I’m human again.

ANDOHMYGOSHIWANTTOSCREAMITFEELSSOGOOD!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I’m done with thesis. So yes, I’m human again. Thesis has taken over my life for some countless months now and as of 5:30pm on Thursday April 22^nd, 2010 I have been free.

As friends and family have asked about my completed thesis I’ve stated that I am human again because I can actually stop and breathe. I’m not staying up till 3 or 4 in the morning dry-mounting or editing the photos anymore. I’m not bending my arms in unnatural ways anymore to capture the photo I need for the alphabet. That kind of disagrees with my statement of ‘live simply so others may simply live’ but that’s okay. WHY? Because it’s done.

So what happens after thesis is done? Well the formal celebration follows about 24 hours later. Every year as the seniors complete their art thesis at the Mount they are recognized for their work and a reception is held in their honor. So on April 23^rd I dressed myself up all pretty to stand proudly for three hours by my final product and really address the accomplishment I made this year.

As my friends and peers came to see my thesis I held this inkling that my parents would come and surprise me from around the corner. That didn’t happen. I was still happy though because I knew they’d see it for my graduation.

Hey Everyone!

I’m in Dayton, working on party favors for my friend Lydia’s wedding, and I need a break! So I thought I’d write you all a blog. (We’re making these little booklets for the wedding, they take so long!)

Anyway, since finals are haunting me, I think you get to hear more about them! We get to do finals at the end of every semester. The finals at the end of the first semester, before Christmas time, are the exact same as finals at the end of the year. Our classes only last one semester.

Finals can vary a ton from class to class. I, for instance, am a Graphic Design major and a Photography Minor. I won’t have a sit down exam in any classes like that. In subjects like photography, 2-d Design, or Drawing, your final will usually be a final project, and not a sit down exam. That sounds a lot nicer when I say it like that, but sometimes those final projects can be a killer. They still count for just as much but they fill up 3-4 weeks with a ton of work that you gotta get perfect if you want that A.

Now your more academic courses, like History, Sociology, or Math subjects, frequently those have a sit down exam. Big test covering the entire course. Same thing you’re used to from high school.

Aaaaand your third option, which some people hate, and I love. In some more discussion-oriented courses, like Philosophy, Art Criticism, Literature… those you’ll frequently not have a sit down exam, but rather a big final paper. I don’t mind papers at all so I love that, but some people really have trouble with that. Preference I guess!

Anyway, I gotta make a ton more of these little books before tomorrow! See you all soon!

Hey Everyone!

Sooooo… I got a sorta funny story to tell! Emphasis on sorta funny, because it actually was a very lucky thing that I didn’t get hurt!

So, I blow glass on Tuesday nights. That’s when my Intermediate Glass Blowing course is, and we were all in there pretty early blowing glass because we all have finals due. Actually during class is the best time to blow really complicated pieces because you have the rest of the class there. You can have up to 4 people all working on the same piece of glass.

So we were all doing just that, and I was helping my friend Sam make a shape called a cone. A cone is hard because it comes to a narrow point on the rod and that makes it hard to control (wish I could draw you guys a picture! Would be so much easier to explain! Anyway I’ll try my best!). One of the easier ways to do that is to put a foot on the end called a cookie foot. You literally make a puddle of hot glass on a steel table. Then you stick the point of your cone into the puddle and you have a little stand for the glass to stand on.

Well I was making one of those for Sam, and I dropped the cookie foot on the table, cut it off the rod, and I was working on flattening it when I unknowingly touched the hot rod of class to my pants.

Yeah, my pants caught on fire.

We’re all supposed to wear cotton in the glass studio for that reason. One of the other students politely informed me that my trousers were aflame, and I quickly put myself out. I didn’t get hurt thankfully! But my pants do have  giant burn hole in the left leg. Wish I had a picture to show you!

Moral of the story, practice safe glass. Don’t set yourself on fire!

Alrighty, finals fast approach so I have to get back to work! See you all soon!

Hey everyone!

This school year is getting pretty crazy. It’s getting to be pretty tough to do all my homework and still get all the paperwork for my Australia trip together. But somehow, with the little time we have left, I’m managing to put in a decent amount of work for my finals.

Anyway, since we’ve moved onto our final project, I’m happy to say the Art and Design poster project is OVER. Not to say I didn’t really enjoy it. I did! I think poster design might be one of my favorite facets of design. I look forward to doing another one. But I probably got to see what a big budget project in a professional design company might be like. We were all essentially working on our very final design for the poster like 3 weeks out of the due date. We had some serious time to nit-pick and question teeny-tiny details. Felt like we were working on it forever!

