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People (often including myself) sometimes say that college is a waste of time. But while it is true that I currently use very little if anything that I directly learned in college, the most important classroom lesson from college is how to learn. No, I didn't learn COBOL, RPG, ASP, VB, or how to get around on a midrange computer, but I learned the foundations of programming that have helped me learn other languages. That's just an example of course.
I would argue that virtually all of the most important things you learn in college are outside of the classroom, but that's not the point of this.
Using a copy of my college transcript, I am going to attempt to see if I can remember at least one thing that I learned in each class, or perhaps in some cases a vague reference to what the class was about. I graduated more than five years ago, so this might not be easy.
Fall 1996
Intro to Astronomy - My professor was on the team that decides where to point the Hubble Telescope, and he showed a lot of cool pictures. Definitely the most multi-media class I ever took.
Intro to Astronomy Lab - Wow, this is bad...I was trying to remember a single lab that we did. I remember doing something with a lightbulb that I think showed something about refraction of light, and one lab with a map of stars.
Intro to Computer Programming - I learned to program to Ada, but I can't claim to remember much of anything about the language now. I remember that Ada was primarily used by the Department of Defense.
Intro to Computer Programming Lab - I don't think I missed a single point in this class. This and the next programming lab were the only A+'s I ever got.
Advanced English Composition - I learned that I was not as good a writer as I previously thought.
Honors Analytical Geometry and Calculus - I'm not going to pretend that I learned anything, because I failed the mess out of this class. The professor was awful, but more importantly, I was just in over my head. I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to take an honors version of a class in a subject that I struggled with in high school.
Spring 1997
Intro to Computer Science - I'm sure I learned in-depth programming concepts that are buried somewhere in the back of my head, but I just don't realize they are there.
Intro to Computer Science Lab - Once again, I don't think I can describe a single specific lab that we did, but I know I did really well.
English Literature I - I remember that we read several Shakespeare plays.
Analytical Geometry and Calculus - Something about derivatives. I'm pretty sure that the derivative of x^2 = 2x, but I don't think we should get more complicated than that.
Intro to Psychology - My TA reminded me of Justine Bateman. Honestly, that's the best I can do.
Public Speaking - Probably one of the more memorable classes. I guess it helped me a little bit get over my fear of public speaking. Somehow, most all of my speeches ended up being about internet censorship.
Fall 1997
Software Development Systems - We learned C++, which has actually stuck with me a little bit. I don't actively use it at work, but I think I could write a program in it fairly quickly. Plus, it's very similar to Java, which I do use a little bit at work.
Digital Computer Fundamentals - Also known as the weed-out class. I learned about AND and OR gates and how to make weird looking charts with them. The professor was phenomenally bad. Thanks to an amazing scale, I passed this class.
Calculus and Analytical Geometry II - Horrific professor...the mere thought of him actually makes me shudder. I actually fell asleep during an exam, and I think I didn't even go to the final. Thank you, forgiveness policy.
Discrete Mathematics - I'm not trying to be funny...I seriously don't even know what this class was about. Unless my transcript is wrong, I took it...I got a C+, so I must have faked it or something. Seriously...is discrete math done in secrecy or something?
Intro to Religious Studies - Life is suffering. That's either Hindu or Buddhism, I can't remember.
Spring 1998
Data Structures - The first project in this class about made me change my major...it involved writing a program to calculuate how two knights, placed on a portion of a chessboard, could switch places in the minimum number of moves. Needless to say, I couldn't even write such a program now...
Microcomputers - This class went along with the previous elecrical engineering class...I don't remember much specifically about it, except that I didn't have to take the final for it.
Engineering Economics - I do remember taking this class. I think the basic point of it was looking up some stuff in some charts and doing a few calculations. I'm not really sure what those tables were or what we were calculating. I think it had something to do with future and present value or something.
Calculus and Analytical Calculus II - Much better (read as "easier") professor this time around. I think we did a lot of integrals. I think the integral of 2x = x^2, but I wouldn't swear by it.
