Week 18
Back to normal

Wednesday:

On Wednesday morning I got on with completing A4. I had forgotten which format some of the images had to be saved in and the layout in which Steve wanted the assignment. I checked with Craig and James and got on with it.

I was surprised when it took me most of the day to complete as all the content was there already. Getting the word count down on my compression report took me quite a while as I went into quite a lot a detail.

I did this originally so that when I looked back on it, I would remember how and why the results were what they were. I eventually got the word count down without sacrificing too much information.

After lunch I had a repeat lecture on Dreamweaver. I wasn’t looking forward to it as I thought I wouldn’t understand it.

I took notes and got the basics and hope to have a mess around with it over the weekend. It was easier than I expected, if you just stick to the basics to start with.

By the end of the day I had A4 in the template with only the evaluation to complete. I hope to have it in by next Thursday.

Thursday:

Thursday was a short day and spent conducting research on Matthew Carter, the typographer I had been allocated.

I’m not exactly sure what to include in my presentation from the research I collected. It is only a 5 minute presentation but I’m unsure to what degree of relevance any of my research is. I will have a look at the assignment sheet again and read the criteria.

At 12pm the day was over due to people going to Huddersfield. I didn’t feel I had used the time properly due to the fact I didn’t know what I was specifically looking for. I did collect a good selection of things though so I hope some of it will be relevant.

Note to self: read assignment sheets thoroughly!

Week 17
Scared, tired, jealous, happy and annoyed.

Wednesday/Thursday

After finding out I was 6 weeks pregnant during the Christmas break, I was feeling ill and not getting any sleep. This is the reason I had to miss the first week back, which I was really, really disappointed about.

I wanted to go and see my marks along with the rest of the group and talk to the boys about it.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I am feeling ill for a different reason to my illness but I don’t think it will last and will finally allow me to get back to studying.

This week I thought about college a lot. I was almost jealous that I couldn’t be there and a little annoyed that yet something else was getting in my way. When I say that, I mean the feeling ill because of the pregnancy was getting in my way, not being pregnant. I’m over the moon at the thought of being a mummy and bringing the class total to 18!!

All week I was thinking about getting the A4 assignment into the template and didn’t do it. I hoped to have it handed in this week, then next week but that’s not going to happen either. I should have done it as I had time but I think I had too much on my mind to settle into it.

I am apprehensive about going back to college next week as I know I will be behind again and the effort of having to catch up tires me. I will do it however, and hopefully get back up to date as soon as I can.

Looking back forward.


Looking back at my statement in week one of this course, I can remember how I felt when I wrote it.

I was anxious, a little nervous and kind of in the middle of treatment for my illness. I felt in between things and as if I didn’t belong anywhere in particular.

In 5 months I have done a full circle. I feel I know where I belong, I know where I’m going and my illness……..what illness!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the first semester at college and learnt so much without realising it. Looking back in my sketch book, it doesn’t seem 2 minutes since we were establishing rules and expectations of the next 2 years, then, all of a sudden we are half way through the first year with a head full of knowledge.

Although I enjoyed the first part of the course, I found it hard to juggle late assignments along with still being ill. I expected this when I started the course, to be put out a little due to illness, but knew I would get through it. Honestly though, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but far more rewarding for it.

The best part of last year, I’m sorry to say, was hand in days!! Only because of the relief felt by everyone and how relaxed we all were afterwards. (And how drunk we were after a full day in the pub, but we won’t mention that!)

I found out around Christmas, that I am now pregnant and expecting a baby around September 2007. The news knocked me for 6 and scared me to death but put a lot of things in perspective.

In my previous statement I spoke about how endometriosis is the biggest cause of infertility but yet pregnancy can cure it. When I wrote this I never imagined that 5 months later I would feel like the happiest woman on the planet from news of my pregnancy as, for a start, I didn’t think I could have children.

Before I found out I was pregnant, college was going great. The lead up to deadline week on the 21st December, I worked so hard to catch up and hand my work in on time, I was thankful when it was over. I learnt, however, how dedicated I was to the course and that finishing it is my biggest priority, even after finding out I was pregnant.

I now know where I am heading and that is to the end of this course and to my qualification. It is not the route I intended and will be even harder work with a baby on the way.

Next year I hope to soak up as much knowledge as I can from Steve and everyone around me, especially knowledge on Dreamweaver as I have not come across this software before. I am really looking forward to working with the other ‘2 degrees’, Craig and James, and think I will pick up a lot from them as they are both very knowledgeable within the interactive industries.

