Good Quarter

The end of the quarter was celebrated with the hottest and most humid weather in New York. It is about 100 degrees today and exceedingly humid. I really do not like it, as it is hard to sleep at night and aggravating to travel in the subway.

On the good side, all my grades were posted today and I scored another 4.0 this semester. It would be delightful if I could maintain this throughout my next quarter, as that will be my last one before graduating in September.

In this year’s graduation ceremony, only four people graduated with a GPA of 4.0. For those people who do not understand the grade point average, a 4.0 means the student got the highest grade in all his or her classes. I knew three of those people and they were all very good friends of mine.

An interesting point about last year’s graduation ceremony was that a person with less than 4.0 received Berkeley College’s greatest award for excellent performance. Apparently, she had volunteered a great deal and worked very hard to do well in school. I am still trying to figure out how I can qualify for this award.

I do feel that I should get a shot at it since I am involved with a lot of work at the moment. My 4.0 friends were questioning the system, as they expected to receive similar awards although a person would have to do something outstanding in order to earn it. I want to congratulate the student for doing well though.

MTA

The MTA is making a bunch of changes that will take effect at the end of the month. Basically, they are experiencing heavy financial troubles because of carelessness and an inability to reach efficiency. This is upsetting for a lot of people.

It does not affect me significantly. However, I am taking the N line on a regular basis. This train normally runs express in Manhattan but that will soon be history. The train will still operate express in Brooklyn, which is good because otherwise it would take me thirty minutes more to get to Manhattan.

What makes me displeased about the whole situation is the MTA’s attitude to continue ignoring inefficiencies and other issues. For example, now that they are changing the traffic in the subway, they are making unnecessary changes that will affect many other trains.

The W train is taken out of service and to compensate for this they will make the N train local. This is exceedingly unnecessary, as the R train already runs over the W line. There is no need to alter the traffic of the N trains.

A recent article also discussed the cleanliness on trains and discovered that more than half of cars are “dirty” to some extent. The N train is actually one of the cleanest trains in the subway, which pleases me. Even with all these budget cuts there is plenty of room for more to be done.

It is still a common sight to see lazy maintenance workers not doing any work. For example, when something needs to be done, it seems like the MTA always sends twenty people to do the job while only two of them actually do some work.

In addition, it is hard to find kind and helpful staff. Many of these people who usually sit in a booth to help people with questions lack education, manners, and knowledge. The MTA is doing nothing to train or educate them. They have let off a bunch of these workers, which is a decision that I agreed with, but a machine could many times do the same job for free.

In my neighborhood, these workers never do any work. They do not clean the station, fix leaks, or stay alert. Not many people ask questions and when they do, the MTA employee usually has no answer. I asked about the service changes last week and he had no clue what would happen. I suppose the MTA does not inform employees about changes.

Other inefficiencies include unnecessary spending. A news channel reported a few months ago that the MTA headquarters bought newspapers for delivery that could be picked up for free outside the entrance. I have no idea why things like these are happening, but I do know that something needs to be done for the MTA to be able to continue to operate without a complete breakdown.

Final Week

The final week is here and there is a lot for me to do. I have six classes to prepare assignments for, although it could have been much worse than what it is. I finished everything for four of my classes already and I have one final today in my bioethics class.

I am not sure how difficult today’s final will be but it could definitely be challenging because it includes material from seven chapters of the textbook. I outlined everything from the PowerPoint slides that the professor used in class and I think I have a good study guide to follow.

I do not worry about the test because I calculated that I can get a 50% score and still get an A for the class. The reason is that I have done very well on previous assignments and tests. I have gotten 100% on all assignments except two, but I made up for these points by writing an extra-credit assignment.

I finished writing an executive summary for my entrepreneurship class. It has not been graded yet, but I thought it turned out pretty well. I planned to start a photography firm in Soho in Manhattan. This idea has been developed throughout the course by participating in the online discussion board. Both students and the professor have given input to the idea and this is really helpful when it comes to balancing the idea with risks.

