Forgetful.

I cannot believe that I forgot to mention one other thing that I have wanted to be when I grow up!
It's so integral to my childhood, and even influenced some of the classes I took in college.

Writer.
When I was fourteen, I spent the better part of the summer writing a story that ended up being twenty pages long. I printed it out, glued the pages together, and it was something I was so proud of. It was full of love and romance. Before that, as a child, I'd never leave the house without a pen and a pad of paper to write things down on. Even now, I find things all the time that inspire me to include in the epic that I will one day write. (I have a Pinterest board and a tumblr site devoted to such inspirations.) A poem I wrote at the age of twelve made its way into a book. A friend of mine gifted me a set of nice pens and a notebook to use to write down my poems in. I took a junior-level poetry class when I was a freshman. I am seriously kicking myself that I didn't include writer in my first and original list, as integral to my life as writing has been. (And yes, I have seen myself as a published author many times, and I still do. I just lack the discipline to get stuff going.)

Also...
I left off another one.

Crafter.
I've had an Etsy site for a long time. My original intention was to sell handmade cards and bookmarks on there. Now it's evolved into also including photograph prints, felt crafts, and other handmade things. There's nothing for sale on there, currently. I've never had anything for sale on there. I'm not honestly sure what's stopping me. I think it's one of those things that I think I'll do when I have time, but I have yet to make the time. Also having made (and, let's be real, still making) things for my wedding and reception, I have lots of ideas of things to include for sale on my Etsy site. I still don't discount that I will do this someday. Maybe when I'm a stay at home mom. Maybe next summer. The way I  have envisioned it lately is selling as a husband-wife team with Jacob: he'd make things like his foam swords or bits of furniture, and I'd make my stuff, and we'd be a wonderful happy Etsy couple. Or maybe I'd keep Etsy for myself and we'd branch off into Scoutmob for our joint venture. I still don't discount it. Maybe I'll have to wait until we have my family's land for this dream to come to fruition. Jacob would be able to have a shop. I'd be able to have a crafting cottage (and a photo studio!) and we'd be set. The dream of crafter has never been a stand-alone job for me -- it's always been in conjunction with something else.

Oh well.

Who knows what else my brain will remind me of in the coming days that I've forgotten to include on this list, so I may be back. :)

Academic Update

Well, it's getting down to the wire for this semester.

Tomorrow plus two weeks until fall break, then two weeks of classes and then it's finals week. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

My pride took a major hit this semester, for two reasons.
One, I had to be honest with my instructor that I hadn't read anything (save for the first nonfiction book) by the time midterms rolled around, and she was gracious enough to grant me an extension, so long as my exam reflected "quality" answers. It got me into every article, though, and I responded to every question, even when it was "pick 3 out of 5." (When it came to the final long-essay question, I only answered the one of two that I was instructed to, though, because I figured she'd had enough to read from me.)
The second reason is related to the first. I learned that I am not good at self-scheduling and self-pacing and self-motivation. (Considering at how many times those show up in other places, I don't know why I'm surprised.) Because I lack successful functioning in those areas, online classes don't really work for me, which means I'll be taking more on-campus classes than I anticipated. I think I honestly learn better that way, though: take notes on the lecture, re-read the same material in the book later, and then also do activities for that subject. I guess I'm just old-school enough that technology can't replace everything for me. I also function better when I have a chunk of time set aside to learning, like four and five hour blocks of time that I can get lost in a textbook or nonfiction book. I can't do the hour-long study sessions on my lunch break at work or focus on two hours of schoolwork every night after work. Like, ok, I physically can, but it rarely happens and it's never successful when it occurs.

I am loving what I'm learning, though. The foray into cultural anthropology, as far as the subject is concerned, is fantastic. If it weren't for my failings at self-motivation, it would be perfect.

To be fair, I told one our graduate assistants at the office what my reading schedule was like (1-2 textbook chapters, plus 2-3 articles, and about a third of the nonfiction book that we're working on, per week, not to mention the hour-long online video we typically watch nor the discussion post [plus three comments] related to said video that we post every week, too.) She said, "Dang, you're doing graduate-level reading!" especially after I showed her that the articles have no abstract for me to read instead of the entire thing. (And keep in mind: my class is a 100-level class. Granted, it is online, which typically involves more self-involved activities, but it still seems like a lot, and I had no idea of that when I signed up for the class.)

My class next semester is a technical writing class, for which I will have two hours of instruction and one hour of recitation. It was either that or a composition class for which the description sounded an awfully lot like the composition class I took at my community college, and I'd had enough argumentative writing there, TYVM.

I'm really looking forward to my Intro to Prehistory class and some of the higher echelons of archaeology (which delve into specific areas, like Mesoamerica.) I also can't wait to try my hand at Medical Anthropology, which is one of the areas of concentration I'm having a hard time choosing between.

Ah well.

Four weeks of class left in this semester, the restarting of my academic journey.
I will make it. I may be bruised, battered, beaten, and bloody by the end of it, but I'll make it.

The Pros & Cons of a Liberal Arts Major

On May 11, 2012, I will be receiving my Associate of Arts, Liberal Arts degree from my community college. 

Graduating with this degree will open up so many doors and opportunities. I will no longer have just a high school diploma. I will have proven to myself (and others) that I can start and finish something I have set out to do. Besides, with my degree being in Liberal Arts, that means it isn't specific to just one career field.

All of those accolades are great; however, there are many other problems that I will encounter. 

-My degree is nonspecific. That is a help, but it also hinders: a lot of employers do not require employees to have degrees specific for the type of work that is out there. One of my boyfriends' sisters-in-law has a degree in graphic design but works mostly in broadcasting. My nonspecific degree won't necessarily help me there; the playing field will be just as evenly distributed among other degree holders. Besides, there are employers who do require field-specific degrees: criminal justice, education, and aerospace engineering are some fields that come to mind. (And I do not blame them one bit!)

-What the heck do I major in when I transfer? I decided on a lib-arts educational path because I had "so many interests" and wanted to pursue as many as possible, perhaps finding some enlightenment along the way. Well, there has been some illumination on possible careers, but nothing specific. What am I thinking of pursuing? Photography, writing, ceramics, psychology... 

I think it's pretty obvious that my career choices have not been chiseled down very far by the expansion allowed to me by my major.

Majoring in liberal arts has allowed me to explore different and varied fields of interest and education, but I am now left holding my own hand as I try to navigate the mists of choosing a degree path for higher education.