In The Rear View Mirror: Fall Semester 2011

The end of a semester is always a glorious thing... but this has been quite the busy semester for me. So, before I get to drinking the stress and memories away and jump into a new project for the winter break, I thought I'd document this semester here so I can look back at it someday and scoff:

• Took 12 hours of studio art credits and survived (two physical, two digital).
• Painted for the first time in August, and managed to finish 5 paintings throughout the semester. Learned a ton about colors, paints, and... myself? That sounds lame, but it's true.
• Kicked some serious ass in my Intermediate Photoshop class and also learned quite a bit from the Photoshop Bible whenever the hell I opened it (I should really read that thing in its entirety sometime). Over the course of the semester, we had five projects and I completed nine pieces for them. Not to shabby.
• Challenged myself a lot in 2D Design and Print Media... I've never really dabbled in either fields extensively, and both are super intriguing. They made me love black-and-white/grayscale artwork even more than before, though.
• Tutored for the first time. Of the two students I was given, one was way too far behind to ever make up his progress and get a passing grade but the other finished the semester and will be going on to the next class in that subject (and I will probably be tutoring him there next semester).
• Worked part-time for a program that is really trying to do some good in this community. Pretty much every job I have ever had was purely about money... delivery, retail, marketing, hospitality, web services... but I guess this would be considered non-profit and it's a completely different feeling to go into that job. It follows me around and has impacted how I see others in that age-group/community in a huge way and I'm very thankful for having the job and the experience in it.
• Adopted a cute kitty named Charli. Depending on her mood and energy level she is either an adorable, cuddly friend or a whirlwind of chaos. It's been nice having her though. I like having pets and feel more at home here with her around.
• Tried my hand at some more Freelance opportunities only to have them attempt to screw me over when it came time for finalizing the products and dealing with payment. Starting to think that field just isn't what I'm cut out for...
• Managed to make time for videogames without them consuming my life or dropping my grades (part of that was signing up for GameFly and ignoring as many sales as possible on Steam).

All in all, a pretty successful semester I think. Time to rest up over the holidays and tackle 2012 and the coming spring semester in just a few weeks.

I think I can do this.