Better Thoughts & San Francisco in One Month!

The majority of my life I have been a calm, collected, and level-headed individual. I do a whole lot of thinking, I have a lot of consideration for various things, and a lot of respect for many people. I have been told in the past that I do a great job of seeing things for how they are, that I am great friend, and that 99% of the time I don't let anything cloud my judgment.

With that said, there still are times that this kinda falls apart for me, but I am still learning things in life. When I get extremely stressed out... I begin to lose my "cool." It's a natural thing for people, but this should hopefully provide a better understanding about my previous post.

I don't believe that I should delete my last post though because this is, in fact, my personal blog. While I don't post things that are too insanely personal on here, I still wrote it and it was important to me at the time.

I am glad to say though that I am back on track. I'm not letting the things that were bothering me before bother me anymore. I know what I care about, I know what I want in life, and I am not going to let anyone or any thing get in the way of that.

Know what else is great? Vermont Tech is taking me to San Francisco in less than a month for the Game Developer's Conference!!! It's going to be such an awesome time, and as of now I haven't been any further out of New England than New York City, so it is definitely a time that I will never forget!

I have a lot to look forward to. I really do. I just need to stop focusing on things that are out of my control, and accept the fact that not everyone is willing to put in the same amount of effort as I am when it comes to one doing their job. I guess I am okay with that now... it sucks when I have to clean up after others, but their bad work habits aren't exactly going to do anything to help them out in the future.

Looking forward to GDC 2011!!!

Also, another very important date: Next week will mark my girlfriend and I's second month together! We will be spending plenty of time together next weekend since after this week VTC has a week-long vacation. :D

This Semester is Going to Kick Ass! :D

First off, I have an amazing schedule this semester! I have Wednesdays and Fridays off completely (with the exception of RA duty on Wednesday night, but still... no classes), and on Mondays I only have a System Admin lab! :D

My schedule and two upcoming events are shown above. :D

This semester is also going to kick ass because I have nothing but awesome professors this time around. Such a huge turnaround from last semester when it seemed like nobody knew what they were doing. I even have one professor who people claim to be the best instructor they have ever had and this guy is teaching half of my course. :D

Well, this update is a short one, but that's really all I have for now. I am not sure when I will post again, but hopefully it won't be too-too long from now.

UPDATE:
I just updated my schedule on the blog's right-side pane and I noticed that for my previous schedule I forgot to change "Spring 2010" to "Fall 2010." Of course now it is the proper "Spring 2011."

Change of Heart? Not quite yet.

This semester has been a mixed bag, and I am not entirely sure what I think about that.

I have gone through my first and second years of college at Vermont Tech., and I have loved the place, but I have been feeling a bit differently this semester. Maybe it is just because I am too busy as a person on campus, but I honestly don't think so.

I think the problem is the professors I have to put up with this semester, and Vermont Tech's lack of disciplinary action towards the professors who have proven, countless times throughout history, that they cannot teach the material they are expected to teach. What will Vermont Tech do when one of their students feels the need to speak to the Deans of the college directly about issues regarding a professor? You would think that they would thoroughly investigate the professor's portfolio, look at average grades and pass/fail rates of students throughout the years, and then use that information as evidence that MAYBE, JUST MAYBE they should be given an ultimatum:

Clean up your act, or get the fuck out.

Time to take a break, calm down, and then finish this post later.

...

Okay:

I have to admit though: Maybe as a student I am being too harsh? Maybe I should be more direct with speaking to my professors about my personal issues? I don't know. I guess maybe I worry about them having some kind of future grudge against me, and then the possibility that they will look at me as "that one guy that complains," but who knows.

I still love this place. I started writing this post while I was a bit pissed off at the infamous 'system' but then I decided to take a break, and now I am continuing this post while I am in a more relaxed state. I have a lot on my plate this semester. When I tell people that I am the President of the Music Club, that I am a Resident Assistant, and that I am working on my 3rd year of college they like to look at me as if I am appraising myself too much or something. I really am not that type of person. I mean, I CAN be when I am feeling extra proud of myself, but 90 something percent of the time I am simply stating the fact that I have 3 major responsibilities I have to stay on top of along with other responsibilities that come with life.

For instance on top of all this:

I would really like to finally have a girlfriend for the first time ever. I strongly feel like I NEED and DESERVE a girlfriend (hence the all-caps typing), and I have a slight suspicion that I am making significant progress on this matter, but who knows. I am the nervous and shy type who isn't really on top of their game until I realize I am more than comfortable with the situation. I have a long history of liking different people, but then things get nowhere. Maybe things are going to change soon? I hope so.

So much on my mind, but only so many things that can be thought about at once.

While writing this I have realized something though. I have friends I can vent to, yes, but in my state of 'super-busy-ness' I seem to have forgotten just how much of a stress reliever writing on this blog actually is. I can vent, and it is me talking, and who knows? maybe people are actively reading this. It is just me here.

This was a long post because I haven't updated in a while, but (as mentioned before) I will really try to update more often now. I just need to get other stuff figured out, but I should be back to blogging actively in no time. ...I hope. :D

POST #100!!! - Also Week #9

:D THIS IS POST #100!!!! :D

Last Tuesday was the annual October Fiesta at Vermont Tech. I was paid to be a photographer for the event. It was nice to go around and take a bunch of pictures, and know that I was getting paid to do what I would have been doing anyway. I ended up taking 214 pictures in a 3-hour period, and I am getting paid $100 for it. That means that I made roughly $33/hr, or about 50 cents for each picture I took. October Fiesta was a lot of fun. There was a live circus act performed by two well-known entertainers, and there were several games and activities taking place sponsored by the school and student clubs.

