Human Resources (OHR for short) with a minor in Finance…a mouthful, I know…basically I’m studying business. So as a student of business, I had quite a few requirements going into my senior year of college (btw, save the date: May 21, 2010) J For Marketing, I needed another 1.5¹ credits plus a class that can only be taken as a second semester senior. I needed two more classes for OHR. Finance is done (thank God). I also needed to take macroeconomics (or Global Economy as it’s called at WU) and one science class that I have been avoiding since freshman year (don’t judge me). So for those of you counting, that’s 15.5 required credits.

This semester, I’m taking a full course load (5 classes) this semester as usual and I actually like my classes…well most of them. (Sidenote: the courses are a bit different here. In addition to lectures, there are contacts and tutorials. Lectures are like regular class, which can be an hour or two. Tutorials are like sub-sections, sometimes more important than the lectures because that is usually where any work is handed in. Contacts, not offered for all classes, are similar to tutorials as another way to go over the subject. I like the reinforcement of the “tutes” and contacts.) Ok… Let’s do a rundown shall we:

• Managing Workplace Conflict – counts toward my HR major (score!) ... Title is self-explantory…Really useful for life and the workplace
• Product and Brand Management – counts as a Marketing elective (nice!) ... Surprisingly not offered at WU (unless it’s through U College²) but a good skill to have going into the workforce ... I joined an “elite group” … meaning that for 6 extra credit points, my group has to do 6 case studies (so easy in comparison to Olin) and “present” them to the class… in this case, present = teach the tutorial ...There’s the potential to earn up to 15 credit points based on how well we do compared to the other elite groups…not quite sure of all the details right now
• Introduction to Macroeconomics – counts for my BSBA (cheah!) ... Again, self-explanatory…but, I’m actually understanding economics for the first time ::knocks on wood::
• Australia’s Marine Environment – counts for that one science course I need to take (FTW!)⁴ ... You know how they say good things count to those who wait…sometimes that can turn around to bite you in the, er, butt J But in this case it actually worked out in my favor. Ok the science part of it is not so great, but the field trips are! We’ve already had our first one to Moreton Bay³ and our second is to Heron Island (Great Barrier Reef), and it’s all paid for by WU J

Can you guess which one I’m not a fan of? …No? That’s because it’s Australian Popular Culture (which may count for something…IDK)So we’re learning about Aussie identity and whatnot and how it all relates to and is represented in pop culture. My issues: 1) We have a lecture (1 hr), a contact (2hr movie screening), and a tutorial (1 hr) ALL ON THE SAME DAY…and the professor/lecturer presides over each and every one…luckily, she’s entertaining K 2) We have assignments and readings (to see if we read) due every week plus two essays…ok ok, so we don’t have any exams…but this is “Pop Culture”… not a big deal…why am I doing more work for this than any other class???

¹ I needed to take Marketing Research for my major, but it’s only offered in the fall at Olin (WU’s business school). So in order to come to UQ, I had to take it through the MBA program, which only counts for 1.5 credits since those classes last for a half-semester.

² U College= University College= Night classes

³ Separate post coming soon about this trip

⁴FTW=for the win