Hey again all.
So...once again plenty of updates here. :) Life has been crazy busy and also very stagnant and limbo-like at the same time. Because of my PTK status, I got a lot of schools e-mailing me information and inviting me to apply. Some of these schools are very, very good schools - like Columbia in New York (which was my dream school when I was 16), and also DePaul University in Chicago, which I'd never thought about but promptly fell in love with when I checked into their programming.
However, love is all well and good, but as DePaul is a private university, it's also mega expensive. And I have not been able to find work anywhere in Chicago to be able to facilitate a move. As such, while I applied and was accepted, there just isn't enough financial aid available and/or a job there to be able to make that dream come true, which is very sad. But, sometimes where you are is where you are and you just have to suck it up and deal, make the best of the situation, lemonade from lemons, etc. Considering I haven't won the lottery, I'm taking the present state of things as a sign and making due with what I have where I am.
To that end, I went earlier this month to the big orientation at UCF. And I mean BIG. SO. MANY. PEOPLE. o.O And, honestly, their staff? Not the nicest folks on the planet. The free lunch was garbage and....well....I'm just not in love with that school or the programming. But, it is what it is and so I am moving forward. I got through the orientation and got classes scheduled, but I have had to re-work that schedule into all online classes for this first semester. Like with Chicago, I still am unable to find any employment in Orlando that can facilitate a move. As such, I can't commute 4 hours each day trying to get back and forth while staying here in Ocala so....online classes it is. Which is fine with me because I'm a Technical Writing major and I actually prefer my writing classes online.
As such, here is my schedule for this first semester of classes at UCF:
American Literature II
Writing for the Technical Professional
Theories and Tech of Lit Study
World Literature I
Looks like a lot of reading and writing which are my two favorite things. Every time I have had online writing classes I have enjoyed them so I'm looking forward to this semester. Classes start August 22nd and I'm ready to get back to the studying.
As for the educational future, I do still long for DePaul, and maybe some time I can either transfer or head there for graduate work, but for right now I must make due with the options available to me. Once upon a time, when I was young, reckless, and stupid, I would have taken off and lived out of my car or something just to get the experience I was dying for. Now, older, wiser, and much more cautious, I'm hoping to do things the smart way. I'm either maturing or getting soft in my old age - some days that feels like a judgment call either way.
So....I will be back later next month to relay the fun and excitement of new classes at a new school with a new major and lots and lots of....newness. Until then - stay cool all! Cheers!
P.S. - before y'all say anything - yeah, scholarships, I know. Only problem is they contacted me with the invite to apply after the deadline for scholarship applications. It blows, but there it is. But - hey - maybe it might work out later? Who knows. We'll see. :)
Showing posts with label changes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label changes. Show all posts
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Who Says You Can't Go Home Again?
Greetings all. :)
Hope everyone had good Turkey Days. Mine was filled with homework, homework, and then, for a change of pace, some homework. :) Finals time is upon us. This upcoming week is the last of regular classes, then it's finals week, then a nice winter break until classes start again on the 5th of January. The workload is crazy and I'm pretty much just focusing on Spanish. I feel very confident in my Microcomputer Applications class so....that's kind of a gimme grade. :) It's always nice to have one of those every semester. Comp II is going well, I think, but I have not as yet received my research paper grade. I do know that my group got the highest score on our poetry unit test so...that's all going well. I'm not worried about passing that class. I'm currently putting the finishing touches on my Humanities paper on Hannah Senesh. Then it's just a matter of studying for that final. Luckily, some of it will come from the mid-term so that helps. I feel fairly confident about that test and class. Spanish is my trouble spot. Our recent three-unit test really kicked my ass. I'm having so much trouble with the uses of ser and estar and the preterite tenses....woe is me. I did have an A in the class before that test, which I got a 74 on. Happily, she graded on a curve and I noticed much, much worse grades than mine so....hope springs eternal. We have one last vocab test on Tuesday that can help bolster a grade, and I'm getting 100's on all of my homework so....keep your fingers crossed on that for me.
My classes for next semester are already scheduled and then sometime mid-January I will fill out the paperwork to graduate and will then have an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts in May. :) My diploma I got in Business Computer Applications back in '90 does not seem like a real college degree of any kind (and isn't counted as one either), so this will be my first real college degree and I'm very excited. This experience at CF has been really good. I'm looking forward to next semester and the classes. Liberal Arts Math....maybe not so much. Nor their "Personal Wellness" class. But I always enjoyed science classes in lower school years, so I'm looking forward to Biology and the lab. I'm also curious to see how my Acting class goes. I'm hoping that class will be fun.