I also hope to be able to conduct more self study and do more further study on lectures in my sketch books, as, I would like to have a good representation of my research and study within my sketch books. I also plan to buy more books on the required subjects and engage in further reading.

My main goal for next year is to work to the best of my ability throughout all subjects and try not to concentrate on one at a time, which has been a trend of mine due absence.

Last year I pushed myself hard to reach deadlines but this year I not only don’t want to do that, but I can’t, I can’t have extra stress due to pregnancy. This is all the more reason for me to plan my time, conduct plenty of self study and keep up to date.

Christmas break

After a fabulous afternoon with my peers and a kicking Thursday night on the town with Rich, Drew and Ben, I was ready to relax and be merry over Christmas.

I didn’t think about college at all during half term. It was good to forget about it after the amount I did the week leading up to the deadline.

I knew that completing A4 would take me a day or so and I plan to have it in the first week back so I can concentrate on building my website.

My Christmas was really lovely along with my 21st birthday and I chilled out.

I’m looking forward to getting back to college, mostly to get back to a routine and to get stuck into building a site. I’m a little apprehensive as I will have to learn new software. I have been ok so far as the only one I have had to learn is PageMaker as I already knew Photoshop. Albeit scary and probably frustrating, I am looking forward to it.

Week 16
Nearly there

Wednesday:

Since last Thursday this week had been so hard for me and Wednesday was no exception.

All day was spent working on A3 and putting work into the template. Wednesday was the last day, a last push and an almighty effort. Not that the whole of the last week hadn’t been, staying up till the early hours in the morning to get things completed.

I told my self all week that if I could get this done, I could do anything. I was so tired but in high spirits and looking forward to Thursday, dead-line day.

I learnt a lot about myself this week, some things I already knew but others I didn’t, like how, if I want something bad enough, I will get it. I also learnt how dedicated I am to this course and how dedicated I feel towards everyone in the group, I wanted to do it for them, to be part of the team and be able to congratulate and be congratulated all together and most of all to be one of the boys!!

I was shattered by the end of the day but satisfied that most things were in order. I knew that the night was going to be a long one again but worth it.

Thursday:

4 hours sleep later I knew I had done it and could now relax.

Although I managed to get A3 in, there just weren’t enough hours in the day, or night, to get in A4 too. A4 was complete but I just didn’t have the time to put it into the template. I really wish I could have as it was a few hours job, but, you can’t have everything and I was pleased with myself for juggling 4 assignments at once. Maybe if I had got more done sooner I would have managed to get A4 complete, as I am quite competent with PageMaker now, it wouldn’t have taken very long to do.

The time planning that we are required to do throughout assignments was an absolute blessing for me. It taught me to consistently write tasks down and tick off when done. If it wasn’t for the organisation Steve drills into us, I wouldn’t have achieved my goal.
Thank you Steve.

Thursday afternoon was fabulous, relaxing, fun and reflective. I really enjoyed the company of every single person in the group and look forward to the next deadline…...kind of!!

Week 15
Thinking

Wednesday:

Most of Wednesday was spent tweaking A2 to get it handed in. It was one of those days that I like, one which is spent concentrating on one assignment.

I finally got the assignment ready to hand in and realised I’d forgotten to bring my time plans. It was quite ironic really as I had spent a lot of time putting my time plans together, updating them and organising them, to then forget them defeats the object a little!

Despite forgetting my time plans, I made good use of my time by checking my assignment over and over again. I checked spelling, grammar, organisation, layout and text type. Along with references, coordinating images, captions and word count. I found surprisingly, that I hadn’t made many mistakes which is not usually a trait of mine. I tend to type without looking at the monitor and can often look back and not have the faintest idea of what I was meant to be saying.

As the day drew to an end I made a list of tasks I had yet to complete for each assignment, again. I do this a lot during assignments as I have to keep very organised as, if I can’t complete a task in a day, I still know that I have to do it.


Thursday:

As Thursday came and I had finally handed in my A2 assignment, my thoughts turned to the task ahead of me. I realised I was not looking forward to it, at all. But what I was looking forward to was a week’s time when, hopefully, I would have completed everything and have it handed in, in order to enjoy Christmas. The thought of relaxing with my peers in the pub, knowing what I had achieved, inspired me. And so, my plans for the week ahead…..study!

During Thursday afternoon, in our peer meeting, I picked up some very useful tips as to where I was heading with my A3 assignment. Although I didn’t have much to show, I knew what I had done and could apply what Scott and Chris were asking, to my own work.

