Knowing when to take a break and start over.

I went to Calculus 2 today (see previous post for details on why). My teacher is a grad student who has never taught before. This made me nervous because I knew it would make things harder. No syllabus was handed out (he just wrote the 40 problems due Wednesday on the board). He said we'd get it in the next few days. I have never had that happen in a college course. A syllabus and frequently a schedule are handed out right away and discussed for the first twenty minutes of class. Instead, he started teaching Calculus two minutes before the bell would ring.
I tried very hard to pay attention and to focus. I followed along okay, for the most part, but he started teaching the next day's lesson (shell theory) in the middle of teaching us volumes on a graph (taking the area of cross sections and adding them up, etc.) which completely confused me. *sigh* Then I remembered how I keep getting derivatives and integrals mixed up in my head. I started remembering how low my test scores were. And how I had to skip a full page of the final because I had no idea how to do it. I felt in awe that I pulled off the C+ I got. I felt overwhelmed.
An electrical engineer that already knows how to do it (and was actually helping the guy teaching along with the material) said he could help me, but suggested signing up for a different section or a different semester. I talked to Johnny, my little brother, and my dad. My dad understands! I told that when the lesson is explained to me -- what we're doing and why -- I understand perfectly. I just don't understand HOW to do it. He said he'd had the same problem and that it's a tough transition in Calculus.
So, I've decided to take this semester off and retake Calculus 1 next semester (in the summer) and take Calculus 2 in the Fall. Sure, it could make things take a little longer. But, I'll understand them better. I'm not doing it just to pass the class. I need to understand to be a good geologist. And I want to be an awesome geologist. So, I'm going to understand this stuff if it kills me. My Calc. 1 professor has taught before and gotten alright ratings and my Calc. 2 professor has taught a lot (including higher level math classes) and gotten pretty good ratings, so I feel much better about this.
Besides, now I can spend more time with my boys (Johnny and the Miley-kitty). And more time on stuff like laundry and actually unpacking and stuff like that. I have to admit: it feels so good that I don't have to go to school tomorrow!
The best news of all: I do understand Chemistry pretty well now. I pulled an 80% on the final exam and got a B- in the class. The grade matters less than understanding. I did better in Chem. 2 than in Chem. 1 and I really like Chemistry now. :)
So, we'll have a more relaxed little wisp writing for the next couple of months. ;)