As for the future, there have been more developments in that department. Truth be told, I have never had any desire, whatsoever, to live in Orlando. I don't even like driving down there. But for the purpose of the future, I resigned myself to Orlando and UCF because I am determined to complete my education and get into animated film. However, like Rasmussen (grrr!), UCF's programming is not animation specific. It is a digital media program that employs aspects like web design (which I hate), and regular design classes which do not interest me. So....I've been not exactly excited about the future of my education, but more accepting that UCF would be a better fit than UF or any of the other schools here. I had checked out programming back in Seattle (home! I miss you!!) and other parts of the country, and UCF seemed to be the better deal. UNTIL....I had a discussion with my mother. I don't know what prompted it, but we were discussing education and the subject of SMSU came up. That is the university she went to in Springfield, Missouri and she enjoyed going there. It has recently come to my attention that the education I received in the Springfield public school system was exemplary and head and shoulders above anything offered here in Florida by far. Anyhow, when she mentioned SMS (now MSU) I decided to check them out online. WHAT A STROKE OF LUCK!!!! For a small-town school, they have an AMAZING program for Computer Animation that is just about computer animation. Capstone projects that are computer animation. AND they offer a Screenwriting minor! The course descriptions and coursework are so exciting and so much better than UCF! Plus, honestly, I hate Florida, I always have. It's simply where I've ended up at this point in life, but it's certainly not somewhere I have any desire to remain. But I am an Ozark Mountain girl at heart and would like to live somewhere with four real seasons again.
So....instead of heading to UCF next fall, I will be moving back to mighty MO and starting classes at MSU. They, like UCF, give priority admission to those transfer students with a completed Associates degree so I feel fairly confident about admission. I'm excited to head to a school with better educational opportunity and a program more tailored to exactly the type of work I want to be doing upon graduation. So....we'll see if it's true that you can't go home again. :) I have not been back to Springfield in well over 20 years so it will be interesting so see how things have changed. But the eye is still on the prize - - completing my degree and then hopefully interning somewhere like Pixar, then eventually moving on to completing my own animated films and living back in my beloved Seattle. So...changes are afoot as always.
Wish me luck with these finals y'all - I need it! Cheers!
Hope everyone had good Turkey Days. Mine was filled with homework, homework, and then, for a change of pace, some homework. :) Finals time is upon us. This upcoming week is the last of regular classes, then it's finals week, then a nice winter break until classes start again on the 5th of January. The workload is crazy and I'm pretty much just focusing on Spanish. I feel very confident in my Microcomputer Applications class so....that's kind of a gimme grade. :) It's always nice to have one of those every semester. Comp II is going well, I think, but I have not as yet received my research paper grade. I do know that my group got the highest score on our poetry unit test so...that's all going well. I'm not worried about passing that class. I'm currently putting the finishing touches on my Humanities paper on Hannah Senesh. Then it's just a matter of studying for that final. Luckily, some of it will come from the mid-term so that helps. I feel fairly confident about that test and class. Spanish is my trouble spot. Our recent three-unit test really kicked my ass. I'm having so much trouble with the uses of ser and estar and the preterite tenses....woe is me. I did have an A in the class before that test, which I got a 74 on. Happily, she graded on a curve and I noticed much, much worse grades than mine so....hope springs eternal. We have one last vocab test on Tuesday that can help bolster a grade, and I'm getting 100's on all of my homework so....keep your fingers crossed on that for me.
My classes for next semester are already scheduled and then sometime mid-January I will fill out the paperwork to graduate and will then have an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts in May. :) My diploma I got in Business Computer Applications back in '90 does not seem like a real college degree of any kind (and isn't counted as one either), so this will be my first real college degree and I'm very excited. This experience at CF has been really good. I'm looking forward to next semester and the classes. Liberal Arts Math....maybe not so much. Nor their "Personal Wellness" class. But I always enjoyed science classes in lower school years, so I'm looking forward to Biology and the lab. I'm also curious to see how my Acting class goes. I'm hoping that class will be fun.
