You Got your Degree Where?

So, it has come to the point in this blog where the beloved university professors and teachers come into play. I have been at Cal State Northridge for 2 years now, have had an older sister also graduate from here, so I have come to know some of the best professors, and some of the worst.

Thanks to my sister, her friends, my friends, and a little website called http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/,I have done a pretty good job at avoiding some of the, what you might call... undesirable teachers at CSUN. But, every once in while your scheduled a class that has unfortunately a pretty bad teacher scheduled to teach it. I think we all have experienced this, the feeling of not wanting to go to a class, that feeling you get when you walk in and painfully sit down in the desk, pulling out the notebook that you'll prob. end up doodling in later that hour. Do these teachers realize that they are thaatt boring? Do they set up the syllabus including attendance points just so they have a class to lecture to? Now I do feel bad for some of these people, I usually end up going to their class just cause i feel bad that no one else will show up. I also end up talking to the professor after class painfully listening to their not so personable stories, while everyone else filters out not caring at all.

Although there are those teachers that students avoid at all cost, there are those certain professors that students try their hardest to get into their classes,they get on wait lists to get in, and some plan months in advance to take their class.There are also the students like me, who register for a class and 2 weeks into the course thank the Lord that they have gotten such a brilliant professor!! I have had a couple of those, especially this semester, I am taking a Culture and Personalities class with one of my friends, and the professor who teaches it is unbelievable. Her name is Melanie Klein, and she is beyond inspirational. She is one of the people who when they talk you can't keep your eyes off of them. Her lectures are hilarious but true, the books and movies we watch spark a desire within you to change the world!! ( or at least the fucked up America we are living in) I have only missed one of her classes, and that was because I was dying sick. She doesn't take attendance and yet the auditorium is always 75 % full. It takes professors like this to fuel Universities and keep students' minds ever wondering.

All in all, I hope every college student reading this has a chance to have a class with someone as brilliant as Melanie Klein. But if not... good luck dealing with all those other professors, hopefully you'll be able to take something decent from the class ; )

here are some other Professor related websites: Enjoy!!!

http://www.pickaprof.com/

http://www.knowyourprofessor.com/

http://www.reviewum.com/

http://www.profrater.com/

http://www.whototake.com/?55&357

Here is also something I found... It's a CNN report on ratemyprofessors.com and how certain teachers are rated "hot", and how they really feel with having that red chili pepper next to their name!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CFjnjDEBA2k

-Mary S.

Becoming a College Counselor

Have you ever thought of what our counselors have to do to become college counselors? I would have never thought that any one of my counselors actually had to do so much to be where they were. I had a counselor once tell me to go online and figure out the answers to all of my questions. This of course was not at CSUN. I thought it would be a good idea to show all of you what the requirements are to become a college counselor.

Job Description
Counselor - Higher Ed.
Offers professional counseling to students on a variety of matters. Other responsibilities include developing and evaluating programs, coordinating outreach activities, and vocational testing and assessment. May counsel individuals or groups. Requires at least a master's degree in clinical/counseling psychology and 4-6 years experience. Familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Typically reports to department head.
The typical salary of this position in the United States today is $47,239.
I got this info from: http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_compresult_national_ED03000058.html

This website is a list of other websites that would serve as a resource for people who want to be college counselors:

http://www.collegecounseling.org/resources/links.html

What you need: Bachelor of Science in Psychology (B.S. Psych) - Psychology Applied in Helping Professions
You can also apply to Walden University and obtain this degree at this website:
http://www.classesusa.com/af/featuredschools/waldendm/form.cfm;jsessionid=B6BA1152C85A108C661B6D22247B0910?nopopup&interestsnum=3&interest2num=2


CSUN’s page for course requirements to become a college counselor:
http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/ccss.html

After reading this, I hope you have a better understanding of college counselors. They had to learn a lot to be in their position, so if you need help, you can go to them. They can serve as a great resource for college students today.

-Kourtney

Websites

I have noticed that in our generation there are many different websites that are somewhat school related. People use these websites to complain about school, stay linked to school friends both previous and current and to even rate their professors. These websites were not created by the schools, they were brought about by students. Some websites even require a school email address to register with them, or at least they used to. I even have a professor that said if she ever found any videos of her on youtube that she would fail us all. I think that having these kinds of websites is a great thing and that it encourages people to go to school so they have more in common with the rest of the people on these sites. This whole internet exchange thing I know was not around when my mom was in college. Is it going to be played out by the time our kids are in college? Are professors going to take comments on rating websites personally?
Here are a few websites that I have heard about:
www.ratemyprofessor.com
www.facebook.com
www.myspace.com

-Kourtney

The Ideal Schedule

One thing I have noticed at CSUN is that I can never get the classes I want/need at the times I want/need. I work full time and it is so hard to manage both school and work when I have 4 hour gaps in my classes. I wish that I could write the schedule sometimes. With it being so hard to get the classes that I need, I take classes at Pierce to make up for the lack of available courses/seats. In almost all of my classes, there has been a ton of people trying to add the class for the first 1-2 weeks. I would not be able to do that. The odds are so slim that it seems like a lost cause. Maybe if we didn't have to take so many GE's that usually have nothing to do with our major, there would be more seats available in classes.
I do not know why I am complaining, eventually the world will be completely online anyways. I am now discovering the online classes available at other colleges and see the future. I am shocked that people can take these classes 100% online. I would think they would want to see your face when taking the exams at least...
Good luck to all who have the same scheduling issues that I have.
-Kourtney

School Spirit!

hello Everyone!
So as many of you who attend CSUN already know, we are a college who isn't necessarily known for their school spirit. Some may say that it is because we are a commuter school, and it's hard enough for people to bring themselves to come to class! I myself am a commuter, and have to drive at least 30 minutes to get to school, and that time could be longer depending on traffic, so for me, if i don't have to drive out to Northridge, I won't. Another reason for the lacking school spirit may be because we don't have a coveted football team, which tends to bring students together more so than any other sport. I'm not saying there isn't any spirit at all, i myself own a bunch of CSUN clothes, and on the back of my car proudly have a 'California State University Northridge' decal on it. But what I'm basically saying is that we all, in my opinion, need to be a little more spirited = )

Here's the CSUN athletics website, so you can see whats happening with sports, http://gomatadors.cstv.com/ and maybe try to go to some events. Also, I'm giving you the Current Students link from the Csun website, https://www.csun.edu/currentstudents/.

Lets all try to get more involved! =)
-Mary

Parking Sucks

I don't know what it is about the parking at CSUN, but it really sucks. First of all, we have to pay a lot of money to park our cars, this amount being on top of our tuition and books. Then, when it is time to actually park our cars on campus, there isn't a spot in sight. Usually when I find a spot, I am so far from where I need to be that it is annoying. I will never forget driving around the parking lot my first day at CSUN for 30 minutes looking for a spot. Oh, and then there are those people who take up 2 spots..... I hate that.
-Kourtney

1st post

hey everyone in blogland. this is the first post of our blog. we are writing for prof. H's english 313 class. our blogs over the next few weeks will be posted individually by members of the group on varying aspects of college life today, through our eyes. the subjects will be determined during class meetings then we will all try to get a post up by the next class. so we are gonna start posting regularly probably after wednesdays class..... hope you like it