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web design course: I'm loving it!
Yesterday was my first lecture of the web design course! :D And also not the best day to take buses.
Basically, what happened is this. Andrew and I were meeting with two friends of Andrew's who go to Perth College, because they had offered to show me the way. We missed the first bus from Andrew's town to Perth, so we had coffee in a cafe while waiting an hour for the next bus. Then Andrew's friend who was supposed to show me the way said at the last minute that she couldn't meet with us, and so we didn't get to meet either of Andrew's friends (the other one was already at college and went home with his girlfriend as soon as his lecture ended).
So Andrew's friends both bailed on us, thus leaving me and Andrew to take a bus to Perth College on our own. A bus that neither of us had ever taken before. A bus that stopped before Perth College, but not actually outside of Perth College. Do you see where this is going?
Yes, we didn't get off at the right stop. We got off at a random stop instead and walked the remaining distance to Perth College. Which means I was late to my first lecture by about 15-20 minutes.
Yesterday we were really mad about this, but honestly now it's... sort of funny. XD
Anyway, onto the course. There weren't many people in class, we were maybe 10 yesterday? There might have been a few people missing. The point is that there are not a lot of people in the class. Which I think is good; it makes a better learning experience and you really feel like the lecturer is there for you and can actually help you if you have questions. Very different from a lecture with 200 people and the lecturer talking while everybody stays silent and takes notes. I'm also the youngest person in the class, which is a nice change, given that I was the oldest in my law course. Also, I feel like I'm in a class with people who really want to learn this stuff, rather than go to the the boring lecture because they have to and go get wasted as soon as class is over.
The atmosphere is just so much more relaxed as well. People make jokes, the lecturer himself makes jokes and everybody (including the lecturer) laughs. It's just... a very different lecture experience from what I'm used to. The law lectures were just so dull. Even the tutorials, which were supposed to help students in small groups, were just torture. Some of them were more about hunting down students who weren't prepared for the tutorial, rather than an actual help. There's just no comparison. I am way more relaxed in this web design course than I ever was in two years of law degree. And now I'm doing something that I like! So the three hours will not feel heavy at all. (Whereas even just an hour of, for example, property law seemed to last forever and sucked all the energy out of me.) I actually look forward to the next lecture. When have I ever looked forward to a law lecture?
I already love the lecturer. He seems like a really nice person. Also, HE IS A GEEK. He said so himself when I stopped after the lecture to have a chat with him. I said I was a pretty big geek myself, haha. XD Also, you know what else I like about him? That he actually checks his email. Being a computing lecturer, it's also kinda normal that he does. (Unlike a certain advisor of studies who has completely stopped replying to my emails.) He has also made it very clear that, anytime we have trouble with something, we should email him and he'll gladly explain stuff over email or even over the phone! Now that is dedication. He just seems like an awesome teacher.
We're not going to do programming languages yet. We're going to do some stuff with Adobe Illustrator and Flash first. I've never done anything with either before, so I'm super-excited to be learning new things. :D One of the units (Plan & Design) will also be taught online for those who want to get the certificate by June (like me). If we have problems with the last unit, we can just email him, but as far as I can see it's a very light unit (we do stuff like web trends, optimisation of websites for search engines, etc. in it), so there should be no problems.
There are a few assignments, but they're all very practical and easy as far as I can see. One of them is a class test with multiple choice questions which are, in the lecturer's opinion, very silly questions (stuff like, "what does HTML stand for?" etc.), so I'm not worried about that. Other assignments include putting a picture with certain properties on a web page, making an icon in Adobe Illustrator and uploading said icon on a web page and things like that, so they're very easy. He's not going to give us marks, because the class is just a "pass or fail" class (although he can tell us what he would have marked the assignment if we want to). Those are the only assignments we have for this unit and there are no exams. So there's really not that huge amount of pressure on me that was in every little thing I did for the law degree.
Well, what can I say, other than... I love it? :D Love the lecturer, love the topics, love the atmosphere... I just love everything about it. I honestly can't wait for the next lecture.
(On a side note, I think my IT Crowd icon is very appropriate for this post. 1) Because I've started rewatching the show; and 2) because I am talking about something IT related.)
Basically, what happened is this. Andrew and I were meeting with two friends of Andrew's who go to Perth College, because they had offered to show me the way. We missed the first bus from Andrew's town to Perth, so we had coffee in a cafe while waiting an hour for the next bus. Then Andrew's friend who was supposed to show me the way said at the last minute that she couldn't meet with us, and so we didn't get to meet either of Andrew's friends (the other one was already at college and went home with his girlfriend as soon as his lecture ended).
