The semester is over, one down and another 11 semesters to go until I graduate - that's taking a reduced load in the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters.

​How did I do? Let's just say I am beaming because I am quite proud of my grades and the extra work I did certainly paid off! 

But first let me tell you about College Writing I. I really did not want to take this course; despite not being required to take the majority of the Texas State Core Education requirements I did have a Core set of classes as a Post-Baccalaureate student and so Writing I and Writing II were part of it. I found it odd because I did excused from a Foreign Language which was taken 50 years ago in High School. I took English all through High School and I had to take an English class and a Technical Writing class for my Undergraduate degree. Go Figure. Well, I figured I would do the work and just put up with it only to discover the teacher was really good and the majority of the course was learning to write four different types of Essays with little lessons on grammar and MLA style. I was actually enjoying it and spent quite a bit of time on the essays. For the first 3 essays I received grades in the high-90's having lost points on stupid things like missing periods, formatting, and other minor grammer things.  I was determined to get a 100 on the last essay. Oh, the essay was supposed to be about our our career goals but because I am retired and don't have any, the teacher gave me permission to write about what I wanted. I decided to write about my love of learning and how I arrived back at school to get the B.F.A. I wrote the essay the weekend after it was assign and I did 10 revisions on it. The work paid off, I did get that 100!! The final, for the class, was to talk, 4-6 minutes, about our essay with some sort of visual aide but NOT a PowerPoint presentation. I brought in some of the products I worked on, as an Engineer, and some of my metal work. I volunteered to go first because I knew the other students would be nervous and reluctant to be first. Well it went smoothly, and no I did not prepare nor did I have notes, and every one was interested in looking at my items as I passed them around. 

​I have now checked and my final grades are:
Studio I: A
Core I: A
College Writing I: A
Semester GPA: 4.0

WTF, I completely missed posting in October but I did post, over on The Adventurous Silversmith. 

So let's catch up. 
Things are going well with school. The semester is two-thirds done and for each of my three classes I am pulling grades in the 90's; for one I have a 100.  

In College Writing I,  I am really enjoying the class and so far I have had 2 tests, written 3 essays, and done 10 reader responses for various essays, op-ed's, and articles we have had to read.

In Studio I we have done small and large collages, more sketching and drawings. My drawings skills have drastically improved because I am doing extra work during the weekends; I have even done extra work with colored pencils. I have set the water color paints and pencils aside; I will get back to them during the Winter break when I might be able to squeeze in a private lesson with a teacher from the New Braunfels Art Guild.

In Core I, we have moved from 2D and 3D art into 4D (video). I have finished a 5+ minute video that will be critiqued on Friday.

Then last week I registered for the Spring Semester. I plan on taking Beginning Drawing, Studio II and Core II. I figured the sooner I take the drawing the class, the better I will get and correct any bad habits I have picket up and it would be good to take it before I take Painting I. 

Lastly, I found out that my advisor has reviewed my transcripts and gave me a pass on College Writing II because I did take a writing course for my B.S. degree 50 years ago. I don't get credit but that's one less non-art class I have to take, I still have to take 2 History classes, 2 Political Science classes, and 1 Communication class. I plan on taking them during the summer semesters and remotely so I don't have to drive to campus

Here's some bark and lichen I drew and colored today

Let's just say being back at school is interesting. Oh, how things have changed since I started college 50 years ago; did I mention that the day school started at TxSt (Texas State) it was actually 50 years to the DAY!! that I started at Case. 

First, let's set the stage for the three classes I am taking:
Art Studio I:This course emphasizes a hands-on experience with drawing and two-dimensional design. Students engage in a series of short exercises and longer projects that incorporate contemporary art-making methods such as collage, photography, sculptural exercises, digital technologies, collaborative processes and interdisciplinary activities. 

Core I: This course introduces practical and theoretical content in disciplinary and interdisciplinary art and design practices. Through thematic collaborative projects, students will engage various 2D, 3D, and 4D materials, methods, tools, and concepts independently and in relation to each other.

College Writing I: Expository writing as a means of exploring and shaping ideas. Emphasis on critical reading and the improvement of essays through revision.

I have Writing and Studio on Tuesdays and Thursday; Studio meets for 3 hours each day and Writing meets for 1.5 hours each day  and Core on Fridays (4 hours all at once).  

I leave the house 2 hours before classes start since the drive is about 50 minutes long. Note: I leave Boots plenty of food and water so she can nibble through the day. I park in the commuter parking lot on the far east side of campus. Due to all the construction on campus many other lots are closed so they gave us the shitty lot. I then walk just under 10 minutes to get the shuttle stop to take the bus to the Student Center, this is in the middle of the campus. From the there I walk to the Arts building on the far West side of campus. The bus cuts the morning walk in half and a lot of it is uphill. I have time before class starts to get what I need from my art locker and finish the coffee I am carrying with me. After Studio, I walk to either one of the dining halls or the food court restaurants for lunch and I relax before Writing I starts; I have a 2 hour break for lunch and then walk to Writing which puts me about a quarter of the way back to the parking lot. After class I walk downhill and through the park, by the San Marcos river and eventually to my car for the drive home. On Fridays, after Core I, sometimes grab dinner in the dining hall, but walk all the way back to my car.
​
Here are my FitBit stats from last week. Yes it is a lot of walking! At the end of the first week, I fell asleep in the chair, watching TV, on Friday night.  Yes, I am kinda out of shape so that's why I take the bus in the morning; I am aiming to walk both directions in a few more weeks. 

How for my thoughts on the classes and school in general.

