Here’s what I’m thinkin’…

I was decidedly against going to Grad School… mostly because I was already sick of being in school for 14 years… and I figured after 18 years of it, I’d be ready to be done. Now that I’m approaching the end of my undergraduate college career (and 18 years of schooling) I’m seriously considering going for my Masters.

Not just any master’s though, a Master’s of Fine Arts in Writing.

If I go for that, it’s pretty much a given that I will need to write a thesis as part of the degree requirements. This will not only give me a strong motivating factor to finish a piece of writing, it will also give me the opportunity to share the work and get feedback on it.

On that note, I have a new concept for a book (title and all), and I think it would be the perfect piece for a Master’s Thesis. It would be a semi-fictional memoir of my trip to Africa and the aftermath. Because I kept the blog, any small details I might not remember off the top of my head, are already written down, and I definitely remember the large details. There are also several hundred details I left out of my re-telling because they were not relevant to the purpose of the blog. They would, however, be relevant to a semi-fictional memoir. And the “semi-fictional” part of it would give me room to play.

I’d love to know people’s thoughts on this. The whole idea or just parts of it. I don’t have to go for my Master’s in order to write this book, and I don’t necessarily have to go for a MFA in Writing, either. This is just an idea I’ve been toying with for a while now.

What are your thoughts on the Master’s idea… (and do you think I should maybe go for something OTHER than writing?) and the book idea.

Let’s talk.

Africa, Updated

Tomorrow is the big day.

I’ll be waking up super early, picking up my fellow trip mates, and renting a car.

Following the rental, a 5 hour drive to Washington D.C. will ensue….so let’s hope for our sake it doesn’t decide to snow AGAIN.

When we arrive, we’ll catch our flight and, after about 8 hours, land in Dakar, Senegal. (Score for landing where they speak French!)

We’ll have a 12 hour lay over, after which we will take a considerably smaller plane to Gambia.

I’m very excited and some time after I get back (even though I’ve got to edit the entire movie… and the semester starts the day after we get home…) I’ll post a new photo gallery of the best pictures from the trip.

In the meantime, though, you can read all about the trip on my Bay Path Blog. I’ll be posting pictures and updates regularly during our two-week stay for the College Community to keep up with. I figure why post twice when I can just direct everyone over to my extension.

Happy 2010 to all!

Click Here To Follow My Trip To Africa

And so it begins

Classes start up again tomorrow. Remember way back when I said I was just itching to get back to school? Yeah, not so much now.

I’m sure I’ll get right back into the swing of things after the first few days but my brain is still back on the beach in North Carolina.

I have to admit I’m looking forward to a few of my classes.. Video Production because I’ll be the TA, and that’s kind of exciting, and also another class in which we’ll be using Graphic Design. Excellent!

The rest of my classes, though, are just classes that I avoided taking my first few years because they’re the same classes that I took in High School. And who wants to go back to High School? Not me.

I’m also trying to find out if I’m eligible for Work Study, because if I am I get paid to be a lab tech in a graduate course in video production. That would be perfect because my class schedule this semester is making it really difficult to get any hours in at work.

Let the insanity begin!

Tools To Further My Career

I’ve started the long long long long walk down my career path, and I’m psyched.

HOWEVER, I need to start investing in some tools to aid me on this long walk. Like a “Rascal,” metaphorically speaking of course.

Tools I Already Have:

-Final Cut — Very useful, very helpful… excellent

-MacBook —  The older generation and already very VERY full (I can’t even load any new software on it) But I love it none the less

-Canon Rebel XSi — Fabulous.

-Skill — Well, duh.

Tools I’m trying to invest in:

- New iMac — with the hard drive and processor tweaks I’m looking for, $1,307.00

-Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium — combined with an Educational Discount and the new iMac, $349.95

Roughly Totaling $1657.00 Not too bad considering everything I’d be getting.

Here’s the problem though… I’m a starving College Student. I’ve got college loans up the wazoo, (haha, look that up in your dictionary).

AND, that’s just for starters…. but I am a starter.. so that’s okay for now.

I need some ideas! Input! Whatever you’ve got!

HELP!