As for the future, there have been more developments in that department. Truth be told, I have never had any desire, whatsoever, to live in Orlando. I don't even like driving down there. But for the purpose of the future, I resigned myself to Orlando and UCF because I am determined to complete my education and get into animated film. However, like Rasmussen (grrr!), UCF's programming is not animation specific. It is a digital media program that employs aspects like web design (which I hate), and regular design classes which do not interest me. So....I've been not exactly excited about the future of my education, but more accepting that UCF would be a better fit than UF or any of the other schools here. I had checked out programming back in Seattle (home! I miss you!!) and other parts of the country, and UCF seemed to be the better deal. UNTIL....I had a discussion with my mother. I don't know what prompted it, but we were discussing education and the subject of SMSU came up. That is the university she went to in Springfield, Missouri and she enjoyed going there. It has recently come to my attention that the education I received in the Springfield public school system was exemplary and head and shoulders above anything offered here in Florida by far. Anyhow, when she mentioned SMS (now MSU) I decided to check them out online. WHAT A STROKE OF LUCK!!!! For a small-town school, they have an AMAZING program for Computer Animation that is just about computer animation. Capstone projects that are computer animation. AND they offer a Screenwriting minor! The course descriptions and coursework are so exciting and so much better than UCF! Plus, honestly, I hate Florida, I always have. It's simply where I've ended up at this point in life, but it's certainly not somewhere I have any desire to remain. But I am an Ozark Mountain girl at heart and would like to live somewhere with four real seasons again.
So....instead of heading to UCF next fall, I will be moving back to mighty MO and starting classes at MSU. They, like UCF, give priority admission to those transfer students with a completed Associates degree so I feel fairly confident about admission. I'm excited to head to a school with better educational opportunity and a program more tailored to exactly the type of work I want to be doing upon graduation. So....we'll see if it's true that you can't go home again. :) I have not been back to Springfield in well over 20 years so it will be interesting so see how things have changed. But the eye is still on the prize - - completing my degree and then hopefully interning somewhere like Pixar, then eventually moving on to completing my own animated films and living back in my beloved Seattle. So...changes are afoot as always.
Wish me luck with these finals y'all - I need it! Cheers!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
It's Been A While.....
...hey there y'all. :)
So it has indeed been quite a while since I updated this school blog. Part of it has been that I have been very, very busy. The other part has been because I have been becoming more and more dissatisfied with the educational experience I have been having.
To start off, when I decided to go back to school, it was a decision I thought long and hard about before committing to. Returning to school costs a lot of money and is a very big commitment to make.
I had seen the old Webster College building with it's scrolling marquee sign for a while and watched as it turned into Rasmussen College. Being that it was just a little one-building looking place, and having already been to something considered more a "vocational" college than a real university, I pretty much ignored it.
However, I happened to receive a postcard mailing about an open house they were having about their technology and design programs. Being in the worst county in Florida for unemployment, and having been without steady work for a while, it seemed the time might be right to look into a return to school and into finally completing a Bachelor's degree.
So I went to the open house and while the building wasn't spectacular and the inside not a whole lot better, what was interesting was talking to the people and seeing the presentations. Digital media, and most specifically animation, is something that I have been interested in for a very long time. It was interesting to me to find some place here in dinky old Ocala that had that kind of programming. I jumped right into taking the placement testing, working with an admissions rep, and actually met with the director of the entire Technology and Design program for all of the Rasmussen campuses, and I liked what he had to say. He mentioned wanting Rasmussen to be one of the "go-to" schools for design, and said that he thought it was important to get more women into the design field. So....I signed up, registered, and started classes.
As an older student going back to school, I started this blog to chronicle the journey. To keep a diary if you will of the experience not only for friends and family to read and follow, but for myself to see my own growth. I believe I have grown throughout this process.
But, also as an older student, and someone that has worked at a major university, I know problems when I see them. I've been involved in the business world in one capacity or another since the age of 16. So when I started to see problems with the school, when I started noticing issues in the programming, then I started to lose my faith in the experience. And unlike a lot of the younger students at Rasmussen, I'm not afraid to speak up, voice my concerns, and push back when I'm being told to make due with substandard situations and classes, and I have no problem taking my business elsewhere when it becomes apparent that things are not what they appeared in the beginning to be.
This quarter has been about the worst ever so far in my education at Rasmussen. There have been issues with textbooks, software incompatibility, computer lab issues, online class issues (that if you scroll back you will see I have been having since the very beginning with the online design classes), and one massive issue with an instructor in my Conversational Spanish class. All of this has led me to stop enjoying the educational process.
I've always been a perpetual student. I love to learn new things and get excited at the prospect of challenging myself with new software applications and learning new ways of doing things. I stalked the online classes when I first began, unable to wait to see the new assignments every week and dive into the newness of it all. Over the last two quarters, that shine has definitely come off. Now I must drag myself to the campus, force myself to access the online classroom, and dread opening the books and "dealing" with the work. This feeling, this unhappiness, has caused me a lot of stress this quarter.
