Let me begin by saying that I initially took this course because I was stressed out and pissed off. I was overwhelmed with chemistry and math courses (I hate them!) and needed something different....anything different. My best friend Sama is an art-major and was signed up for this course- so I figured "Why not?". I took this class with the intention of learning something outside of my boring (and slightly nauseating) major. I was absolutely terrified at first, because A) I am FAR from artistic and haven't taken an art class since elementary school, and B) I am literally tech-UNsavvy; I know nothing about computers and technology and even have a hard time operating my facebook. I am nearly handicapped when it comes to computers/online programs. This class is based on both art and technology- so you can probably see why I was so intimidated.
To my surprise, all of the assignments turned out to be very do-able. So long as I was willing to do a little research/reading, and spend some time on "practice runs", I found that I was able to keep up! Eventually I grew comfortable enough with the assignments, that I was able to incorporate some of my own personal creativity into the projects! This is where I really began to love this class. For example, the editing of my Urban Landscape photos, the creation of this blog, my video mash-up, and the creation of my website, all gave me the opportunity to be as creative (and crazy!) as I wanted to- so I had a blast with these assignments.
Before I knew it, I had developed a Saturday-night tradition: come home from work, eat dinner, spend all night relaxing, and taking my time to learn that week's project/assignment. It became the most stress-relieving day of my week. This art class gave me some "me-time", which was much needed! It was the first time in my college career that I truly felt like I was learning something new, valuable, and applicable to the real world. I have spent hours and days trying to learn concepts on molecule bonding and theories on integration- KNOWING I would never use any of it again. Then, I get to this class, where I learn skills such as website-construction, slideshow/presentation-building, photo-editing, etc, and I know I can/will use these techniques again in my career.
In summary, not only did this class provide me with some space and time to relax and have fun- but it also taught me so many things that I never thought I could be capable of! I was the girl who couldn't create a graph on Excel, and now I can make an entire video (music included!) all from scratch! I am very proud of myself :)
Phoebe, you are one of the most wonderful instructors I have ever met (ironically, you are the only one of my instructors that I have never met- lol this is my first online course). It was so refreshing to be taught by such a passionate, enthusiastic, and hilarious instructor. If all of my teachers were like you, I would actually show up to class and pay attention! I am very sad that this adventure of a class is over already, but if you teach any other art classes in the future- you can count me in! Thank you for a productive, enlightening, and thrilling semester!
Sincerely,
Eman
PS: you called the pink font on my Slate-layout (on my website), a "curious" choice of colors. Well, my gray cat, Sophia, has been wearing a pink collar since birth, and was very offended by your comments :)
She inspired the color palette for my site :) :) :)
