The Changing Weather & International Law

The weather is already changing here.  We don’t have summer anymore!  Since the last time I got any sun was on our honeymoon, I have concluded I will be pretty pasty by next summer.  Anyway, while Texas is “enjoying” highs of 94 and lows around 76, today our HIGH is 63 and low is 47.  As of 10:25, it’s rainy and 59.  This is more like November-ish weather in Texas.  Crazy.

I’m going to have to brace for a long winter (because I call this weather rather winter-y even though I know it’s fall).  Of course I knew that before coming here, but wow…August, really?  John and I went for a walk at the beginning of the month, and I lamented about how the trees were already losing there leaves and how that must be wrong.  Apparently, it’s not.  And this isn’t just a cool front…our 7-day forecast is pretty much uniform in temperatures. We are getting up into the low 70s again, but it’s not that different. Next Wednesday the high is 72 and the low is 48.  Bye bye tank tops.

Oh, and speaking of clothes, since I have always lived in Texas, a majority of my wardrobe is summer-y clothing. I have a feeling I’m going to get really sick of my few sweaters and long sleeved shirts this winter!

I think I mentioned in my last post that I’m taking an international law class this week.  It’s going pretty well, and I’m enjoying the pace, because it feels like I’m back at UT.  What annoys me is how the other students in my class seem to have this sense of entitlement.  They keep complaining that the class is too fast-paced and covers too much material.  The complained enough that the professor has stopped trying to cover the 16-week course in our 6 days of class and has restructured the class.  That was kind of a bummer, because I enjoyed zooming through the material and being challenged.  Oh well, it just means less work.  The thing that made me mad, though, is the professor said one of the things he was trying to do was get us our money’s worth.  Some of the students who are in the military chimed in that it doesn’t matter if they get their money’s worth or not because tuition assistance pays for it.  (Tuition assistance is given to them to go to school for free while in the military – there are some stipulations, but that’s the main gist.)  I was frustrated, because I’m several SEVERAL thousand dollars in debt for the program and WOULD like my money’s worth.

The other thing that really got me was when the professor decided to give us some hints for our midterm that we’re having today.  There will be 7 questions on the midterm (essay format).  He gave us one full question and 5 topics to know.  People then complained that he had only given us 6, and there would be 7 questions.  I couldn’t believe it!  He didn’t have to do that for us at all, and no one was recognizing that what he did was NICE and HELPFUL.  They just had the attitude that they were entitled to know all 7 questions.  How ridiculous.  I couldn’t stand it.  I wanted to say something to the professor, so all I could manage with eveyone stil packing up was to go up to him and say “I’m going to say this softly, because it’s controversial, but I really want to thank you for the pace of the class. I feel like I’ve been short changed in other classes, so thank you.” I wanted to say a lot more, but there were other people waiting to talk to him, and I was really uncomfortable thinking someone else might hear what I said. He told me he really appreciated it, and I left.

I’m still so frustrated with the mentality of my classmates.