The two classes I'm taking this semester are Web Scripting and Package Design, both at night. The day-time job assignment I'm doing is kind enough to allow my schedule to change on those 2 class days so that I can get to class on time.
I thought Web Scripting would be hard but the insructor is very chill and quite entertaining. Thus far, I am really enjoying it and so far it's not too difficult (knock on wood). Even though he wants us all to build everything from scratch so that we know what we are doing he's still shown us some good shortcuts.
I'm excited to use what I'm learning in class to create my own site. I think it would be cool to take what I learn in class and land a Front End web designing opportunity. It's fun enough and you never know what will happen.
The Packaging Design class is taught by the same instructor who taught 2 of my last two semester classes (Corporate Identity and Illustrator). So far the class if fun, too. Both classes are allowing me to artisitcally stretch my left-brained experience (languages and 3D modeling). The Packaging Design class is all about taking 1 dimensional box templates, adding our designs, and turning them into actual boxes. Wow. A lot more than I thought the class would be about.
I think our instructor felt bad about how much homework he had us doing this last semester because this semester he is only making us do 3 assignments: a soap box, something else, and a DVD/video game box. He just wants each one to be our very best. He is also giving us some good class time, which is excellent. I am turning in the first assignment this Wednesday.
I do have to admit, after last semester I was telling my wife that was missing the ol' paper and pencil method of the drawing classes (Observational & Life Drawing). I never thought I would find myself missing the Life Drawing class after all the hardships and difficulty I had in that class. But last Wednesday I suddenly, and quite randomly, found myself missing the Life Drawing class.
I was equally surprised when I walked into class and the instructor read off an announcement that on Wednesdays before my class they were offering an open lab to anyone who wanted to join for Observational Drawing and Life Drawing. We could just show up and draw - no tests, no rush, no hassel: just experience. I am excited!
I told both my wife and mother and they agree that it's good practice. I am excited to learn the things we never got to cover in class: arms, hands, legs, feet, and most importantly-faces.
The lab ends at 5:00 and I get off work at 4:30. I asked the instructor if he could extend it to 6:00. He's trying to see if someone will stay longer than he is allowed too to keep the lab open. Otherwise I'll only get a few minutes before class starts.
We'll see what happens.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Semester 4.2
Will miracles never cease...
I had just started by new semester when my assignment ended at Certiport. I only recently learned that it was due to the fact that I couldn't talk on the phones that they decided to not keep me on. In fact, I had just reached the 6 month mark, which is the time when employers are supposed to decide whether or not they want to keep you on. That, combined with how Finals from the last semester tied me up, really added to the decline of their 'like' in me.
So, here I was, knee-deep into a new semester of school without any income, a family to provide for, and the holidays coming up. Needless to say, the stress was mounting.
The one good thing that I could see was in the class suggestions the school had provided. In the middle of the previous semester they announced that the school took it upon themselves to create some registration suggestions for the next semester. If the students liked the suggestions all they had to do was sign off on them. I liked the descriptions: they were both the same. In the end, the only difference was that one class allowed me to work on my own projects and the other one did not. I was, however, able to use the homework from one class, and slightly tweak it for the other.
That fact right that, and the other fact that I was not working, helped me to pass both classes. If either of them would have been missing I would have failed miserably for sure in both.
How it all works out I don't understand. But I know the Lord knows what He is doing with me. And I am very grateful for it. I know I could not have done this without him.
One of the other big miracles happened near the middle of the semester. A Congressional law had just passed, cutting off Federal funding for students enrolled in private colleges - like the ARt Institute. Without the Federal grant money we would not be able to afford me being in school. As it turns out, I was able to be 'grandfathered' in since I was enrolled prior to that law passing. If I had waited this past year I would have missed out on those blessings.
Also, as a direct result of the law passing the Dean of the Art Institute (whose last name is Murdock, by the way!) decided to combine classes to try and bring the cost down. For us Graphic Design students 4 classes were removed or combined into the curriculm, including Life Drawing. This was big because I was able to apply the time, credits, and energy towards a similar or equal value class. But if I ever need to use those credits towards another degree I won't loose them. At the same time, since most of my projects and work involve creating characters I am still able to benefit from that teaching before they pulled the class from the curriculm. Wow. Again, Heavely Father knows what he is doing.
