Hey all.
Sorry it's been a while but life has been busy. CF really is a different world from any college I've attended before and seems to be a good transitional experience to a regular four-year university. As such, the workload is hella intense and keeps me busy.
We've just passed mid-term week. I only had one "real" mid-term. That was in my Humanities class. That class has not really improved over time. Mostly we sit and listen to the instructor drone over Powerpoint presentations for the entire class time and you can literally feel the minutes of your life slipping away. The mid-term was a fill-in-the-blank type test instead of the standard Scantron, so that sucked fairly majorly. Twelve chapters of information to study to figure out what is required for 20 questions. Even with a review day, it was still way too much to process. I think I maybe scraped a C, but I won't know until Tuesday. Everyone in my class agrees that while no one likes a quiz after every chapter or whatever, a little reinforcement at the end of every chapter would help to get the information straight in our minds. We'll see what comes of it all once the grades come out. Luckily, the mid-term was just practice and doesn't count toward our grade. We are only given scores for a research paper and our final exam so....I need to kick out one hella good paper and study like a crazy woman for the final. I'm getting to know some people in the class and we have a good time.
English Comp II is a bit of a challenge. Our instructor is kind of a world-class wench and tends to change her mind on what she wants from day to day. Makes the writing assignments a little difficult. We didn't have a mid-term per se, but we were tested this week on the end of the short story fiction section of the class. I feel pretty confident on my test. She is very different from my previous writing instructors in that she is obsessive about word count. She also like a lot of in-text citation, which I was always instructed was lazy writing so....my usual happy place this class is not. We have a major paper due in that class as well that I am still struggling to come up with a thesis about. I have the book I'm going to use, but it's not really one of my choosing and so finding something to write about, in conjunction with 10 (10!) literary criticisms which she requires as research is a bit difficult. I've never had an instructor ask for more than 5 sources for any paper so....yeah. That's going on.
My Microcomputer class is pretty much lab time every week. I have a solid 100% and I don't touch any of it until class time. I'm so far ahead of the rest of the class that I will be out of things to do entirely very soon, but the instructor is cool and just lets me work ahead. No worries on that front.
Spanish is going well. I have a solid A and if I am very, very lucky, this will be the last Spanish class I will have to take. I feel confident about the class so that's good and I'm making friends in that class too.
The financial aid situation at CF continues to be an on-going struggle. They are not good at all when it comes to communicating with students and one must continually check in with them to make sure they are processing your file. I finally found one person to meet with and she introduced me to an actual counselor who helped me to see what classes remain for me to get my AA and also helped me to realize that the admissions people had put me in the wrong major. Good info to know. Scheduling will begin for Spring semester soon. I'm actually enjoying my time at CF. With the amount of classes I need, I will have three more semesters to get my AA. It's a longer wait to get to UCF, but you get priority admission in Florida with the AA so it's well worth it. I also discovered that I can take some alternative classes for requirements that I did not know about. For example, for my Oral Communications requirement I can take the Public Speaking the admissions rep told me about OR I can take a writing class OR an acting class. So....options, I likes them. ;)
All the present focus on required courses and general education requirements kind of makes me feel like my design muscles are going to atrophy, but the more time passes, the more I find myself wondering about the path of my future. UCF's Digital Media program is still the current goal, but I have always had other interests and I am wondering now if perhaps tweaking my goals might make better sense in the long run.
I still feel very passionately about the power of the film media and animated film in particular. I also think education is extremely important and being in Florida, and having worked in their elementary education system, I can foresee the death of public education as we have all known it in the very near future. That said, what of digital media in a newer age with more home or private schooling? Won't education need to become more dynamic to keep interest and convey messages? I think it will and I would be interested in being a part of that movement.
Education has always interested me. I've always thought it might be interesting to teach somewhere around the 7th-9th grade English classes. Having been exposed to the Second Step educational materials, knowing the impact those kinds of lessons can have on young minds, and seeing the recent waves of teens suicides, it makes me wonder if a new kind of curriculum and learning isn't desperately needed. I would be very interested in being a part of something that works for the greater good.
I come from a family of worker bees. Being particularly artistic without any final dollar amount of income in mind has never really been encouraged. I tend to be the family black sheep who marches to the beat of her own drummer. As such, I can totally see working as a teacher for minimal income if I know I am making a difference in the world. Working at Pixar making beaucoup de bucks would be sweet, but in reality, even filmmaking in my mind needs to have a purpose, a message, something positive sent out in the world to educate and impact and inform. So....I am wondering about majors, minors and other courses, plus trying to learn of some new ways forward. All this while trying to work on my own writing and art and studying and such. Life is full, even without calls about jobs. C'est la vie.
I'm not a religious person, but I do consider myself to be spiritual and I do have faith. As such, I feel with great conviction that at this moment, I am on exactly the path I am meant to be following, and that I have everything I need, even if not everything I want. And in that much, I'm contented and after my recent dark period, it's a very good feeling. :)
Education goes on. Finals are in December and then a long break until mid-January and Spring semester. In the meantime, it's pretty much the same old same old. Even with all the financial aid mayhem and drama, I'm still very glad I left Rasmussen when I did and that I am at CF. I am making friends and enjoying the campus and a real college experience, even if I am a couple of decades late in having it. Until later y'all! Peace!