Chemistry: check! One test down (four more to go). We had our first test on Wednesday. I was a lot different that I expected it to be. I kind of felt like the material on the test was much deeper than what was taught in class. I'm not worried about my grade though. The teacher made the test worth half credit so that we could all get used to her testing style. Also, she blatently stressed that she gives partial credit, so put something down even on the multiple choice. I was actually feeling better about the test when I went in than when I went in (and shouldn't that be the other way around?!?!). I guess I will just study a little differently next time. I do like how the class is set up. We have five tests, each covering 2-3 chapters. The last test is the final and it is not comprehensive. That makes my day. After each chapter, Professor Modarelli ties the chapter into real life and gives us examples of chemistry in our lives. I like it a lot. The first two chapters were about gases, the greenhouse effect, and the ozone/global warming. We talked about things we could do, as well as watch a movie. The movie was sooooooo cute. It was called Arctic Tale, and followed a polar bear pup and a baby seal in the Arctic. It showed the detrimental affects of global warming. It wasn't a bad movie at all. Queen Latifa was the narrorator and it was producted by National Geographic. It really made me want to "save the world," although I felt pretty hopeless. I definitely realized how necessary it is for me to recycle each and every water bottle I use and turn the lights off as much as possible, especially when I'm not in the room.


My Family Tree
As I briefly mentioned before, I worked on my family tree for extra credit in the three week. I am forever greatful to Professor Pittman for the assignment. She didn't ask us to dig in very deep, however, it was just enough to spark an interest in me. I have spent the last month researching my family tree and I am having so much fun. I would suggest it to anyone. Atleast talk to your older family members. Find out what it was like for them growing up and any other stories they will tell you. Also, ask them to generate a list of names: the names of their parents, their aunts and uncles (and spouses and children), and their grandparents (as well as any other family they can remember). I have been working on My boyfriend's family tree a bit too. His great grandmother is still alive and I feel like it would be such a shame to let the family history die without talking to her about it. Sadly, when we went to see her, we found that the last year hadn't treated her so well and she wasn't that competent. My grandma is having a blast helping me figure things out. It is almost satisfying just to see how much fun she is having, and it is definitely building a new connection for us. I love hearing her stories about her and my grandpa. They were married for 52 years before he died and they had such a love. It is almost better than a great romance novel because it is real life and it is my grandparents. I realize I am not doing a family tree justice, but it is so very satisfying. I would suggest to anyone to do something with their family tree. I started on Ancestry.com, to which you can get a free 2 week trial membership. I also found I could go to my local library (the main branch) and they had a whole section of the library dedicated to genealogy. My library has all of the local newspapers back to the early 1900s, which is great for finding obituaries. I will let you know if I find any kings or someone important in my family history!