A new semester, a new group of headaches. Business as usual.
Happy Halloween! I'm in my 4th week in my 4th semester. Halfway through last semester the enrollment department came into class to remind students to enroll. They said they had taken the time to make class recommendations for us for the upcoming semester and if we liked them, we only had to sign the enrollment sheet. When I asked what the 2 classes were that they had recommended they both sounded the same. Sure enough; they are. One deals with branding on my own company's personal level and the other is the branding for another company. I've already been able to use information I've picked up from one class and use it in another.
So, this semester, my big goal is to have as much done on my boardgame as possible, including the packaging and marketing. I've even created a commercial for it which I've posted on the website. In 'my personal company' class (Corporate Identity) the instructor (same instructor who taught Digital Illustration last semester) said that he will be bringing in local business owners at the end of the semester that we will be giving our presentations to. Wow! Like, that's not big or anything! I think it made a lot of students nervous, including myself. But it could turn out to be a big opportunity for some. The instructor mentioned that 1 student may end up getting hired from her presentation last semester. So, good things do happen.
On the job front I am currently not employed. My previous position was temporary so I have fulfilled it. So here I am, almost halfway through this semester with a ton of homework to load me down and keep me busy. So busy that I have a hard time looking for work and our funds are quickly being dwindled away.
Still, if I was working it would sure be hard to keep up with the homework. So, is thie a blessing in disguise or is Heavenly Father preparing something special? Only time can tell.
Until then, literally back to the drawing board...
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Semester 3.2
I am grateful for this: I have more time - and not just to do homework, but for my family. Gratefully, it's slow enough at work that I can slip a good portion of my homework into the cracks of time at my day job.
This has been a big help, too: On our first day of Psychology our instructor gave us two chapters to read. That doesn't seem like a big deal until you consider that the book is available online, which means I can only read it if I'm in front of a computer. Also, they are massive! The first two chapters consisted of 115 pages... and that was AFTER I copy/pasted it over into a Word document. It took me at least 2 hours to get through that first chapter on my first Saturday. But in my reading I discovered that a review for the book was available as an audio book for only $10. I quickly made the purchase and it has been a life-saver ever since. It takes me 40 minutes to drive to work in the morning, and then again at the end of my day. That's 1 hour and 20 minutes of listen-study I'm able to do each day. It has helped me tremendously.
So, at the end of my day, after being brain-fried by work and school I am able to come home and let it all sink in as I play with my family. And that was something I have not been able to do at all for the past 2 semesters!
We just learned at last night's class that next week is the halfway-midterm point. We will be having our midterm test next week in Psychology. It will cover chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9. Wow... that's a lot of listening. Last night we talked about long term and short term memory. Time to see what I've still retained!
For Digital Imaging it looks like our 2nd assignment, the T-Shirt assignment, will be our midterm there. I worked hard on my draft only to find out that the instructor thought it was too much. Wow... Back to the drawing board, of course, but now I'll be deleting instead of adding. Like my mom says, "It's always easier to pull back than to add in." Of course, that's in reference to trying to pull a performance out of an actor. On the 'drawing board,' as it were, it does translate differently.
We'll see how I do next week.
This has been a big help, too: On our first day of Psychology our instructor gave us two chapters to read. That doesn't seem like a big deal until you consider that the book is available online, which means I can only read it if I'm in front of a computer. Also, they are massive! The first two chapters consisted of 115 pages... and that was AFTER I copy/pasted it over into a Word document. It took me at least 2 hours to get through that first chapter on my first Saturday. But in my reading I discovered that a review for the book was available as an audio book for only $10. I quickly made the purchase and it has been a life-saver ever since. It takes me 40 minutes to drive to work in the morning, and then again at the end of my day. That's 1 hour and 20 minutes of listen-study I'm able to do each day. It has helped me tremendously.
So, at the end of my day, after being brain-fried by work and school I am able to come home and let it all sink in as I play with my family. And that was something I have not been able to do at all for the past 2 semesters!
