Hi all.
Well....it has been a while, hasn't it? :) A lot has happened since my last entry, so let's see if I can recap it all.
First, I did very well on all of my mid-terms. My Acting monologue went fabulously and I really enjoyed the experience.
Second, the rest of my classes went well and the semester was a fun one. My final acting assignment was a challenge in terms of having to work with a partner that I really didn't care for, but it all turned out well. I ended the semester with 4 A's and a B+ in Liberal Arts Math, so it was all good.
Third, I am officially a graduate of College of Central Florida! Woot! I was so happy and felt so accomplished the night of graduation. My mom, stepdad, brother and sister-in-law all came to graduation and it was just a great experience. My first college graduation was kind of lame. I had finished my two-year program in a year and happened to be in the same town when graduation rolled around, so I walked with the class, but had never made any friends with anyone or any of the instructors, so it was kind of hollow. This time around I had some friends, faculty I really liked and admired, family and it was great. It was a beautiful night and a really special time.
Fourth, things on the transfer front have gotten....interesting. I was all accepted and prepared to go to MSU, but then it turned out that the "scholarship" they were offering for my mother being an alumni was being taken out of my financial aid, so it wasn't really a scholarship at all - I was still basically being charged out-of-state tuition. Then, they weren't going to accept any of my coursework as anything other than electives, so to be able to pursue my Animation degree I would have had to start at square one and it would have taken me another four years. Add in to that moving from Florida to Missouri, trying to find jobs in tiny Springfield, etc. and it just wasn't feeling right. So....I applied and have been accepted to University of Central Florida for the fall. I feel very good about this, but it's also proving to be a challenge.
Staying in Florida means that my credits will transfer and they will accept my AA with no problems. But, prior to orientation at campus I'm having to do some major hoop jumping. I am specifically running around trying to get bloodwork done to prove I've had all of my immunizations (which kind of makes me feel like a dog). I've had blood drawn twice now as the first time the lab screwed it up and it's just a bunch of craziness. Also, the financial aid awards have been limited so I'm going to be struggling to find a decent place to live in Orlando. And the job market is not being kind to me. I know I am not alone, but I have NEVER been looking for a job this long and it is really starting to get to me. I'm educated, experienced, and hardworking, but there just don't seem to be any jobs anywhere. I've applied for everything and haven't even been called for an interview. So....that's difficult.
But, I'm just trying to work on my writing and rebuilding my Etsy shop in the meantime and getting things prepared for moving to Orlando here in a couple of months. I think that once I'm back in school and getting closer to my degree and what I want to do with my life, things will be better. I'm trying to stay positive about everything at any rate. At my age, to be in the position I'm in, with no job, it just really feels like utter failure. Again, I know I'm not alone and that thousands of people are in the same boat I am, but still....it does a number on the ego and heart for sure.
Another new development is that I have decided to change majors a bit. I'm planning to major in technical writing and minor in digital media. UCF seems to have a really great technical writing program and it's work I've done before and that I know I am good at. With the degree, it opens up a lot more possibilities in the job market, and I still get my minor for my digital education. I think this is the best decision as with the job market the way it is currently, the animation degree is so specific and the job market there so tough....I think the technical writing degree will work better for me when it comes to being employable. I have hope anyway.
I'm still considering the benefits of also going to graduate school once I have my Bachelor's, we'll just have to see where things are in a couple of years. Until then....this is where things stand. I will be starting at UCF in the fall and until then, things will be pretty quiet. Thanks for hanging in there with me all and I'll see everyone from a new city and new campus here soon.
Cheers! :) Have great summers!
Showing posts with label finals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finals. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Sunday, December 20, 2009
End of the Quarter and All That Jazz
Hey again all.
So....this quarter has not been very conducive to the blogging, that's for sure. Six classes is a crazy lot and leaves no time for any kind of life; especially not when College Algebra is part of the schedule. So....sorry I've been so lax here as of late. First and foremost, let me say that I am extremely glad this quarter is over. It was long and hard and fast and crazy, all at the same time. It definitely felt different than my previous two quarters. I did not have nearly enough time to fully concentrate on everything I wanted to, and I had a great deal of frustration this quarter. I also was very sick twice this quarter, plus had a great deal of family and personal life drama going on so....yeah....it's been a wild and weird 11 weeks. But, it is over! Huzzah!! I have determined that I am going back to a regular four class schedule and told all of my nearest and dearest that if they ever hear me mention increasing my courseload again, they have my permission to slap me completely senseless. So....there's that.
Final grades are still coming in, but I have three I can share with you and some projects from all of them. As more come online, I'll be back to update you.