I argued with my Life Drawing instructyor that the Life Drawing class is fundemental for Graphic Design students, and he mentioned that himself and other instructors agreed. I even used characters in my Final Projects for both of my classes. But, what is done is done... for now.
Another miracle is when Donna decided to go back to work part time. The reason why this is important is because, like I said, we had no income - at all. This helped to provide some good Christmas pocket cash, which we needed. It was only on call and less than part time so she wasn't missing a whole lot of time. And every little bit helps. She didn't want to quit before but was nervous about going back now. On her first day she was able to have some wonderful experiences, including seeing some major figures in our area. She was able to buddy-buddy with a lot of her friends and I consider it a 'girls night out' treatment for her. It's good for her to get away from being a mommy all the time and it gives our son a chance to play with his cousins and hang out at grandmas. Also, right when the semester was winding down I was offered by my good friend to come back to the arcade. Donna was adamandtly against this, reminding me of how hard it was for us, and her, then. She reminded me that she went back to work so that I wouldn't have to have a second part time job. That sealed the deal.
Instead of my working for the semester, I was doing homework - sometimes all day and into the night, long.
I was given an assignment close to Finals which lasted only 3 days, because of. Finals had me so stressed that I would go to this assignment looking haggard and weary. The supervisor assigned to me was nice but even she mentioned at one point that I was looking pale. It didn't help that even though this was an office enviornment I was literally doing warehouse work-breaking down boxes, heavy lifting, carting around boxes on the dolly, and unpacking/setting up furniture. I was sweating by the end of each day, had to carry my box cutter with me, and was back in my old, beat-up warehouse shoes just to protect my feet from all of the running around. When I got home, there was not rest-just back to the homework until midnight, where I'd get up to do it again. On the eve of my first day at this new assignment I was so stressed about Finals that I only slept for 4.5 hours. I slept on my lunch break in my car to make up for it.
I was not surprised when I was no longer required at that position and considered it a miracle. I was free again to finish my Finals and it gave us some good Christmas money.
The same day I came home the temp agency also informed me that they thought they had something else in mind for me. It turned out that it was closer to home, was more money, and better suited for me. They initially wanted me to start the same day of my last final. They later wanted me to start the following Monday, which gave me a week to rest.
I have now been there 3 weeks and so far it's been a great assignment.
Another good part of these Christmas miracles I only learned about after the fact-one of the single friends in Donna's family heard of our plight and thought of Quinny. After discussing it with Donna behind my back they decided to put Quinny's name in their ward's Sub-For-Santa. Our son woke up Christmas morning to a fabulous nwe wardrobe, including many pants, shoes, pajamas (which matched the new blanket he got from his Aunt Linda), shirts, socks, and shirts. They all fit, were desperately needed, and wonderful!
Another series of miracles started when dad finally decided to install with a new ceiling fan in our bathroom. The previous one broke down after a long time of service but dad didn't have the money or time to invest in getting it replaced.
As soon as he finished our washer and dryer combo died. Again, dad came to the rescue. Part of that miracle came when we tried to move the old one down the steps and it got away from me. We are both grateful, fortunate, and lucky that neither dad nor Dan were seriously injured (although I've never heard so many swear words coming from Dan at any given time).
And our son was happy to get a giant box for Christmas!
Once that complete, Donna's sister Linda called to say that their next-door neighbor was selling their massive, gorgeous entertainment center, with the flat screen tv, for a very small amount. Negotiations were made, schedules were assembled, and the family got it for us for Christmas. It took us all of Sunday to rearrange our entire living room to get it set in place. And it is gorgeous.
It helped us to understand the importance of decluttering our lives, minds, times, and home. It also became the inspiration of many of our New Year's Resolutions to simply and declutter our lives.
For my Finals homework it finally helped me to understand what my instructors have been trying to say all along: the mind needs places to rest - negative space - in order to fully appreciate the 'art' in front of it.
Less truly is more.
My family threw their yearly Christmas party, in which my parents not only supplied us with lots of much needed food from their own pantries but provided many fun presents for us as well, including some important survival gear.
But the most important present of all came to us before Christmas with the completion of our roof.