We just learned at last night's class that next week is the halfway-midterm point. We will be having our midterm test next week in Psychology. It will cover chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9. Wow... that's a lot of listening. Last night we talked about long term and short term memory. Time to see what I've still retained!
For Digital Imaging it looks like our 2nd assignment, the T-Shirt assignment, will be our midterm there. I worked hard on my draft only to find out that the instructor thought it was too much. Wow... Back to the drawing board, of course, but now I'll be deleting instead of adding. Like my mom says, "It's always easier to pull back than to add in." Of course, that's in reference to trying to pull a performance out of an actor. On the 'drawing board,' as it were, it does translate differently.
We'll see how I do next week.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Semester 3.1
I'm coming up on the halfway point of the 3rd semster: Digital Illustration on Wednesday mornings and Psychology Thursday nights. Gratefully, my day job-assignment is good enough to allow me the 4 and a half hours off to take the day class. However, since we've decided to go with the temp agency's insurance we can't afford me to miss those hours. So, I work to make up for it a little bit each day that I am at work. I take only 30 minutes of lunch here, work an extra day there, etc. That means long hours at work, long hours at school, lots of missed sleep (I typically had been taking naps on my lunch break where I could), and a loss of personal time. Oh well, it's still better than the misery I was going through during the first semester!
I'm now officially working on my 4th month here, and even though I still have people asking me what my future plans are concerning the company, I have yet to receive any hiring offers. The 'slow' period has come to an 'end' as the next projects I was brought in for have now picked up again. In fact, they have increased. There will be a new project, just like the 1st one I was brought on for, every month up to the end of the year. In this next month there are 3 happening at the same with 2 in Korea that I have to help coordinate (there were 4 but 1 may get canceled). With that, the individuals who I was helping during the 'slow' time still want me to be involved. Gratefully, I just solved a monster of an issue with another payment project I was working on for another department's supervisor. So, now, when that rolls around again it hopefully won't be as bad as it has been (*knocks on wood*).
In all honesty, I'm creating as many notes on "How to..." as I can so if something happens and I don't end up being hired the next person behind me won't have to go through the pain and suffering of having to 'figure everything out' that me and my supervisor had to go through. Who knows? Maybe they'll wake up one morning and just plain decide that someone could do a better job. Until they hire me everything is still up in the air. Until then, I'm still just a temp driving way too far to get to a job that is not a picnic (though fulfilling, for the most part), that I still might not get.
But at the end of all things, it's still a heckuva lot better than a warehouse!
I'm a bit torn about how I'm going to set up sites here on the ol' blog concerning my classes. I can always set up a pic. site for Digital Illustrator (using Adobe Illustrator), that's no problem. But I'm unsure about how, exactly, I would set up a site for psychology. I have so many views already from my own experiences that this class seems to want to butt-heads with. I can't go against or even deny the fantastic experiences I am honored to have witnessed-I won't. So right now I'm playing with the idea of creating the site to say, "The book, class, and instructor say this. Here are my own philosophies." Just be careful what you read. Like my own saying site says, "Opinions are like butts: Everyone has one, they all stink to everyone else, and we should all keep them under wraps."
Tune in next time for more...
I'm now officially working on my 4th month here, and even though I still have people asking me what my future plans are concerning the company, I have yet to receive any hiring offers. The 'slow' period has come to an 'end' as the next projects I was brought in for have now picked up again. In fact, they have increased. There will be a new project, just like the 1st one I was brought on for, every month up to the end of the year. In this next month there are 3 happening at the same with 2 in Korea that I have to help coordinate (there were 4 but 1 may get canceled). With that, the individuals who I was helping during the 'slow' time still want me to be involved. Gratefully, I just solved a monster of an issue with another payment project I was working on for another department's supervisor. So, now, when that rolls around again it hopefully won't be as bad as it has been (*knocks on wood*).