First, let's go ahead and discuss algebra. This class was the bane of my existence this quarter. I am not a math person - at all. I can spell anything you want me to, and I'm a pretty good writer, but math is not my thing. Oddly enough, I can program mathematical calculations in programs like Excel and make wonderful things result, but your basic mathematics is not for me. It took about two weeks of me trying to get through all that nonsense on my own to realize that I couldn't and needed some serious help. Luckily, the tutor center at school had someone on staff who was awesome and got me through the quarter. It was also a very, very difficult class to take online. In a classroom setting, if you have questions you can ask the instructor right then and get the concepts explained to you. Online, you're at the liberty of your instructor's life schedule and ours admitted that we were her third job, and she had a family so....guess where we came in? She did the best she could and was very helpful and understanding, but it was a really difficult class to take online.
Almost as difficult as actually working out the problems was entering them in the Word document using Equation Editor and Graph Editor for submissions. The graphing part was an absolute nightmare and I kept getting things lost in the translation. Another really difficult part for me was all of the online quizzes. It's really hard to work off of the computer screen like that for me. I also had serious problems with the quizzes timing out on me and eating all of my work while I was taking the time to work the problems out on paper. So....about halfway through the quarter I started writing out the quizzes, then going back and entering the answers after I'd worked the problems out. It improved my grade immensely and kept the system from booting me so much. I had similar booting problems with other quizzes in my other classes, no matter which browser I tried to use. Since I've yet to have a quiz that is not open book, I really wish the quizzes came with a print option so you could print them out and work them on paper and then submit the answers. None of them are timed either so....I don't see why that can't be added it. But, whatever. Either way, thanks to writing those out, getting tutoring help from tutor girl and the SmarThinking online tutoring, I managed to get a solid C in that class. I passed and never have to take that again! And there was much rejoicing!!! :)
Second class to discuss - Fundamentals of Web Authoring and Design. This class was the class that put the nail in the coffin of me ever taking design classes online ever again. I thought no instructor could be worse than my Typography instructor from my first quarter - I was so wrong. This guy was just....where to begin? Unprofessional does not seem a strong enough word. His version of feedback on something was "ok, looks good". WTH is that??!! He would say "great job!" on a discussion grade, but only give 95% with no explanation of why there were percentage points taken off. When he did post in the forums, which was rare, it was usually some snotty comment. There was a big issue with an assignment that in his mind was a big research paper but read as a regular written assignment and he couldn't understand why us stupid students couldn't figure it out. He asked me for clarification, which I gave (and very politely too tyvm - I want a cookie and a gold star for that) and he still wanted to argue the point and then just said "I don't get it but, whatever." He gave no lecture notes and only linked Adobe tutorials which you can find on your own. Our book was Teach Yourself Dreamweaver in 24 Hours, and that's what we did. We taught ourselves and he dialed it in and did the least amount possible to pull down the paycheck. For less than I paid for this class, I could have bought the damn book myself and gotten the same experience, but without the snotty commentary from the instructor. And when we had a problem with linking our final projects and were told to contact our instructor, what did he say? Pay $4 on our own for some web space cuz he didn't know either. And who was his favorite student? The guy who used sexist female imagery on his final project of course! Is there something I'm missing here about graphic design? Is every guy in graphic design a sexist asshat or am I just getting lucky here with these instructors?
Either way, I have made it very clear I will not pay for anymore classes with this instructor and I will not take anymore design classes online. They are completely ineffectual and the instructors do not do the job when it comes to helping students to understand the concepts; it was just utterly useless. However, I do have a final project to link and for never having done anything in web design and teaching myself, I'm pretty proud of it. Naturally, the instructor hated it. According to him:
"Not bad, Amy. Your navigation works. Your external link works. I'll count your order form as a feedback form, though they aren't the same thing. Your layout and design is weaker than I'd like though. The overall look of your site isn't quite professional yet. Your buttons are HUGE and your layout is just blog style which is all dead giveaways for amateur web design. Work on that and you'll go far."
Huh - maybe if I'd had a decent instructor to, oh, I dunno, EXPLAIN some things, I might have been able to do better. Anyhow....I got a B in that class. Here is my final project: http://sotd.us/amyburns/HomePage.html
And here is the project by the class star pupil: http://www.ocalanightlife.com/
Now, personally, living in this town, I know this Ocala Nightlife thing has been around for years. I'm not sure how much of this he actually did himself and how much he took from what already existed, but....whatever. Don't you love the images? (puke, gag, retch) I'll give him that it looks professional, but it's also incredibly offensive and pedestrian. But he's got an A for sure cuz all those male instructors seem to just love to objectify women. }:(
Last of the three classes I have a final grade for is 3D Animation. My grade is an A. I still love this stuff so much. However, this quarter was really difficult. Unlike last quarter when there was no one in the computer lab and there was plenty of time to get in there and work, including on the weekends, this quarter it seemed like every person in every other major decided the computer lab was an extension of the student lounge where they could come in there and play on MySpace and Facebook and blare music out of headphones and talk and horse around and act like idiots. When that wasn't happening, the computers were glitching. It made working on my project really, really difficult. The weekends unfortunately were not any better as there were continually people bringing their kids in and having loud conversations, letting their kids on the computers (which they aren't supposed to do) and being disruptive. For the amount of money I'm paying for these classes y'all, I think the computer lab should be off limits to anyone not in the Design program so we have a place to go and work. I would have loved to have had the 3DS Max software at home this quarter so I could work in peace and quiet and on my hours. But....didn't happen. So....with all that, I still managed. Yay me. I'm actually pretty proud of my final projects. Or I was until I went and saw Avatar and now they just look really amateur and stupid. But, I just remind myself that this is only my second animation-type class and that I'm only in my third quarter of my first year so....give myself a break. So....first project was our Course Assessment. We had to design a solar system, make the light source come from the sun, apply materials to our planets, make them rotate around the sun, and add in a flythrough camera path. So....here it is:
Our final project was an animation of our own creation. I went through a lot of different ideas and storyboards, but finally came up with this. I call it Snow Shock. See what you think:
We also had a final paper to complete, but it's not worth posting. We simply had to choose a kind of animation to discuss and write a paper about it. I chose claymation. It was just your basic research paper, blah, blah, blah.