For the last few years we have found with our extremely leaky roof. We were even wary of having a child with how bad it was. At one point we had over 30 buckets, all throughout our home. Our kitchen ceiling had collapsed on us and was being supported by some metal planks dad put up. Our bedroom ceiling threatened to follow suit, so dad installed some more metal planks. Instead, the ceiling retaliated by growing black mold under the plastic wrap and threatened our health. Donna was at her wit's end and decided to do something about it. She refused to have another Christmas of moving the tree around and trying to catch all of the outside snow as it came in.
After talking with Donna about it many times, she finally followed her gut and started reaching out. Grandpa got involved and agreed to save our hides yet again. He footed the bill for our extremely leaky roof.
We talked to some contractors in our ward and they got to work as quickly as they were able to. Because of dad's business in the lower half of the building our Bishop was able to assist due to legal reasons, and the amount we needed was much higher for him to help with.
My own family was unable to come up with the funds. It broke their hearts to idly stand back and not be able to do anything about it.
Once they heard that the roof was being worked on my parents began preparing another Christmas miracle. At the family Christmas party there was a glass jar on the counter titled, "Service Project" with some bills inside. My mom encouraged everyone to donate. We were still pressed for cash but I pulled out my wallet anyway to contribute as I asked my mom what the jar was for. With tears in her eyes she then stated that it was to help out a certain group of family members get new ceilings for their very drippy apartment.
That is was it for me. With my heart very full of happiness and gratitude I could only express my thanks with heartfelt tears and smiles.
Our prayers had been answered.
The end of the semester came at long last, and happily it came and I was fully prepared. Our Tuesday-night instructor came with 2 local business professionals who critiqued our word one-on-one. That was very important and impressive for the school to provide.
With the stressed of school behind me, and honored with some great grades to boot, I was finally able to breathe many sighs of relief.
With all of this in mind I decided that I already received everything for Christmas that I wanted. The lists and presents and gifts that I had thought of didn't seem to matter at all anymore. I decided to focus on my family and others instead, feeling that all of my prayers had already been answered.
That became my driving focus and it really turned this Christmas into a very memorable one.
I got a few things that I wanted, namely the most important ones, but my biggest joy came from seeing my family's reaction to their gifts. It was then that I suddenly realized what Christmas was all about - consideration. It was about thinking of the other person and providing for their needs in such a way that it would make them happy. It was knowing your gift-giving person so well that you could see past what was on their list and give them what they truly needed deep down inside to become happy.
I saw that on the face of my wife and in her happy tears as she opened her most important gift and I knew I was right. My prayers had become answered. It was good to make hers come true as well.
In the end that's what it all boiled down to - our Heavenly Father provided us the one gift we could never give ourselves - the path to eternal life in His presence, through His Only Begotten Son. Through our Savior we can live with Him forever, and be happy. That is the only thing we truly need to be happy.
At Christmas time we give gifts to commemorate the greatest gift ever given; The gift of Our Heavenly Father's Son to us, so we can be able to return to Him again and live in His mansions and be happy forever. And no matter what gift we may ever give, no matter what service we may ever render, no matter what we may ever do it will pale in comparison.
All we can try to do is our very hardest to come as close as we can to it.
I had just started by new semester when my assignment ended at Certiport. I only recently learned that it was due to the fact that I couldn't talk on the phones that they decided to not keep me on. In fact, I had just reached the 6 month mark, which is the time when employers are supposed to decide whether or not they want to keep you on. That, combined with how Finals from the last semester tied me up, really added to the decline of their 'like' in me.
So, here I was, knee-deep into a new semester of school without any income, a family to provide for, and the holidays coming up. Needless to say, the stress was mounting.
The one good thing that I could see was in the class suggestions the school had provided. In the middle of the previous semester they announced that the school took it upon themselves to create some registration suggestions for the next semester. If the students liked the suggestions all they had to do was sign off on them. I liked the descriptions: they were both the same. In the end, the only difference was that one class allowed me to work on my own projects and the other one did not. I was, however, able to use the homework from one class, and slightly tweak it for the other.
That fact right that, and the other fact that I was not working, helped me to pass both classes. If either of them would have been missing I would have failed miserably for sure in both.
