Padd Solutions

Short weeks through me off. July the 5th was a holiday for banks, institutions, and many businesses. Not for retail of course. For students loaded up on college courses it was just a busy day. The day after a holiday gets me tilted. I got involved with my studies, getting school stuff finalized and the day was moving along. I realized to late in the day I had missed the Summer Cookout that I had planned on attending. Did anybody go? I had a lonely peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead.

Part of any schooling is taking a test. I am one of those students, who can study for a test, have a great attitude about my knowledge. Then when the test is placed before me, my mind goes blank. My blood pressure skyrockets, I begin to wonder why I am putting myself through school, and test anxiety takes over. I really hate taking tests.

One of the places that you will get to know here on the campus is the Testing Center. Everybody gets to make several trips there for many different reasons. Unless you are exempt from the Accuplacer, there are other reasons to visit. I have done almost every basic test they have available. I have some tips in dealing with the testing center and taking the different tests.

The first test you will deal with is the Accuplacer. The Accuplacer is a adaptive test, meaning there is no pass or fail grade. The Federal guidelines require the Accuplacer for Ability to Benefit for students with out high school diplomas to receive federal financial aid. This is a computerized placement test that will assess your knowledge of English, mathematics and reading. Take the time to study up on the basics for this test. Google the Accuplacer for practice sites. For studying up on the math go to the WTAMU Virtual Lab.

I did not have any problems with the English or reading parts of the test. I suggest reviewing some grammar basics and the how to write a essay. Sentence structure and reading comprehension are two different types of grammar functions to add to your studies. For the Accuplacer you will type a essay based on a random subject. Read over the basics of writing an essay. You will need to come up with 300 to 500 words that will support the stated theme.

There are three different areas to the mathematics part of the test. Basic arithmetic operations, elementary Algebra and college mathematics. My math score was low enough to place me at the basic mathematics level. When you take the Introduction to Algebra class you have to take the math part of the Accuplacer again as part of completing the class. It took me five semesters to go from basic mathematics to college algebra. Know your mathematics really well if you want to avoid the basics of math and algebra.

In my next post on the Testing Center I am going to cover the GED. There is a big difference with the GED and how the testing center deals with you.

Here is a trivia question for you. Who won the Tri-State Fair Canned Foods in 2007?
That would be humble ol' me. Let me tell you how that happened.

In the summer of 2007 my mother brought me a bushel of Colorado peaches on a visit here during the summer. I was perplexed on what to do with so many peaches. So I froze and canned the bushel over the weekend.

I was entering a black and white photo in the Photography Contest and thought that entering something else would be good too. So I grabbed a jar of the peaches and entered them. The peaches got a blue ribbon.

I am going to enter something again this year. So today when the Golden Spread Farmers Market opens I'll be getting some vegetable and fruits.

If you really want to get a good taste of the local market head to the market. The local Panhandle Coop of farmers harvest the crop on the day before and then sell them the next day. The market opens a 6:30 until everything is sold out. It really is best to get there on time if you want the best choices and avoid lines at the corn and watermelon farmers stand.

There are other things that the farmers sell beside the crop. There are fresh cut flowers, seasonal decorations and some canned items. The Potter/Randall Agriculture Extension usually has a table with information on local growing tips.

Are there any other foodies out there? I am always looking for good recipes and cooking tips.

After making a decision that I need to move through my college curriculum at an accelerated pace I am going to CLEP some of my core hours. English 1302 will challenge my grammatical and style ability. I hope to avoid some prevalent violations that I commonly catch myself doing. Here's a look at 8 of my common writing glitches:

1. Its vs. It's No big surprise by this one. It has plagued my writing because common sense nudges me towards seeing the apostrophe as a possessive instead of a contraction. Commit to memory this phrase. It-apostrophe-s has one meaning -- a contraction for it is. Everything thing else is its.
2. Then instead of than I tend to over use than, misplacing then, in my fictional writing.
3. Cliches Not including the accent over the 'e' doesn't go the whole nine yards on this puppy. For me it is just a sign I am getting lazy in my writing.
4. Overuse of 'that' It gets overwhelming to see how many times that is used when trying to make a point that needs some supporting description or evidence. Try to read the sentence again with the 'that' taken out and see how it sounds. Does it have to be there? If not, nuke it. Also, don't confuse who and that.
5. Comma Splices There is phenomenon that I try to stay away from, once I have delivered the subject-verb-object content of sentence structure. Instead of attaching a comma to a butt end of a sentence. Just end it. Don't even go a third or fourth time. Writing a sentence needs not be a buffet experience to fill the paragraph.
6. One word vs. two words Some common mistakes with adjectives and nouns are to use a one word version instead of the proper two word version. I blame laziness of email and everyday usage of the advertising media. Billboards, menus, and ads full of slogans that promise "Everyday Value", or "Everyday Freshness." Everyday is an adjective. When will Walmart start promising savings or freshness everyweek or everymonth.
7. Acyrologia Nope not a horrible disease. Though I am sure there are many english professors who would disagree. Acyrologia improper use of a word. The prescribed treatment is a Dictionary/Theusarus combination paperback. Use often. I often see this kind of examples in the sports section of the newspaper.
8. Dangling Dependent Run-on Sentences I work really hard to avoid these things in my writing. I already have too many dependents who dangle their run-on sentences with emoticons I don't understand in txt messages I rarely understand. Why create more?


I know I have more writing issues to work on and through. I know the CLEP will not be easy, in fact, it might be easier to take the class than to test out of it. Got to give it an attempt. What are your writing or grammar issues? If you need to find out more about the CLEP you can visit the Testing Center on campus and pick up a brochure.

My name is Brandon Carpenter and I will be adding my Amarillo College experiences to the AC blog. I plan to tell you, not in a cloyingly cheerful way, what you can expect here at Amarillo college through what I experience.
Let's finish the introduction.
The economy and technology advances have created an opportunity to change. I am a returning student, changed my major, to a degree that has more possibilities. I am a husband, father, step-father, full-time student, somewhat employed. With my degree plan in Mass Communications I plan on working in New Media Journalism.
I still get to keep doing some of the technology I have been using in the workplace and to continue to write. Hopefully to even get paid for writing.
For my summer classes, I decided to fill plate with Government in Texas, Oceanography, Intro to Mass Communication and the TV Workshop. All my classes are online classes, except for the TV workshop.
The TV Workshop focuses on screenwriting. There are eleven students in the class, all I think are Mass Comm. majors. I will have to let you know more about the class and what the results will be. There just might be Quentin Tarantino on campus.
Oceanography does have complete kit and manual. The online lessons heavily use the American Meteorological Society and the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration websites.
The Government in Texas is quite insightful. There is no physical textbook, the online lessons contain the reading material and lecture notes. I still think it could use some audio or video links.
The Intro. to Mass Communication has been revelatory. Opening my eyes to media ethics, entertainment buzz and insight about the industry. That class is taught by Jill Gibson, who is 2010 dual recipient of the John F. Mead Award.
Of course all these classes take lots of study time, but I do schedule some time with family.
Follow along and I will share insights and helpful tips at the AC campus.