Good afternoon folks,

So for this week, I have for your reading pleasure a collection of events from the week.

Cardinals on Wheels is going well – next week is both our Cardinal Breakfast (we bring in donuts, bagels, and assorted juices into the Cardinal Lounge) and our Laser Tag events, so that should be tons of fun.
A friend of mine recently submitted a collection of poems to a competition that (I believe) is being run by the college. I of course did not get my act together soon enough to submit my own work, but I hope hers does well.
All of my classes – despite their level of difficulty – have been fun, but in varying ways. One of my classes – which is a math class masquerading as a Computer Science class – reminds me that I really did enjoy math classes before I came to college (I tested out of the majority of my math general education requirements thanks to my high school Calculus AP class). Another one of my classes directly ties into the aforementioned, so that’s nice to see that link as well.
And then there’s game programming.

Every time I talk about it, every time, I keep thinking about those commercials you see where there’s (usually males 18 – 25: the target video game player demographic) folks on the screen going ‘oh man I can’t believe we get paid to do this,’ because those commercials are nothing short of ludicrous. Frankly, I would have incredible respect for an institution that aired a commercial about their game development program, and on it was person who looked like they hadn’t slept in a day or so, totally frazzled saying “I just spent three hours trying to figure out why the sound authoring software for this API wasn’t even starting until I figured out that in Vista you have to run it with administrator privileges every time, and then I spent another two hours trying to figure how to use software, and I still don’t know how to incorporate it into my game. If I were to get paid for this, I’d have it coming.”
Yep.

But to be honest it’s not all seriousness and bugs. During class last night, two students were playing a game on a laptop that was to be the premise of our next homework, and my professor yelled at them in an incredibly amused sort of way.
It was hilarious.

So for this week’s post, I wanted to talk about Commuter Student Programs, albeit briefly. Today, we had our once-every-other-week Friday Night Dinner, where the Commuter Assistants bring in food for folks, and everyone talks about whatever issues they’re having and generally just hanging out. It’s been relatively well attended, and tonight was no exception. We had pizza and for a fair amount of time chatted and played Taboo.

In addition to this program, this term we’re introducing our Wednesday breakfasts, during which we have breakfast foods in the White Activities Center lobby, and we set out information concerning commuter centered issues (well, not necessarily commuter centric, since most of the information can  be applied to all students).

And I have to admit, I have been coding a lot in the past couple days, and so in the last sentence, I tried to end it with a semicolon. If you know how I feel, I hope you sympathize.

In any case, we also played Twister tonight – well some folks did- and here’s a picture.

Also, this picture looks fuzzy because my camera has been in my car for three weeks, and this was the first time in a while that I brought it inside, and it pretty instantaniously fogged up.

In any case, the Commuter Assistance Program rocks out loud.

Hi everyone,

So this week, I was reminded of when I switched majors from English / secondary education to Computer Science. I had several reasons for wanting to do so, but one of the main reasons for going through with the switch was a realization I had while looking through the academic catalog. Looking at the kinds of classes I needed to take for each major, I found myself incredibly interested in the kinds of classes that were offered, and one of which was Windows Game Programming, a class I’m taking now.

Though it’s only the beginning of week 3, we’ve had a couple of labs, and I thought I’d share one with you. We were supposed to allow the user to move a biplane around with the arrow keys, and when the press the space bar, they drop a bomb that is supposed to hit a target on the ground.

Pictures to follow.

This week, being the first week of the winter term, has seen the return of all the folks who studied abroad in the fall, and two of my good friends have returned from such trips: one from Ireland and one from the China / Japan program. They both had really phenomenal experiences, and I’m glad they got to get out of the country. North Central – for those of you who may not know or may have forgotten – has some really fantastic study abroad programs, and, as I have been informed both by staff folks and by my friends, they are wonderful opportunities to get out and learn about other cultures, while still earning class credit.

To be honest with you though, I think one of the best reasons to study abroad has been made by one of the staff folks (paraphrased, of course): ‘At what other time of your life can you just go to another country and learn for three months?’

I can’t think of a better reason than that.

Hi everyone,

A couple of quick notes, before I dash off again:
I apologize for not posting a picture, both last post and this. It is in somewhat not surprising that I set a goal and then was mercilessly distracted, but still is mildly disappointing.
Whenever you can, borrow books from folks who have taken your classes before. Of my three classes, I have one book to buy, so that’s pretty nice.
And also -whenever possible- schedule in advance. I attempted to schedule a meeting  over interim with COW folks but due both to scheduling conflicts and what appears to be an as-yet-unknown glitch with our email system, I was unable to contact folks in a timely manner. So this week -off from work and school- I’m running around doing things I should have done before, but I’m glad that I’m doing them now instead of when term starts. Because to be honest, I don’t mind being relentlessly busy, so long as I know what I  need to do and plan for.

So again, scheduling is everything.

And also, I hope your holidays have gone / are going well