How it all works out I don't understand. But I know the Lord knows what He is doing with me. And I am very grateful for it. I know I could not have done this without him.
One of the other big miracles happened near the middle of the semester. A Congressional law had just passed, cutting off Federal funding for students enrolled in private colleges - like the ARt Institute. Without the Federal grant money we would not be able to afford me being in school. As it turns out, I was able to be 'grandfathered' in since I was enrolled prior to that law passing. If I had waited this past year I would have missed out on those blessings.
Also, as a direct result of the law passing the Dean of the Art Institute (whose last name is Murdock, by the way!) decided to combine classes to try and bring the cost down. For us Graphic Design students 4 classes were removed or combined into the curriculm, including Life Drawing. This was big because I was able to apply the time, credits, and energy towards a similar or equal value class. But if I ever need to use those credits towards another degree I won't loose them. At the same time, since most of my projects and work involve creating characters I am still able to benefit from that teaching before they pulled the class from the curriculm. Wow. Again, Heavely Father knows what he is doing.
I argued with my Life Drawing instructyor that the Life Drawing class is fundemental for Graphic Design students, and he mentioned that himself and other instructors agreed. I even used characters in my Final Projects for both of my classes. But, what is done is done... for now.
Another miracle is when Donna decided to go back to work part time. The reason why this is important is because, like I said, we had no income - at all. This helped to provide some good Christmas pocket cash, which we needed. It was only on call and less than part time so she wasn't missing a whole lot of time. And every little bit helps. She didn't want to quit before but was nervous about going back now. On her first day she was able to have some wonderful experiences, including seeing some major figures in our area. She was able to buddy-buddy with a lot of her friends and I consider it a 'girls night out' treatment for her. It's good for her to get away from being a mommy all the time and it gives our son a chance to play with his cousins and hang out at grandmas. Also, right when the semester was winding down I was offered by my good friend to come back to the arcade. Donna was adamandtly against this, reminding me of how hard it was for us, and her, then. She reminded me that she went back to work so that I wouldn't have to have a second part time job. That sealed the deal.
Instead of my working for the semester, I was doing homework - sometimes all day and into the night, long.
I was given an assignment close to Finals which lasted only 3 days, because of. Finals had me so stressed that I would go to this assignment looking haggard and weary. The supervisor assigned to me was nice but even she mentioned at one point that I was looking pale. It didn't help that even though this was an office enviornment I was literally doing warehouse work-breaking down boxes, heavy lifting, carting around boxes on the dolly, and unpacking/setting up furniture. I was sweating by the end of each day, had to carry my box cutter with me, and was back in my old, beat-up warehouse shoes just to protect my feet from all of the running around. When I got home, there was not rest-just back to the homework until midnight, where I'd get up to do it again. On the eve of my first day at this new assignment I was so stressed about Finals that I only slept for 4.5 hours. I slept on my lunch break in my car to make up for it.
I was not surprised when I was no longer required at that position and considered it a miracle. I was free again to finish my Finals and it gave us some good Christmas money.
The same day I came home the temp agency also informed me that they thought they had something else in mind for me. It turned out that it was closer to home, was more money, and better suited for me. They initially wanted me to start the same day of my last final. They later wanted me to start the following Monday, which gave me a week to rest.
I have now been there 3 weeks and so far it's been a great assignment.
Another good part of these Christmas miracles I only learned about after the fact-one of the single friends in Donna's family heard of our plight and thought of Quinny. After discussing it with Donna behind my back they decided to put Quinny's name in their ward's Sub-For-Santa. Our son woke up Christmas morning to a fabulous nwe wardrobe, including many pants, shoes, pajamas (which matched the new blanket he got from his Aunt Linda), shirts, socks, and shirts. They all fit, were desperately needed, and wonderful!
Another series of miracles started when dad finally decided to install with a new ceiling fan in our bathroom. The previous one broke down after a long time of service but dad didn't have the money or time to invest in getting it replaced.
As soon as he finished our washer and dryer combo died. Again, dad came to the rescue. Part of that miracle came when we tried to move the old one down the steps and it got away from me. We are both grateful, fortunate, and lucky that neither dad nor Dan were seriously injured (although I've never heard so many swear words coming from Dan at any given time).
