I attended EvCC from Fall of 1998 through to Winter of 2004. It was a lot of fun, and I wouldn't mind taking more classes at some point. I graduated with two degrees:
Associate of Arts and Sciences
Associate of Fine Arts (Written Arts)
My grades were pretty consistently A's; I got my first B the first Summer quarter (in College Writing), a B+ in Beginning Acting and another later in Calculus / Analytical Geometry I and II, and a bare handful of A-'s in Life Drawing, Screen & Play Writing, Introduction to Film, Software Design & Documentation, and Fiction Writing II.
I graduated with High Honors in Winter 2004. Cumulative GPA: 3.92; College-Level GPA: 3.91. I was also a member of Phi Theta Kappa, though (due to the way they counted participation) I wasn't accorded the honors that I thought I'd be getting from that (I'd worked the right number of quarters in a row, but they were split between two school years, which made them pointless; I was a little peeved to find this out).
In order: Mr. Robert "Bob" Killingstad, Sandra Lepper, Dawn (can't recall last name -- ASL teacher), Joyce Walker, and Rich Ives. I liked my programming instructor as well (though I can't recall her name right now), and my psych instructor (same).
I studied Japanese from the very first quarter of college (Fall 1998), for a total of two years (Elementary (101-103) and Intermediate (207-209) Japanese), concluding in Spring 2000. I also studied Japanese History and Culture (Humanities 160) in Fall 2000, and volunteed as a TA for several quarters before I got too busy to keep doing that.
By this point (Fall 2000), I had realized that I couldn't keep up the same level of focus on so many classes, but I didn't want to miss out on language, so I started auditing the language classes.
Year three (Fall 2000 to Spring 2001) was American Sign Language (A S L 101-103), which I loved. The teacher, Dawn, was great, and there were some fun assignments, such as going out to a mall for a few hours and pretending to be Deaf (so you could see what it's like to try to do basic things without that level of communication that most people take for granted). I don't recall the name of the classmate who did this with me, but she lived in Mountlake Terrace, very close to the Laundromat that my mom used to work at, and I kind of remember what she looked like, and being at her house briefly while the Teletubbies were playing. She had a friend who had done the "pretend to be Deaf" thing before, on his own initiative, which had given him some interesting experiences.
Year four (Fall 2001 to Spring 2002) I went for French, which I'd studied in homeschool, but I only got through one quarter (101) before moving on.
Year five (Fall 2002 to Spring 2003) I hit German, and lasted for two quarters (101-102); I also met a couple classmates who I enjoyed getting to know, Londo and (not sure of spelling) Bizhan. I don't remember many classmates from college, so those are special to me. I think I was able to get in touch with Londo at some point after college, briefly, and I'd like to again; I'd also like to find Bizhan, if possible.
I also took a quarter of Italian, in some little community class or whatever, because it doesn't show up on my transcript. And if I could've fit it in, I would've taken Spanish as well; it always seemed like the one language I was missing during college.
I studied Visual Basic (CIS 101-103) for a year (Fall 1998 to Spring 1999), then C++ (CIS 130-132) the next year (Fall 1999 to Spring 2000). I also took Lab Assisting (CIS 212) in Summer 1999, and tutored privately for a while, since I'd grown up programming and found the whole idea quite easy. (In fact, the only reason I'd ended up in VB classes to begin with was that I hadn't figured out on my own that you use a dot to separate the object from its properties... and when I went to sign up for classes, I could've gotten into C++ immediately (it only required prior programming experience), but ended up asking the teacher why VB required math, which seemed to me to be a harder requirement to meet (since I was still nervous about my math skill). Turns out that a lot of beginning students without a math background can't grasp the concept of a Variable.)
I saw so many of the same errors in Visual Basic students that I wrote up a document, Common Errors in Visual Basic, that explained how the errors happened, how to avoid making them, how to fix them once you'd made them, and how to put a band-aid on if you were running out of time for an assignment. The paper impressed my teacher, who apparently passed it around the labs for a bit.