So....that's all I have so far for grades. Still waiting for final grades from World Geography, Creative Writing, and Astronomy. As they come online I will be back with more to share with you.
Next quarter should be interesting and quieter, I hope. I'm taking two on campus classes and two online classes. Monday nights on campus is Figure Drawing, which will be with the same instructor who I had Drawing Design and Art Theory with, so I will get a chance to ask him wth happened with my final grade there. Wednesday nights is Digital Media Production which should be with my same instructor from my two 3D Animation classes and a lot of those classmates so....that should be good. A lot of my classmates from 3D Animation should be in Figure Drawing too so it'll be nice to know some people. Online I will be taking Introduction to Literature and Visual Communication in the Media. Those should hopefully be easy classes. We shall see.
Aside from that, I'm just enjoying the downtime from this quarter and the break before next. Next quarter starts my sophomore year so I'm making progress and school seems to be going by pretty quickly. I'm hoping that this next quarter kind of renews my warm fuzzy feeling toward my school. I've had a lot of concerns about things here lately, not the least of which is whether or not they are fully accredited, whether or not potential employers will consider it a "real" degree or an online degree, and whether or not I am getting the best educational experience for my dollar. I went online to the Pixar site to check things out and they use a completely different software called Maya that according to all my reading in the course catalog, my school does not even have or teach so....looks like I'm headed to the Internet for info on that one. As I say, we shall see how this quarter works out. I've been researching other schools and if I don't feel like things are moving in the right direction, I'll transfer what I can somewhere else. But then, there's another concern - will any of these credits even transfer somewhere else? Suffice it to say that in my mind, Rasmussen is on probation with me right now. We'll see how next quarter and the future go.
So....that's it for now. More to come in follow-up as more grades come online. Also - on a non-school note - if you haven't seen Avatar yet - GO SEE IT!!! That is the most visually stunning and amazing film I've seen in a long time. It totally reminded me of why I returned to school and what I want to be able to do when I get out. I'm already working on a couple of screenplays and stories and have so much I want to do. I just need to get the skills and knowledge to do it. So....cheers for now all!
So....this quarter has not been very conducive to the blogging, that's for sure. Six classes is a crazy lot and leaves no time for any kind of life; especially not when College Algebra is part of the schedule. So....sorry I've been so lax here as of late. First and foremost, let me say that I am extremely glad this quarter is over. It was long and hard and fast and crazy, all at the same time. It definitely felt different than my previous two quarters. I did not have nearly enough time to fully concentrate on everything I wanted to, and I had a great deal of frustration this quarter. I also was very sick twice this quarter, plus had a great deal of family and personal life drama going on so....yeah....it's been a wild and weird 11 weeks. But, it is over! Huzzah!! I have determined that I am going back to a regular four class schedule and told all of my nearest and dearest that if they ever hear me mention increasing my courseload again, they have my permission to slap me completely senseless. So....there's that.
Final grades are still coming in, but I have three I can share with you and some projects from all of them. As more come online, I'll be back to update you.
First, let's go ahead and discuss algebra. This class was the bane of my existence this quarter. I am not a math person - at all. I can spell anything you want me to, and I'm a pretty good writer, but math is not my thing. Oddly enough, I can program mathematical calculations in programs like Excel and make wonderful things result, but your basic mathematics is not for me. It took about two weeks of me trying to get through all that nonsense on my own to realize that I couldn't and needed some serious help. Luckily, the tutor center at school had someone on staff who was awesome and got me through the quarter. It was also a very, very difficult class to take online. In a classroom setting, if you have questions you can ask the instructor right then and get the concepts explained to you. Online, you're at the liberty of your instructor's life schedule and ours admitted that we were her third job, and she had a family so....guess where we came in? She did the best she could and was very helpful and understanding, but it was a really difficult class to take online.