In all honesty, I'm creating as many notes on "How to..." as I can so if something happens and I don't end up being hired the next person behind me won't have to go through the pain and suffering of having to 'figure everything out' that me and my supervisor had to go through. Who knows? Maybe they'll wake up one morning and just plain decide that someone could do a better job. Until they hire me everything is still up in the air. Until then, I'm still just a temp driving way too far to get to a job that is not a picnic (though fulfilling, for the most part), that I still might not get.
But at the end of all things, it's still a heckuva lot better than a warehouse!
I'm a bit torn about how I'm going to set up sites here on the ol' blog concerning my classes. I can always set up a pic. site for Digital Illustrator (using Adobe Illustrator), that's no problem. But I'm unsure about how, exactly, I would set up a site for psychology. I have so many views already from my own experiences that this class seems to want to butt-heads with. I can't go against or even deny the fantastic experiences I am honored to have witnessed-I won't. So right now I'm playing with the idea of creating the site to say, "The book, class, and instructor say this. Here are my own philosophies." Just be careful what you read. Like my own saying site says, "Opinions are like butts: Everyone has one, they all stink to everyone else, and we should all keep them under wraps."
Tune in next time for more...
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Semester 2
...wow... What a hard semester... But I'd like to think it was still not as hard as the last because I was not getting up at 5:30 AM and working in a warehouse.
The last 3 weeks were spent on nothing but finals, from the rising of the sun to the very late going down.
But it turns out it was all worth it. Here is a copy/paste from my school's website showing last semester's grades (personal info removed):
Grade Report
Murdock, Kerry K.
Spring - 2010
Course Section Title Hours Final Grade
COL100 D Portfolio & Career Success
1.00 A
FS105 B Life Drawing
3.00 A
FS107 A Digital Imaging
3.00 A
Statistics
Attempted Earned Passed Quality Points GPA
Session 7.00 7.00 0.00 7.00 28.00 4.00
Cumulative 13.00 65.00 52.00 13.00 51.10 3.90
Statistics last updated: 06/21/2010
Current Option Settings
Program Session Year
UNDG SP 2010
Portfolio class:
The instructor of our Portfolio class wanted all new(er) students to take the Portfolio class as soon as possible. They said that as new students are going through their classes they will then be better prepared at creating pieces in their classes that they can add to their portfolio so that when they graduate they already have a portfolio already. That is actually something that I felt bad about UVU not doing for us. We ended up taking our portfolio class last. By then it was too late to put concepts of a portfolio into our assignments. So I am glad that AI does do that.
I do not have a seperate listing for the Portfolio & Career Success COL100 class because this website is my portfolio.
What makes me almost want to laugh is that our instructor mentioned that it was only a 1 credit class so he did not intend to give us a lot of homework. That way we could focus on our other classes. However, at the end of the semester, the portfolio was one of the hardest final project pieces I had to put together. It required a lot of gathering, printing (and re-printing), cutting, editing, organizing, and finalizing. But my portfolio is now tons better than when it originally started out.
Life Drawing:
By far one of the hardest classes I have ever had to take. Certainly I learned a lot - but I don't want to have to ever do it again!
They are offering an Advanced Life Drawing class for the first time next semester. They will cover the limb's muscle groups and faces. I won't take it and hope I don't have to! Instead, my wife bought me a book from a famous comic artist to help cover the faces aspects. No more bare skin for me, please!
And I was not the only one. At the beginning of the semester the class was packed full. Our instructor said there were 10 students but I say there was much more. There was hardly any room for my gear in a class that is designed to hold over 15 students.
By the end of the semester there were only 5 of us left. We were not all the best artists in the school-just the ones tough enough to stick it out! Models aside, it is not easy to sit in one position for 4 hours, on and off at a time, drawing the same subject over and over.