In Summer 2000, I took Software Design & Documentation (CIS 218), a group-based long-distance class where you showed up for lab once a week or something, and I found it incredibly frustrating; I'm not sure that I learned much of anything, and I think my A- only happened because of the group. Out of my entire college experience, it's the class I have the most antipathy toward.
In Summer 1999, I took College Writing (English 101), where I got my first B. It was frustrating, because I knew I was generally good with writing and language, and yet I couldn't seem to figure out what exactly the teacher wanted from me; it seemed like the things I did wrong in the first paper were things I did wrong the other way in the next paper, and ultimately I just wasn't sure how to fix things.
In Summer 2000, I took a combined class: Writing Across the Curriculum (English 201W) with Introduction to Film (Media 100W).
I took the Writing Center (English 090) repeatedly: Winter 1999, Spring 1999, Fall 1999, Spring 2001
Somewhere before Spring 2000, I had discovered that a writing degree was possible, so I started loading on the writing classes, mostly with Rich Ives. I do recall having some difficulty arranging to get the classes I wanted, so I ended up just kinda taking whichever writing class was available.
That included Screen & Play Writing I (English 109) in Spring 2000 (I got an A-); Fiction Writing I (English 108) in Fall 2000, Screen & Play Writing II (English 169) in Spring 2001, Screen & Play Writing III (English 209) in Spring 2002 (my only class that quarter), Fiction Writing II (English 168) in Spring 2003 (I got an A-), and Poetry Writing I (English 106) in Winter 2003.
I once walked into my poetry class and told my teacher that I could've kissed him -- because our computer had crashed, erasing most of my writing, but I had recently printed up pretty much every poem I ever wrote, for an assignment, and thus saved them. See, the stories and ideas I had, they were still in my head and easy to recover, but the poetry was a different matter and would've been lost to time.
In Fall 2001, I started taking literature classes with Joyce Walker, probably my third-favorite teacher overall; I even won a few raffles for tickets to plays, which is how I got acquainted with Dom Juan (and, more importantly, his servant Sganarelle, my favorite) and Arms and the Man (Sargeant Bluntschli, an awesome character).
Fall 2001 was Myth and Literature of Greece and Rome (English 251). Winter 2003 was Medieval and Renaissance Literature (English 252). I recall having to make hard choices about classes at this point, because I couldn't take as many classes as I would've liked; I assume I would've taken more lit classes if I could've.
In Fall 1999, I took Basic Drawing (Art 100), which introduced me to Sandra Lepper. Sandy became my closest ally on campus, and the one I turned to for any sort of advice about my class choices or any difficulties I was having; I started treating the art room a bit like my home, and would even leave my backpack there while running around campus.
In Winter 2000, I took Intermediate Drawing (Art 101), then Life Drawing (Art 103) in Spring 2000 (got an A-; also, I think that was my introduction to the other art teacher, Thom Lee, whom I found quite interesting, if a little frustrating at times, and who introduced the class to durian).
During homeschool, Mom had been too busy to give me good feedback on my math assignments, so I felt quite unsure as to whether I was doing it right. Accordingly, when I placed not too bad in the math placement test, I figured it was a fluke -- I knew I'd guessed at a few things I didn't know -- and went a level lower to start with, at Preparation for Algebra (Math 017).
This was how I ended up getting in the class rotation of one Mr. Robert "Bob" Killingstad, who swiftly became my favorite teacher in all of college. Not only did he encourage me and help me to understand things beyond the classwork itself, but near the end he allowed me to sit in on Calculus classes that I wasn't officially signed up for. He also encouraged me to move on to University, which, sadly, I was in no position to do either financially or physically (since my family needed my help at the time).
