You will never get a better description than this.

This is the first Sunday following my last week of first term and all I know how to do is just exhale. In this mighty school I feel that I have accomplished something few will ever know the feeling of. I don't even mean to make this post entirely about myself but before I continue this is from MY perspective and for everyone else their experiences will vary and their opinions will differentiate from mine but all in all I feel that my experience allowed me to go through everything that administration and higher term students warned we would go through.  Some students were great at it, some were very poor at it. As for myself, I guess the best thing I can say is that I didn't give up and I gave it my best.
What I will describe to you (to the best of my ability) is the beginning, middle, and end of these past 14 weeks. There are plenty of things to discuss as far as gains, losses, and lessons learned. Also, though, I want to end with an idea that might stick for those of you who are wanting to go to this school or who are following along with me and we are in term together, or those of you who are just wanting to drop by every once in awhile to see whats up.

For now though, lets start (go get the popcorn and relax, this will be a long post)

My class schedule this spring was a very odd one (in my eyes) but it grew to be envied by a lot of people because it allowed me more consecutive days to work versus work days spread out across the week, and gave me Mondays off, who doesn't love that. It was the Tuesday - Friday schedule that had me beginning with 3D Fundamentals, or shop class, as it came to be.  The class itself was full of fun ideas and I was in it with two of my very good friends Daniel and Gary, who I met a year ago through Art Center at Night. The second class I had was Visual Communications, which relied heavily on evolving our drawing style from loose and partially uncontrolled, to more refined and deliberate. Third class was Design Fundamentals, and that ended up being like PCC classes all over again and I recommend anyone fight to not take that class vehemently. Fourth class was Way Things Work, this term was a bit haphazard and disjointed because there was so many switch ups with the curriculum that I feel I didn't get my fulfillment out of the class that I was looking for, but nevertheless I ended on a good note.
Fifth and Sixth classes were Study models for building everything with my hands, and Car Design Process with the most difficult teacher I have EVER MET in my life EVER. Let me tell you, he changed my life.

All in all though I the things I learned quickest were to communicate clearly up front and be as forward and direct as possible. Next, I learned that as we go through this schooling, our social obligations not only take a back seat but they get left at the house. I feel that while my technical skill has improved tenfold, my relations with others have changed dramatically, and not in a good way.

In a sense there actually is no perfect word to describe the feeling of your first term at Art Center. Outside of just being blunt and saying its a shitty difficult situation that will test everything you know. Everything.  And at the end of it all you just get into your car without any music on, driving home and you are tired and exhausted from being up for two days, and you just exhale.  People will say their experiences with the school were different and they either worked more or less efficiently or they never had an all nighter or they had 4 a week, it doesn't matter because most likely they aren't Transportation. I am. This was my experience, and I am damn proud of myself for getting to this point. Albeit slightly dehydrated and somewhat achy. Thanks to all my friends who assisted when I needed assistance, and for those who had my back.