Animation Revisited

Regular viewers of mwbh (and you both know who you are) might remember my telling of a Flash-based website project back in October.

Since that time, the project has been redone, and today it IS done. That's because today it is due. I must say I have enjoyed the project, not because it was easy, but because it was hard.

And yet, the overall experience of returning to college as a "non-traditional student" is losing its appeal. It has been enough of a challenge over the last three years to fit into an academic environment where most of the students are younger than your son, and most of the faculty are younger than you. But when you have established a camaraderie with a group of students, and they graduate before you do, and you're left with those who don't share that sense of "hail fellow well met," then... well, it's like B B King once said, "the thrill is gone." To make matters worse, a revolving door at the administrative level cannot help but affect the quality of the curriculum over the long haul. That, and being part-time and having a career in a related field, not only eschews the luxury of a "total immersion" experience (which allows one the space to adapt to the politics of academia, as I know from prior experience), but you get really tired of being talked to as though you're some punk-@$$ kid who's still wet behind the ears. (Sure, it only happens once in a while, but three years can add up, eh?)

Then they announced a diploma option for web design, which I began to see as an alternative to an associate's degree. First, I'm already a Bachelor of Science in Design, so an associate of arts in a related field is unlikely to raise my academic standing. Second, I wouldn't have to complete a math requirement, something I did not have to do when I went to UC, and which would most likely require a remedial prerequisite, it having been so long since high school algebra. (My employer is unlikely to support subject matter with little return of investment for me, and none whatsoever for them.) Third, I would graduate one year sooner, saving over five thousand dollars in somebody's money, probably mine. I would have only three classes left at the end of this term, maybe four if I take a particular elective to facilitate my portfolio presentation.

So, click on the url below, and if you're not careful, you might learn something.

http://dla312.aisites.com/portfolio/imd280/appalachia/index.htm

[UPDATE: Speaking of learning something, I did today. The project is actually due for completion this time NEXT week. The professor sat with each of us to ensure that minimum technical requirements were met. I was fine. But she wanted me to consider "pushing" the design further, in a direction away from redundancy. Laying out books and journals for years at a stretch can do that to a man. Since she made a formidable case, I went and completed a flurry of notes, and tomorrow I'll be getting down to business. But tonight I have to watch the thrilling conclusion of "Tin Man" on the Sci-Fi Channel. A man has to have his priorities straight, eh?]
.