A PASSING GRADE IN METEOROLOGY

I can't believe that I will pass Meteorology! I took my final today and, thankfully, the instructor found it in his heart to get right to correcting the tests. Because I'm on campus, he called me at the office within an hour of finishing the test to tell me I got an 86%. That may not seem so wonderful to those of you with a mind for science but, for me, it's FABULOUS.

I discovered after my first attempt at Biology that I was over my head in a science class. Up until now, I've had a pretty good GPA - 3.96 or thereabouts. After three weeks in Biology, I spent a Sunday reading the text or, more accurately, reading and re-reading the same few paragraphs of the text and found myself in tears. I just couldn't GET it. Monica, who was taking the class with me, said "Mom, drop the class. It's stressing you too much." Really? Drop? I went to the computer and dropped the class and IMMEDIATELY felt the weight of the world come away.

Easy fix for the time being but I STILL had a science requirement to fulfill. It took me two semesters to gather up my nerve and find another science class. I wanted to take Astronomy but, I think the schedule kept me from doing that. Meteorology sounded interesting -- I had always wanted to know what the hell the dew point had to do with the weather. Besides, if I HAD to take a science class, I may as well look at Jon Pedicino. The view could be worse. Either way, my GPA was goin' DOWN. Jon is actually an awesome teacher, especially if it's a physics concept and you've never studied physics (!?). I was learning Physics?! Working my brain like I've NEVER worked it, I got a 'C' on the first test, a 'B' on the next then another 'C' on the third test last week. This week, the final. Cumulative....EVERYTHING we learned over the semester. Jon suggested we study from the previous three tests but it was all fair game.

Here's the funny thing. Two weeks ago, I was looking for a book upstairs and came across a thin book called, "The Weather Book". Where did this come from and what an odd coincidence. It finally occurred to me that it had belonged to Mark's step dad who had been interested in sailing and this book was written from the standpoint of one who sails and flies. It was first written in 1949 and the author, Eric Sloane admitted that, since he couldn't explain without drawing pictures, the book has a LOT of pictures. The drawings are simple and the text explains everything we've been learning about. Why couldn't I have found this book months ago?! Oh well. Saturday, preparing for my final, I read the book cover to cover. Pressure, wind currents, fronts.....it cemented it all for me. I studied my past tests and referred back to the text on Sunday. I didn't expect an 'A', just a passing grade and I guess it worked.

I had to laugh about the book. As I was reading about the earth's atmosphere, the author noted the ease with which we could see the surface of the moon due to it's lack of atmosphere. He said, "If you could encase yourself in a suit of air and pressure to keep you alive" you would experience all sorts of phenomenon. It struck me that, when the book was written, space travel was only a theory. We hadn't yet landed on the moon. there were no manned rockets or Star Trek. Sometimes we forget how far we've come in the past sixty years.

So, having passed the last of my general ed, I'm down to thirteen units to finish my 2-year degree. I may even finish in LESS than the expected ten years. I'm registered for eight units in the fall so may actually finish THE EDUCATION OF DEBBIE while I'm still in the embryonic stages of my second half-century. I may even graduate with honors.