We actually had 2 students that showed up everyone once in a while, just to keep their status active in the school. Once they arrived, they would leave. They did this right up to the end of the semester. It made me feel bad, knowing that even if they are not passing the class they still have to pay for it.
Photoshop:
The hardest part of this class was the enviornment. For the entire semester the temperature gauge was faulty: the room was pumping out hot air when we desperately needed the air conditioner on. We tried moving the bookcase away from the thermostat, we tried opening the door, we tried talking to the superintendant. At times I just went home at the end of class to work on projects, instead of staying in class. Stiffling!
One of the great things of this class was the Wacom drawing tablets! My wife had always wanted one so we used the school's discounts to finally get one. Wow! What a great advantage and a lot of fun! I now use it for all of my graphic drawing projects.
At the beginning of the semester one of my previous semester's instructors told me that he saw one of my beginning pieces ("Terminator Mine: Metal Parts") and said how much he was impressed by it. He thought it should have been put on display.
On the last day of class the instructor actuall told me that he really liked my work. It made me feel really good, to know that I really can do this!
For now, we get 3 weeks off until the next semester. Yes! So much better than just 1 week, like last semester. I'm spending it well: sleeping in, playing with my boy, getting caught up on my site here, updating my own projects, taking my wife on dates, and spending time with my family!
We all went to the zoo for the first time last weekend and tonight my wife and I are going to see her favorite, "Eclipse." We were originally worried that with the start of the next semester we would miss it.
But the adventure continues July 12th, 2010.
Until then...
The last 3 weeks were spent on nothing but finals, from the rising of the sun to the very late going down.
But it turns out it was all worth it. Here is a copy/paste from my school's website showing last semester's grades (personal info removed):
Grade Report
Murdock, Kerry K.
Spring - 2010
Course Section Title Hours Final Grade
COL100 D Portfolio & Career Success
1.00 A
FS105 B Life Drawing
3.00 A
FS107 A Digital Imaging
3.00 A
Statistics
Attempted Earned Passed Quality Points GPA
Session 7.00 7.00 0.00 7.00 28.00 4.00
Cumulative 13.00 65.00 52.00 13.00 51.10 3.90
Statistics last updated: 06/21/2010
Current Option Settings
Program Session Year
UNDG SP 2010
Portfolio class:
The instructor of our Portfolio class wanted all new(er) students to take the Portfolio class as soon as possible. They said that as new students are going through their classes they will then be better prepared at creating pieces in their classes that they can add to their portfolio so that when they graduate they already have a portfolio already. That is actually something that I felt bad about UVU not doing for us. We ended up taking our portfolio class last. By then it was too late to put concepts of a portfolio into our assignments. So I am glad that AI does do that.
I do not have a seperate listing for the Portfolio & Career Success COL100 class because this website is my portfolio.
What makes me almost want to laugh is that our instructor mentioned that it was only a 1 credit class so he did not intend to give us a lot of homework. That way we could focus on our other classes. However, at the end of the semester, the portfolio was one of the hardest final project pieces I had to put together. It required a lot of gathering, printing (and re-printing), cutting, editing, organizing, and finalizing. But my portfolio is now tons better than when it originally started out.
Life Drawing:
By far one of the hardest classes I have ever had to take. Certainly I learned a lot - but I don't want to have to ever do it again!
They are offering an Advanced Life Drawing class for the first time next semester. They will cover the limb's muscle groups and faces. I won't take it and hope I don't have to! Instead, my wife bought me a book from a famous comic artist to help cover the faces aspects. No more bare skin for me, please!
And I was not the only one. At the beginning of the semester the class was packed full. Our instructor said there were 10 students but I say there was much more. There was hardly any room for my gear in a class that is designed to hold over 15 students.
By the end of the semester there were only 5 of us left. We were not all the best artists in the school-just the ones tough enough to stick it out! Models aside, it is not easy to sit in one position for 4 hours, on and off at a time, drawing the same subject over and over.
