First Day Deja Vu

I have finally started back to school! After three stagnant years of just working at the Barne while it slowly shredded away at my soul like a cheese grater, I am at last taking steps to getting my BA and getting the fuck out of retail! For those who don't know, I am attending the Art Institutes International in downtown Minneapolis for their Graphic Design program. I'm only part-time for this quarter (yes, they work on a quarterly system, no summer breaks here kids) but I'm hoping that I handle it all well enough that maybe I can swing adding another class next quarter which would kick me up to FT status and hopefully get me more financial aid.

My classed run M & W from 8am -1:50pm; that's two 3 hour classes with 10 minutes between the two for travel time. Thankfully they have a couple 10-15 minute breaks interspersed and both teachers said they are play it a bit loose and have no problem cutting one break short to let class out early. First day was pretty typical. Did the whole let's-get-to-know-everyone deal in each class and then a general intro to the class and what we can expect this quarter.

I love my first class already; Fundamentals of Design. The teacher reminds me of my coworker Carey! He walks in to class wearing a Hawaiian shirt with turtles on it, a straw hat, loafers and a big white beard and I immediately thought, "Mr. Moss has a cousin?!" Plus he's full of stories; he's served in the Navy, played some hockey, and dabbled in theatre! He's also currently reading a book about Jim Henson and his Muppet shop, it looked awesome. He called role and when our name was called we had to introduce ourselves, where we were from, our chosen major and share an interesting story so people would remember us. I told people that I had been a British aristocrat, an indie rock star, a sexy cop and sexually assaulted and all while in front of an audience because I had previously chosen to study theatre. I didn't even give it much time, but the moment I said that last one, there was this second of "did she really just admit that" shocked silence...totally worth it :)

Computer Applications is my second class. The teacher seems nice, although a bit quiet. Also, being the computer illiterate that I am, I'm a bit more nervous about this class. I took a general computer graphics class my senior year of high school and that was about my last interaction with the likes of Photoshop and Power Point. I don't think I've dealt with the other applications we'll be learning ever. What's more, it's all on Macs and the last time I used one of those was...*thinking*...at Normandale when there were no other computers open in the lab. It's not that I don't like Macs (I've never really known enough to take a side on that debate), I'm simply not used to using them anymore so she said to do something basic and my brain went "derrrrr..." It'll take some getting used to. Thankfully one of my classmates had worked with them more recently and helped me through things and was kindly patient with my questions.

I'm looking forward to the months ahead. Also, I'm not going to lie, taking the bus and figuring my way around downtown makes me feel like a big city girl who's going places :) Luckily I didn't have work today after class because I was wiped. I will next week though, so that will be interesting. Honestly though, it feels good to be back in school, like putting on a once favorite shirt you have not worn in a while, comfy but a tad unfamiliar at first. Even if I feel a bit older than most of my classmates; lots of young, right out of high school freshman from around the midwest, smaller towns in Wisconsin and Iowa. C'est la vie.