Almost as difficult as actually working out the problems was entering them in the Word document using Equation Editor and Graph Editor for submissions. The graphing part was an absolute nightmare and I kept getting things lost in the translation. Another really difficult part for me was all of the online quizzes. It's really hard to work off of the computer screen like that for me. I also had serious problems with the quizzes timing out on me and eating all of my work while I was taking the time to work the problems out on paper. So....about halfway through the quarter I started writing out the quizzes, then going back and entering the answers after I'd worked the problems out. It improved my grade immensely and kept the system from booting me so much. I had similar booting problems with other quizzes in my other classes, no matter which browser I tried to use. Since I've yet to have a quiz that is not open book, I really wish the quizzes came with a print option so you could print them out and work them on paper and then submit the answers. None of them are timed either so....I don't see why that can't be added it. But, whatever. Either way, thanks to writing those out, getting tutoring help from tutor girl and the SmarThinking online tutoring, I managed to get a solid C in that class. I passed and never have to take that again! And there was much rejoicing!!! :)
Second class to discuss - Fundamentals of Web Authoring and Design. This class was the class that put the nail in the coffin of me ever taking design classes online ever again. I thought no instructor could be worse than my Typography instructor from my first quarter - I was so wrong. This guy was just....where to begin? Unprofessional does not seem a strong enough word. His version of feedback on something was "ok, looks good". WTH is that??!! He would say "great job!" on a discussion grade, but only give 95% with no explanation of why there were percentage points taken off. When he did post in the forums, which was rare, it was usually some snotty comment. There was a big issue with an assignment that in his mind was a big research paper but read as a regular written assignment and he couldn't understand why us stupid students couldn't figure it out. He asked me for clarification, which I gave (and very politely too tyvm - I want a cookie and a gold star for that) and he still wanted to argue the point and then just said "I don't get it but, whatever." He gave no lecture notes and only linked Adobe tutorials which you can find on your own. Our book was Teach Yourself Dreamweaver in 24 Hours, and that's what we did. We taught ourselves and he dialed it in and did the least amount possible to pull down the paycheck. For less than I paid for this class, I could have bought the damn book myself and gotten the same experience, but without the snotty commentary from the instructor. And when we had a problem with linking our final projects and were told to contact our instructor, what did he say? Pay $4 on our own for some web space cuz he didn't know either. And who was his favorite student? The guy who used sexist female imagery on his final project of course! Is there something I'm missing here about graphic design? Is every guy in graphic design a sexist asshat or am I just getting lucky here with these instructors?
Either way, I have made it very clear I will not pay for anymore classes with this instructor and I will not take anymore design classes online. They are completely ineffectual and the instructors do not do the job when it comes to helping students to understand the concepts; it was just utterly useless. However, I do have a final project to link and for never having done anything in web design and teaching myself, I'm pretty proud of it. Naturally, the instructor hated it. According to him:
"Not bad, Amy. Your navigation works. Your external link works. I'll count your order form as a feedback form, though they aren't the same thing. Your layout and design is weaker than I'd like though. The overall look of your site isn't quite professional yet. Your buttons are HUGE and your layout is just blog style which is all dead giveaways for amateur web design. Work on that and you'll go far."
Huh - maybe if I'd had a decent instructor to, oh, I dunno, EXPLAIN some things, I might have been able to do better. Anyhow....I got a B in that class. Here is my final project: http://sotd.us/amyburns/HomePage.html
And here is the project by the class star pupil: http://www.ocalanightlife.com/
Now, personally, living in this town, I know this Ocala Nightlife thing has been around for years. I'm not sure how much of this he actually did himself and how much he took from what already existed, but....whatever. Don't you love the images? (puke, gag, retch) I'll give him that it looks professional, but it's also incredibly offensive and pedestrian. But he's got an A for sure cuz all those male instructors seem to just love to objectify women. }:(
Last of the three classes I have a final grade for is 3D Animation. My grade is an A. I still love this stuff so much. However, this quarter was really difficult. Unlike last quarter when there was no one in the computer lab and there was plenty of time to get in there and work, including on the weekends, this quarter it seemed like every person in every other major decided the computer lab was an extension of the student lounge where they could come in there and play on MySpace and Facebook and blare music out of headphones and talk and horse around and act like idiots. When that wasn't happening, the computers were glitching. It made working on my project really, really difficult. The weekends unfortunately were not any better as there were continually people bringing their kids in and having loud conversations, letting their kids on the computers (which they aren't supposed to do) and being disruptive. For the amount of money I'm paying for these classes y'all, I think the computer lab should be off limits to anyone not in the Design program so we have a place to go and work. I would have loved to have had the 3DS Max software at home this quarter so I could work in peace and quiet and on my hours. But....didn't happen. So....with all that, I still managed. Yay me. I'm actually pretty proud of my final projects. Or I was until I went and saw Avatar and now they just look really amateur and stupid. But, I just remind myself that this is only my second animation-type class and that I'm only in my third quarter of my first year so....give myself a break. So....first project was our Course Assessment. We had to design a solar system, make the light source come from the sun, apply materials to our planets, make them rotate around the sun, and add in a flythrough camera path. So....here it is:
Our final project was an animation of our own creation. I went through a lot of different ideas and storyboards, but finally came up with this. I call it Snow Shock. See what you think:
We also had a final paper to complete, but it's not worth posting. We simply had to choose a kind of animation to discuss and write a paper about it. I chose claymation. It was just your basic research paper, blah, blah, blah.
