Monday, May 4, 2009

The End of a Looooong Road

5-9-09 marks the end of one of the longest and hardest roads I've ever embarked on- the completion of my BFA in graphic design. That might not sound like much, and in the grand scheme of things it isn't... but for me it's a huge accomplishment-- one I never thought I would achieve.
If someone had told me years ago that I would be able to achieve this dream I would have sadly laughed at them. Getting married straight out of high school, and then proceeding to have have 3 children, which I ended up raising by myself, went a long way to discouraging any personal dreams I had. And college was one of the biggest. It's funny, but raising kids-- by myself-- was a much easier task. To me it was intuitive- lots of love, patience and understanding and you can get through it.
I wish I had blogged or journaled about school- but better late than never. Over the next few weeks I'm going to post about the experience of being the "old lady" in classes filled with twenty somethings-and all the challenges and growth I faced. And how God got me through it.
OK- this is truly a sad, funny story. I probably shouldn't admit it-- and as I look back I am laughing my rear end off. How dumb was I???
One of the first classes I took was a computer graphics class. It taught you the basics of computer design- my first intro to Photoshop and Illustrator. But before I go into that--- let me just tell you about the first day. We walked into the Mac lab at RWC, and after the teacher introduced herself, she told us to turn on the computer. Now, this wasn't just any computer. It was the first model of the G4 macs. -- A pretty impressive machine to say the least-- but one that was completely foreign to some who had extremely limited experience with a very basic IBM. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO TURN IT ON!!! AT ALL. I HAD TO ASK! I had the strongest feeling that the Professor really had doubts about my abilities to complete the class. I DID TOO! And that feeling would persist for a good part of the quarter- but more on that later.
For now, I want to share the scripture verse that really, really held me up when I felt like I was too stupid to continue- and that happened often.

Preserve sound judgement and discernment,
Do not let them out of your sight;
They will be life for you,
An ornament to grace your neck.
Then you will go on your way safely,
And your foot will not stumble,
When you lie down, you will not be afraid.
When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Have no fear of sudden disaster,
Or of the ruin that will overtake the wicked,
For the Lord will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being snarled.
Proverbs 3:21-26

Oh, and by the way-- I ended up acing that class. Go figure.
Blessings,
TC

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