So, here I am, all by my lonesome self. Stef and Kelsey have been in California since Tuesday, and I’ve been left to fend for myself. Stef left me a list of dinner ideas so that I wouldn’t starve, but I haven’t really had an appetite. That and I caught the oven on fire when I did try cooking. No, I’m really not that bad of a cook. There was some turkey juice (or something) on the bottom of the oven, and when I tried cooking the goop caught on fire and I had to scramble to put it out with some flour. Cereal for dinner + basketball a few times a week = lots of weight loss while Stef is gone.
It really sucks being away from Stef and Kelsey. I've been able to keep myself moderately busy, though. Up until yesterday, I worked, studied for finals (somewhat), and worked on a DVD for Rory. Finals went pretty well. We had to use an annotated bibliography that we had created a week earlier to write a 20 paragraph essay. Luckily, I overachieved during the annotated bibliography assignment and already had the paper ready, just not organized. I put the information into logical groups and had 21 paragraphs. From there, all I had to do was hand write my already completed final in class. I was the first to finish (by what seemed like a lot), and I'm pretty confident that I got 100% on it (giving me an A in the class).
After finishing, I had a two hour break before work, so I decided to take a crack at the math exemption exam. My major doesn't require anything other than pre-college math, and I had some study materials at home that I was going to use to prepare. Since I was already at school and it would only cost my 10 bucks to try the test (which I could take again next semester if I bombed), I headed over to the testing center and sat down with the test. It was an eye-opening experience, for sure. I only remember half of the material at first. As I completed more and more, certain principles slowly came back to me. I needed a 70% to pass the test and avoid having to take math: I got a 70%. So, now I've just got my tech writing class and my American Heritage independent study course to finish next semester. Then I'm done. Done with school. At least until grad school. Maybe.
Rory went around with a camera and had people share their testimonies, and I extracted the video and brought it back home with the hopes of making a DVD out of it. I used Photoshop to create menus, with Van Gogh's Starry Night as the background (which I felt was unobtrusive to the theme). I fiddled with Adobe Audition to make a 30-second looping clip of Baptism by Michael Dowdle on acoustic guitar, which plays in the menus. I used Premier Pro to edit the video and add lighting, since most of the recordings were done at night. I imported the DVD menu and the finished video into Adobe Encore and created chapter points at the beginning of each speaker's clip. I arranged the workflow so that it all worked together and with the buttons on a standard DVD player remote. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
I feel pretty confident about making my own DVDs with the Adobe Production Studio. The one area I'd like to explore is mastering. I'd like to be able to get rid of background noise and amplify the volume of the voices. If I ever get a digital video camera, I'll make it a point to use microphones for any video projects I have. It'd also be nice to learn how to get the best lighting. Maybe I'll get a DV Camera before we go to Japan so that I can have projects there. I'm sure the fam would love to see some good footage from wherever it is that we live.
I often wonder what kinds of things I could have studied. Graphic design, computer programming... Honestly, I think there are a ton of things that I could have done. I don't know if I'd want to do those full-time, though. There's something nice about just being able to do all sorts of cool things, whether I get paid for them or not. I don't regret studying linguistics at all; I know that things will work out. I've got a lot of opportunities for growth, and that's all I can ask for. As long as there are things to learn and job opportunities on the horizon, I can't complain. I've had a lot of success at the bank, so I know that with my Japanese (once we get back) and Spanish experience, I could get a really good job.
When I turned in my paper, my teacher asked me if I was interested in studying Mayan languages. She suggested that I go to grad school if I was interested in Guatemalan langauges. If I do, I know where to go for a letter of recommendation.
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