So....that's all I have so far for grades. Still waiting for final grades from World Geography, Creative Writing, and Astronomy. As they come online I will be back with more to share with you.
Next quarter should be interesting and quieter, I hope. I'm taking two on campus classes and two online classes. Monday nights on campus is Figure Drawing, which will be with the same instructor who I had Drawing Design and Art Theory with, so I will get a chance to ask him wth happened with my final grade there. Wednesday nights is Digital Media Production which should be with my same instructor from my two 3D Animation classes and a lot of those classmates so....that should be good. A lot of my classmates from 3D Animation should be in Figure Drawing too so it'll be nice to know some people. Online I will be taking Introduction to Literature and Visual Communication in the Media. Those should hopefully be easy classes. We shall see.
Aside from that, I'm just enjoying the downtime from this quarter and the break before next. Next quarter starts my sophomore year so I'm making progress and school seems to be going by pretty quickly. I'm hoping that this next quarter kind of renews my warm fuzzy feeling toward my school. I've had a lot of concerns about things here lately, not the least of which is whether or not they are fully accredited, whether or not potential employers will consider it a "real" degree or an online degree, and whether or not I am getting the best educational experience for my dollar. I went online to the Pixar site to check things out and they use a completely different software called Maya that according to all my reading in the course catalog, my school does not even have or teach so....looks like I'm headed to the Internet for info on that one. As I say, we shall see how this quarter works out. I've been researching other schools and if I don't feel like things are moving in the right direction, I'll transfer what I can somewhere else. But then, there's another concern - will any of these credits even transfer somewhere else? Suffice it to say that in my mind, Rasmussen is on probation with me right now. We'll see how next quarter and the future go.
So....that's it for now. More to come in follow-up as more grades come online. Also - on a non-school note - if you haven't seen Avatar yet - GO SEE IT!!! That is the most visually stunning and amazing film I've seen in a long time. It totally reminded me of why I returned to school and what I want to be able to do when I get out. I'm already working on a couple of screenplays and stories and have so much I want to do. I just need to get the skills and knowledge to do it. So....cheers for now all!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Two Down, Two to Go!!
Hey all!
So....my final Introduction to 3D Arts & Animation class was last night and it was pretty damn awesome. I know that with all of my projects and the final exam and extra credit, that I have a 103.5% grade - that's an A. :) Yippee! The instructor said I chose a really good major and that I'm really doing well. I really enjoy the class and I'm looking forward to learning more next quarter.
Our final project was supposed to be a "Jack-in-the-box", in this case, the Jack in the box was Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I am extremely proud of my treasure chest, let me tell you. I think that thing is fierce! This quarter mainly focused on modeling, texturing and lighting. Next quarter we will move on into more to do with the cameras and animation. As such, our project was rendered out as JPEGs and kind of works like the old flip books, I guess. We have a six-scene storyboard pattern that we followed. So...without further ado, our "Jack Sparrow in the box":
So....there you have it. The projects were broken down to the girls versus the boys in the class, and was an even 4/4 split. However, two of the girls flaked out during the course so it ended up just being me and Marcella doing all the work for our team. And we KICKED ASS!!! :) The boys still didn't even have their project done at the end of class last night. Marcella and I both put in weekend hours, showed up to every class, and had the two highest grades in the class. Why? - cuz girls RAWK!!!! :)
So there you have it, our final project for our Intro to 3D Animation class. Now it's on to my final Intro to Business paper and final written assignment for E-Commerce. Once those are completed and I finish all of my discussion post replies, Summer Quarter will be over. Then I'm spending the next two weeks reading for fun, writing, and chilling out. At least until my new books arrive - then I'm going to be reading ahead, as always. :) Cheers all!
So....my final Introduction to 3D Arts & Animation class was last night and it was pretty damn awesome. I know that with all of my projects and the final exam and extra credit, that I have a 103.5% grade - that's an A. :) Yippee! The instructor said I chose a really good major and that I'm really doing well. I really enjoy the class and I'm looking forward to learning more next quarter.