The other two classes that I finished were also online courses. It feels good to be done with the placement seminar class as it was rather unorganized and included a lot of work. My human resource development class also contained a lot of tests and information but this class was much better structured.

I have my last final on Thursday for my forensic science class. I answered all the review questions but there are a bunch of them that I am unclear about. Last class was supposed to cover any questions but the professor had to cancel the class due to an emergency.

Instead, he asked students to send him an email regarding any questions about the final. I hope that he will reply to my email because it may be difficult for me to answer a few questions without his help. For example, there is one question asking, “Which is not a layer of the hair shaft?” There are only three layers but there are five options meaning two of the choices are correct. We are only supposed to pick on answer so this makes it very tricky.

Two Weeks Left

I had a test for my online entrepreneurship class last weekend. The test covered almost all chapters from the book and looking at the review sheet made me nervous. Some of these tests can be very tricky even though they practically are open book.

One of the reasons to why I got nervous was that there was a 50 minute time limit and the test would include 24 questions. Each question has to be answered separately and in order. For example, people cannot skip one question, move on to another one, and then go back again to answer it.

Therefore, if people get stuck on one question, they can have difficulties having the time to answer the other questions. I made sure to review before taking the test even though this included reading a lot of the material from the book.

I felt pretty stressed while taking it and I found it difficult to make sure that I answered each question right or not. This test accounted for 20% of the grade so a doing badly on it could significantly affect people’s grade.

After anxiously pressing the submit button, I found out that I got 22 out of 24, which actually was more than 100% since the professor counted the last four points as extra credit. This helped me to enjoy my weekend even more and I definitely felt relieved afterwards.

I have two finals next week. One is for my forensic science class, which will be pretty easy thanks to open book and notes. However, some questions are actually pretty tricky so reviewing the test is definitely necessary.

My other test is for my bioethics class. It will be more difficult to study for it this time because I did not take any notes since after the midterm because the professor uploaded all PowerPoint slides online instead. I actually wished that I had taken notes because that would make reviewing easier.

I also have to write an executive summary for the final week. It will only consist of about one to two pages but the information will be very rich and contain a lot of important criteria. I will base all the information on discussions and assignments that I have had during the quarter in my entrepreneurship class.

Lucky Week

I realized yesterday that I was particularly lucky last week. I was afraid that I would miss two classes and important assignments. I explained before that one of those classes was cancelled. I therefore never missed anything for that class, not even attendance.

The second class, my computer class, was not cancelled. For that day, the professor had scheduled the last presentation to be taking place. That presentation was worth 100 points, which was approximately 15% of the total grade.

That made nervous even though the professor had told me that he was to discuss it with me when I came back. I asked my classmates yesterday about the class and how everything went. I also wanted to know how the professor handled the absence of my classmate, who also missed one presentation.

She told me that the professor would not grade the last presentation. The reason was that the first five presentations in last week’s class were so bad that the professor cancelled all presentations. The professor said that those who made their presentation that day would receive an F.

That decision made most of the five speakers very upset and arguments followed. Ultimately, the professor decided that the situation was somewhat unfair so he decided not to count that week’s presentations towards the grade. That means that I did not miss anything last week even though I went to travel to Nevada and Arizona. I, most certainly, could not have picked a better week to travel.

I expressed concern over my placement seminar class earlier this week. I have finally gotten responses from the professors involved and I seem to have everything organized and under control now. The class is ending soon and I have completed all assignments necessary to pass the course. That is definitely relieving.

I had to participate in a debate for my bioethics class yesterday. That assignment was worth 20% of the grade so it was very important to get it right. I felt that my group did a pretty good job and I definitely participated to the fullest. I do not know my grade for the debate yet but I expect it to be posted online later this week or at least before Monday next week. I do feel that my group will receive an A for the debate so I am not too worried about it.

