... school update...

My spring break is more than half over now, but it has been soooo nice to just be able to relax and not think about homework for a few days. Since midterms are done, I figured I was due for a class update:

Drafting - I like this class. It's fairly slow paced and he's going step by step how to create actual construction detail drawings of a house. It is a lot less work than any of my studios ever were but I feel like I'm learning a lot more practical skills. So, so far so good.

Theory - ... *ugh* I hate this class. Unless something miraculous occurs, this will become my first C in a class, assuming I actually pass. We have to write a weekly two-page question response about the different philosophical and architectural theories we discuss in class and read about in various books and journal articles. The prof. assigns them tuesday and they're due thursday... -_- not a whole lot of time, especially since I have four classes on tuesday/thursday. *sigh* oh well, at least it leaves my weekends a little more free. though we just got assigned our research paper for the term, seven pages single spaced. ...I don't think I've *ever* written a paper longer than five pages double spaced in my entire life. this will be interesting...

Political Science - still as boring as ever, but not too hard. The hardest part of the class is paying attention (hey, at least I go - probably only about a quarter of the class even comes...)

Health/Self Defense - I like this class. The health part isn't so bad (though I haven't gotten my midterm grade back yet), and the self defense class is actually kind of fun. I've done activities at church in self defense before but could never remember anything, but now I think I remember it still, probably since it's every week, not just once. ...don't know if I could actually do any of it if the case needs be, but at least I might know something.

Structures - While I'm sure to be in the minority, I really enjoy this class. It's challenging but not too hard, a lot of math and physics, which I'm pretty good at (my study group keeps getting bigger because more people want me to help them understand it). And, I can really see how this stuff could be useful in architecture. It's probably a lot like civil engineering (that's what my prof has her degree in)... had I known better what civil engineering was like when I was a teenager, I might have considered it more seriously than I did.

As for other school stuff, I finished my portfolio for upper level and turned it in last week (even though they sent us an email last Monday saying they moved the due date to the monday after spring break... which I got merely a couple hours after I finished it after spending my entire weekend working on it. -_- ), so all that's done. It turned out pretty well, not award-winning spectacular or anything, but decent enough. I'll try and post it if I can.

I also got into the Fall Italy Study Abroad Program, so I'll be spending four months living in Italy and traveling Europe studying architecture!! :D Of course, now that means I only have so much time to get everything ready. I just applied for my passport yesterday, so hopefully it won't take too long.

And, as if I don't do enough school as it is, I decided to stay in College Station for the summer and find a part time job and take some classes at the local junior college there. I planned it out so that if I take Calculus 1 and 2 this summer, I'm only three classes away from a math minor, which could always come in handy. Besides, my college is changing my degree program so that now I have a lot of open free electives, so I have plenty of room in my schedule and I like math, so why not get a minor? Anyway, I choose to stay in CS because I figure I can get a job and take some classes just as easily as I could in Allen and also get to stay with a single's ward and friends, whereas if I stayed in Allen, pretty much all my friends are either going to summer school at their own colleges or getting married and at church I'd probably get shoved into primary or something and never see anyone my age for nearly four months.

So, I might get burned out with school, but I think it'll be good for me. Besides, it'll put me at 90 hours starting in the fall, which makes me a senior classification! :) granted, the way my program works, I can't speed up my studios so I'll still be going for the next two years, but I'll only have to take around 12 hours each term, barely full-time, which will leave me plenty of time to enjoy my college life.

... well, if you're still reading, congrats. I'm sure I've bored you enough, so I'll end there.