Spring Quarter in Review

Woke up this morning feeling SO good because it’s finally my summer break!! I finished my last final exam on Tuesday at 4pm and have been soaking up every second since (and by that I mean, of course, doing absolutely nothing productive). I’m so excited for the break, and after a rather long, unusual school year, I think everyone could use the time off. Today I’m sharing a little bit about all the unique classes I took over the past ten weeks. For those of you who are new, I attend a university that’s on the quarter system, and I have majors in Criminology and Geography and minors in Entrepreneurship and Psychology. I ended up taking three geography courses this quarter, so I’m officially finished with both of my majors now!

But first, today’s outfit. You’ve heard me complaining for weeks now about how I need to update my shorts collection, and I found the cutest denim pair at Target the other night! They are my favorite length (4 inch inseam) and are high waisted, perfect for some of my more cropped summer tops. I kept it casual today by pairing these shorts with my olive green bodysuit, some layered rose gold necklaces, and space buns! Am I cool enough to pull off this hairstyle? I don’t know. I swear that the buns were even when I left the house, even though they seem kind of lopsided in some of these pics… ah well. I also didn’t realize that I wore this bodysuit on the blog just last week. Whattya gonna do!

Now, onto my classes…

Geographic Statistics

Unfortunately, Geographic Statistics was a requirement for my major, and it was just as boring as it sounds… Nothing against the professor though. There’s really not much that can be done to make a required math class like this interesting. I was nervous going into it because I have historically not understood statistics (like, at all—everyone says it’s easy but I’d much prefer calculus over stats), but I was pleasantly surprised to realize this class was incredibly easy. In fact, it may have been the easiest class I’ve taken in college! And to top it off, the professor made our final exam optional, so I actually finished this course last week.

Climatology

I took this class as an elective requirement within my major. We ended up talking about all sorts of factors that affect the climate, including solar radiation, zenith angles, axial tilt, latitude, continentality, etc. (I’m trying to throw in fancy words to sound cool, but if I’m being honest, I still don’t even know what a zenith angle is.) We also talked about climate change in this course and discussed various types of climates, including the Koppen Climate Classification system. This was the only class I had this quarter that was taught entirely online, so unfortunately, I struggled to pay attention. I think I would have enjoyed this course a lot more, and gotten a lot more out of it, had it been in person. But it was still very interesting! The climate is so complicated, and I’m amazed by the people who initially figured out how our ocean currents, circulation systems, and orientation related to the sun work in tandem to create a habitable Earth. Mind boggling!

Geography of Colorado

I loved the professor of this class—he was really fun and always told us super cool stories! I took this course as another elective requirement in my major, and I’m so glad I did. Colorado has some very interesting history, and I loved being able to travel to some of the places I learned about in class. This course was supposed to involve several field trips, but unfortunately due to pandemic protocols, we weren’t able to do any. Big bummer. In this class, we talked about some of the geology of Colorado (such as how famous places likes Red Rocks and Garden of the Gods were formed), the economic drivers in the state, and lots and lots of history. In fact, I would argue this was more of a history course than a geography class. My favorite lecture was when we learned about Alferd Packer, the Colorado cannibal! If you haven’t heard of him before, you should definitely check out his story.

Forensic Psychology

I recently decided to add a Psychology minor because I realized I had room in my schedule and figured, “Why not?” I was SO excited to take this forensic course, and it definitely lived up to my expectations! I had this same professor for my first psychology class freshman year and absolutely loved her. Forensic Psych was even more interesting because it was the perfect intersection of my interests in criminology and psychology. Far too often, mental health problems are criminalized, and this course gave me a better understanding of how the legal system treats the mentally ill. We talked all about the roles of psychologists in the legal system, how juries are chosen, the psychology of psychopaths, determining competency, etc. It was fascinating, and it gave me some really good things to think about regarding my research in criminology—sometimes what I learned in this course corresponded with my criminological studies, and sometimes it was contradictory. Either way, this class was extremely valuable and will serve me well in the future.

Social Entrepreneurship

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I have been taking a series of one-day, one-credit classes for my Entrepreneurship minor. Sadly, this class was definitely the worst one I’ve taken! I was expecting this course to be about practicing social responsibility in your business and striving for a triple bottom line—people, planet, and profit—rather than just profit. However, this was very clearly the first time this professor was teaching one of these one-day classes, and he was trying to cover way too much. He hadn’t chosen a specific topic at all and instead tried to teach us everything about starting a business, including the financial aspects, management, etc. Of course, these are all topics I have already taken specific courses on! So I didn’t learn anything new in this class, and it was extremely boring. Very disappointing.

Market Discovery and Product-Fit

I wanted to take this class only because I really like the professor who was teaching it. It wasn’t the most interesting Saturday course I’ve taken, but the professor made it fun and engaging nonetheless. We learned about strategies to break into a new or existing market and how to evaluate whether your product is in the correct market or not. Like I said, not the most interesting or relevant to my pursuits, but I enjoyed catching up with the professor. He has been supportive of my blogging endeavors since freshman year and was very excited for me when I told him I finally started receiving product/monetizing the blog! That was really special to hear from him.

And that’s a wrap! I’m still waiting on three grades, so the quarter isn’t *quite* over yet… But it is SO hard to believe that I am already technically a senior! Where did these last three years go?! Ah, that’s right, the pandemic stole half of them… But I’m confident that even without Covid, I would still feel like my college years are flying by. I am now finished with both of my majors, so I just have to finish my minors in the fall! I’m registered for one last Saturday class and two Psychology classes, which are the only requirements I have left. That means—when I study abroad next spring—I get to take whatever the heck I want, just for fun! Doesn’t that sound like the best way to finish your college career?? I’m excited for senior year and all it will have to offer.

As always, thanks for reading today’s post.

-Grace

Outfit Details:

Olive Green Bodysuit: Francesca’s, $20, last worn here | Denim Shorts: Target, $18, buy HERE | Brown Sandals: DSW, $19, last worn here | Brown Circle Purse: Target, $30, last worn here