I swear my college is a black hole...

Two terms ago, I went in and scheduled a meeting with a counselor to arrange my academic plan. I asked her to look over the transcript that I had printed out and tell me what, exactly, I needed to complete my AAOT. I told her I needed to know what classes to take at what time and what aid to apply for. She told me that I needed two science classes and one math. Okay. So I did as she said- to the letter. The only bump was the fact that I had to re-take math but because of the multitude of complaints against the professor we had last term, the dean of students granted a waver to anyone that had to re-take the course. I was one of those students.

Well he failed to communicate this with the financial aid office and so I didn’t get my check for two weeks -after- school had started. I had to march down to the financial aid office and demand an answer. I knew that checks were late this term, another brilliant ‘ism’ of the financial aid world this term, and had waited but the start of week three was too much. I needed my check. So it turned out that there was a communication error. They fixed it and that Friday I got my check.

Well last week I decided to apply for my graduation as, according to what I was told, I would meet all requirements to graduate at the end of this term if I did well on my classes. Yesterday I got a letter in the mail that said otherwise. Today I marched right back to the graduation department and demanded an answer. The lady shrugged it off and said that I needed another four credits (ie- one class) in either science or math. But it couldn’t be a biology class. This means that not only do I have to put up with yet another term here after already spending eight years of my life dealing with this sorry excuse for a community college, but I had to do another tango with FAFSA to get an extension. Another. Extension. I filled out the paper work and tossed it to the financial aid department. I spoke with the man in charge for today and he approached the entire affair with a big grin on his face.

I wanted to slap it off him. He also encouraged me to apply for FAFSA -before- I even knew what college I was attending. This, to me, is stupid. Financial aid doesn’t like you playing around with them unless you know what you are doing and thanks to Chemeketa, it looks like I’m a bumbling idiot when they look at my records. To file for FAFSA you -need- your school name, degree, and how many credits you plan on taking. I don’t know any of that yet because I don’t know if I can even GRADUATE in another five years. Not only are they throwing me into this loop but credits expire at Chemekta so if one of mine expires without my knowing, then I’ll have to re-take the course.

You know. At this point I think that in most cases, college is a con. They have me trapped in this system chasing my tail. Unless I take out a loan, I may not be able to pay for ‘higher’ education. And for what? To learn how to train and feed animals? Give me a break. If this nonsense keeps up I’m dropping out. I don’t need to make a lot of money, I never planned on it. It seems to me that God needs me right where I am. Every attempt to move on has been horribly or even comically hindered to where I’m still here.
Well there are other ways to be successful. Unless you’re in a field that requires all this fancy learning and specifics, college seems like a joke. It doesn’t make you smart, it makes you pay for a paper that says that you meet an establishment’s standards.

Death by breloom!!

No. NO!! NOOOO!!!!

Emergurd!!!

My History of Hyrule came in!

Nicky's nightmare

.... Breloom!!!!

The development of bread!

... I am insanely proud if my baking skills.

A good thought from a discussion today...

You don't have to have sex with people you love and people don't always love who they have sex with. Sexuality is always a choice and Love is not exclusive to romance. You can love someone more than you love even your family- this is called friendship. True, honest love is the union of the two halves of humanity- man and women. Our bodies were not only made to be comparable with the opposite gender, but to be bonded to only one partner. Society has glorified the act and torn down the purpose.

I honor love for what it is- a gift from God.

Keeping my head down for a while.

If you are reading this, it's likely because I have sent you a link to this blog. It's been sitting here idly for quite some time and I've decided to make use of it to keep in touch with a few of my online friends. As most of you might have seen by now, I'm taking an undetermined hiatus away from DeviantArt and many other online hangout places. If you want the extended details of the situation, you can read it all here here. The long and short of it is that I'm tired of being harassed by people for my Christian faith, my traditional values, and the way I decide to use my artistic ability. It's been over ten years and I have been through hell and high water over the issue. Some of you remember that around 2004-2006 I wasn't as hesitant on the topic and I often, frequently, included characters of alternate orientations in my artwork because I had many friends that played them alongside my characters from gaia and Dan's setting a while back. However, I began changing my policies when I felt morally convicted and those who I had been doing the artwork for turned hostile because while I tolerated them, I did not accept their behavior or take their side in the debate if they were simply supporters.

I do have a tumblr and I'll continue posting there as well, but the people on haters already have my tumblr account and honestly, if I can stay out of sight for a while maybe they'll find a new chew toy to occupy themselves with. I'll let you guys know there if and when I post new art, a blog, or whatever else but please, please don't give this url out to -anyone-. If I want someone to know I'm still around, I'll give them a link. I know some people have the best intentions but things always get out and I always get burned for it later on. Thank you for understanding.

Anyway, this is where I'll be. I don't like blogger, I don't like google's aps or anything like that but it's a fairly easy to use system and no one knows about it... I hope.