Just my initial thoughts after a week of classes this semester. Overall, I’m really enjoying my classes so far, and the professors have been great! I guess it’s true that the higher up you go at Cal, the better the quality of classes.
Media Studies C103 (Understanding Journalism) – My first class of the semester, 8 AM, bright and early. Pretty standard core class, with about 200 students. The professor, Tom Goldstein, is an older gentleman with experience at The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Pretty legit (plus, he’s the director of the Media Studies program). What impressed me the most was his promise that teaching is his number 1 priority. The first time I’d heard a professor say that here, given all the research that professors focus on. I was impressed.
Media Studies 101 (Visual Communication) – Another MS core class, with twice-weekly meetings at Andersen Auditorium. This professor, Josh Jackson, had emailed us the night before to consider bringing our monocles, given that Andersen is such a nice place. I could tell he was going to be a funny guy. Turns out, Josh, as he told us to call him, is absolutely insane (in a good way). He’s the most energetic professor I’ve seen this side of Alex Filippenko, shouting in a barrage of words followed by sharp pauses. Told us that since he’s deathly scared of owls, we are allowed to “hoot” at him in case he talks too fast during lecture. Oh, and he also gave us tips on how to fight mountain lions.
UGBA 100 (Business Communication) – Got the “good” professor, Perez-Reyes. Started off with an impressive introduction of himself, his experiences, and his qualifications (studied Greek, apparently). Then proceeded to break down his intro to analyze how each topic he talked about added to his legitimacy and acceptance by the students. Very articulate and confident guy, with obvious experience and know-how. Makes very fluid notes on the whiteboard, writing a few words, sliding up a board, moving to the other side, etc. Looking forward to improving my speaking/writing skills this semester.
UGBA 103 (Corporate Finance) – Pretty standard business class. Probably the class I need to spend the most time on this semester (although the MS classes are harder than they seem, too). I heard Professor Opp is better than the fall professor, and even though he’s not particularly exciting or funny, he seems alright…I didn’t fall asleep during lecture, so that’s quite a change from past “boring” lectures. Also, I’m pretty interested in learning more about finance – I have a feeling it will come in handy in the near future.
Edit: Opp is actually pretty funny, although he has a strange sense of humor (i.e. no one laughs because they didn’t pick up on the joke). Also, he has a slight German accent that reminds me of the goldfish character in American Dad.
UGBA 107 (Business Ethics) – My first lecture for this class is tomorrow, but from all accounts, Alan Ross seems to be a pretty awesome professor. Quite a sarcastic guy, too. Looking forward to his lectures.
That’s it! Loving my classes this semester, and even though it won’t be easy, I don’t mind learning new and useful things.
Spring ’12 ftw at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.
