Month: December 2013

From Photography Class

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The college photography class I took this semester was a challenge. The teacher’s personal tastes were very different from my own, so sometimes I had to ignore my own favorite pictures, and try to figure out what pictures she grade highest. But, some of the assignments produced some really nice pictures.

This is from the first week of class, when it was still really warm and flowers were blooming.

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Light painting at the end of October:

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Dad helped me set up this picture, and I really like it.

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The self portrait assignment was the hardest of the year because I had to set the camera on timer and run around to sit in the photo. Landon helped me get in the right place in this photo:

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This was the last assignment of the year for finals, and it was on of the hardest.  The goal was to spy on people and take pictures when they didn’t know it, and I felt really strange hiding behind things to take photos of other people. Nevertheless, these ended up being some of my favorite photos for the whole year.

These are in the college commons lounge:

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In the library:
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   This picture of  my friend from Vietnam was my favorite, and it received really good comments in my class.
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Three and a Half Big, Full, Months

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Despite (or perhaps causing) the way the semester flew by, I have never conquered so many experiences in so little time. New events seem to come one after another!

I got my first car back in October, which has been really nice, but it is also the first time I have driven such a light vehicle. Winter has already thrown a fair amount of precipitation here, and I have had to learn what I can and can not do in the snow. For example, if we get a couple inches and the snow plows go by, my car will get stuck in the pile of snow they leave at the end of the driveway! Also, if there’s a couple inches of snow on the road at rush hour in the morning, the typical 10 minute drive to college takes 45 minutes.

December 8 found me riding on a tour bus for the first time with the rest of the Augustana Choir, and we sang in Rapid City and then came back in the same day. Fortunately, my first class was at 11 am because we arrived home at 4:30 in the morning!

I have now lived through finals, though it definitely was a lot different for me than some of my fellow students. Not only did only 3 of my 5 classes have a cumulative exam, but since I was good at keeping up on my assignments for the rest of the year I didn’t have to worry too much about my final score. So, I actually had a  pretty relaxing finals week. However, I am slightly concerned that I might be missing out on the Full College Experience, since I never pulled an all-nighter and lived on coffee the next day. In fact, the latest I ever stayed up doing homework was midnight. I hear other students talking about being up to 2 or 3 am.

I shadowed a nurse at the hospital for the first time yesterday morning. It was a very interesting experience, and helped me get a much better idea of what my job will actually look like when I graduate. I got a good look at how many facets there are to the job, which involves both medical knowledge and interaction with many different sorts of people.

Now the year is nearly over, and I am sure that the next semester will bring a whole new set of exciting experiences! I am slightly torn between enjoying my break, and excitement for the next year to begin.

Winding Down

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Except for a few final exams, the semester is finished. Where did it go? Having my days full of one scheduled class or activity after another really made me lose my sense of time-I have never known it to move so quickly. I glanced at my calendar yesterday and counted the days to Christmas with disbelief. Isn’t it still November?

But now I can sit down and take a deep breath.  After Thursday morning, I won’t have to think about another school assignment till January.  I will be able to pull out my kindle and read again, knit again, bake again, blog again. I am looking forward to a few weeks of stillness after the whirlwind of the semester.