All Right Class, Time For Some Review...And A Very Brief Look At What Is On Deck.

Hello!

To any and all of you who might be new visitors here, having followed links on other websites, welcome!

To those of you who are prior visitors, please bear with me as I spend a paragraph or so reviewing past exploits for the newer folks...Thanks!

Introduction:

"NOT QUITE THE WORLDS OLDEST UNDERGRAD"

Which is, in the main, a documentation of my returning to school since the Fall of 2010 and the activities and adventures connected to such. And, truth be told, it also includes some discussion of my artistic efforts, both theatrical and non-theatrical, as well.

Some history:

For a variety of reasons, both personal and academic, I left my initial collegiate career after I had received my Associate of Arts degree and transferred to the University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign but prior to being awarded my Bachelors degree. After leaving school I worked in a variety of theatrical and non-theatrical positions including as a technician at the Walt Disney World resort complex. Eventually (2003) I began a succession of what I call 'full time freelance gigs', ranging from locations in Illinois, Virginia, New Jersey, etc... During these gigs, especially one in which I was on tour with a series of educational shows that performed in elementary and middle schools and in which I interacted with the students involved with the producing theatres educational program(s), I became aware that, above and beyond any potential professional benefits inherent in receiving my degree, I had a deep craving to not end up wishing someday that I had taken a chance. When that particular gig (which had lasted ~3 years) ended and I ended up 'at liberty' (a term some of us in the entertainment trade use for being unemployed) for the entire year of 2009 I decided that it was time. I had previously looked into the University of Alaska Fairbanks and decided that it sounded like it might be a 'good fit'. After applying, I was pleasantly surprised by the offer of some scholarship funding which, truth be told, was really the only way I could return to a full time educational program. Thus, in the Fall of 2010, I boarded a plane and flew to Fairbanks, a city I had never before seen or visited beyond various webcams and online informational searches.

That said, there have been a variety of adventures which followed. Some ups, some downs. Some challenges. Challenges such as, due to financial issues, having to spend an entire academic year 'couch surfing' and using various other methods of 'non standard housing'. Even with those challenges I was able to maintain my grades and keep moving forward.

Frustratingly I did hit a set of glitches within the past year, including having the committee for one of my scholarships decide that no prior recipients would be granted scholarship renewals for the 2013-2014 academic year. And a very rough Summer stock gig that, in candor, became a disaster. The ultimate result was that I have had to take another, albeit briefer, 'sabbatical' and so have had to shift my expected graduation date from Spring 2014 to Spring 2015.

All that said I am still committed to my course and, occasional bouts of self-doubt notwithstanding, I am still focused on returning to school in September 2014 so that I can finish the remaining 11 credit hours needed for my degree. Yes, because of how scheduling seems to fall it will take two more semesters. But that just gives me a chance to accomplish that much more portfolio and skill building, both through personal projects and by taking some additional studio art courses. I'll need to have at least 9 credit hours per semester to qualify as, at minimum, a part time student. The current plan has me taking 10 hours each semester, with the required mathematics course and one of the two required lab science courses in the Fall. Then in the Spring I'll take the final required lab science course and fill the additional space with studio art classes.

That's the history. And the plan. And the update.

Before I close, here are some links of note:

My combined portfolio: A portfolio of my various work and projects, both theatrical and otherwise. 

My general Tumblr, which is something of an eclectic mix of art, art history, architecture, quotations, and various other miscellanea: Semi-Random Shavings

And finally, should you be willing to help support my educational goals, please go here:


Help Me Continue My Educational Momentum

Thanks again to everyone for all of your support. I don't know that I have the words to express how very much it means to me.

More soon-ish. Till later.