I want to reinforce the advice of a fellow blogger of mine: ALWAYS CHECK YOUR E-MAIL BEFORE YOU GO TO CLASS!!

Yesterday I was running a bit late and opted not to check my e-mail before class. I got in my car and made the 20 minute commute from Hilliard to campus, waited on a bus at the west campus parking lot & took the North Express bus to the 17th and College Rd. stop (which took about 15 minutes combined), made my way up three flights of stairs with a large piece of BFK drawing paper in tow, and............................ found a note on the closed door of my drawing classroom that read: " Art 205 11:30-1:18PM CANCELLED today. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Because it was my only class yesterday, I could kick myself for wasting so much time coming to campus that could have been alleviated simply by checking my e-mail before class. REMEMBER THESE WORDS OF WISDOM!

Posted by thegreatkate at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I ask that question with as I'm hit with reality, but I also really wonder if I'm almost a "junior". My rank will officially be that of a junior - 3 - in the fall, but when my "senior" year rolls around, I fear I won't be graduating with the rest of them. My rank is becoming meaningless as I see possibly four more years of school ahead of me.

Last quarter I decided to take on the challenge of majoring in design. It will be challenging for many a reason, the first being that I'm facing the possiblity being an undergrad for a good long while. Secondly, a lot hard work and time is involved - the design program requires a rigorous portfolio review and is highly selective. (For example, the program I want to go in to - visual communication - accepted 12 or 16 people this year .......... 77 applied.) The portfolio review only happens one time a year - right at the beginning of winter quarter. And here's the kicker: the program is a solid three-years post-acceptance. If you don't get accepted the first time, you can only apply one more time, and a whole year must pass before trying again.

I can't believe I've been at Ohio State for two years. My first year had its ups & downs - I had excellent grades the whole year through and was on the Dean's List for winter quarter. However, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing at Ohio State (an excellent time to take GEC's!). This year also had its ups and downs. My grades faltered during winter quarter as I battled with my head and heart over what I really wanted to do with my time, and my future. I dropped a class that quarter as I faced a dramatic GPA drop had I continued to drown in it. BUT!, I changed my major, and that was the best thing I've ever done.

So, I may not graduate with the seniors in '09, but I will be a junior next year.. and I will get into the design program! (And graduate as a sixth-year senior in 2011....maybe? Hopefully!)

Posted by thegreatkate at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made good on my goal to visit the fine arts library this week and was pleasantly surprised that the library does indeed carry some of my favorite design magazines (such as Print and I-D) but I'd be thrilled if they carried more. Perhaps I can get in touch with someone who has control over what subscriptions come into the library and suggest a few more titles. I sat around and flipped through about 20 magazines before realizing that next to me was a whole wall full of appealingly-covered colorful photography and design books! I now have a new favorite place on campus.

On the topic of libraries, I'd like to make note of my (former) frustrations that the main library will be closed and under construction until 2009. When the library closed in the fall, I was really sad and left wondering where I'd go and what I'd do when I needed to go to an easily accessible place with an abundance of computers and other resources for whatever needs I had. Since I had never lived in a dorm or lived on campus, I didn't know it like the back of my hand but knew there had to be some places I could go that I was unaware of. So I decided to e-mail Rich Hollingsworth (the guy who writes the "Rich Text" portion of the weekly Buckeye Net News) because through his writings, he seemed like an all-knowing kind of guy. He directed me to the head of the Off-Campus Student Services. I communicated my frustrations to him, and he e-mailed me a sympathetic and informative message, and I learned that there were a lot more places on campus that I could go besides the main library, that I had no idea even existed!

You can read the e-mail (with helpful links included!), here.

I'm so thankful for the many of sources of friendly, willing and understanding help at Ohio State. I'd probably be wasting $5 on a coffee every time I needed to study if it weren't for them! I used to think coffee shops were the only place I could go!

Posted by thegreatkate at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Friday, I attended an award ceremony for the top award-winners for the incoming freshman class of the Columbus College of Art and Design. My sister was one of only three students who won a full 4-year tuition paid scholarship to the school. It was a really great day for her, and while she chatted with faculty and staff, I snuck into the stacks of books (the ceremony was held in the CCAD library) and immediately fell in love with the huuuuuuuge collection of magazines they have. I'm not kidding when I say they likely are subscribed to every single art/design/fashion/culture magazine on the market .. even the most obscure! And foreign! They even have back issues of most of them! IT'S HEAVEN ON EARTH!

My new obsession with the CCAD library got me to thinking -- I really don't know much about the fine arts library at my own school. So my mission this week is to visit the library and find out if there is a publication collection of similar greatness here at OSU. I figure that since many art students attend this school and the fine arts library is in the Wexner Center for the Arts building, there's a good chance that I'll find some good stuff. I hope so!

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My karma's payment today: my design teacher cancelled Wednesday's class on which essay #2 is due -- I'd been worrying about being able to finish it by then because I have had to work so much lately. WHAT LUCK! I love when that happens, it was a total surprise!

Posted by thegreatkate at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I forced myself to keep naps to a minimum this week. Even on days when I'd had little sleep the night before, I challenged myself to make use of my waking hours as best I could.

I started my new job at Cord Camera on Sunday and worked Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I'll pull my first 9 hour shift this Saturday. Challenging indeed. I enjoy the job so far and am training to open and close the store because the manager wants to give me a key so that I can do that by myself. At first I was hesitant about the huge responsibility but I thoughta lot about it and am now very much looking forward to it - I haven't had that responsibility at a job before. I think it'll be nice to have the trust of higher-ups.

On Tuesday I spared myself a nap and attended the Dirty Found Magazine Outreach at the Wexner Center. I will note that the event was for "mature audiences only" and provide the link to the original Found Magazine website - check out the Dirty Found website at your own will! The creators of the magazine are on a national tour to promote the new issue, #3, and showed a Power Point presentation of some never-before-seen tidbits and went into further depth on some of the pieces that have showed up in the magazines. -- Found Magazine is one filled entirely with reader-submitted found items, such as photos, to-do lists, notes, etc. Dirty Found was created after the collection of riqsue submissions grew to the point that it needed its own magazine apart from the clean and probably PG-13 rated original. -- Both Found and Dirty Found Magazines are sold in the Wexner Center Store (my favorite place!), as well as several existing Found books, and a meet-&-greet and signing was held in the store after the show.

I really want to go see Animal Collective at the Wexner Center on Monday after work. I'm too broke to buy the tickets right now, though. I wonder when I get paid....

Now, I think I need a nap. It's Friday.... I deserve and need it! (At least that's how I like to rationalize my 4-hour "naps.")

Posted by thegreatkate at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)