So I'm going to community college and both parents are footing the bill as well as myself. Under a senior year course load of AP European History, AP Government, Physics and Algebra II, and after challenging and fighting tooth-and-nail my special ed IEP case manager, my mom and the principal to get into these classes, I managed with a B-average in all of those classes, as well as being a Junior ROTC lieutenant and Student Council Traffic Court Chairman, I drudged through my academic and extracurricular responsibilities with a tremendous amount of stress but prevailed in the end of first semester. However, taking a light course load of 14 credit hours consisting of Public Speaking, Intro to Writing, Intermediate Algebra and Elementary German I, I feel stressed and that my first semester has been kind of crappy.
As I'm heading into finals week, I am not worried about Public Speaking and Intro to Writing, which I have roughly a B in both of those, but in Intermediate Algebra and Elementary German, it's a different story: right now, I have a little less than a sixty-eight in Algebra, the final is one-third of the grade so I need a C+ to get a 70 for the semester, since I have a D- average I'm stressing, and Pre-Calculus requires at least a C in the class to transfer into. In my German class, which I am taking on a pass-fail basis, I am barely passing with a 62 in the class, but at this point, I'm convinced that even if I were to turn in coursework and cram for the final exam, that I would not effectively be retaining information for Elementary German II, so I feel that I should accept the F this semester, retake it in the fall with a newfound expectation of what I should expect and get a higher grade, either with or without the pass-fail basis or standard grading system.
Considering that both my parents and I are footing the bill, how should I break it to them? Should I let my parents know before the semester grades come out? Or would it be better just to try and pass the German instead of taking the low-road? I've also decided to send my German teacher an email about my intentions for the class so she doesn't feel neglected and that there isn't any awkwardness between us when I come to her class next semester. Here's a copy of the email, please give me feedback on how I can make the email sound more considerate:
Quote:
Dear (German Teacher),
I think it would be best to retake German in the fall. I think it would be a better policy because for the semester I thought that learning by osmosis (like in a history class) was usually the best policy. I've discovered, too late, that studying a foreign language requires a greater deal of memorization than coming to class. I doubt that my grades on the test with my course work ethic would not suffice for a passing grade. Even if I were to turn in the coursework at the last minute and cram for the final exam to the point of earning a passing grade, I feel that I would not retain enough of the linguistics for Elementary German II from rote cramming and it would be better to relearn the coursework for a fresh start next fall. So I feel it would be responsible and honest of me to inform you of this decision.
08 Dec 2011, 10:38 pm
