These are only my impressions because Matt isn't home from work yet. I'll let you know what he thinks of his classes later (since I can't get him to write on his own yet.. on here that is. He *is* literate). Anyway - here's an overview of my classes thus far and my first impressions of them. (First impressions because out of five classes, I've only had one of them twice).

MWF - Intro to Individual Psychotherapy
Instructor - Matt Draper

Oh laws! I seriously think this is going to be one of my favorite classes! (This happens to be the one I've had twice so far.) Matt is a bit of a nut - but he's so amazing! Today we talked about how pretty much none of the theories we're going to use really speak to the human soul like poetry does. We also talked about how important it is for a therapist to connect to their client in order to help them. It seemed to be the general consensus from like 5 people in my class who've been through therapy, not to mention Matt - who's been on both sides of the coin. I left today feeling so happy! I even had to write a journal entry after it, while sitting in my car :)

W evenings - Intro to Group Psychotherapy
Instructor - Jack Jensen

You must be thinking that I needed therapy, right? Well perhaps I do! Anyway, this is a one night a week class. I think it's going to be fun. It is supposed to run for 2.5 hours, so the first 1.5 hours, we're going to have group. Jack believes that the best way to learn how to conduct group therapy is to be in group therapy - so we will be! He seems likeable - and Danny took it from him and LOVED it (that's why I just had to take it!). After group, we'll get a break and then come back and talk about the book and stuff. (side note - I ordered 3 classes worth of books from half.com - and the one for this class came today! It was the first one!)

TR - Social Psychology
Instructor - Brett Breton

First impression was - "Hey Tyrel!" K, that's not of the class, but I was so excited to see him in this class. We had English and PoliSci together our first semester, kept in touch a little, exchanged wedding invites, and lost touch. I was so happy to know he's still around!
Anyway, Brett seems nice. I'm reserved as to just how well we'll get along though. He can be funny, but long winded, and his accent ... bugs? I dunno.. it's just weird. It's not like I can't understand him or anything. (He was born in Cali but grew up in Mexico City.) I left wondering if anything I might be reserved about is coming from the difference in cultures. We'll just have to see how it goes.
As for the class - we have to do some papers that sound entertaining. The first is about breaking a social norm - we have to pick a social norm (ie. personal space) and write about how people react to it. I think it sounds fun. The second one is similar, but a little more involved. An interesting thing is he doesn't care if we work individually or in groups. We can seriously work in a small group and turn in one paper with all our names on it!

TR - Personality Theory
Instructor - Cameron John

I wasn't stoked about this class. It's not my fav. subject. I really wanted to take Clinical Interviewing, but McKenna (my academic advisor) wouldn't overwrite it to let me take it since I hadn't taken Social Work 1010. I took Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology! Isn't that good enough? So anyway, I decided on Personality Theory because I had Dr. John in high school through distance education (the first time I took Psych 1010 :) ) I didn't get a great grade, but I was a junior in her first college course, what do you expect? I did remember, however, that I liked the teacher, so I figured I could handle this class.
Oh laws! Dr. John is better in person! We started with a lis of emotion words and talked about emotions for awhile. It was fun. Try describing what "tired" feels like! We had a great discussion, and I actually think this will be another favorite class. As much as I hate papers, we're like one of three classes on campus utilizing the Writing Scholars program from the writing center, so I should be fine. It sounds cool too. Plus! we have a presentation in front of the class, and he gave us options with it. It sounds way fun. I'm actually excited for it.

TR - Physiological Psychology
Instructor - Dr. Yells

Last, but not least, I have Phys. Psych. I'm kind of excited for it because I haven't taken a hard science in awhile, and I actually enjoyed my biology courses. It'll be fun to combine the two (bio and psych). Dr. Yells through me for a loop though - we just jumped into lecture on the first day! After awhile, we took a break and passed out the syllabus, then lectured some more. I think I'll enjoy it though, however, it probably won't be a fav. We'll have to see though. Apparently the beginning is like the stupid Chem chapter that prefaces any intro bio course. We have to get the basics of neurology out of the way so we can talk about how it affects/creates psychology. (ie. what is the biological process of emotion/sleep/etc.)
I'll admit, it was nice to be back in the science building too.

So there are my first impressions of my classes this semester. Hopefully I can survive! :)