Our final project was supposed to be a "Jack-in-the-box", in this case, the Jack in the box was Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I am extremely proud of my treasure chest, let me tell you. I think that thing is fierce! This quarter mainly focused on modeling, texturing and lighting. Next quarter we will move on into more to do with the cameras and animation. As such, our project was rendered out as JPEGs and kind of works like the old flip books, I guess. We have a six-scene storyboard pattern that we followed. So...without further ado, our "Jack Sparrow in the box":
So....there you have it. The projects were broken down to the girls versus the boys in the class, and was an even 4/4 split. However, two of the girls flaked out during the course so it ended up just being me and Marcella doing all the work for our team. And we KICKED ASS!!! :) The boys still didn't even have their project done at the end of class last night. Marcella and I both put in weekend hours, showed up to every class, and had the two highest grades in the class. Why? - cuz girls RAWK!!!! :)
So there you have it, our final project for our Intro to 3D Animation class. Now it's on to my final Intro to Business paper and final written assignment for E-Commerce. Once those are completed and I finish all of my discussion post replies, Summer Quarter will be over. Then I'm spending the next two weeks reading for fun, writing, and chilling out. At least until my new books arrive - then I'm going to be reading ahead, as always. :) Cheers all!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
One Down, Three to Go!
Hey y'all!
So...it's finals week. This quarter has been interesting and challenging on many levels, and also catastrophically boring and annoying on many levels. I'm doing fairly well in my classes and I hope to end the quarter on a high note with a respectable GPA. I *hope*. :)
So last night was my final Drawing Design and Art Theory class. We brought in our final projects to be critiqued and it was agreed by the class that I have made significant improvement over the course of the quarter. And I quite agree. I will know on Monday what my final project grade is and what my overall grade is for the class. This is the one class that could really hump my GPA. At mid-term, I had a B. I know I've improved, so hopefully (hopefully!) I have improved enough to at least an A- or an A. I can handle a 3.95 GPA again, but I really, really, really have been working so hard - I think I've earned my 4.0. But....we'll just have to wait and see.
At any rate, here is my final project from that class. We had to take a book that has not been made into a movie and draw up a movie poster for it. The book I chose was Red Leaves by Paullina Simons. Check it out:
Aside from saying that my trees looked like Lego trees and knowing that I can't draw architecture to save my life, the reviews were overall very positive and since I've never taken any kind of drawing classes before, I feel proud of the final product.
Tonight is my final Introduction to 3D Arts & Animation class. I'm excited to see how our project in that class turns out and hope to have something cool to share with you later. After that, I have two final papers to complete for my online classes, and then this quarter is done. So....as always, watch this space - more to come! Cheers!
So...it's finals week. This quarter has been interesting and challenging on many levels, and also catastrophically boring and annoying on many levels. I'm doing fairly well in my classes and I hope to end the quarter on a high note with a respectable GPA. I *hope*. :)
So last night was my final Drawing Design and Art Theory class. We brought in our final projects to be critiqued and it was agreed by the class that I have made significant improvement over the course of the quarter. And I quite agree. I will know on Monday what my final project grade is and what my overall grade is for the class. This is the one class that could really hump my GPA. At mid-term, I had a B. I know I've improved, so hopefully (hopefully!) I have improved enough to at least an A- or an A. I can handle a 3.95 GPA again, but I really, really, really have been working so hard - I think I've earned my 4.0. But....we'll just have to wait and see.
At any rate, here is my final project from that class. We had to take a book that has not been made into a movie and draw up a movie poster for it. The book I chose was Red Leaves by Paullina Simons. Check it out:
Aside from saying that my trees looked like Lego trees and knowing that I can't draw architecture to save my life, the reviews were overall very positive and since I've never taken any kind of drawing classes before, I feel proud of the final product.
Tonight is my final Introduction to 3D Arts & Animation class. I'm excited to see how our project in that class turns out and hope to have something cool to share with you later. After that, I have two final papers to complete for my online classes, and then this quarter is done. So....as always, watch this space - more to come! Cheers!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Final Grades
Hello again all.
So....first quarter of school is done. I enjoyed it overall, aside from the one class that drove me up a wall. Final grades are in and can now be reported!
Success Strategies - this class was a bit of a bore. I didn't really get anything from it, but it was a required course so - done and dusted.
Final Overall = 108.24%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Written Assignment = 100%
Final Percentage/Grade = 100% A
English Composition - my favorite class this quarter. I really enjoyed it, I got a lot from it, the instructor was great, and I liked brushing off my writing skills and getting back into things. He also gave me some really nice feedback on my grades, so that was really encouraging and helpful.
Final Overall = 99.26%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Final Exam = 100%
Week 11 Final Paper = 100%
Final Percentage/Grade = 99% A
Intro to Computer Graphics - this was a good class too. The instructor was awesome and really engaged with the class, which is saying something for an online course. She was helpful, available, it was a really awesome class and I feel I learned a lot.