We actually had 2 students that showed up everyone once in a while, just to keep their status active in the school. Once they arrived, they would leave. They did this right up to the end of the semester. It made me feel bad, knowing that even if they are not passing the class they still have to pay for it.
Photoshop:
The hardest part of this class was the enviornment. For the entire semester the temperature gauge was faulty: the room was pumping out hot air when we desperately needed the air conditioner on. We tried moving the bookcase away from the thermostat, we tried opening the door, we tried talking to the superintendant. At times I just went home at the end of class to work on projects, instead of staying in class. Stiffling!
One of the great things of this class was the Wacom drawing tablets! My wife had always wanted one so we used the school's discounts to finally get one. Wow! What a great advantage and a lot of fun! I now use it for all of my graphic drawing projects.
At the beginning of the semester one of my previous semester's instructors told me that he saw one of my beginning pieces ("Terminator Mine: Metal Parts") and said how much he was impressed by it. He thought it should have been put on display.
On the last day of class the instructor actuall told me that he really liked my work. It made me feel really good, to know that I really can do this!
For now, we get 3 weeks off until the next semester. Yes! So much better than just 1 week, like last semester. I'm spending it well: sleeping in, playing with my boy, getting caught up on my site here, updating my own projects, taking my wife on dates, and spending time with my family!
We all went to the zoo for the first time last weekend and tonight my wife and I are going to see her favorite, "Eclipse." We were originally worried that with the start of the next semester we would miss it.
But the adventure continues July 12th, 2010.
Until then...
Friday, April 23, 2010
Semester Two.1:
I'm only the third week of my second semester, Spring 2010 (April). My day job laid me off due to changes in the company and we're trying to get by on my night, part time job (thanks, Matt!). It helped that we got our tax return right around the same time and we are receiving a severence from the day job, too. So, we are hoping that we'll be okay for the month of April.
I am starting a new job waaay down in American Fork in two days that does certification for applications. It's only a temporary job that is supposed to last only 4 weeks while the main guy is on vacation. I am hoping that, if I do a really good job, it can become permanent. The good news is it is much closer to school and full time. They are willing to work with my school schedule for now, because I'm only taking night classes. Here's hoping that things will continue to work out.
This semester I am taking 7 credits: Digital Imaging (Photoshop), Life Drawing, and a Portfolio-builing class.
With Digital Imaging we used our new money to get the student version of CS4 for Photoshop. I am already learning lots of excellent shortcuts that are helping to cut down on time.
Life Drawing is taught by the same guy I took Observational Drawing from last semester. I had a really hard time accepting what the class entailed but with his help, the dean's, and the support of my family it's becoming easier. My wife really pushed me into it, telling me that I'll never really learn what I need to for my projects unless I take this class. So, I'm doing everything I can to help prepare me to have the right frame of mind and I have learned a ton so far. I do have to admit that.
The class is about drawing the human figure from life so I will be screening what I post to the site. Please be wary of what images may be posted to the site when you visit it. No adult themes will be used, however, because it is a life drawing class there will be drawings of the human figure in their au natural. As the instructor described, "Nothing but a smile." Personally, I think he lied to us. I've never seen them wearing a smile! :-)
I just do a lot of praying that Heavenly Father continues to protect me from any evil influences. I visit the temple on a weekly basis, as suggested by my bishop, and read my scriptures every day, as best as I can. I also do not visit any of the instructor's model sites for homework without my wife there to offer support, assistance, and imput.
The last class is in preparation for building a portfolio. The Art Institite wants its new students to take a Portfolio class early in their class itinerary so as they are going through school they can be working on pieces to help build their portfolio. UVU had a similar program but unfortunately, they had me take it right at the end of my schedule before I was about to graduate.
The instructor at AI also said they will have their students take a similar class in the middle of their itinerary and again before they graduate. That way, when their students are ready to leave they will have a strong portfolio with them to show off their work to companies right away.
