Things I Learned in the Past Six and a Half Years...

1. the world likes things to be complicated and difficult regardless of what the subject, object, or person is.
2. I don't know if Institute is supposed to be a lifesaver, a Lifeline, or a sanity preserver, but I'd rather take an institute class than a college class for a few reasons. A. no expectations. B. any homework is less than the most basic college class and can be done in less than a half hour for most of it. C. no big books and big words. D. if you don't make it due to whatever reason, they won't dock your grade and they let you make it up.
3. Some things in photography turn out the best when they are made the 'old fashioned' way as digital can't do it justice.  Plus hands on is way more fun than sitting at a computer trying to achieve the same effects.  And film is fun to develop yourself.
4. Writing is hard mainly because all the big ideas are used and in some cases over used and so new writers have to find a new way of saying the same stuff.  Doesn't help that the good authors keep raising the bar all the time too.
5. Having your own car may make your day a little easier, but riding the bus means you can read on the way to school.  Kind of makes me wish we had some form of a subway station here...
6. Once you get far enough along, you either can't wait for it to be over or you can't see yourself stopping. Sometimes both.  In my case what started as a simple Associate's degree-which I didn't actually get-turned into a Bachelor's that I now have and I'm working on going on to a Master's of teaching.
7. It is so weird to graduate and realize that you don't have to go to school the next semester.  And you get bored very easily.
8. Classmates might seem imposing or out to get you, but when you get settled into your program and see the same faces over and over, they turn from strangers fighting you for the same things to friends that can help better than some teachers can.  Plus it's more fun to talk to classmates about assignments than it is to talk to the teacher.
9. Take criticism as the individual's opinion and not as fact, even if it's a teacher giving it.  They are also not usually out to make you fail, they just want to push you to the best you can do.
10. It's not the teacher's fault if you don't do the work and so fail the class.  But if you talk to them about it they usually try to give you the best grade they can.  They won't bite or anything.
11.  Learning can be addictive, and this is one that I'd be happy to grow.
Bachelor's done, on to graduate school....