And my backpack only weighs 20 lbs!
So you might be wondering just what, exactly, I'm studying at school.
What's that? You're not? Well, phooey on you.
As for everyone else: I'm taking 5 classes this semester (that's 15 credits if you are interested in that kind of thing.) I have 3 classes on campus: Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media 105, Spanish 101, and Math 129.
If you are my stalker or you care more enough to want to know more about IFDM, you can track my work for this semester on the blog they forced me to create via wordpress. The horror! It's not all that interesting, lots of photos and links and even sketches by mine own hand. (Don't get excited, I'm not much of a drawing type person, although I do make a mean stick figure.) IFDM 105 is all about creativity. Last week we took lots of photos and then played around in Photoshop. This week we're making analog models and then we're going to photograph them and play around with the photos on Illustrator. It is a challenging class, very visual, but so far I enjoy it. One whole week in.
Spanish 101 is just like it sounds: elementary Spanish. Not like Elementary school. The other kind of elementary. We've gone over how to say hello, the alphabet, count, days of the week etc etc. My professor speaks to us in Spanish for 90% of the class. That is ... fun. I can muddle out most of what she says (which is the point, figuring out meaning and attaching it to words/phrases) but it is a little intimidating to learn this way. Lucky for me I have people to practice Spanish on and with. Once I know more than how to say hello, my name is Sarah, it is Wednesday.
Math 129 is called Math Survey. My dad is an engineer, did you know? So is my sister and one of my brothers. I took a considerable amount of razzing over Math 129. We haven't had to do a whole lot of calculations, so that's a plus. A plus, ha! The concepts are very abstract, however, and that can get a little unnerving. So far, I don't hate it. (I almost like it, don't tell anyone!)
My other two classes are online: IFDM 491 (Intro to MAYA), and English 219. I like this - I get to do my work at home on my schedule. And I don't like this - I don't get immediate feedback from my professors. The IFDM class is very interesting (and if you are keeping track, yes that is 2 IFDM classes this semester.) MAYA is a computer animation program. (Think Shrek.) I made this on Monday:
Fancy, no? Ok, I know it's just a bunch of boxes but I didn't even know this program existed 2 months ago.
The other online class, English 219, has proven to be the largest workload so far. Lots of writing, reading, editing, and pulling my hair out. Tonight I spent about 3 hours searching for bad sentences and rewriting them into better sentences. I assumed it would be bad form to use my own bad sentences (or those of my friends, ahem) so I had to look around a lot. And I'm not even done for this week!
So, that's the exciting world of going back to school. But actually, it is quite exciting and fun and scary. And I am enjoying myself. And I feel very blessed to be right here, right now. Even on the bad days.
What's that? You're not? Well, phooey on you.
As for everyone else: I'm taking 5 classes this semester (that's 15 credits if you are interested in that kind of thing.) I have 3 classes on campus: Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media 105, Spanish 101, and Math 129.
If you are my stalker or you care more enough to want to know more about IFDM, you can track my work for this semester on the blog they forced me to create via wordpress. The horror! It's not all that interesting, lots of photos and links and even sketches by mine own hand. (Don't get excited, I'm not much of a drawing type person, although I do make a mean stick figure.) IFDM 105 is all about creativity. Last week we took lots of photos and then played around in Photoshop. This week we're making analog models and then we're going to photograph them and play around with the photos on Illustrator. It is a challenging class, very visual, but so far I enjoy it. One whole week in.
Spanish 101 is just like it sounds: elementary Spanish. Not like Elementary school. The other kind of elementary. We've gone over how to say hello, the alphabet, count, days of the week etc etc. My professor speaks to us in Spanish for 90% of the class. That is ... fun. I can muddle out most of what she says (which is the point, figuring out meaning and attaching it to words/phrases) but it is a little intimidating to learn this way. Lucky for me I have people to practice Spanish on and with. Once I know more than how to say hello, my name is Sarah, it is Wednesday.
Math 129 is called Math Survey. My dad is an engineer, did you know? So is my sister and one of my brothers. I took a considerable amount of razzing over Math 129. We haven't had to do a whole lot of calculations, so that's a plus. A plus, ha! The concepts are very abstract, however, and that can get a little unnerving. So far, I don't hate it. (I almost like it, don't tell anyone!)
My other two classes are online: IFDM 491 (Intro to MAYA), and English 219. I like this - I get to do my work at home on my schedule. And I don't like this - I don't get immediate feedback from my professors. The IFDM class is very interesting (and if you are keeping track, yes that is 2 IFDM classes this semester.) MAYA is a computer animation program. (Think Shrek.) I made this on Monday:
Fancy, no? Ok, I know it's just a bunch of boxes but I didn't even know this program existed 2 months ago.
The other online class, English 219, has proven to be the largest workload so far. Lots of writing, reading, editing, and pulling my hair out. Tonight I spent about 3 hours searching for bad sentences and rewriting them into better sentences. I assumed it would be bad form to use my own bad sentences (or those of my friends, ahem) so I had to look around a lot. And I'm not even done for this week!
So, that's the exciting world of going back to school. But actually, it is quite exciting and fun and scary. And I am enjoying myself. And I feel very blessed to be right here, right now. Even on the bad days.
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