Raising Capital for College

I wanted to talk about how international students can raise capital and how they can afford studying in the United States. There are many ways of doing this. Being from Sweden is probably one of the most fortunate situations thanks to the availability of cheap lending and favorable payment plans. However, other students also have options available to them.

The most obvious one is to find a financial institute, a bank, or sponsor to pay for the applicable education. In Sweden, people may use CSN, which is a government institution for students that provide cheap loans and generous payment plans. With institutions like these, anyone can study abroad.

However, many times, loans are not enough because of expensive living conditions that include rent, food, and school supplies. My suggestion is to be patient. I worked for three years while living with my parents to save money. This prepared me significantly for any possible financial dilemmas. It is important that people set up a budget and calculate approximately how much they will spend every month or semester. Based on these calculations, they can get an understanding of how much they will need.

I set up a spreadsheet where I insert my daily expenses. It gives me a great overview of how much I can spend, how much I have saved, and my average expenses. It helps me to determine my financial situation, which helps me regulate my spending.

International students are not allowed to work in the United States. However, students are allowed to work on campus for the school. I quickly looked for opportunities like these and I have been hired as a Blogger for Berkeley College for more than two years now.

Another suggestion is to find ways to reduce costs. By sharing apartment with someone, people can drastically reduce their monthly expenses. Imagine paying $1,000 a month for an apartment. By sharing, a person can reduce his or her rent to $500. That is $6,000 in savings annually. It can be hard to find someone to share an apartment with before arriving to the United States. However, a person can find something temporary first, expensive or not, and try to find something after arriving.

People should contact the school and ask for housing and cost saving methods. Berkeley College is more than happy to assist people with this. The school is on Facebook and many other places where students can contact each other to share ideas and contact information. In addition, do not forget to apply for scholarships at Berkeley College and from outsiders if possible. This can save people more than $1,000 per quarter.

Apart from finding personal sponsors such as family, friends, and other acquaintances, people could set up a business serving their country of residency. For example, people can write articles for travel magazines and blogs, sell pictures, or start a small import-export company. Just make sure what you are doing is legal and you may be on your way to success.

Back to Normal

It is time for me to go back to school and work. I feel excited about getting busy again after spending five days in Nevada and Arizona. However, it is an easy time to miss and I cannot help to wish for another vacation. I am planning to make Miami my next travel destination although I am not sure when I have time to go there yet.

I had a lot to catch up on when I came back to the city this weekend. Last Monday was a holiday so I did not have a class that day. I missed one presentation for my PowerPoint class but I had discussed this with my professor the week before and he was okay with it. I therefore hope that I will be able to make up for the points that I missed.

I was to miss my forensic science class also but my professor cancelled the class. I turned in two articles instead of one last week’s class and my professor accepted my absence. I believe that it is important to notify professors and to be honest when it comes to skipping classes. Too many students neglect telling their professors that they will be absent and this often results in distrust and imperfect grades.

I am disappointed with my placement seminar class. It is an online class that is supposed to prepare students for internships and future work. I believe the material is good and I have learned a lot about writing techniques and such. However, the class is disorganized and it is difficult to follow weekly assignments because the professor is posting outdated email addresses and assignments from last quarter.

I wished that the professor had studied the posts more carefully before uploading assignments and documents. This would have saved students trouble in trying to figure out how to finish assignments and where to send them to. In addition, I feel that the professor sometimes provides replies to the discussion board that are uninformative and sometimes incorrect.

Apart from posting replies to the discussion board last week, I had to finish one graded homework assignment, prepare for a debate that takes place today, and upload a four page essay. I had prepared for everything pretty well so I did not have to spend much time on it though.

The weather in New York has been very humid since I came back. It was 108 degrees in Las Vegas when I was there and although it is only around 90 degrees in New York, it is much more painful because of the humidity. It is supposed to get better this week, however, so I hope not having to turn on the air conditioner too often.