Final Overall = 98.47%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Revitalization Project = 92.73% (wish I'd had her Week 10 feedback before I turned in that final project - I could have improved it)
Final Percentage/Grade = 98% A
Typography - oh how I hated this class! I still maintain that in the hands of a better instructor, this class could have been awesome. It's no fun when you know the instructor is dialing it in. Also - this man is so in love with himself that it was nauseating! Constantly pimping his work, which if you've seen video game inspired fantasy art with half-naked females, you've seen it. Nothing original there, but don't tell him that. He believes he's the god of Graphic Design. What an asshat! I will not miss this class. I'm leaving it not knowing whether or not I've truly grasped the principles of typography. We spent the majority of the quarter trying to design things he'd like. Again, his taste is pretty basically male fantasy garbage. But, it's done now. Yay!
Final Overall = 92.44%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Final Portfolio = 100% (yeah, you could've knocked me over with a feather when I saw that)
Final Percentage/Grade 92% A-
So I ended up with an A- in that last class instead of an A, that kind of sucks, but I don't think it will affect my 4.0 (it better not!).
Again, for a first quarter back in higher education, it was a good experience. The online classroom environment made the two design classes a bit difficult, as did not having the Adobe tutorial discs and books that my Intro to Computer Graphics instructor wanted us to have. I feel I could have gained a lot more from having more instruction in those programs. I also think the design classes could have been more dynamic in person. But, I made it through! I'm happy with the results and ready to head into my second quarter.
I'm looking forward to my books arriving for next quarter's classes. According to the UPS link, they should be delivered on Wednesday. My Drawing Design and Art Theory class has three books for it (!), so I'm a bit intimidated by that. I'm not a good drawer by any means, so I know this class is going to be very challenging. I'm excited to start into 3D animation this next quarter too. It will be interesting taking those two classes on campus in the regular classroom environment. I'll have to try to remember how to take notes! :) My two online classes will be E-Commerce and Intro to Business. I have a feeling those classes are going to have real final exams and tests. We shall see. All in all, next quarter looks pretty good. Once I see how it goes, I'll be able to determine if I want to add another extra class the following quarter to try to get me through sooner. I wanted to wait until I took a "real" full courseload quarter to see - - I still maintain Success Strategies didn't really count as a real class this quarter. :)
So....I might blog here again after I receive my books, but for the most part this blog will be a little quiet until classes start again, which is July 6th. My two online classes will be available then, my other two classes are on Tuesday and Friday nights. I plan to continue to blog about the return-to-school experience, so stay tuned! Cheers all and catch you later!
So....first quarter of school is done. I enjoyed it overall, aside from the one class that drove me up a wall. Final grades are in and can now be reported!
Success Strategies - this class was a bit of a bore. I didn't really get anything from it, but it was a required course so - done and dusted.
Final Overall = 108.24%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Written Assignment = 100%
Final Percentage/Grade = 100% A
English Composition - my favorite class this quarter. I really enjoyed it, I got a lot from it, the instructor was great, and I liked brushing off my writing skills and getting back into things. He also gave me some really nice feedback on my grades, so that was really encouraging and helpful.
Final Overall = 99.26%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Final Exam = 100%
Week 11 Final Paper = 100%
Final Percentage/Grade = 99% A
Intro to Computer Graphics - this was a good class too. The instructor was awesome and really engaged with the class, which is saying something for an online course. She was helpful, available, it was a really awesome class and I feel I learned a lot.
Final Overall = 98.47%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Revitalization Project = 92.73% (wish I'd had her Week 10 feedback before I turned in that final project - I could have improved it)
Final Percentage/Grade = 98% A
Typography - oh how I hated this class! I still maintain that in the hands of a better instructor, this class could have been awesome. It's no fun when you know the instructor is dialing it in. Also - this man is so in love with himself that it was nauseating! Constantly pimping his work, which if you've seen video game inspired fantasy art with half-naked females, you've seen it. Nothing original there, but don't tell him that. He believes he's the god of Graphic Design. What an asshat! I will not miss this class. I'm leaving it not knowing whether or not I've truly grasped the principles of typography. We spent the majority of the quarter trying to design things he'd like. Again, his taste is pretty basically male fantasy garbage. But, it's done now. Yay!
Final Overall = 92.44%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Final Portfolio = 100% (yeah, you could've knocked me over with a feather when I saw that)
Final Percentage/Grade 92% A-
So I ended up with an A- in that last class instead of an A, that kind of sucks, but I don't think it will affect my 4.0 (it better not!).
Again, for a first quarter back in higher education, it was a good experience. The online classroom environment made the two design classes a bit difficult, as did not having the Adobe tutorial discs and books that my Intro to Computer Graphics instructor wanted us to have. I feel I could have gained a lot more from having more instruction in those programs. I also think the design classes could have been more dynamic in person. But, I made it through! I'm happy with the results and ready to head into my second quarter.