I could sit here and laundry list every single issue that Rasmussen has, but I'm not going to. For one thing, it would have no purpose, and for another, I'm tired of thinking about it and dealing with it. What I can say is that it has become apparent to me lately, and over the course of this quarter especially, that I've been rooked. Scammed. Taken for a ride. Pick your metaphor. And this makes me sad, angry, irritated, and tired of the whole damn thing. I hate that I've wasted all this time at a school that does not really care about its students, nor about helping them to succeed in their goals. I'm pissed off at the exorbitant amount of money I have spent to go there when I have now found that one of the premiere digital design programs is only an hour and a half away and $300 less per credit hour. I'm sick of dealing with scheduling issues and nonsense. I'm just over it all.
So....in an attempt to regain that spark, that excitement for learning, I went and met with an admissions representative from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. And it was refreshing! The programming is exciting! And it's a real college, with a real curriculum that includes great elective classes, not just the junk ones that Rasmussen offers. It's a nice campus, friendly people, and a chance for me to have the real college experience I never had.
I will have to go to a local community college for one semester (hopefully this summer) and take another math class and a second Spanish class (oh help!) to get the full requirements for admission to UCF. If all goes well, and I can get into CFCC (or whatever they're calling themselves now) for this summer quarter, and get those two classes done, then I can head to Orlando and UCF in the Fall. I think a lot of my gen ed classes will transfer, but I think I'm going to end up back at square one with the design classes. However, their animation program is much more advanced and I am, once again, excited at the prospect of learning. Already I can feel they have a real commitment to seeing their students succeed, not just in getting people in the door and rooked into whatever lackluster programming they want to provide.
I wish I had done a bit more research about other programs in the area. I did check UF, and Rasmussen's program looked better than that, but I never thought about UCF until a friend mentioned it. Turns out my sister-in-law is an alumni from there and sings its praises. I guess you have to sometimes take the long way to finding the right place to be. Life is weird that way sometimes.
So....I am hoping to start back up with this blog and continue to chronicle the newness and experience of an old bird going back to the books. :) Hopefully these new changes can reignite that spark and snark and make this blog something fun to read again.
As far as the current situation, I am in Week 9 of this current quarter. It feels like it's been going on FOREVER. But, just 2 more weeks to go and then it's done. On Monday I will meet with CFCC to see about summer quarter. Worst case scenario is I can't get into their summer programming because the deadline has passed, but the admissions rep from UCF seemed to indicate that I might be able to make it in under the wire. He also said that as long as I am registered and taking those final two courses, I can apply to UCF and should be good for admittance in the fall. Another great thing about UCF is that the work placement service I use is closer down there and might be able to find me some good work too. So hopefully this is all moving in the right, positive direction.
Thanks for hanging with me y'all and if you would, please keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck! I'm still aiming for nomination for that Animation Short Film Oscar no less then 2 years after graduation. :) Still wanting to intern at Pixar. Those plans are still in motion.
I leave you with this thought - it's never to late to follow your bliss and find that thing that makes you happy and go for it! If you haven't found it yet, what are you waiting for? Life's too short to spend it unhappy - find your spark and shine! :) And also, never let anyone tell you to make due with something less than what you want and deserve. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one has the power to make you feel inferior without your consent." Never, ever, give anyone that. At the end of the day, the best advocate you have for your life is you - DON'T SETTLE! Cheers! :)
So it has indeed been quite a while since I updated this school blog. Part of it has been that I have been very, very busy. The other part has been because I have been becoming more and more dissatisfied with the educational experience I have been having.
To start off, when I decided to go back to school, it was a decision I thought long and hard about before committing to. Returning to school costs a lot of money and is a very big commitment to make.
I had seen the old Webster College building with it's scrolling marquee sign for a while and watched as it turned into Rasmussen College. Being that it was just a little one-building looking place, and having already been to something considered more a "vocational" college than a real university, I pretty much ignored it.
However, I happened to receive a postcard mailing about an open house they were having about their technology and design programs. Being in the worst county in Florida for unemployment, and having been without steady work for a while, it seemed the time might be right to look into a return to school and into finally completing a Bachelor's degree.
So I went to the open house and while the building wasn't spectacular and the inside not a whole lot better, what was interesting was talking to the people and seeing the presentations. Digital media, and most specifically animation, is something that I have been interested in for a very long time. It was interesting to me to find some place here in dinky old Ocala that had that kind of programming. I jumped right into taking the placement testing, working with an admissions rep, and actually met with the director of the entire Technology and Design program for all of the Rasmussen campuses, and I liked what he had to say. He mentioned wanting Rasmussen to be one of the "go-to" schools for design, and said that he thought it was important to get more women into the design field. So....I signed up, registered, and started classes.
As an older student going back to school, I started this blog to chronicle the journey. To keep a diary if you will of the experience not only for friends and family to read and follow, but for myself to see my own growth. I believe I have grown throughout this process.
