My Education

Introduction:

I am a firm believer in education. For everyone. No matter how old--or how young!

While I may not be the best student in the world (theoretically due more to spreading myself to thin than anything else--I guess I'm not smart enough to know when enough is enough?), I am very passionate about learning. Of course when I get poor grades I use the excuse that I was too busy running TANSTAAFL Inc and staying on top of ISECCo (or maybe just because I go flying or traveling too much)!! I believe that the more you know the better a person you are in general, and the more you can contribute to your own well-being (not to mention your ability to contribute to society in general).

Science is the core of our very existence. Without science we wouldn't have our modern foods (most significant because of the ease of production which allows the majority of people freedom from raising their own food), housing (electricity, heat, running water, etc), travel (bicycles to rocket ships) or any of the other essential and not-so-essential luxuries. You may say that we had food & housing & travel 5,000 years ago. This is true to a certain extent, but without science you couldn't fly to Europe in a day or transport Kansas grain to Siberia or live in Antarctica. Without science we would be living a cave-man existence, or worse. My favorite 'toy' (that is in quotes because for someone who spends a lot of time in the bush it is utilized more like most people use a car) is a plane (Super Cub, to be exact). Which wouldn't exist without science. Someday soon science will provide the foundation of life off the planet. Already we are working on an international space station, and within the next century I hope there will be colonies on the moon and on Mars.

Enough philosophy. What have I done to further my education? Well, first I got a BS in Biology. Then I spent 15 years taking the odd class now & then. In 1997 I started a second degree, this time in Geology. Since I was partly retired at the time I've been putting forth a lot more effort into getting good grades, and have been fairly (though not completely) successful.

What follows below is primarily for my own benefit…so I can find things easily, keep track of the classes I've taken, etc. But feel free to browse J .

Grade school:

While growing up I lived in Lake Minchumina. Since there were very few (0-5) other kids out there I took correspond courses. My mom made a great teacher, and correspondence courses proved to be very flexible and a good way to learn--though you have to force yourself to stay on top of it (it was easy to fall behind).

High School:

When I turned 14 my folks decided to move to town (at least during the winters) so I could attend a regular high school. I was not at all enthusiastic about this. I would much rather have been living out in Minchumina! There are only 2 classes during my high school education that I have continued to find useful: my private pilot ground school (I still fly, thus use what I learned there on a regular basis) and typing (I got up to 60 words per minute, and haven't lost too much of that!). Other than that I enjoyed writing, chemistry and biology.

College (summary):

·     BS in Biology (1983)

·     BS in Geology (1999)

 

 

Misc Useful Locations:

 

Classes & Info

For geology course descriptions see the Undergraduate Courses; UAF degree requirements for a general geology B.S.

For info on the University of Alaska, Fairbanks graduate courses & requirements: Degree requirements; Natural Resources Management; Geology; Biology.

A timeline for the earth comes in very handy once in awhile. Mine. UAF geology dept.

A summary of geology classes I've taken.

Classes I've built web sites for:

 

Computer Science Classes

 

Russian

Russian is a subject I have been pursuing diligently, and while I have a lot of notes in it I have not yet converted them to html format.

Very brief web pages I've written:

Biospherics (Closed Ecological Life Support Systems):

·         Extreme Environment Greenhouse Operation

 

Other classes

 

 

I got tired of the University of Alaska's lousy method of listing classes (I could never find what I wanted), so I've put all the classes I've ever taken here. This is mostly for my own benefit, to make it easier to look up classes and see where I'm at education-wise.

 

Sorted by Year

(Note to myself: use this one for changes/additions, then sort)

Sorted by Class Number/id

This is so I can look up what I've taken, and compare.

Sorted by Class Type

(Science, Aviation, Language, etc.)

Sorted by grade

(This is so I can see which classes I may want to take over)

Sorted by Fall/Summer/Spring

(This is so I could see when I get better grades.)

 

Totals & GPA (calculated spring 2000):

By Subject:

·         Closed Ecological Life Support System (Biospherics) Classes: 1977-Spring 2000 

 

 

Grade codes:

 

The current copyright laws protect this page, even though not specifically copyrighted.

However if you want to use portions of it feel free to do so, though I would appreciate it if you would acknowledge my authorship.

Last messed with 2-29-00

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