Aug 26, 2010

And you thought I had no Class

Shame on you.

So, this week I started school again. I can't begin to describe how great it was to have a week of no class, how lovely it was to go to work and come home at the same time everyday, to come see my family on my lunch breaks, so I won't.

Drawing the Human Head turned out to be not as exciting as I anticipated. I'm tempted to say the teacher appeared stoned at best, an idiot at worst, and managed to suck all the fun and life out of the room as soon as he entered 15 minutes late. But that would be rude. Accurate, but rude. When I heard that Drawing for Illustration, which I had been on the waiting list for, had opened up, I weighed my options and dropped the Human sleeping pill I mean Human Head Instructor and picked up Illustration. The only down side that I can see is that my schedule won't be so neat. Instead of 3 classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and no classes whatsoever on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll have 2 classes Mondays and Wednesdays and one one Tuesdays and Thursdays. But, my work is very understanding and flexible, so that's quite the blessing.

Update: I have now gone to Drawing for Illustration, and though it sounds like it will be a lot of work, it's a lot of drawing work, so I'm pretty ok with that. Definitely could be worserier. We have to do 200 pages of sketches, about 1/2 hour per sketch. Since my work has a good amount of downtime, I hope that won't be a problem and am looking forward to improving my drawing skill.

Next is Ethics and Values from my maybe possibly favoritest teacher person guy ever! It was great to see him again and made me feel special that he remembered me. The class seems like it will be quite enjoyable, it's in the same room and I'm sitting in the same seat I had Creative Writing last semester. The only downside is the last few classes I had with him were @ 10 people, this is @ 30. So I have to share with more people. :( Poor me. Poor, poor me.

My Digital Imaging class seems a bit misleading. I was under the impression it would be all about Photoshop and manipulating images within. Instead, it seems to be all about taking photos with a digital camera and then using photoshop a little to alter/improve those photos. The teacher seems very likeable, especially to himself. Just kidding, he's very nice and funny and laughs at all his own jokes, which reminds me of someone I greatly admire. (Me.) If nothing else, it should (it better) improve my skills with the camera, which I'm told currently ranks between "child got ahold of the camera" and "bichon frise-chihuahua mix chewing on the camera."

Finance I'll be taking at the same time and the same day and same place as Spring semester, from the same instructor. (Saturday mornings). Only this time I hope to not break my hip and need to drop out a month and a half before the end of the semester. Or skip most of the class. I know what to expect and what to do, and as long as I can get through reading "The Richest Man In Babylon" this time, I should be all set and actually understand a modicum more about money. Wouldn't that be something?

After this semester it will be ten years since I started college way back in Virginia. Since then, I've made many and lost almost as many college friends, went on a mission, had leg surgery (twice), got married, went back to school, had a little boy, had more jobs than I care to count, and piloted an invisible rocket to the moon. That's quite a lot, but I look forward to the day I no longer have to be in school. Sweet, sweet day that will be.

7 comments:

Jacob I. McMillan said...

My college odyssey also began ten years ago. I drank and partied for a couple of semesters, then took a part-time job and tried to save up money to visit a girl. Then I left home, broke it off with the girl and met another girl. I married that girl and held down a job until I could graduate. Also a kid was involved. The future is uncertain.

I'm not saying I envy where you are, but there is comfort in the familiar. Treasure it, because where you're at now, you're special. By the time you're done, you'll be nobody. Maybe the jobs market will be in recovery by then, too. It sure ain't now.

Charlo said...

what kind of rocket?

Austin said...

Jake- and I think I speak for all of us when I say we're glad you married that girl. Though I never knew you without her, it's fairly obvious she's the best thing to happen to you, as she should be.

I sure don't feel like a special snowflake. With however many thousand students there are at UVU not to mention however many hundred students are in the art program I already feel like a nobody. But thanks for the advice and best of luck that the job market improves soon.

Charlotte- It's classified.

Ammon said...

I actually, really liked the Richest Man in Babylon. I'd put it my top 10 favorite self-help books ever. What's amazing is that it was written over 80 years ago. It's a tad cheesy at times, but the principles are solid.

I think you'll enjoy illustration way more than drawing the human head. That one sounded like a real snooze fest. But, to me all the human heads I draw look like circles attached to sticks, so there you go.

Good luck this semester!

Austin said...

Ammon- I read about the first 50 pages and the story in it is so weak and lame it makes it very difficult to look for help in the actual advice.

But, one of MY favorite self-help books, "The Servant" (it's about leadership) also has a pretty cheesy story surrounding some brilliant and solid principles to be a better leader.

I'd say I'll give Richest Man in Babylon another chance, but I don't have a choice. So I'll read it. :)

And yeah, once I got to my Illustration class, I could tell right away I made the right choice getting out of Drawing the Human Head. I still want to take that class eventually, just not from that teacher. Shudder.

Mark Beckstrom said...

do you every worry that your boring teachers (e.g., anti-punctual guy from drawing the human head) will read your blog?
Good luck this semester.
Have you decided what you want to do when you eventually graduate from college?
Good luck after this semester.
Hugs and kisses.

Austin said...

I worry sometimes, but I usually either praise my teachers or never mention them by name. Plus, this particular teacher I dropped his class so there's not a whole lot of damage he can do to me. Thanks for the good luck wishes, I need them.

I haven't decided explicitly what I will do after college, several ideas range from writing and illustrating children's stories to designing websites or advertisements, to becoming a supervisor/manager/trainer at Security Metrics. I still have some time to decide, I now know I'm training for the field I want to be in which is good.