I talked to one of the circus people before his act started, and I thought I recognized him, but I wasn't sure. Not too long after that I saw him teaching some students how to juggle, and that is when the bells went off. I realized immediately that this guy (pictured above) was Troy, and he runs Circus Smirkus, a travelling circus that teaches young kids how to do circus acts. I remembered him, and even more-so the way he taught, from Vershire Elementary School as far back as second grade! It was cool being able to see him again because I suddenly remembered all the different things that my friends and I did during Circus Smirkus at my elementary school. The school made it an annual thing for Circus Smirkus to teach us how to do circus acts, and it was always Troy that would show up. He told me during October Fiesta that he always loved going to Vershire Elementary School. and that he remembered me a bit also. He said, "Wow! Now you are making me feel old! As weird as it may sound, I probably have pictures of you guys somewhere." It was cool seeing him again. I remember a lot of things from Vershire Elementary School, but a lot of the cool people that ran the place kinda disappeared over the years, so it is nice when I meet up with them again.

Last week I also had an exam in my Technical Math class. I didn't actually know for sure that I had this exam until Wednesday, so it kinda caught me by surprise. Even though I basically had two days for a notice I actually ended up kicking ass on this exam. I find out what my grade on it is tomorrow. I hope that I got something at least within the 80s range. :D

This week is week #9. There are 15 weeks total in the semester, and it is hard to believe that half of the school year is almost over already. College definitely moves a hell of a lot faster than high school does. How quickly things flow in college can be a good thing AND a bad thing. Sometimes you simply want time to stop, and then you can have time to do everything you need to do, and also everything you want to do. On the flip-side, it is nice occasionally when things seem to fly right by. If it is simply a few weeks before a vacation-- let it get here, but if it is two hours before a paper is due, and you just barely realize that you are missing something important-- then time just needs to slow the hell down. :P

Well, I think that is all I got for now. I have been quite busy recently. I have two lab reports to type up tonight for Physics tomorrow, some math homework to do, and I will also be jamming out in the student Music Club later on tonight. :D

Week 7 - Vacation Next Week!

I am relieved to know that all of next week I have vacation time. Wednesday is just about over, and tomorrow and Friday are going to be easy days. I had two exams earlier today. My first exam was for Newton Mechanics (Physics), and my second one was for C-Programming. I pretty much beat the crap out of both of my exams to the point that they were begging for mercy. I should be getting the results from my last math exam tomorrow. I am hoping that I didn't do too bad on it, but if I did then it simply means that I will have to up my game.

I meant to post something earlier in the week, but I have been extremely busy this week. I ended up moving out of Old Dorm 201, and now I am rooming with a friend of mine in the same building, but on the opposite end. In my old room I was lucky if I got even the tiniest bit of WiFi, but in this new room I get the best signal I can possibly get. It is a 1 gb/s wireless-n connection.

I just barely got out of History of Rock & Roll. I was actually bored out of my mind because we started to explore Doo-Wop music tonight. I am not really into that kind of music, so it made the class drag on more than usual.

All in all I am having a great week. It was stressful for a couple of days, but the rest of this week will be extremely easy, and then I have a well-needed whole week off to be lazy for a while. I am thinking that I might visit my high-school at some point and hang out with my old band teacher. I also think it is cool to talk to my old teachers and let them know what I am doing in college. A lot of people who are actually local to Vermont Tech end up passing it off because they assume that a school so close to home can't be worth going to, but in reality this school provides a very competitive education... trust me... they work the hell out of their students! It is totally worth it, so it is good to show my old teachers just how quickly I am learning the vast amounts of information that the college throws at me. :D

That is all I got for now. I may or may not be posting over vacation. It depends on how lazy I am feeling... :P

Week 5 Almost Over :P

Week five is almost over! I say it all the time, but the weeks definitely go by faster when you are in college. This year seems to be moving even faster than last year did. I am pretty sure it is because I am given more work to do.

Anyway, tomorrow I will be taking a quiz in Newton Mechanics (Physics). I found out earlier in the week that I am averaging somewhere around 85% for my current grade in that class. This is GREAT news. This means that if I keep this up throughout the semester, but also push a little bit harder, then I should be able to hit the 90 mark. Doing so will mean that I won't have to take the final exam for Physics. :D

The same kind of thing applies to my math course, but the chances of me getting the 85 that is needed for final exam exemption is a longshot. It would be nice... in fact, it would be absolutely amazing to not have to take a math final, but I know that I will have to.

I am going home for the weekend after my math class gets out tomorrow. My math class ends at 1:50 p.m., and I hope to head out shortly after that. I have already been home a couple of times this week because I had an old friend of mine spend the night at the college so that he could get a feel for what college courses are like. We have gone to school together from kindergarten to ninth grade, and that is when he dropped out of highschool to get his GED. Now I am gonna try and help him get into Vermont Tech. He hopes to be part of the Information Technology major because not only does it interest him, but it is a very light math load compared to the other majors. I am in the 5-year program (to make my first couple of years easier), but I have to take a total of ten different math courses while I am here. Information Technology only requires somewhere around three or four math courses total! My major also deals with the toughest math course offered at the college. It is a course so innocently named 'Applied Math,' but in reality it is like the Sirens from the Greek tales of Homer.

I have been spending plenty of time hanging out with friends this year. It is crazy how much stuff I have already learned this school year including a few things that I even learned about myself. This past week alone I have discovered that I *might* actually be a decent singer, and there is even a certain girl at the college that I *might* be interested in. ;)