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....

Last One..

Had my last final today.  EMR, so I had an oral practical and a written.  Pretty sure I aced the oral practical, but I needed 80% or better on the final to certify.  Only got 79%. Figures.  One question and I don't even know what I did wrong. Sigh.
Looks like I got an A- in art, which is better than I thought I would.  Still no word on public speaking, but I'm not overly worried about it. Especially since my math score is sitting at a B+ after the final.  No official grades until next week, but I'm all done.
And the graduation ceremony is friday!  My dad's trying to see if he has time to go see the newest Star Wars movie before it starts.
My mom gave me her cold! Not cool the day before my last final!  But I'm doing what I can to get rid of it fast.  Not the sort of thing I can call in sick to work over, given that its mainly just a stuffy nose, sore throat and mild cough.  Should be gone by tomorrow-I hope.
Three days and counting...

One Week

Sounds like a quote from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy doesn't it?  But I have one final next week, one opens tomorrow, the math final opens thursday-85% on the last test for that one-and my art final project is due wednesday.  Currently working on the last one, as in fighting the printers who either will not take paper or have nozzles clogged. Figures.
Scary thing happened while I was sleeping last week, which meant I got two days of not really sleeping and then completely blacked out friday night as a result. Felt and heard something moving my sheets but when I opened my eyes the room was dark and empty save for me.  Creepy.
Video recorded my last speech with my dad and sister's help-had to use her iPad and he helped me get it onto my computer-last night and finished turning it in this morning.  The final for that class opens tomorrow.  Which means the only class I have to worry about for finals week is EMR.
Went over my pictures three times to find ones that will work for my project.  And had the teacher go over them twice to see if they agreed.  Then I had to mess with a few to make sure they all fit the idea.
Math I'll have to find time to study as there's only two days to review for class left.  But with that last test score I'm in very good shape.  Finally.
So yeah, that's where I'm at for the last of the semester. First print that went through came out orange and streaky instead of red and clear.  Only thirteen to print though, so no rush right now.

Two Weeks to go...

Sigh. This week is not going so well as the only day off I have is saturday and all the other days I'm working a minimum of 5 hours.  Monday I had to run home, grab something for lunch, change, and run to work.  Plus I closed and had to get up at six am the next morning.  Yesterday was a shorter shift but not by much.  And it was crazier than monday-monday was very boring-so I got off a bit late.  Today was a thankfully short class day as we're trying to work on our last project but I still have work right after it was supposed to get out normally.
But my grades are holding.  Still a solid B in math and art, a low B in EMR and a solid C in public speaking.  Down to the last assignments.  One more speech-that I have to do at home and record for the teacher to see-and a test for public speaking.  This last project for art-no test as far as I know-that's due next wednesday.  Just took the last quiz-80%-for math and have the last test tomorrow.  The final is next week.  And then EMR has one quiz, skills test, and the final I think. Plus workbooks are due tomorrow.
Got a few inches of snow monday, which made the whole straight from school to work thing highly interesting but not fun.  Then it froze into tuesday so I had ice to deal with.  Today it warmed up so no ice but it is still rather cold.  I am very glad my parents talked me into the new tires, as I doubt I would have made it anywhere given the road conditions.  Really makes me want winter boots now, as my shoes don't handle snow at all.
Got to 50,000 words for NANO before work yesterday! Funny thing is that I feel I only got half way through the story when I got that count.  But I turned it in and its official. Not to mention a day early.  Here I was thinking I wouldn't have time this year...

Well That's Just Great....

Changing soups at work saturday and managed to strain my left shoulder.  Had to go see the doctor yesterday and then a follow up today-which made me late for art, but I was able to email the teacher a heads up so they knew what was going on and didn't ding me for it-to make sure it wasn't worse than that.  Funny thing about it was that it didn't hurt at the time-just a funky pooping sound and feeling-but started aching when I got home.  Yesterday was the worst pain wise, so I spent most of the day outside of church trying to ice it.  Feels better today but I'm still icing it.  Supposed to start using heat tomorrow and I have exercises for the week-that's how long I'm supposed to 'favor' it-so it can loosen the muscles and help them heal.
Speech didn't go so well, but I'm still passing the class.  Have one more to go, though it's supposed to be an online thing that I have to record rather than a face to face.  Need five people to watch the live thing though. And one last test for it as well.
Art book was popular with my classmates but my teacher hated my binding method-I thought loose leaf three ring binder clips worked well with the subject but whatever-but I still got a B on it.  Last one's due in December.  No final tests with that class that I know of.
Math has one more quiz-last one was only a 60% but the 100% before that kind of made up for it-one more test, and then the final.  After the 3rd test we're just reviewing so no more new stuff.  Too bad the final has to be comprehensive where the tests were not.  But I'm still a solid B there too.
Not sure what's going on with EMR though we have workbooks due tomorrow.  No class at all last week, and only one this week.  Need to work on my practice emergencies too.

Getting There....

For some crazy reason I decided to try and do Nano despite the ever increasing workload of school and work.  I'm up to 22,500 words, which means I'm about 2,000 behind where I need to be. Plus the 2,000 I need to write today...
3rd speech yesterday and the last one I have to come to school for.  The fourth and final one we're supposed to do ourselves at wherever with five people watching.  Meaning I might have to bug my dad to help me record it and get it online so the teacher can see it. Called a digital dependent delivery. Fun.  First I have to go over yesterday's and write a report on it.
Currently trying to print my second to last art project, which I had to change as my original idea lacked needed pictured but I had enough photo's to make a new one along similar lines.  Spent at least 30 minutes arguing with a printer that wouldn't take the paper so  classmate and I set up a new one that's working now.
And I have less than an hour to try and print 34 pages.  And one of them has text which I'm not sure how that will work. I don't know that this computer has a word processor. Guess I'll find out.

Fun....

Getting that last of the garden cleared out is taking longer than expected.  Takes me an hour to get one row done. And I've still got one left to go-plus two plant from a row I didn't get to finish-before it snows.  And I've got to get the pipes organized too.
We finally had our skills pass off in EMR on thursday, so I've got half of them signed off.  Still have to work on the practice assessments so I have the 40 I need.  But that won't be as hard as the 100 I had to do for EMT.
Math quiz scores dropped a bit, but they are going back up now.  Only three more to go and one test before the final.  Two chapters though....
NANO is back, and I'm 1000 words behind where I need to be.  For once I'm ahead of my mom, but she's doing a collaboration story with my dad for it and so she can't just sit and write this year.  She has to wait for him and such.
Trying to work on my next art project and not having much luck.  Supposed to try and catch people taking photos-the more generic type of kids and fountains and such-with phones and such and take pictures of them. Only got 2 so far. Sigh.
Entering the final month of the semester....