Thursday, December 14, 2017

Fall 2017 Semester

This semester has been short and long! Mostly short. I can’t believe how quickly time is flying! This time next year I will be DONE with classes, and preparing to start student teaching! That scares me, but I am also feeling ready to be done with homework and actually making money haha.

This semester I had mostly art related classes, as usual. I took Graphic Computer Applications, 3D Art, Kenpo, Ceramics (3), EDSP (basically a course about special education), and Museum Studies.

Graphic Computer Applications is a class that I kind of put off for a while. I am really not into the whole “using a computer” thing. I was super nervous to have to learn all the programs, but in the end I think I’m pretty decent at all of them! We started in Illustrator, which was terrifying, but I got used to it while making my “travel poster”. I think it turned out cool!


We had a unit on Photoshop, which I skipped class a lot during because the assignments took me almost no time at all. Thanks to all my past photo/photoshop teachers!

The InDesign unit was scary for me, but I think I almost understand a little bit about it now. Our final project for the class was to make 3 magazine spreads: a cover spread, table of contents, and interior. I’m really happy with how mine turned out!




3D art was harder than I expected it to be! We started out by making wire sculptures and I realized that my ability to think of objects in 3 dimensions is really lacking. I really struggled, got a lot of blisters, and consistently had stained hands from this rebar tying wire! In the end though, I really think I did okay! I like my little snail and so do my parents, as he is now their porch decoration.


In 3D art we also carved stone. CARVED STONE! Like who does that? I was hoping to have a Michelangelo moment while staring at my rock, but inspiration never came so I kind of just did whatever and made it up as I went along. I think it ended up okay... it’s definitely made of a gorgeous stone!



As it always seems to go, I got my best grade on the project that took me the least amount of time. This “module” is made up of cut skewers hot glued together and painted with spray paint and nail polish. Easy! But I think it looks cool!


Kenpo... how did I end up in Kenpo, you ask? Well, I was super limited on classes I could take this semester, considering that I wasn’t admitted into the education program yet. I was able to sign up for 14 applicable credits, but I needed 15 to get my scholarship money! So, I took karate because I’ve always wanted to try it and it was just one credit.

Man, karate is hard! My hand-eye coordination is definitely something that needs to be worked on. It was difficult because my mind would tell my body to do something, but my body just wasn’t fast enough! I’m generally a quick learner, but karate is NOT in my blood, as I hoped it would be... it was a good experience for me, though, to have to practice and work hard to learn those techniques. If you ever need a good laugh, google search “Kenpo techniques”. The names are hilarious!

Anyway, the final was also a test to earn our yellow belts. We were all nervous about it, apparently my partner was especially nervous about it because he PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE. Well, it was more of a back knuckle hit but man, it was painful. I had to keep going though! It didn’t start bleeding until later when we had to kneel and put our heads on the ground, so that’s good.


As a side note: soon after he punched me in the face, he asked me on a date. Uhm, no thanks! Even if I wasn’t married!

Ceramics was good as usual. I’m actually feeling kind of done with Ceramics. I don’t think it helps that it’s always at the end of the school day! I’m feeling uninspired which isn’t good because I’m taking it again next semester. Anyway, I produced a lot of bowls this semester. I like how functional bowls are, haha.

I also went out of my comfort zone which was kind of fun, and made these little xuns! They’re like whistles. And they remind me of No Face from Spirited Away.


I loved my EDSP class! I don’t know what EDSP stands for, but it was all about teaching special needs students in the general education classroom setting. I learned SO much, and all of it seems really important to my future profession. I also got to spend some time in the resource room at my mom’s elementary school as my “field experience”. I loved working with the kids and thought that was a valuable experience. Makes me wonder if I should have done elementary education! Too late now!

Museums studies was... well, it depended on the day! It was a three hour class once a week, and sometimes that class was just one giant lecture. It was really okay: the teacher was GREAT, but my attention span is just not exceptional. I really loved when we went to the museum she directed for hands on experience, or when we went to other museums and learned from the directors there! We got to visit many museums over the course of the semester, and I enjoyed that.

The whole museums field is really complicated, which I was unaware of before I started the class. I thought maybe I’d want a museum career before, and I’m still not sure if this class either encouraged or discouraged me from that yet, haha.

And that’s my semester in a nutshell! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be in school. I grew a lot this semester. I am happy that I’ll forever be in the classroom setting: I love the learning environment!

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