I found Studio and Core to be frustrating at first because we are sketching things and some of us in class have NO formal drawing experience; there are students who are making wonderful drawings. I spoke to both teachers and they said we are not getting graded on the quality of the drawings but on class participation, grasping concepts, and getting the assignments completed, participating in peer reviews and more which made me feel much better.  Below the FitBit picture are some of the drawings I have done; the last one is single point perspective which I had no issue making since I learned this back in Drafting and Mechanical Engineering classes at Case. Writing I, which I have to take because it's a core requirement for Post-Baccalaureate/Graduate students, and which I thought I would be bored in is actually quite enjoyable. We are reading various essays and articles and writing responses, summaries, and whole new essays along with peer reviews.

As for home work - in Studio I we have to do 2 sketches, at home, each week and we share them in class on Tuesdays. We do a larger drawing on Thursdays which we have to finish at home and upload into the assignment web page in the CANVAS system ( Canvas is a learning management system (LMS) used by universities and colleges worldwide to support online teaching and learning). Core hasn't really had homework unless you don't finish what we are working on in class and then you bring it back to class. Next week in Core we are doing peer reviews of all the work we have done for the first three weeks (I don't have pictures) such as Cyanotypes, Negative drawings, and Contour Drawings.  For Writing I, we had to read an essay each week and write either a response or a summary. This week we have to write a full essay with sections that are summary, illustration, and response, based upon one of the three essays we have already read. The draft was due Tuesday and the final version is due this week; which we upload into Canvas but have to hand in the draft and the final version too. Let's just say I am busy and glad I did not take more classes.

And finally, here are all my other thoughts.
OH, these kids are sooooo young. There are a few students in my classes that are in their later 20's but most are right out of High School.  Even walking around campus there are very few "older" students. I am even older than my teachers; I overheard one student in Core say "my grandfather was born in the 60's.." let's just say I kept my mouth shut. And on the bus the other day, a girl sitting in one of the front seats marked for disabled riders offered me her seat; I thanked her but declined.  Now, let's also discuss what these kids are wearing around campus; lets just say OY-VEY. I see people wearing long sleeved sweatshirts with hood up but short shorts barely showing below the sweatshirt; tube tops covered in rhinestones or spaghetti strap t's and all sorts of baggy, ripped, shorts and pants; gym shorts, sweat pants; if you can imagine it, it's here. There are crocs everywhere or slippers, flip-flops, Doc Martens, high top sneakers, Birkenstocks and more for footwear.  As for me I wear a T-shirt and shorts with socks and sturdy shoes because with flat feet, I need good arch support for all these miles I am walking. 

It's time for me to get some homework completed. 

I don't think I have been this excited about going to school since I went to Case for my Engineering degree which is 50 years ago - 4 weeks. 

So much is happening and has been done

• I registered for classes
• I got my Student ID
• I paid for my commuter parking pass
• I took a field trip to campus to figuring out where the buildings were for my 3 classes. Two will be on Tuesdays/Thursday and one on Fridays. One on T/Th and the one on Friday are in the art building on the west side of the campus and the other T/Th class is along the central quad which will take me a good 15 minutes to walk between*. Luckily I have an hour and a half between them so I can also eat lunch during this time too. 
• I have an appointment with the Office of Disability Services who will review my request for physical printed books vs. all the ebooks that are now used. Because of my dyslexia I have issues reading books, web pages, and the like on-line due to the scrolling. 
• On the field trip, I found the commuter parking lot which is on the north east side of the campus by the sport fields*

*Let's just say with all this walking 2 days a week for 15 weeks I will be getting my exercise.

I also decided to splurge and get myself a new messenger bag. My existing bag is lime/yellow/purple by Timbuk2 which I bought when I started doing Big-Six consulting over 20 years ago; its dirty, stitches are popped and the waterproof liner has cracks making it not very waterproof. It has had a good life.
This is the new custom color bag I just placed an order for; I got the large size that can hold a 17" laptop and the extra padded divider for the laptop (I don't have one but when I travel I can carry lots of stuff) and I also got the water bottle sleeve that goes inside the main pocket.

I missed writing in June, sorry about that. 
Here's a recap of the month - 

• The grief hit me really hard last month and so I spent a lot of time just sitting, missing Erich and crying.
• Other times I spent on the cleaning/purging/reorganization of Erich workshop which is now done. 
• I went to the Tobin Center to see a lecture by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, my second time, and treated myself to a nice dinner beforehand. I paid extra to attend the after Q&A session; there were some very good questions and of course answers too.
• I took the quilt I made in May to the quilter and got it back; it's now on the couch to snuggle under while watching TV. Then I made another quilt which is now at the quilter. I have been collecting Asian themed fabric for 20 years and I thought that since I need a new quilt for my bed why not use ALL the fabrics. I went with a scrappy pattern called Turning 20 which uses 20 fat quarters but I had not only fat quarters but YARDS so I used fabric from all of it and ended up with a King sized quilt.  See the pictures below 

Now I cleaning my studio which has been sitting idle since the start of the pandemic. It's important this get done NOW - see the news below.  Before and after pictures will be posted when it's done. 

Now for the big news. 
I am now in the Class of 2028 at Texas State University - San Marcos.
I am going back to school to get a Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) in Studio Art with an emphasis in Metals.

I investigated this when we moved here, for when I retired, but of course some much has happened over the past year it just got delayed. I started to pursue it at the beginning of the year -I I filled out the application, I wrote 2 of the 3 optional essays, and then had my H.S., B.S., and M.S. transcripts sent in. Then there was a delay because the M.S. transcript never arrived and I had to have it sent again with verification of receipt.  Three weeks later I received the email that I had been accepted (now you can understand why I am getting the studio in order).

I will be a 3/4 part-time student with 3 classes in the Fall/Spring semesters and 2 classes in the Summer so I can still finish in 4 years but have more free time to take care of me, my hobbies, and the house.  

​I start classes at the end of August.