Well, I happy to say, after it’s all done, I tied for third place in the contest. I tied with my classmate Kurt, who’s an amazing designer and does some really knock-out work, so I’m really pleased to be considered on par with him. Our classmate Patty finished second, and I really loved her design idea. Like, I’d hang that in my room. It was pretty awesome.

The winner wasn’t from our class, but she had an awesome type-based design. I’m actually happy to see someone design only with type and make a splash, because I love type!

Anyway, finals are marching right up, so I better get back to it! See you all soon!

I’m still doing a pretty decent job of keeping my head heldhigh guys…  I started working at 10:030this morning and I’m just calling it quits for the night right now at 8:00.

Being at home for the weekend is kind of paradoxical.  Why? Well, because it is normally very difficult for me to get any work donewhen I am at home because of my other obligations and responsibilities to mygrandparents.  But this weekend Shanecame over.  Shane is my boyfriend, and unlikepopular belief it is much, much easier for me to get work done when he isaround.  He keeps me going when all Iwant to do is quit, pushing me gently and telling me to keep my eye on thegoal.  When anyone needs somethingupstairs he’s there before I can even think about responding to the call.  When I’m hungry he’ll go get something forme, which is extremely helpful because that means I don’t have to move from mycomputer at all.  It’s just much easierto stay on task when he is here.

My to-do list still seems overwhelmingly large, but there’sonly one way to eat an elephant properly I guess… one bite at a time.  That’s what I’m doing here, I chipping offtiny pieces one slice at a time and slowly but surely I’m getting there.  Today I finished things up for Dr. Miller, sonow I’m caught up in my Reading class.  Ihave cleared away all of the little things I had left in Art so now I can focusmy attention on her final.  Tomorrowmorning, first thing, I plan to finish my praxis summaries and my chapterreviews for Mr. Santoro so the only thing I will have left for his class is hisfinal research paper.  I think I willstart to feel a LOT better about things after Tuesday next week because I makeup my midterm for Dr. Green and my test for Mrs. Smith Tuesday afternoon andthat will take a lot of weight off of my shoulders.  I just need to keep my head up and my eyes onthe prize… 

Once again I find myself on campus before my friends have eventhought of getting out of their warm beds...

I came early this morning to see if I could catch Dr. Millerbefore her 9:00 class so that I could talk to her about possibly getting andalternate individual assignment to take the place of the group assignment we'vebeen working on because I haven't been able to work with my group lately. I emailed a group member earlier this week, but she did not email meback, so I have no idea where we are with our project is at the moment. Well, it turns out that Dr. Miller not only has a 9:00 class and a 10:00class, but she also has an 8:00 class... so I hope I can catch her in betweenone of three classes.

I have parked myself in the lobby (once again) and I'm enjoyingthe quiet peace of a campus that is waking up around me.  It looks to meas if three papers are being written, a science test is being studied for andFacebook is making money.  Yep, other than professors arriving for theirclasses on this Friday morning, that's pretty much all that's going on. What do I plan to do??  Well, while I wait for Dr. Miller I plan ongetting some work done.  I need to print out my application for summeremployment here at the Mount, I need to do my WebCT reflections for my servicelearning in Santoro's class, I need to organize my thoughts and research for myresearch paper on gifted education, I need to brainstorm an idea for my unitplan for AED and I need to finish my Praxis Summaries for chapters 14, 15 and16 in SED.  Oh boy!

I'll keep pushing until it's all done, I've been through worse, I can do this, but not just by telling myself I can do it... I'm going to have to talk the talk AND walk the walk in order for anything to happen!  Wish me luck... 

Today was the day that I made that ever so important decision to put my words from my last entry into action... 

I started bright and early.  Mr. Santoro's 8:15 class was canceled this morning and while everyone else was enjoying their free class period sleeping in I was on campus already.  I decided that if I set my alarm for 5:30 and got up and stayed home that it would be no time before I was sound asleep again and I didn't want that to happen.  I had things that needed to get done and I wasn't about to let that time that I was already used to being up for anyway just slip by.  So I got up at 5:30 and was out the door but 6:00 with a packed lunch and a full cup of coffee.

When I got to campus I was one of a handful of students just arriving and I got a really good parking spot (always a plus on a long day!).  I found the empty classroom where I would normally be sitting with my peers learning about the world of exceptionalities that will greet our every waking moment as teachers in the career field.  I picked a spot by the window where the cool morning breeze would keep my mind awake and my senses alert and I pulled out my worn copy of Left Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform by Diane Ravitch and began to carefully read and analyze the 12-page section that Dr. Green had assigned to us for the quiz we would be having in class.  It was nothing overly interesting, mostly just how radical progressive educators had gotten after the Great Depression and how many extremeist ideas there were out there about the role schools should play in society... it's worth a look if you like that kind of stuff.  I went through it once, nit picking and highlighting/underlining every important detail and then I went back and read straight through it one more time for fluidity and comprehension.  

