WELL THEN, BLOGGER

BLOGGER, WHAT DID YOU DO?

YOU'RE SCARING ME.

Hey guys, I think blogger changed, it scared me silly when I logged in, I had no idea where I was supposed to go for a few minutes. But I survived.

We forgot to choose another theme for this week. Therefore I shall ramble for a couple of paragraphs.

First subject: Anime Boston 2012

Earlier this month was AB12 and I was a little sad because I didn't get to cosplay my Weeping Angel, nor was I capable of eating due to still having my jaw wired from surgery, but I did get to cosplay Amy Pond! I was her for the whole weekend, I actually want to dye my hair ginger now, not just because it would help for a far more accurate cosplay of her, but also because I really like red hair.

So I cosplayed her outfit from Time of Angels and I thought for a while no one would recognize me until some guy turned around and shouted "Come along, Pond!" and then my weekend began.

I went to the Saturday BBC photoshoot and it was full of whovians and sherlockians, it was fantastic. Some photos got reblogged on Tumblr too, http://doctorwho.tumblr.com/post/20697940769/anime-boston-bbc-meetup-canthisgetanyworse. I was not paying any attention for the ones I'm in here (was asking someone to move my bag I think), but you can probably see others that I'm tagged in on facebook. I should really upload mine. One of my friends was cosplaying the sixth doctor and we ran into two weeping angels and he decided to push me at them all I could think with that was "Doctor, you're supposed to be saving me from the angels, not throwing me in the ring with them!" It was so much fun.

Next year I plan to cosplay Restac and I'm starting my planning early this time because the difficulty level has upped significantly.

I'm going to try and get as accurate as possible so I've been researching the methods used on the show in order to try and duplicate them to the best of my ability.

Also I've been reading like crazy lately. It turns out that reading is an awful habit for me as I never get anything done. But I have missed reading like crazy, I feel like I haven't had time in over two years, which is true. So I can't wait for the summer to be able to read constantly. I've got quite a list of books I need to read. But I also need money in order to purchase books so I think I'll be applying for a job at the Barnes & Noble on Cape. I can't think of a better summer job.

Finally, I've just decided today on which college I'll be attending. I've decided to go to Wheaton College in Norton, MA. It's not that far from where I live, about two hours I think? Not as far as I'd like and I plan to try and transfer into MHC or Smith at one point but Wheaton is a really great place and I'm pretty excited to go. I didn't really have much of a choice, they gave me so much aid that my mother said I'd have to pay my own way if I wanted to go anywhere else. So it's probably a good thing I like Wheaton. It's nice to be certain about next year, a really big relief and now I can focus on just getting through the rest of the year (graduation on June 3rd). I'm both excited and nervous about living away from home and especially the idea of a roommate.

Well This is getting really long so I'm going to cut off awkwardly without any really closure to anything mentioned. Especially this paragraph.

The Value of College

Since there's no other posts here this week, I thought I'd post something I've been thinking about for a little bit.

As tuition rises everywhere, and unemployment increases, I've heard a lot of talk about whether college is worth the time and money that it requires. For awhile I've been of the impression that, aside from certain fields (I'm not sure what to call them, but things like lawyers/doctors/therapists/etc that require a significant knowledge base and training that would be unavailable or incomplete without a post-grad education), the main value of college is getting to hold up a piece of paper to an employer and point out that you managed to get through 4+ years of school competently (or as a really good faker).

Over Thanksgiving break, my boyfriend drove both of us down to be with his family for the holiday. With a long car ride ahead of me I worked on a knitting project, and about half way through the ride realized that I'd made a mistake. We got into a conversation about whether or not I should go back and redo it, and he commented that after all of his work in applied computer graphics he'd learned that it is far better to go back and start again when there's a mistake than to try to fix it halfway through and get a shoddy product.

That got me thinking about things that can be learnt in college that are either not the emphasis of the major being taken, or that can be applied to many things outside of it. This is layered with some thoughts I've been having about the sustainability of my job, since it seems that most people in my position either go back to school to move higher up into positions that don't currently appeal to me, or move on to something else.


So here are things that I learned as a pre-credential teaching student that are still applicable even though I'm not a teacher:

• how to either plan out everything wisely, or deal with crunch time to get them done (I'd say the former is healthier than the latter, but without at least one of these I wouldn't get anything done).
• how to deal with conflict in a professional setting - even though I don't like it - by being clear about my own intentions and expectations, and working with someone else on what can be done better next time or to prevent the situation at all.
• that I don't have to only rely on my own creativity and knowledge. Google is my friend, as are blogs dedicated to niche subjects. In school, I used this to look up lesson plan ideas; now I use those same skills to troubleshoot technology, figure out how to make something, or find creative ways to engage the kids I work with.
• that there are always going to be people that I have to work with even when I don't want to. Whether it's a client's parent now or a slacker group member in school, I've gotten significantly better at seeing things from their perspective to be able to get through the interaction (and sighing a breath of relief when it's over).
• how to correct mistakes. I was lucky enough to have several teachers that, after grading our papers, handed them back to us and had us revise them. As annoying as this was at the time, it helped ensure that I wouldn't keep making the same mistakes. While I'm not writing a whole lot of papers now, this makes it easier to adjust when I receive feedback or procedures change at work.
• how to write in a formal tone. This is helpful for resumes, work emails, or trying to sound smart if I'm with someone I want/need to impress (I still write clearer than I speak, but college has helped).

That's all I can think of for now, but I think that's a list that alters my life significantly. (And just so we're clear, I also learned a lot of specific knowledge and skills related to teaching, and while I don't use it, having that stored helps me make connections when I learn something else that is relevant to my life).

What have you learned so far through college? Do you think it will still be applicable outside of college, or if you end up on a different career path?