And our son was happy to get a giant box for Christmas!
Once that complete, Donna's sister Linda called to say that their next-door neighbor was selling their massive, gorgeous entertainment center, with the flat screen tv, for a very small amount. Negotiations were made, schedules were assembled, and the family got it for us for Christmas. It took us all of Sunday to rearrange our entire living room to get it set in place. And it is gorgeous.
It helped us to understand the importance of decluttering our lives, minds, times, and home. It also became the inspiration of many of our New Year's Resolutions to simply and declutter our lives.
For my Finals homework it finally helped me to understand what my instructors have been trying to say all along: the mind needs places to rest - negative space - in order to fully appreciate the 'art' in front of it.
Less truly is more.
My family threw their yearly Christmas party, in which my parents not only supplied us with lots of much needed food from their own pantries but provided many fun presents for us as well, including some important survival gear.
But the most important present of all came to us before Christmas with the completion of our roof.
For the last few years we have found with our extremely leaky roof. We were even wary of having a child with how bad it was. At one point we had over 30 buckets, all throughout our home. Our kitchen ceiling had collapsed on us and was being supported by some metal planks dad put up. Our bedroom ceiling threatened to follow suit, so dad installed some more metal planks. Instead, the ceiling retaliated by growing black mold under the plastic wrap and threatened our health. Donna was at her wit's end and decided to do something about it. She refused to have another Christmas of moving the tree around and trying to catch all of the outside snow as it came in.
After talking with Donna about it many times, she finally followed her gut and started reaching out. Grandpa got involved and agreed to save our hides yet again. He footed the bill for our extremely leaky roof.
We talked to some contractors in our ward and they got to work as quickly as they were able to. Because of dad's business in the lower half of the building our Bishop was able to assist due to legal reasons, and the amount we needed was much higher for him to help with.
My own family was unable to come up with the funds. It broke their hearts to idly stand back and not be able to do anything about it.
Once they heard that the roof was being worked on my parents began preparing another Christmas miracle. At the family Christmas party there was a glass jar on the counter titled, "Service Project" with some bills inside. My mom encouraged everyone to donate. We were still pressed for cash but I pulled out my wallet anyway to contribute as I asked my mom what the jar was for. With tears in her eyes she then stated that it was to help out a certain group of family members get new ceilings for their very drippy apartment.
That is was it for me. With my heart very full of happiness and gratitude I could only express my thanks with heartfelt tears and smiles.
Our prayers had been answered.
The end of the semester came at long last, and happily it came and I was fully prepared. Our Tuesday-night instructor came with 2 local business professionals who critiqued our word one-on-one. That was very important and impressive for the school to provide.
With the stressed of school behind me, and honored with some great grades to boot, I was finally able to breathe many sighs of relief.
With all of this in mind I decided that I already received everything for Christmas that I wanted. The lists and presents and gifts that I had thought of didn't seem to matter at all anymore. I decided to focus on my family and others instead, feeling that all of my prayers had already been answered.
That became my driving focus and it really turned this Christmas into a very memorable one.
I got a few things that I wanted, namely the most important ones, but my biggest joy came from seeing my family's reaction to their gifts. It was then that I suddenly realized what Christmas was all about - consideration. It was about thinking of the other person and providing for their needs in such a way that it would make them happy. It was knowing your gift-giving person so well that you could see past what was on their list and give them what they truly needed deep down inside to become happy.
I saw that on the face of my wife and in her happy tears as she opened her most important gift and I knew I was right. My prayers had become answered. It was good to make hers come true as well.
In the end that's what it all boiled down to - our Heavenly Father provided us the one gift we could never give ourselves - the path to eternal life in His presence, through His Only Begotten Son. Through our Savior we can live with Him forever, and be happy. That is the only thing we truly need to be happy.
At Christmas time we give gifts to commemorate the greatest gift ever given; The gift of Our Heavenly Father's Son to us, so we can be able to return to Him again and live in His mansions and be happy forever. And no matter what gift we may ever give, no matter what service we may ever render, no matter what we may ever do it will pale in comparison.
All we can try to do is our very hardest to come as close as we can to it.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Semester 4
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...
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...
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?)
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