A surprise for me!

I got a surprise in my email last night.  I have been invited to apply for honors classes at Crafton Hills College!!  I just stared at the email, reread it, printed it and showed it to my husband, who confirmed it really said what I thought it did.  I never expected or even thought about this, but I am very excited about it and now will  do some investigating and make a decision before even applying.  My investigation will be to find out if there is a time limit to finish my degree when taking honors classes because I don't think I want to take more than one class per semester, as I have been doing.  Another issue is that, right now, I don't plan to transfer to a four year college.  I suppose that could change, but, if there is a limit to the number of students taking honors classes, I don't want to take a place away from someone who does intend to continue on.  Wow!  My mind is still trying to wrap itself around this.  I know that many students also received this email, but to me it's another example of never being too old to go to school, learn and explore the new worlds that open up for you.

Success

I made it through another semester with my brains intact but my nerves just a little more frayed.  It was an enjoyable subject (Dreamweaver) and I created a pretty good website featuring a consortium of fictictious business, all relating to something my family actually does.  Right now, it's only available on the college server and, after I make a few changes, I'll post that web address.  I ran out of time (don't you love being around a procrastinator?), so didn't get all the pieces put in that I wanted to.  My "grand plan" should be complete after Christmas and I will post it online for everyone to see and read and comment on. 

Next semester, I'm taking another programming class with another expensive book but, hopefully, no program to buy.  The cost of taking classes, even at the community college level was one of my bigger surprises.  I understand that taking computer courses, with the required specialized programs, is a reason my costs are so high, but even so, it's a surprising amount of money. 

One interesting thing I recently learned about the financial troubles that colleges face is the way the state government uses colleges for funding.  The number of total students enrolled in classes for a given school in 1999 is used as the base for the number of total students that will be "funded" for that school for the current school year.  "Funded" meaning the tuition from the base number of students can be kept by the school itself.  Any income from students over that base goes into the state general fund.  Therefore, there  is no incentive for colleges to increase their enrollment or offer more classes.  Once the magic number is reached, it does not benefit the school in any way.  I'm not sure if that includes the increased income from student body fees, health fees, etc.   It very frustrating for  students who need just one more class - specific to their major - to graduate which may not be offered for several semesters.  So far, I haven't run into that problem, but several times, computer students needing a particular class were recruiting anyone and everyone to join so there would be enough students enrolled to prevent the class from being cancelled.  In most of my classes there  less than 10 students by the end of the semester,  but we got the class we needed.

By the way - I got an "A" this semester!  YAY TEAM!!

End of semester woes.

Today was the last class of the semester - yes it was a short term class.  All my procrastination has caught up with me, plus learning something new 10 days ago that we are supposed to use for part of our final project.  That just confused me about the things I had planned to do, so my project will be late by a few days, but will be turned in before the absolute deadline.  In the meantime, several late nights have reminded me my body really is  definitely not the spring chicken it used to be, no matter what my mind says.  Thank goodness for short naps that do a good job of reviving me for another stint at the computer.  I do like this class, but am definitely going to have to work on the tendency to procrastinate before next semester.  I'm not sure I to go through another end of semester like this one.  Very wearing on the mind and body.  I will get it done in time and keep repeating "I will enjoy this" and "I will learn lots from this" since it's a big part of my emphasis in Webmaster.  I'm starting to feel a little like one and am more confident that I can be one anyway.  Back to the heavy duty stuff. No more procrastination!!!

Panic Time!!!

A hint:  clicking on the Year or dates on the right side of the blog will take you to other posts I have done.

This is such a rotten time of year to have  deadlines.  I have a big project due next Wednesday afternoon and would prefer to be Christmas shopping and decorating the house and tree.  Guess which I'm going to do first?  Yep! The final project for my class.  It is worth 500 points, a major part of my grade.  Thankfully, every part is all planned out and just involves getting some pictures and other "stuff" together to include in this wonderful, exciting web site I am creating for a family of fictitious businesses.  I think you will all enjoy it once it is done and posted to the web.  This is the kind of project I like to do because it is creative in many ways.  It's good that there's a deadline though, otherwise, I'd probably finish it by Valentine's Day - or something like that.

So far, I'm not too panicked and feel like everything is under control.  We'll see if it works out that way.  It's always exciting to be a procrastinator - at least for me.  Not so much for Dale.  For him, it's just an ache in his stomach.

Two more weeks

I've taken a very relaxing, and homework free, Thanksgiving weekend.  Part of me feels like I should have worked on my final project and/or the last chapter in the textbook, but the fact is, I really enjoyed taking a break from studying and school work.  Now I have to really concentrate and put in some computer time.  It should go pretty fast once I do a little more organizing for the project.  I know what I want to do and, mostly, how to go about getting it done.  It is just a matter of time and effort.  The final project, which is in lieu of a final exam, will be a web site with several linked sites.  I plan on posting it to a web service so it will be available to anyone who is interested.