So Andrew's friends both bailed on us, thus leaving me and Andrew to take a bus to Perth College on our own. A bus that neither of us had ever taken before. A bus that stopped before Perth College, but not actually outside of Perth College. Do you see where this is going?
Yes, we didn't get off at the right stop. We got off at a random stop instead and walked the remaining distance to Perth College. Which means I was late to my first lecture by about 15-20 minutes.
Yesterday we were really mad about this, but honestly now it's... sort of funny. XD
Anyway, onto the course. There weren't many people in class, we were maybe 10 yesterday? There might have been a few people missing. The point is that there are not a lot of people in the class. Which I think is good; it makes a better learning experience and you really feel like the lecturer is there for you and can actually help you if you have questions. Very different from a lecture with 200 people and the lecturer talking while everybody stays silent and takes notes. I'm also the youngest person in the class, which is a nice change, given that I was the oldest in my law course. Also, I feel like I'm in a class with people who really want to learn this stuff, rather than go to the the boring lecture because they have to and go get wasted as soon as class is over.
The atmosphere is just so much more relaxed as well. People make jokes, the lecturer himself makes jokes and everybody (including the lecturer) laughs. It's just... a very different lecture experience from what I'm used to. The law lectures were just so dull. Even the tutorials, which were supposed to help students in small groups, were just torture. Some of them were more about hunting down students who weren't prepared for the tutorial, rather than an actual help. There's just no comparison. I am way more relaxed in this web design course than I ever was in two years of law degree. And now I'm doing something that I like! So the three hours will not feel heavy at all. (Whereas even just an hour of, for example, property law seemed to last forever and sucked all the energy out of me.) I actually look forward to the next lecture. When have I ever looked forward to a law lecture?
I already love the lecturer. He seems like a really nice person. Also, HE IS A GEEK. He said so himself when I stopped after the lecture to have a chat with him. I said I was a pretty big geek myself, haha. XD Also, you know what else I like about him? That he actually checks his email. Being a computing lecturer, it's also kinda normal that he does. (Unlike a certain advisor of studies who has completely stopped replying to my emails.) He has also made it very clear that, anytime we have trouble with something, we should email him and he'll gladly explain stuff over email or even over the phone! Now that is dedication. He just seems like an awesome teacher.
We're not going to do programming languages yet. We're going to do some stuff with Adobe Illustrator and Flash first. I've never done anything with either before, so I'm super-excited to be learning new things. :D One of the units (Plan & Design) will also be taught online for those who want to get the certificate by June (like me). If we have problems with the last unit, we can just email him, but as far as I can see it's a very light unit (we do stuff like web trends, optimisation of websites for search engines, etc. in it), so there should be no problems.
There are a few assignments, but they're all very practical and easy as far as I can see. One of them is a class test with multiple choice questions which are, in the lecturer's opinion, very silly questions (stuff like, "what does HTML stand for?" etc.), so I'm not worried about that. Other assignments include putting a picture with certain properties on a web page, making an icon in Adobe Illustrator and uploading said icon on a web page and things like that, so they're very easy. He's not going to give us marks, because the class is just a "pass or fail" class (although he can tell us what he would have marked the assignment if we want to). Those are the only assignments we have for this unit and there are no exams. So there's really not that huge amount of pressure on me that was in every little thing I did for the law degree.
Well, what can I say, other than... I love it? :D Love the lecturer, love the topics, love the atmosphere... I just love everything about it. I honestly can't wait for the next lecture.
(On a side note, I think my IT Crowd icon is very appropriate for this post. 1) Because I've started rewatching the show; and 2) because I am talking about something IT related.)
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also, I don't know if this is too bold of me to suggest, but is there a way that you can ask your professor about internship stuff? I feel like the sooner you worry about getting some working experience in your field, the better your chances of getting a job relevant to your studies will be.
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Ohh, I will ask about that. My intention, if I do become a web designer, would be to become freelance, but I need experience first in order to make a living out of it. Thanks for the advice! :)
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Shame about the buses, though. Reminds me of a time I had to go somewhere in Leeds, and it was my first time outside the town centre - I not only missed a bus because I thought they were more regular than they were, but missed my stop and had to walk back to where I needed to be. Public transport sometimes just...puzzles me. Why can't it just go where it needs to be, minimum of fuss?
(On the other hand, my old college in Wales, the bus stopped right outside the main gates for the college, which was great :D so sometimes it can be good, I guess!)
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Ahh, agreed about the buses. But there is a bus that stops right outside of the college and brings me to the bus station just in time to catch the bus that goes back to Andrew's house. So yes, sometimes it does work! :D