At that point I was really getting sleepy.  I have been very sick since Monday afternoon when I came home from work with a temperature of 103 (not fun).  Anyway, I decided I needed to move, so I made my way to the lobby where I watched my fellow students all around me.  Some I knew, some I didn't; some conversations I recognized (senior thesis projects, a shake up in CAB and the very quiz I had just prepared for were among them) and some just failed to catch my attention.  I sat there for probably 10-15minutes thinking over what I had just read to myself so I could keep it fresh in my mind.  Then it was time for class so I made my way up to the 2nd floor of the classroom building and sat down in the front row of the stifling atmosphere of CL 206 and waited for the customary rhetoric of Dr. Green to announce his arrival.

"I think I may have actually gotten a 10 out of 10 on that one," I said to Chris as we headed down to the Excel department. "And you know what? I think I actually understood what he was talking about today, it didn't seem like a bunch of mumbo jumbo jibberish..." my voice trailed off as I saw the look on Chris's face (which meant that he did not feel the same way), so I decided to drop the subject for the more favorable one of what was on special at the food court today (it was buffalo chicken wraps).  After I dropped my notes off at Excel I stopped by to see Betheny and missed her, and then we headed down to the food court.  While I ate I tied up some loose ends with emails that I had out to some professors and some applications and the sort that I had unfinished floating around my desktop.  After that I put pen to paper and made out a to-do list for the rest of the semester, and let me tell YOU it's a DOOZY!  It hurts me to look at it, but at the same time it feels good to know exactly what has to be done.

Art class went smoothly, my group was understanding of my absences and Mrs. Dick cut me some slack on her grading policy, she thinks if I can continue my 'A' line of work from the beginning of the semester (before all hell broke loose) though to the end of the semester and do really well on my final that I can pull through with a 'B', but no higher than that... ugh, I wish there was something I could do about the classes I had to miss... anyway... her final will require a lot of time and effort, but to be completely honest I think I will have fun with it.  Before I left campus for work I added her final and my responsibilities for our group project to my list of things to do.... looks like thing will be getting hairy this weekend. 

Work went nicely, I hadn't seen the kids in awhile because I've been sick and Ariyanna was glad to have her Mancala partner back.  Alexus is on crutches and Aaron lost a tooth... they are so great, I love it when I go to the after school program after being on campus so long on Thursdays because they're so lively and refreshing... they just make my day!  The Howards were picked up right at 5:00 leaving Issa as the only one left.  His mother showed up at 5:15 and Ms. Dorris and I were free to go.  I-471 was shut down so I had to come home Columbia Parkway which was backed up all the way back to the city and it took me the better part of and hour to get home instead of the usual half hour.  I ate dinner and then my medicine knocked me out so I slept until 9:30 and now here we are.

Why is any of this important enough to me to be in my blog at all?  Well because just yesterday I didn't want to do anything, everyday "staples" were a big feat for me and everything I did, no matter how simple, required a great deal of effort.  But I reached that breaking point and I decided to keep pushing through no matter how hard things got.  So today "carpe diem" was my motto... and I think I did a good job of seizing the day!

Let's hope I can continue. 

P.S. I have been thinking about my first year here and all the fun I had.  This picture symbolizes a time when things were better and I was in a better place with my mind... this is what I'm striving to reach again... 

Today was the day that I made that ever so important decision to put my words from my last entry into action... 

I started bright and early.  Mr. Santoro's 8:15 class was canceled this morning and while everyone else was enjoying their free class period sleeping in I was on campus already.  I decided that if I set my alarm for 5:30 and got up and stayed home that it would be no time before I was sound asleep again and I didn't want that to happen.  I had things that needed to get done and I wasn't about to let that time that I was already used to being up for anyway just slip by.  So I got up at 5:30 and was out the door but 6:00 with a packed lunch and a full cup of coffee.

When I got to campus I was one of a handful of students just arriving and I got a really good parking spot (always a plus on a long day!).  I found the empty classroom where I would normally be sitting with my peers learning about the world of exceptionalities that will greet our every waking moment as teachers in the career field.  I picked a spot by the window where the cool morning breeze would keep my mind awake and my senses alert and I pulled out my worn copy of Left Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform by Diane Ravitch and began to carefully read and analyze the 12-page section that Dr. Green had assigned to us for the quiz we would be having in class.  It was nothing overly interesting, mostly just how radical progressive educators had gotten after the Great Depression and how many extremeist ideas there were out there about the role schools should play in society... it's worth a look if you like that kind of stuff.  I went through it once, nit picking and highlighting/underlining every important detail and then I went back and read straight through it one more time for fluidity and comprehension.  

