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I think of education a lot. I didn’t follow the typical path to get where I am now.
I never had the opportunity to pursue college straight out of high school. Instead I got used to working. I’ve done a little bit of everything to earn a living. Or a lot of everything. I’ve had 24 jobs in the past 17 or so years. (For a fair amount of my misspent youth I worked 2-3 jobs while in school)

This means that I’m familiar with most business operations. I know what makes most companies tick, and have even how to rise in an organization. I’ve been on both sides of the interview table, I’ve hired people, reprimanded, trained, and fired people. **

This background makes me appreciate the digging in the dirt aspect of hands on classes.  I like experiential learning where I can dig my hands in to the process and pick something up by experiencing it. It also means I’m sometimes less then patient with my classmates who have had less experience. I know its not their fault, but I just can’t fathom coming this far in one’s education without at least some real world experience.

It’s pretty clear that the path I’ve taken has put me in a unique position. Because of my age people expect me to be educated, because of my status in education  it’s assumed that I don’t have experience. I realized this last night at the MSIM program info session last night. Since the executive program deadline has not passed for the year yet, and the age of these in the room, the presenter assumed we were all interested in that program. I clarified that I was interested in the day program, and the pendulum swung the other way, with an assumption that I don’t have the real world experience.

The combination of my experience and education mean I can take either program, the day or the evening. It means that I fit my own mold, that information on how business works is redundant, but that applying skills learned in those classes is a delight. I get to think about my desired path and customize my learning to match where I want to go.

How cool is that?

This is all a fabulous adventure for me, with ups and downs and twists and turns. Bring on the dirt!

**I’ve also made some horrid mistakes, that I can now see humor in.

I’m not good at backing up my data. In fact, I’ll say that I’m down right atrocious at it. Now that my laptops were stolen I’m trying to remember everything that was on them.
Music Most of it gone. I’m begging itunes for help, we’ll see what they can do.
Pictures, sure, but a good portion of those are on flickr and picasa.
Email? Nope, using gmail meant all of those are available online.
Files for drama club? Yup. Lost the most updated files, and didn’t realize until I was at drama club on Saturday. (Sign in went fine, I just didn’t have contact information for one of the families.)
My portfolio for school? Some of it is lost, some of it was backed up in my school notes wiki. I’ll have to dig through my files to see what I have in hard copy.
My writing? My nanowrimo novel from this year is gone, as is most of the work from my creative writing class from last year.

I’m looking into Mozy online and considering other back up options. An expensive lesson to learn, but at least it wasnt the middle of the quarter.

One of the concepts that  my favorite professor reiterated this quarter was “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” She used it in correlation to being inspired by artwork, in relation to studying scientific papers, and in relation to observing scientific research.

I’m proud to say that i stand on the shoulders of giants all the time. Not scientists, celebrities and artists. My inspiration comes from giants who are a bit closer. I’ve talked in the past about different men and  women in my life who are inspiring. Those who have taken charge of their lives, those who have made dramatic life changes, moved across country, left solid jobs to pursue their education. Those that set personal goals then knock them down like milk bottles at a county fair. Within my circle of friends there are a few writers who’ve had great success lately. I swear, I’m looking at the next great science fiction/fantasy writers. Right in my back yard.

I take inspiration from their accomplishments, and I too make bold moves to develop the life i want to live.  Yesterday I sat in on a new incoming IAS student orientation, much like I attended last year.  I looked back at journal entries around that time, and it’s pretty clear how far I’ve come. At this time last year I was about 2 weeks out from learning that I was accepted to the program.At that point I flipped my life upside down. I quit my full time job, I did childcare over the summer and focused on my schoolwork like never before. I remained unemployed for a good 6 months. The longest stretch of unemployment since I was 16.  I altered my schedule , and i mindfully  work to prioritize school responsibilities over the opportunity to get more hours at work.

I get tunnel vision sometimes.  It’s really easy to get stuck in the day to day. I’m focused on the next paper due, or the next class I want to take. It’s nice to take some time to reflect on the longer journey , reminiscing about the road behind, while building excitement for the road ahead.