The rest of the afternoon was spent manipulating my banners. Although, after a couple of hours of changing things and swapping things around, I found I wasn’t getting anywhere anymore, and learnt to be happy with what I had. I think that my banner designs are ok for a first attempt but look forward to improving designs through knowledge as the course progresses.

I left college thinking ahead to next year and wondering what would happen. I tried to imagine myself in a year and a half and where I would be. This thought didn’t last very long though, as I was soon back thinking about what I had to complete in order to reach that point!

Week 14
Three men and a trophy


Wednesday:

First thing, Steve called me into the office as I had been absent the previous week and he needed an update as to where I was with my assignments. He asked me to try and get the A2 assignment finished by the end of the day.
During the morning I finished my budget statement, site structure and screen design. I found this easy to get done and it took me around 2 hours to do it all.
In the afternoon, Diane came in and sat down to help me get my designs on PageMaker. I had only used PageMaker briefly twice before so I didn’t know a lot at all. Diane helped me with the basics and she showed me some more advanced things, for example, how to use the short cut keys to make building a page a little quick and easier. I picked it up easily and began using them. It took me a while to get used to PageMaker as a whole, but Diane guided me and helped me so much. If she hadn’t been there it would have taken me a least 2 days to get my design finished, but, instead I got both the homepage and form done in a matter of hours.

Diane also helped me get to grips with assignment template and taught me how to put in references and images.

I feel sometimes, when Diane comes in, that she helps me so much that other people don’t get to see her or ask her anything. I must admit though, that I really do need the help and I’m sure the rest of the group understand.
By the end of the day, the only task I had left to do was putting the rest of my work into the assignment template.

Thursday:

Thursday morning, Steve set us a task of drawing designs within a set time. Firstly was 2 minutes per design, the next also 2 minutes, the next 1minute 30 seconds, 1 minute and finally 30 seconds. This task was hard and I really enjoyed it. 30 seconds per design was no time at all but meant you had to be spontaneous and do anything. The things I came up with were messy and boring. I think I need to loosen up my mind a little when designing, and be less uniformed.

After this task, Steve called Chris and me in to show us the image restoration task we missed last week; the image was of three old men with a trophy. Looking at the rest of the group’s images, the task seemed like it was going to be a difficult one. As I have used Photoshop quite a lot before I started this course, it wasn’t hard, just time consuming. The detail that has to be adhered to is immense but makes for a much better finish to the image.

I completed the retouching of the image in the day but have yet to add colour to it. I expect this will be harder as the image has to look realistic and I need to dress the old men appropriately.

Week 13
Down

Wednesday :

On Wednesday I couldn’t attend college due to illness. I was very ill and couldn’t complete any work either and just had to stay in bed. Being unable to do anything left me very frustrated and therefore completely knocked any motivation I had to get better.
Not being able to do any work goes hand in hand with getting ill, and I know that it happens like that, but it doesn’t get any easier and seems to leave me more frustrated each time. I hope, when I do get better, my motivation will come back 10 fold as I will need to be able to get back up to date with my work.


Thursday

Thursday was much the same as Wednesday, just with more pain.
I couldn’t complete any work and had another ‘duvet day’. Just like Wednesday, this left me frustrated with an ever growing doubt in myself of whether or not I was going to get these assignments finished on time.

Later in the day I weighed up, in my head, what it was I was yet to complete. I reassured myself that I will have time.

Week 12
RED

Wednesday:

I want to start by saying thank you to Steve for conducting an SA, which I missed on Thursday, again for me on Monday. I borrowed notes but needed it explaining and he took time out to do that for me.

Wednesday morning consisted of a lecture, as usual, on presentation skills. It was straight forward but included things that you don’t really think about before doing a presentation. For example, your own mannerisms, you cannot put your hands in you pockets or fiddle with your hair and expect to be taken seriously by your audience. These were things that later I found out I unknowing did!

The next task was researching the colour that you and your partner had been allocated, which was red, followed by a presentation on the findings. The task read:

Research the colour for it’s psychological and cultural significance
Prepare and deliver a 2-3 min presentation on your findings
Create an A4 fact sheet that can be distributed amongst the class

I was in a group with Craig, with whom I had not worked with before but enjoyed. I wasn’t nervous about the presentation itself, more the content and getting it right.
The basis for our presentation was how differently red was perceived in different cultural and social environments, and how most were almost direct opposites.

We also created a power point presentation which consisted of 4 slides.
I was first to be called to present but found I didn’t have the power point saved on the correct memory stick so had to be called back. This put me off a little and by the time I came back for my second attempt, I was still thinking about it. This made me more nervous and it showed during my presentation. I forgot sections and my breathing got very erratic. Steve also pointed out that I was fiddling with my notes which I was completely unaware of.
If I were to do the presentation again I would double check I had all equipment before hand and concentrate on relaxing throughout my presentation.