Las Vegas Day Five

We wanted to relax on our last day in Las Vegas. I have not mentioned everything that we did because we did a lot. However, on the last day, we went to a place called the Forum Shops, which is located in Caesars Palace.

The Forum Shops is a collection of a few of the most expensive luxury stores there is. Stores include Tiffany’s, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci. We did not buy anything from these stores for obvious reasons, but it was interesting to check it out.

When we were done “shopping” we went back to the hotel. We wanted to spend our last day relaxing at the pool and we arrived just in time for happy hour. It was really nice to spend time at the pool. I have not done so in a very long time. It almost felt like I got a taste of paradise when enjoying a few drinks at the pool.

Both my girlfriend and I felt a little bad about going back to New York later in the day. Our faces and shoulders started to burn pretty badly at the end of the day. We had not anticipated how strong the sun really was because we felt chilled when spending time in the pool.

In any event, before taking of from Las Vegas Airport, we gambled for $10. We lost it of course but now we can say that we gambled in Las Vegas. We had to make one stop in Philadelphia but we only had to wait for thirty minutes after landing for that flight.

The plane from Philadelphia to New York was a Dash 8 propeller plane. That was pretty scary, as it only seated about 25 passengers. The ride went rather smoothly however and we landed in New York safely.

We felt the New York attitude quickly after landing. People are simply more aggressive in New York and can be pretty rude at times. The bus driver was a real jerk for example and had a very arrogant attitude. After living in the city for three years, both my girlfriend and I did expect this.

I am trying to get used to Eastern Time now. Although it is only three hours difference between Nevada and New York, we are exhausted because of hour early morning and night time flights. We woke up at about 2 PM today, the day after we came back. Hopefully, I will be able to wake up earlier tomorrow so that I will not feel too tired for work and school next week. The trip was awesome and we had a really good time. Being a little jet lagged is a small price to pay for a trip that will be remembered forever.  

Las Vegas Day Four

On the forth day in Vegas, we wanted to finish visiting everything on the Strip. We still needed to visit the south strip where the New York hotel, Mandalay Bay, and MGM hotel are located.

The first thing we did was to go to visit MGM and the lion habitat. It is pretty amazing that the hotel offers guests and visitors to see these lions for free. The habitat is located right in the middle of the hotel and the casino.

The New York Hotel is located very close to the MGM. There is a replica of the Statue of Liberty and they have also built a couple of structures that look like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building to name a few.

After some sightseeing, we went to Mandalay Place to have dinner. We went to a Mexican restaurant and the food pretty good. They had nachos for most dishes and we ordered their special 10-ounce steak that came with sour nachos and broiled peppers.

The day before, we had dinner at the Harley Davidson café, which is a place very similar to Hard Rock Café and Planet Hollywood. The food was good there too. I had a burger and my girlfriend had something that we still are not sure of what it was. It was still yummy though.

Conclusively, the food in New York is much better, easier to find, and more affordable than in Vegas. We still enjoyed a couple of burgers, fast food, and other dishes in Vegas though. For example, at our hotel, we ordered a delicious double bacon burger from a deli twice because it was good and because it was hard to find other good restaurants close to our hotel.

After dinner, we visited Excalibur and Luxor. Luxor was really awesome because they have the famous pyramid with the sphinx there.  The sphinx was much bigger than I anticipated it to be and the pyramid has a huge spotlight on top of it that sends out a beam of light at night that looks very cool.

I have not mentioned anything about gambling yet. I guess most people who go to Vegas gamble but we tried not to risk too much. We actually gambled at the McCarran Airport instead when we were waiting at the gate the last day. We became $10 poorer.

Before going back to the hotel, we wanted to visit the Fremont Street Experience. That was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen. The street performers are great and the roof is basically a huge screen. When music was played, the screen portrayed all kinds of graphics. It also showed people who were interviewed on the street.