There are only two more weeks of this semester/class. An indicator of how close the end really is was being able to register for next semester.  Today was the first day I could register which I did to be sure I got the class I want - another computer programming language.  It will be the last programming class I need although I still need one more computer class. I also need 3 or 4 general education classes, which I'll take later on.  I've been tempted to take more but have resisted.  I've waited this long to complete my degree and am not, at the moment, in a big hurry to finish it.  Lazy? Procrastinating? Maybe, but it's an easily handled pace and gives me time to enjoy the retired life that I have become accustomed to and to have plenty of family time.

No class today - good or bad???

I learned a good lesson during my first fall semester, when I took my first programming class.  The lesson is:  Always check you computer before you leave home for school.  The instructor always puts a notice online, somewhere - usually an email - when there won't be class that day.  It saves time, gas, and all that goes into getting prepared for a class.  The first time this happened to me, I got to school on time only to find a note on the door saying that class had been cancelled.  It's a real weird feeling - good!  I have a few hours of free time; then - bad!  how am I going to get the help I need to finish an assignment;  then good, again! - there are lots of things that I need to do away from school that I didn't think I'd have time for; then bad again! - the guilt sets in as I realize that I really should go to the computer lab and get the help there and maybe finish an assignment.  To be honest, it's a toss of the coin which I decide to do.  
Of course, reading the email before I leave, still sets up a whole new list of choices like, now I have time to read a book, take a nap, actually try to solve the riddles of programming by myself and the great lift that gives me.  What choice do I usually make?  A combination of several of the above, depending on how I'm feeling that day.  I wish I could say I always go to the computer lab (if I'm already at school because I forgot to check my email first) or work on the stumbling block myself, but I'm a born-again procrastinator and put off the school work until after a few hours of more pleasurable options. 
In the meantime, I've driven the rest of my world crazy while I "goofed" off.  (There's some twisted sense of pleasure in that, too ;-)  There's always the chance that, if I put it off, my brain will reconnect with it's fine-tuning and I'll know what to do.  How often does that happen?  Surprisingly, more often than not.  So, fellow procrastinators, there is a reason we somehow manage to succeed and achieve our goals. 

A new challenge

College level learning is very stimulating and good for the ego and morale.  The challenge of getting your brain working again is the stimulating part; realizing that you can learn, remember and the spit it out for a test is sooo  ego-boosting; discovering that nobody cares how old you are, that recent high school graduates don’t think it’s odd that an older person is in classes with them and that all the teachers assume you have a good reason for being there and are just another student is the part that raises your morale higher than it’s probably been for a long time.  College is definitely worth the time and effort for someone who hasn’t done any studying for a long time.  It has given me a  confidence I forget I had and a satisfaction that has only come from various home projects I have done.  I recommend it to anyone who has a thirst for knowledge and is in a deep rut.  I can almost guarantee that college courses will pull you right out of it.

I remember the first test I had to take in PhotoShop.  I was prepared, but scared to death that I would fail and get kicked out of the class.  I passed that first one and went on to pass all of the others, even though the anxiety level was always high before one.  The instructor in most of my other computer classes prefers to assign final projects instead of giving final exams – bless his heart!  The projects are always time consuming and involve using everything you’ve learned that semester, but the anxiety of taking a final exam is gone – something I do not miss at all.  I suspect he just doesn't like to grade tests and it is easier for him to look at the work you've done on his computer.

This week I have had another challenge – illness – that has interfered with my classwork and attendance.  Crafton Hills College is aptly named as it is in the hills between Redlands and Yucaipa and since my illness is a sinus infection, the change in altitude would be murder on my eardrums and not being able to hear well makes me feel like I’m in limbo-land and I can’t think straight about anything.  Thankfully, it is getting better and I am beginning to feel almost normal.  Now to catch up on the work.  I can do it – and enjoy the doing.  It would be more enjoyable without the pressure, but it’s still a pleasure.

The joys and frustrations of programming

First of all, the picture at the left, is the NEW library building that is replacing the beauty at the top.  Maybe someday, when all the plantings grow up it will look like something besides a block and glass box.  One can only hope.

After several hours of frustration as I tried to find an error, or 2 or 3 or 20,  in my programming textbook work, I gave up and had some fun.  Our final project, in lieu of a test, is to create a website for a fictitious business that has at least 3 divisions and each division has to have at least 3 pages attached to it.  Sounds intimidating, huh?  Right now it isn't but who knows about a week or so from now.  My fun/play was to design the banners that go at the head of each site using Photoshop.  I really enjoy using that program and so got the banners finished fairly easily.  The fictional business is DMC Specialties and the division are businesses that our family could actually have.  I showed the banners to my instructor today to be sure what I was planning was within the guidelines.  He approved my plan, so I can proceed with the hours of programming each site.  Hopefully, these will actually get put on the web.  This is the fourth class I've had this instructor for and he is very good and very direct with what he thinks of programs and the textbooks we use.  Too bad he is busy running his own business besides teaching.  He could write some outstanding textbooks for these programs.