At 1pm we, as a group, were sent out to practise. At 2pm the presentations stared. At 5.30pm presentations had been completed. During the time between 2pm and 5.30pm the group sat in the canteen waiting for the next person to be called. We were asked by Steve to crack on with some work while waiting, this was impossible. With people in and out of the canteen all the time and remaining people rehearsing, it was extremely difficult to concentrate. Because I was the first in, I managed to get bits done but nothing substantial and round 3 hours was just spent talking. In my opinion it was a waste of valuable time and if we were to it again I think the presentations should be done elsewhere so that the room can be used for working.
I appreciate the white board needed to be used for the PowerPoint presentations but maybe the computers could have been booked in the resource centre to compensate. On the other hand, the remaining people probably wouldn’t be able to concentrate, knowing they were yet to go in.
I don’t know what the solution is but I’m sure there is a better one.


Thursday:

Thursday was back to normal and was for spending time working on assignments. I enjoy this time as all the resources are at arms length, Steve and class members are available for questions and peer group feedback sessions are conducted. This time is invaluable to me as I have many questions and lots to be getting on with.

Unfortunately my time had to be cut short as I was ill again, so, after the feedback sessions, I went home to work. Admittedly, it was harder to concentrate as there were more distractions, but I got most of the compression SA I was working on done.

Commenting on comments

Thank you to people who left comments regarding the blog blunders. I absolutely agree with you and it is good for comments to come from someone who has worked in the industry.

I will, in future blogs, as I mentioned before, evaluate the learning and work from a professional point of view. I can see looking back through my blogs that I haven't done that enough. There are a lot of times when my ability to work is affected as I know most of you understand and this is what I try and represent and will keep on representing. I will, however, try to look at it more objectivley and compress my blogs by 'lossy' and get rid of things that aren't relevant, and maybe try to use it in a creative way, as Steve suggested I do.

I hope this blog clears up what I was trying to say in my previous one, minus the rant. I was annoyed when I wrote it as I knew the email was particularly aimed at me, dispite it being discussed previously.

I hope I can get it right asap as I really don't want it to be an issue any more. The sooner I get it right, the better!!

Blog Blunders

After receiving an email from Steve regarding the use of blogging, I have realised that my blog isn’t quite evaluative enough. By evaluative I mean:

• Why
• How
• Feelings
• Changes
• Comparing

Although my blog has a lot of space dedicated to feelings, I don’t feel, reading back through them, that I have explored all evaluative aspects further.

My blog is very informal. I know that Steve’s intention for the blogs is for them to be used as a professional aid, and it is often commented on about how I can be too honest and deep within my writing.

I had a little disagreement with Steve and John during last week’s individual meetings. I didn’t mean to come across as stubborn and self righteous, no doubt I did, but it was suggested that I shouldn’t comment so much about my illness and try to use the blog particularly for evaluating college work and learning. It was said that from a prospective employer’s point of view, it wasn’t very professional. I understood their point and that it was for my own benefit but it also made me quite angry as, at the moment, I have factors affecting how I think and feel about college and why my approach to work changes depending on how I’m feeling. That to me is evaluating myself, therefore coming to conclusions as to why I find the work easy/difficult/challenging/boring etc.

In my opinion, I think people, when they read my blog, think I don’t quite understand the reason I’m writing it and that’s it’s some sort of diary, well I do and it’s not. As I said before, I have to include the reasons behind my thoughts and feelings toward college otherwise I am not painting a true picture of my learning and development.
As for prospective employers, I want to work for myself eventually but if I don’t, and an employer reads my blog, I believe it shows personality, creativity, a strong will and non conformity, which in a design world is not a bad thing.

I also use humour in my writing and like doing so. It’s nice to make people laugh when reading it and shows character. There is nothing worse than writing a blog that relives exactly what happened throughout the day, step by step, it doesn’t make you want to read it or comment on it, it’s boring! I think this is why some people find it hard to comment effectively.

In respect of Steve’s wishes I will stop swearing in my blog, I can understand why he doesn’t like it, and try to be more evaluative on the work aspect of things. I will not, however, stop evaluating myself in the form of thoughts and feelings as I feel it is relevant. Sorry John.

So to wrap it up, I don’t think this is quite what Steve was expecting, or maybe he was from me, I don’t know, but I have been honest and I hope it’s the last I hear about the blogs. I feel my work load is large enough at the moment, without worrying if I’m recording my own opinions right.