I was out at Greenlake yesterday and saw this.

From spring 2009

Yes that is a “train” of people jogging through the street. They paid little attention to the cars, and I was surprised that no one got hurt.

So the house was broken into today. Now everyone is ok, including our feline companion, but it still sucks.

They came in through the bathroom, ransacked my bedroom. Took my powerbook, Patrick’s macbook, his gps, his psp, Miss Bit’s ipod.
They moved on upstairs. Snagged Leah’s powerbook, my pc laptop, Leah’s wii We don’t think they gt into the loft.

When I came in, it took a while for me to notice. Things upstairs didnt look that off, until I got downstairs and saw the open back door and open window. My first thought was the cat. She’s a skittery one , prone to running off. Luckily she ended up locked upstairs  when they made their escape.

We’re not happy, but we’re safe. After all, its just stuff right?

Jasmine’s biggest loss? Wii Zelda Twihlight Princess

Patrick’s biggest loss? His brand new, finally started working gps.

Miss Bit’s biggest concern? That the episodes of Sarah Jane Adventures were safe. (they were)

Aron’s biggest concern? Data security on the laptop. (We’ve changed all our passwords)

Leah’s biggest loss?  Her music on her powerbook?

My biggest loss would have been my cat, so I’m glad to say she is safe.  I’m not happy to have lost stuff from my portfolio, nor my music, but I’ll survive.

The neighbors got hit too. The boys lost their Nintendo DS’s

School: The quarter is almost over, and I’m thrilled. At this point all my major work has been turned in, I’m just doing some nail biting as I wait for grades. Overall its been a challenging quarter for me, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot.

I think one of the best things that will come out of this quarter is my connection with one of the professors. She seems willing to take me on for undergraduate research next year , and to help me along. I’ve my eye on her for a potential reference for grad school.

I’ll tell you about spring quarter next month.

Home: The basement is a mess. Being so wrapped up in school for me and the auction for Patrick meant things slid a little more then I would have liked. On Saturday I did clean the bathroom and did some other clean up  work.

My seeds have arrived. Well almost all. We’re still waiting on the edamame,  and warm enough weather to sow them. I’m also interested in figuring out spot to set up a closeline for the summer.

Some changes with work mean I’ll be able to return to my normal Sunday shopping an that should make it easier on the household overall.

Work: I bid for my first 10 shift hours today. Sadly I did not get the Sunday shift I wanted, so I’m going to be a little lighter on my hours overall. My planned schedule doesn’t feel any less busy, just lighter on the hours overall.

Church: I attended a forum on connecting the church to a web 2.0 world last Sunday. I’m not sure how I feel about my church entering the tech arena. I’ve got concerns about attracting a crowd of people through a method we can’t relate to, then finding that we can’t relate to the people.

I’m also beginning to read Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change, and am hoping to find a study group to read it with.

Craft: I completed two art pieces for my bioart class. One was a felted number done with Skaels felt art paper. I enjoyed the process overall and the finished product turned out nicely.

The second piece is show below. It is meant to support my claim that the nutritional benefits of transgenic plants outweigh the demonstrated environmental impact.  There is a complicated explanation to the piece, called “Fields of Gold”, but I’ll spare you for now.

From printing

From Blog Photos

I don’t think I’ve been quite this challenged in my college career. I don’t think its the number of credits, I think it’s the intensity of courses. I’ve done some quality research, and even feel confident enough to consider sharing my work. I adore one of the professors I am working with, and the grad student instructor I have isn’t bad. My Student Advisory Council is challenging, almost in the right way though. I’m paying attention to my interaction with other people and assessing how I feel in group situations. I’ve got some bad habits to break, but overall I’ve surprised myself.

Next quarter will be different, no late nights on campus, no going nearly a day without seeing Miss Bit.  (Today I dropped her off before 9, and won’t see her again till tomorrow at 3 when I pick her up.) I’m hoping for more integration and am looking into some long term goals for work and school.