I'm looking forward to my books arriving for next quarter's classes. According to the UPS link, they should be delivered on Wednesday. My Drawing Design and Art Theory class has three books for it (!), so I'm a bit intimidated by that. I'm not a good drawer by any means, so I know this class is going to be very challenging. I'm excited to start into 3D animation this next quarter too. It will be interesting taking those two classes on campus in the regular classroom environment. I'll have to try to remember how to take notes! :) My two online classes will be E-Commerce and Intro to Business. I have a feeling those classes are going to have real final exams and tests. We shall see. All in all, next quarter looks pretty good. Once I see how it goes, I'll be able to determine if I want to add another extra class the following quarter to try to get me through sooner. I wanted to wait until I took a "real" full courseload quarter to see - - I still maintain Success Strategies didn't really count as a real class this quarter. :)
So....I might blog here again after I receive my books, but for the most part this blog will be a little quiet until classes start again, which is July 6th. My two online classes will be available then, my other two classes are on Tuesday and Friday nights. I plan to continue to blog about the return-to-school experience, so stay tuned! Cheers all and catch you later!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Typography Final Portfolio
Hey again.
So....this is my final branding portfolio for Typography. Again, my mock company was a feminist film studio. I had to do a cover letter and proposal, but you won't see them here 'cuz they have addresses on them. But, here are the actual pieces of my portfolio for your enjoyment. Also - some things I had to redesign taking into account my instructor's feedback so - - if you've been following along, you can look back and see the changes. Have I grown? I dunno - you decide. :)
Business Card:
Letterhead:
Flyer:
Brochure Outside:
Brochure Inside:
Newsletter Page 1:
Newsletter Page 2:
So...that's it. That's my portfolio for Typography. I am, as I'm sure all y'all who have been following this will know, utterly happy to put that one behind me! Oy! I feel kind of lost without homework to do, but my new books should be arriving shortly and I will share all the goodness when they do. In the meantime, quiet time for a bit here until next quarter, which starts on July 6th. Thanks for reading! Cheers!
So....this is my final branding portfolio for Typography. Again, my mock company was a feminist film studio. I had to do a cover letter and proposal, but you won't see them here 'cuz they have addresses on them. But, here are the actual pieces of my portfolio for your enjoyment. Also - some things I had to redesign taking into account my instructor's feedback so - - if you've been following along, you can look back and see the changes. Have I grown? I dunno - you decide. :)
Business Card:
Letterhead:
Flyer:
Brochure Outside:
Brochure Inside:
Newsletter Page 1:
Newsletter Page 2:
So...that's it. That's my portfolio for Typography. I am, as I'm sure all y'all who have been following this will know, utterly happy to put that one behind me! Oy! I feel kind of lost without homework to do, but my new books should be arriving shortly and I will share all the goodness when they do. In the meantime, quiet time for a bit here until next quarter, which starts on July 6th. Thanks for reading! Cheers!
Intro to Computer Graphics Final
Hey all!
So....I made it through the end of the quarter - yay! :) I already posted my final paper below so....that was that. :) Success Strategies, again, had nothing worth posting this quarter. My final project for Intro to Computer Graphics was the annual report redesign. We had to redesign the front and back covers and four inner pages. So.....I chose to redesign the annual report for Barnes & Noble. Here is the link to the real report: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_investors/annual_reports/Barnes_%26_Noble_2007_Annual_Report.pdf
So - here are my redesigned pages:
Cover Page:
Inside Pages:
Back Cover:
The front and back covers were Week 10's assignments, and utilized my redesigned logo on the back cover. I never received my grade/feedback for Week 10, so I just went ahead and used them. We'll see how that grade turns out. Eek! So....that's Intro to Computer Graphics - Typography to follow!
So....I made it through the end of the quarter - yay! :) I already posted my final paper below so....that was that. :) Success Strategies, again, had nothing worth posting this quarter. My final project for Intro to Computer Graphics was the annual report redesign. We had to redesign the front and back covers and four inner pages. So.....I chose to redesign the annual report for Barnes & Noble. Here is the link to the real report: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_investors/annual_reports/Barnes_%26_Noble_2007_Annual_Report.pdf
So - here are my redesigned pages:
Cover Page:
Inside Pages:
Back Cover:
The front and back covers were Week 10's assignments, and utilized my redesigned logo on the back cover. I never received my grade/feedback for Week 10, so I just went ahead and used them. We'll see how that grade turns out. Eek! So....that's Intro to Computer Graphics - Typography to follow!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Two Down, Two to Go!
Well....this week is starting off interesting. First, I couldn't sleep for anything last night. Got up and busy early this morning, which was good. Turns out instead of everything being due Sunday as usual, it's all due by midnight on Friday. Good thing I got a head start. I am completely done with my Success Strategies class. English is completed and submitted too. Computer Graphics and Typography require waiting for some feedback, but I am making progress. The end is in sight. If things keep going this well, I should be done with my school week a bit earlier than planned and get a head start on relaxing (and worrying about my final grades). More new postings to come! Laters!
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