Earthquake Victim

The beautiful building above is not really all that old.  It was built in the 1970's and has already been declared "unsafe" and closed for good.  It is to be demolished in the near future.  Why?  After the first earthquake outside Mexicali last spring, a crack was noticed somewhere on it.  The second Mexicali earthquake widened that quake, the experts were called in and the building was closed up.  Everyone that worked in that building was moved out and everything, including a computer lab was moved out to other buildings.  A new library building was being built but was 6 months behind schedule.  The infamous "they" evidently put a rush on finishing it because it is now open.  I am really sad to see that building sitting there abandoned and obviously feeling lonely. 

The adventure continues..............

along with the challenges of convincing myself that I CAN learn all of the tech nical coding that is behind every web page.  I do enjoy the challenges and have learned far more than I ever thought I could.  The biggest thing I've learned is that learning how to program is just one step in creating a web site.  Each class builds on the last and what you learned then, you need to remember now.  YIIKES!!  My brain cells are overloaded and each new computer language I learn tries to replace what I learned the semester before or maybe 3 semesters before.  For example, the class I'm taking now uses a programming language that I took 2 years ago!!!  It's beginning to come back and I don't feel as lost as I was at the beginning of this semester.  What a relief to discover that everything I learned then hasn't totally gone into a black hole in my brain. 

 One of the most surprising things about going back to school is discovering that all ages are in my classes.  Age makes no difference, nor does background.  I've met some interesting and delightful people - middle aged unemployed learning new skills, teenagers right out of high school who were convinced they were going to make a fortune in computer programming, mothers of all ages who were brushing up on skills so they could re-enter the work place and, most impressive, the military veterans who are using the VA bill to finish their education that was delaryed or interrupted by service to our country.  This mix of students adds immensely to the experience.  Added to this is the willingness of each student to help any other student that needs it. I don't know how many times another student has helped me find my way through the maze of learning new skills.  My thanks to all of them.

In the olden days................

when I started college (San Bernardino Valley College) right out of high school, you were not required to declare a major, as such.  Liberal Arts was the most common major and was used by everyone who didn't have a clue what they wanted to be when they grew up, which was most of us.  I managed to finish a year and a half before following the customs of the day for females and quit school to get a job, get married and have kids.  Yes, in that order!

Today, that time feels like it was on a distant planet a few millennium or so ago.  I took a few television classes but never got back to school or past that feeling of something important left incomplete and thought many times about going back to school to get a degree - still without knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up.

That decision was made for me when I discovered I have a talent for photography and really enjoy taking pictures, especially after I purchased a digital camera.  Wonder of wonders, I could see what I was getting without having to wait for the pictures to be developed and printed.  Now I could tell if I needed to retake that once-in-a-lifetime situation and, better yet, could take several from different angles without worrying about the expense of processing costs.  An advertised course for PhotoShop at Crafton Hills College was just what I wanted so I could make adjustments to my photos.  I registered for the class and realized that I loved learning new techniques and that I really enjoyed learning new things about all kinds of computer work.  One of our assignments required us to go into the programming language to make a small change in the look of our work.  Pandora's box was opened!!!  Fascinated, I registered for a beginning programming class, then another and another.

Now I was hooked on learning more and more about working on and with the computer.  I finally decided that I really ought to talk to a counselor to see how many units I really needed to get my degree.  As an aside, I should say that a counselor friend had told me more than several years ago that all I needed was 10 units.  Well, I had just finished about 12 or so which surely meant that I was getting really close.  HAH!!! and welcome to the modern world of upper education, Cheryl.  First of all, I now had to select a major - Liberal Arts is now for those wanting to be teachers.  Okay, I said, I'll go for Computer Science.  Which emphasis? the counselor asked.  Yeah, right, I thought.  What do I know about this thing called emphasis.  He showed me the list and the only one that I could use to meet a requirement was the PhotoShop class that had started all this was Web Master, so that's what I picked and here I am today, taking more computer classes plus some more general ed classes to meet their new requirements for categories such as "critical thinking" and "the arts".  These are on top of all my original units which the "transcript reviewers" were so kind as to accept towards my new endeavor.

This has been long, but I felt some background would be helpful for you to understand the highs and lows of trying to teach an old dog new tricks with modern inventions.  Yes, I still take pictures and yes, I will be posting some soon.  Now I'm know what I want to be when I grow up - a photographer and a web designer.  They go together very well.