Summer 1998
General Physics with Calculus I - Heat makes gases expand or something.
General Physics with Calculus Lab I - We got to play with a few cool toys, including things that smashed into each other so you could measure the energy transfer between them. Oh yeah, and my lab partner was hot.
General Physics with Calculus II - My teacher was a hippie.
General Physics with Calculus Lab II - Less fun labs than the first one, but I can't think of any specifically.
Fall 1998
Programming Languages - There are a lot of programming languages.
Software Design & Development - There is a lot more to being a programmer than just programming. Probably the most practical class of my four years. I learned how difficult it is to write programs as a team.
American Literature II - Hmmm...now I'm not sure if that class I was remembering was American Lit. I or II. I only remember one of them...I only remember one professor. Hmmm...that's going to bother me.
Engineering Statistics I - Probably the least competent teacher I ever had, and it wasn't even a TA. Yikes. Brandon had her for another class this same semester and even he said she was awful. We did a bunch of crap that you can have Excel do for you, so who cares about doing it by hand?
Calculus III - Also known as "the one I passed on the first try". We learned how to determine the volume of three dimensional spaces. I don't remember how, nor am I sure why I would ever want to do this.
Spring 1999
Intro to Speech Communication - Pretty interesting class. Apparently, despite the fact that women themselves often call each other "girl", it is demeaning and offensive and lowers them. And no, this class was taught by a guy!
Intro to Operating Systems - This class was NOT what I thought it was going to be, although I can't even remember who taught it, much less what we actually did in it.
Compiler Construction - I think this class had a semester long project, which is never a good idea for a procrastinator. It must have turned out OK because I got an A.
Ethical and Societal Issues in Computing - Pretty interesting, but this class is most well-known as being the only class Brandon and I had together. We both started writing the major paper for this class the night before it was due (and fairly late at that), and we got the two highest grades in the class (they were on completely different topics, before you get suspicious). Go 1122!
Principles of Physical Geography - I only went to this class a few times. I remember something about the different types of clouds. It had a few built-in labs, where we had to do stuff outside...I think we drew maps or something.
Fall 1999
Software Interface Design - I had no idea there were actually different keyboard layouts. One of my projects was a smart design of a remote control.
Intro to Computer Algorithms - I remember learning the bubble sort, and several other sorts, but I couldn't begin to describe them. This is was the internet is for.
Intro to Computer Engineering - Possibly the hardest class that I passed. Not sure what it was about.
Intro to Computer Engineering Lab - We did stuff in Assembly language, which I hope and pray I will never have to use in real life. The only lab where people spent so much time in the lab working on their projects that they actually had to bring meals in.
Applied Matrix Theory - Probably the easiest math class I had in college. Couldn't tell you anything about this class that you can't tell from the title.
Spring 2000
Intro to Java Programming - Oddly enough, this was the ONLY computer science class in my four years that had computers in the classroom. I could still write some basic Java stuff nowadays.
Computer Vision Digital Image Processing - Absolutely nothing like I thought it would be. Horrible teacher...English wasn't even close to his first language. Almost all of our assignments dealt with a picture of Albert Einstein, and I had no clue what I was doing. There was some entertainment in the fact that he pronounced "graphics" as "juh-rah-fix".
Engineering Statistics II - I'm pretty sure we learned more than how to find the median and mean, but I couldn't really tell you what.
Intro to Numerical Analysis - Prayer somehow got me a D in this class; otherwise I wouldn't have graduated for another year. I'm not even going to guess what this class was about.
Intro to New Testament - I remember that the professor ripped to shreds a good deal of what I believe in, and was constantly pointing out reasons why pretty much nothing in any of the Gospels should be treated as actual events.
Wow, I must say, that was pretty brutal. Waaaay more classes than I thought that I don't remember a single thing about. Then again, it's late...yeah, that's a good excuse.
At any rate, college was definitely not a waste of time...I met my wife, I met one of my best friends, and I got a piece of paper that's a requirement for my job!