Chemistry

In high school, I had a very dynamic chemistry teacher, Mr. Stewart. He made the class very entertaining and it was a breeze for me. Nothing about chemistry intimidated me. Mr. Stewart sang silly songs about the periodic table and used to jump on top of countertops and desks to keep us awake and to give us a visual understanding of whatever topic we were studying.

I then took chemistry two years later, in college in West Virginia. The class was also not intimidating and I didn't struggle at all. It was my freshman semester in college and unfortunately, there were so many reasons to not attend class. I missed a little too much toward the end of the semester. Why didn't someone just hit me over the head and drag me to class? I actually missed the final and made up a very believable excuse. The professor was so nice to me and told me he'd give me an incomplete. All I had to do was take the final when I came back to school. I never went back there.

Here we are 16 years later and I signed up for chemistry my first semester back. This was not a good decision .It didn't occur to me that I needed a review of the math used in chemistry or maybe some type of refresher course before diving in head first. Within the first two weeks of class, I knew it was going to be hard keeping up. There was so much work. I signed up for group tutoring and put all of my other classes on the back burner. By the middle of the semester, my grades were so bad and the work was piling up. Coming home to my three kids, having my husband working evenings, and knowing I had several hours of studying and homework for chemistry was making me sick. I made the decision to drop the class before it was too late. I didn't want to get an F.

I need to take the class and pass it with at least a B. I'm preparing for it by taking a math review class this semester. I have decided that I am terrified of the course. There is only one professor at my school who teaches chemistry and he is not a good teacher. I like him very much as a professor and I think he's a smart guy, but he has no teaching ability whatsoever. I have since learned that the average grade on his final exam was a 63. No one got an A. Doesn't that mean that either he's not a good teacher or most of his students are just not smart enough to do well in his class?

I'm fearful that chemistry is going to be the one big obstacle that I will have to face. I'm considering trying it at a different school with a different professor, but that will make my life incredibly difficult.

I'm thinking of ways to be able to prepare for the class and do extremely well in it. Maybe I need to study it all summer long. How would I do that with all my kids home and my husband deployed?

On a happy note, I've discovered that I have enough college credits for an associate's degree. I'm not sure if I'm going to apply to get one or if I'll just keep taking the classes needed to transfer for my degree. Maybe I'll do both. I don't know.