Las Vegas Day Three

It took more than five hours to drive back to the hotel from the Grand Canyon. It was an interesting experience because it got really dark at night. This may seem obvious to some people but the truth is that nighttime in New York and other cities are brighter.

I guess it is because of the desert and the fact that it does not reflect light as well as other places. At the Hoover Dam, there was a security check and a police officer searched all cars by using a flashlight to light up the inside of the cars.

I had placed my camera tripod in the backseat of my car and the officer got curious about it. After an explanation he just said that it looked “kind of strange.” The GPS that we had borrowed could not locate the address of the car rental place so when we arrived to Las Vegas we had some trouble finding it.

Luckily, my girlfriend has a great memory and was able to direct us to the Strip and get us in the right direction. It was really fun to drive on the Strip and not as hard as I thought it would be.

On our third day in Vegas, we decide to sleep in late. I had requested toothpaste to be delivered to my room the night before. At 8 AM, a service guy from the hotel banged on the door to give it to me, ruining my sleep. In addition, instead of giving me toothpaste, he gave me a toothbrush. The service of the hotel was definitely not good but we never let that ruin our vacation.

We also wanted to try the lunch buffet at the hotel. Both my girlfriend and I thought it was terrible and we were not alone. We saw a lot of people throwing away food. The meat was simple either overcooked or undercooked.

After a somewhat bad lunch, we decided to go out to check out the Strip again. This time, we visited Paris Hotel, Bellagio, Caesars, the Venetian Hotel, and much more. The Eiffel tower was great to see. It is about half the size of the real one in Paris, but they did a good job on replicating it.

The fountains at the Bellagio Hotel were something that we definitely wanted to see since they are a famous attraction in Vegas. I did not expect them to be synchronized with music and it was definitely a fun to experience. The first song they played was Stars Spangled Banner and it was a quite powerful event to experience.

I thought that the fountains, volcano, and other events were ongoing during the whole day, but they were not. Instead, most events happen every fifteenth minute or so. It worked out all right for us but there are always a lot of people attending the events so it is a good idea to be early.

Las Vegas Day Two

On our second day in Las Vegas, we had to get up early because we had to pick up a rental car at the McCarran International Airport. We planned to do a road-trip to Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon.

We took the Ace bus to get to the car rental place. It cost $7 per person for a 24-hour all-access pass. I had gotten an estimated total of $21 for the rental and was expected to pay about $50 after paying all the fees.

However, we ended up paying almost $100 after being told that a flat tire could cost us $200 alone. Since we expected to drive for about 12 hours, we thought it was a good idea to buy the insurance.

I had never driven in the United States before so I was really excited about it. We rented a GPS with our car just in case and it came to great use. We arrived at Hoover Dam after driving for about 45 minutes.

People in Las Vegas drive pretty aggressively but most drivers are very skilled and let other drivers change lane easily. Those conditions really helped me to get familiar with the traffic in Nevada.

Visiting Hoover Dam was a powerful experience. The dam is definitely impressive, mostly because of the size of it and because of the way that Nevada has been able to divert traffic around it.

It is hard to describe my experience in words. People will simply have to go there themselves to get a feeling of what it is like. The parking was $7, and was well worth it.

We stayed at the Hoover Dam for a little more than an hour and then continued on to Grand Canyon. We had about four hours of driving to look forward to. I never complained about driving though. The view was spectacular during the whole trip with mountains surrounding us.

Just driving in Nevada and Arizona was an amazing experience. It was also great to see regular Americans going on with their regular lives at gas stations and other places because I do not see that often in New York.

Grand Canyon was absolutely incredible. I had tried to imagine what it would be like before getting there and I thought that I knew what it would be like. However, when I got there, we understood that such an amazing place is impossible to imagine on beforehand.

I hope the picture that I posted with this blog is descriptive because I have a hard time describing my feeling about the Grand Canyon. It simply was a very extraordinary experience.