Mr. Killingstad and Sandy were the two teachers who meant the most to me, and whose counsel I sought on multiple occasions. I've long planned to use their surnames as cameos in some piece of writing (likely as doctors, because Doctor Lepper and Doctor Killingstad are too good to pass up), and while choosing a new identity to match my YouTube channel, I borrowed Mr. Killingstad's surname: Arkylie Killingstad.
At any rate, I went through Preparation for Algebra (Math 017) and then Elementary Algebra (027-028), Intermediate (065), College Algebra (140), then on to Trigonometry (131) and Pre-Calculus (147) in the same quarter (Winter 2000). In Fall 2001 I took Calculus and Analytical Geometry I (152) for a B+, then in Winter 2002 I took Calculus and Analytical Geometry II, which I got a B+ in despite it being my only class, and I got concerned that it'd tank my grades. This was when Mr. Killingstad started letting me sit in the classes -- not auditing them, just learning -- and it was great, for a couple quarters.
In Summer 1999, I took Beginning Weight Training (P E 142). Then in Summer 2000, I took it again, along with Swim for Fitness (P E 179), which I recall being super early in the morning (like 7 AM) and the earliest I had ever had to attend a class.
In Winter 2001, I took my first Tai Chi (P E 102) course, along with Bench Step Aerobics (P E 113). In Spring 2001, I took Bench Step Aerobics again, this time auditing it, and in Summer 2001 I audited Beginning Weight Training (P E 124), the only class I took that summer.
In Fall 2001, I took Beginning Weight Training (P E 125 - not sure why the change in number), this time for credit. It wasn't until Winter 2003 that I got back to P E, with Advanced Weight Training (P E 126). In Spring 2003, I took another Tai Chi class, along with Low-Impact Aerobics (P E 116). In Summer 2003, I audited Bench Step Aerobics (P E 113), my only regular class that summer.
Acting: I took Beginning Acting (Theatre 101) in Fall 2000 (I got a B+), and Acting for the Camera (Theatre 110) in Winter 2001. I also started up the Acting Club, which had been lying dormant; we got the ball rolling with three members the quarter I started it, and someone else took over the next quarter, for a much higher attendance (and apparently my efforts got them appropriate funding).
I recall a couple specific moments in acting, but one of the fun ones was playing Captain Janeway, in pajamas, to a friend's Q, trying to persuade me to make a baby with him. I wish that video hadn't gotten lost to time. Also, our final project for one of the classes was based on a script from Red Dwarf; I played Holly, in a big cardboard box, on an actual stage, with my parents there to watch (on a Sunday, after church).
Fall 1998: Advanced Study Skills (English 195). Winter 1999: Class Voice (Music 124). Summer 1999: Interpersonal Communication (Speech 100). Summer 2000 I took a combined class: Writing Across the Curriculum (English 201W) and Introduction to Film (Media 100W) (got an A- in the film class). Winter 2001: Intercultural Communication (Speech 204). Spring 2001: General Psychology (Psych 100). Fall 2002: Nutrition (Nutrition 150) and Beginning Public Speaking (Speech 101). Spring 2003: How Things Work (Physics 101). Intro to Business (General Business 101) in Fall 2003. Western Civilization to 1648 (History 111) in Winter 2004, along with Intro to Personality (Psych 205), and Special Projects (English 299), which I honestly don't recall what that was all about.
I also took a Homeschool Certification Class (Youth 064) in Summer 2003, for a couple of reasons, and got to meet the teacher in whose classes I grew up, Mrs. (ask Mom for name again).
If I could've taken more classes in off subjects, I'd likely have delved further into Psych; it was intriguing. I recall being the only person, in a class of like 30, who quickly was willing to drink her own spit after spitting it into a cup (an example of irrational sense of contamination: it was in my mouth a second ago, and it's something I swallow all the time, and I'd drink from this cup just fine, but the thought of drinking my own spit disgusts me).
Another area I would've studied: Chemistry. I had to choose between physics and chemistry, and chose physics, but I would've liked to have studied both.