But, also as an older student, and someone that has worked at a major university, I know problems when I see them. I've been involved in the business world in one capacity or another since the age of 16. So when I started to see problems with the school, when I started noticing issues in the programming, then I started to lose my faith in the experience. And unlike a lot of the younger students at Rasmussen, I'm not afraid to speak up, voice my concerns, and push back when I'm being told to make due with substandard situations and classes, and I have no problem taking my business elsewhere when it becomes apparent that things are not what they appeared in the beginning to be.
This quarter has been about the worst ever so far in my education at Rasmussen. There have been issues with textbooks, software incompatibility, computer lab issues, online class issues (that if you scroll back you will see I have been having since the very beginning with the online design classes), and one massive issue with an instructor in my Conversational Spanish class. All of this has led me to stop enjoying the educational process.
I've always been a perpetual student. I love to learn new things and get excited at the prospect of challenging myself with new software applications and learning new ways of doing things. I stalked the online classes when I first began, unable to wait to see the new assignments every week and dive into the newness of it all. Over the last two quarters, that shine has definitely come off. Now I must drag myself to the campus, force myself to access the online classroom, and dread opening the books and "dealing" with the work. This feeling, this unhappiness, has caused me a lot of stress this quarter.
I could sit here and laundry list every single issue that Rasmussen has, but I'm not going to. For one thing, it would have no purpose, and for another, I'm tired of thinking about it and dealing with it. What I can say is that it has become apparent to me lately, and over the course of this quarter especially, that I've been rooked. Scammed. Taken for a ride. Pick your metaphor. And this makes me sad, angry, irritated, and tired of the whole damn thing. I hate that I've wasted all this time at a school that does not really care about its students, nor about helping them to succeed in their goals. I'm pissed off at the exorbitant amount of money I have spent to go there when I have now found that one of the premiere digital design programs is only an hour and a half away and $300 less per credit hour. I'm sick of dealing with scheduling issues and nonsense. I'm just over it all.
So....in an attempt to regain that spark, that excitement for learning, I went and met with an admissions representative from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. And it was refreshing! The programming is exciting! And it's a real college, with a real curriculum that includes great elective classes, not just the junk ones that Rasmussen offers. It's a nice campus, friendly people, and a chance for me to have the real college experience I never had.
I will have to go to a local community college for one semester (hopefully this summer) and take another math class and a second Spanish class (oh help!) to get the full requirements for admission to UCF. If all goes well, and I can get into CFCC (or whatever they're calling themselves now) for this summer quarter, and get those two classes done, then I can head to Orlando and UCF in the Fall. I think a lot of my gen ed classes will transfer, but I think I'm going to end up back at square one with the design classes. However, their animation program is much more advanced and I am, once again, excited at the prospect of learning. Already I can feel they have a real commitment to seeing their students succeed, not just in getting people in the door and rooked into whatever lackluster programming they want to provide.
I wish I had done a bit more research about other programs in the area. I did check UF, and Rasmussen's program looked better than that, but I never thought about UCF until a friend mentioned it. Turns out my sister-in-law is an alumni from there and sings its praises. I guess you have to sometimes take the long way to finding the right place to be. Life is weird that way sometimes.
So....I am hoping to start back up with this blog and continue to chronicle the newness and experience of an old bird going back to the books. :) Hopefully these new changes can reignite that spark and snark and make this blog something fun to read again.
As far as the current situation, I am in Week 9 of this current quarter. It feels like it's been going on FOREVER. But, just 2 more weeks to go and then it's done. On Monday I will meet with CFCC to see about summer quarter. Worst case scenario is I can't get into their summer programming because the deadline has passed, but the admissions rep from UCF seemed to indicate that I might be able to make it in under the wire. He also said that as long as I am registered and taking those final two courses, I can apply to UCF and should be good for admittance in the fall. Another great thing about UCF is that the work placement service I use is closer down there and might be able to find me some good work too. So hopefully this is all moving in the right, positive direction.
Thanks for hanging with me y'all and if you would, please keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck! I'm still aiming for nomination for that Animation Short Film Oscar no less then 2 years after graduation. :) Still wanting to intern at Pixar. Those plans are still in motion.
I leave you with this thought - it's never to late to follow your bliss and find that thing that makes you happy and go for it! If you haven't found it yet, what are you waiting for? Life's too short to spend it unhappy - find your spark and shine! :) And also, never let anyone tell you to make due with something less than what you want and deserve. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one has the power to make you feel inferior without your consent." Never, ever, give anyone that. At the end of the day, the best advocate you have for your life is you - DON'T SETTLE! Cheers! :)
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