I just finished my first big assignment for my Life Drawing class and gotta head off to my part time job. Once that day time job hits on Monday I am hoping I'll have the time I need for my homework.
Wish us luck and here goes!
Oh, and 'on the side,' I'm also working a friend with some filming for a movie that he wants to put together. (Do I have any sides left?)
I'm only the third week of my second semester, Spring 2010 (April). My day job laid me off due to changes in the company and we're trying to get by on my night, part time job (thanks, Matt!). It helped that we got our tax return right around the same time and we are receiving a severence from the day job, too. So, we are hoping that we'll be okay for the month of April.
I am starting a new job waaay down in American Fork in two days that does certification for applications. It's only a temporary job that is supposed to last only 4 weeks while the main guy is on vacation. I am hoping that, if I do a really good job, it can become permanent. The good news is it is much closer to school and full time. They are willing to work with my school schedule for now, because I'm only taking night classes. Here's hoping that things will continue to work out.
This semester I am taking 7 credits: Digital Imaging (Photoshop), Life Drawing, and a Portfolio-builing class.
With Digital Imaging we used our new money to get the student version of CS4 for Photoshop. I am already learning lots of excellent shortcuts that are helping to cut down on time.
Life Drawing is taught by the same guy I took Observational Drawing from last semester. I had a really hard time accepting what the class entailed but with his help, the dean's, and the support of my family it's becoming easier. My wife really pushed me into it, telling me that I'll never really learn what I need to for my projects unless I take this class. So, I'm doing everything I can to help prepare me to have the right frame of mind and I have learned a ton so far. I do have to admit that.
The class is about drawing the human figure from life so I will be screening what I post to the site. Please be wary of what images may be posted to the site when you visit it. No adult themes will be used, however, because it is a life drawing class there will be drawings of the human figure in their au natural. As the instructor described, "Nothing but a smile." Personally, I think he lied to us. I've never seen them wearing a smile! :-)
I just do a lot of praying that Heavenly Father continues to protect me from any evil influences. I visit the temple on a weekly basis, as suggested by my bishop, and read my scriptures every day, as best as I can. I also do not visit any of the instructor's model sites for homework without my wife there to offer support, assistance, and imput.
The last class is in preparation for building a portfolio. The Art Institite wants its new students to take a Portfolio class early in their class itinerary so as they are going through school they can be working on pieces to help build their portfolio. UVU had a similar program but unfortunately, they had me take it right at the end of my schedule before I was about to graduate.
The instructor at AI also said they will have their students take a similar class in the middle of their itinerary and again before they graduate. That way, when their students are ready to leave they will have a strong portfolio with them to show off their work to companies right away.
I just finished my first big assignment for my Life Drawing class and gotta head off to my part time job. Once that day time job hits on Monday I am hoping I'll have the time I need for my homework.
Wish us luck and here goes!
Oh, and 'on the side,' I'm also working a friend with some filming for a movie that he wants to put together. (Do I have any sides left?)
Friday, March 19, 2010
Art Institute of Salt Lake City
Semester One:
I'm coming up to the end of my first semester and things are looking well. It's hard to come back to school after all these years but I have learned a lot in my first semester alone. I am already enrolled and excited for my second semester! I'll continue to add my work to the sites as time will allow.
In order to get through this first semester I had 1 day, full time job, 1 night, part time job, part time school with part time homework, a full time family, and helping my wife with our church callings. Plus karate when I could fit it in. Wheh! Let's get these finals over with! I am ready to rest!
I'm coming up to the end of my first semester and things are looking well. It's hard to come back to school after all these years but I have learned a lot in my first semester alone. I am already enrolled and excited for my second semester! I'll continue to add my work to the sites as time will allow.
In order to get through this first semester I had 1 day, full time job, 1 night, part time job, part time school with part time homework, a full time family, and helping my wife with our church callings. Plus karate when I could fit it in. Wheh! Let's get these finals over with! I am ready to rest!
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