At that point I was really getting sleepy.  I have been very sick since Monday afternoon when I came home from work with a temperature of 103 (not fun).  Anyway, I decided I needed to move, so I made my way to the lobby where I watched my fellow students all around me.  Some I knew, some I didn't; some conversations I recognized (senior thesis projects, a shake up in CAB and the very quiz I had just prepared for were among them) and some just failed to catch my attention.  I sat there for probably 10-15minutes thinking over what I had just read to myself so I could keep it fresh in my mind.  Then it was time for class so I made my way up to the 2nd floor of the classroom building and sat down in the front row of the stifling atmosphere of CL 206 and waited for the customary rhetoric of Dr. Green to announce his arrival.

"I think I may have actually gotten a 10 out of 10 on that one," I said to Chris as we headed down to the Excel department. "And you know what? I think I actually understood what he was talking about today, it didn't seem like a bunch of mumbo jumbo jibberish..." my voice trailed off as I saw the look on Chris's face (which meant that he did not feel the same way), so I decided to drop the subject for the more favorable one of what was on special at the food court today (it was buffalo chicken wraps).  After I dropped my notes off at Excel I stopped by to see Betheny and missed her, and then we headed down to the food court.  While I ate I tied up some loose ends with emails that I had out to some professors and some applications and the sort that I had unfinished floating around my desktop.  After that I put pen to paper and made out a to-do list for the rest of the semester, and let me tell YOU it's a DOOZY!  It hurts me to look at it, but at the same time it feels good to know exactly what has to be done.

Art class went smoothly, my group was understanding of my absences and Mrs. Dick cut me some slack on her grading policy, she thinks if I can continue my 'A' line of work from the beginning of the semester (before all hell broke loose) though to the end of the semester and do really well on my final that I can pull through with a 'B', but no higher than that... ugh, I wish there was something I could do about the classes I had to miss... anyway... her final will require a lot of time and effort, but to be completely honest I think I will have fun with it.  Before I left campus for work I added her final and my responsibilities for our group project to my list of things to do.... looks like thing will be getting hairy this weekend. 

Work went nicely, I hadn't seen the kids in awhile because I've been sick and Ariyanna was glad to have her Mancala partner back.  Alexus is on crutches and Aaron lost a tooth... they are so great, I love it when I go to the after school program after being on campus so long on Thursdays because they're so lively and refreshing... they just make my day!  The Howards were picked up right at 5:00 leaving Issa as the only one left.  His mother showed up at 5:15 and Ms. Dorris and I were free to go.  I-471 was shut down so I had to come home Columbia Parkway which was backed up all the way back to the city and it took me the better part of and hour to get home instead of the usual half hour.  I ate dinner and then my medicine knocked me out so I slept until 9:30 and now here we are.

Why is any of this important enough to me to be in my blog at all?  Well because just yesterday I didn't want to do anything, everyday "staples" were a big feat for me and everything I did, no matter how simple, required a great deal of effort.  But I reached that breaking point and I decided to keep pushing through no matter how hard things got.  So today "carpe diem" was my motto... and I think I did a good job of seizing the day!

Let's hope I can continue. 

P.S. I have been thinking about my first year here and all the fun I had.  This picture symbolizes a time when things were better and I was in a better place with my mind... this is what I'm striving to reach again... 

well i heard a little something on facebook today that its national procrastination day. i'm really not so sure about this. because i'm suprising myself with the amount of work that i'm really getting done today. well to be honest, its all work that should have been figured out by now, BUT ITS NOT LATE! but either way, i'm actually being productive today. on the day where i should be celebrating excuses i'm actually progressing and doing some really good work. yikes - does this mean i've actually grown up. do i have to actually be REAL adult now. okay okay okay, i know. i'm already an adult. i'm graduating from college in 23 days and it is pretty dang nerve-wrecking. this past weekend when i was home for my sister's wedding i had talked to sooooo many family members and friends of family members and friends of friends, and neighbors, and people that i haven't seen in 20 years. what did we talk about? well i'm sure this will sound familiar: so what are you doing when you graduate? ..... guess what - i have no idea. sure i've thought about my options with teaching, and volunteer work, and continuing school, and hospital jobs, and whatnot, but will i actually do? i don't have a license to teach or a masters to even substitute. i don't have a psychology title in my degree. i don't want to go back to school right away. its all a mystery right now. the biggest issue on my mind at the time is thesis. i have one week to get this thing posted on the wall and then its done. my senior thesis to graduate college with a bachelor's in art will be done.

what's so cool is that when it is done - i'll be free to make the choices i want to make with the freedom of time and enjoyment of a college degree!!!