Fall 2008 Work Load

Life since high school graduation has really flown by. The fact that I will be graduating in Fall of 2009 still kinda creeps me out... I feel like I am getting older and older faster and faster, which is not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion.

Before graduating high school, I was nervous. I didn't want to leave that safe and protective zone. I didn't want to "grow up." But ever since the age of nineteen, I have gotten sick of the college scene. I literally just want to skip the next five years of my life, but apparently I am going to regret wishing that once I do get older.

Anyways, the course load for this semester is suppose to be the toughest yet, although the Fall 2007 semester may take the cake with Calculus III and a computer science course called Data Structures (which typically turns all the computer science wannabes into MIS majors ;) ). So here are the courses and what I am expecting this semester from each (I'll put them from easiest to hardest):

Intro to Contemporary Math - This is one of my elective courses. It is pretty much a freshman level math course designed for Government, Drama, and other worthless majors. (j/k) Trey Smith teaches the course, and for those of you that know him, you know how interesting he can make math... and the course is already interesting to me in itself. Basically you learn about math in the real world... so far we have covered math used in different voting methods and basic probability, which included discussing the oh so interesting Monty Hall problem:


Digital Design - This is an art course focused around the computer, so you learn and use software like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. The student body make up of the class is quite interesting. There are two main different types of people. You have a handful of computer guys like me. And then you have the art students who like to express themselves through the way they dress and act. The lab we meet in has Macs, which has been a frustrating experience for me... but I'm learning. The most entertaining thing about the class is a love/hate relationship between a married couple in the class... I thought they were engaged until someone told me otherwise in class. The turmoil within the whole relationship I get to witness is like watching an episode of Dawson's Creek every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but with uglier people. That's the best way to describe it. I really do hope things between the two of them settle down, and they are able to coexist peacefully with one another... she just needs to quit bashing his style! Our last assignment required us to make a company for a logo. There were some small modifications in the final design, but this was mine:
Yeah, not that great, but I am learning everyday.

Linear Algebra - There are two great things about this course: Trey Smith teaches it and it is my last upper level math course I must take as a math minor before I graduate! Woohoo! However, the class starts at 8:00 AM (barf), and I really am not that great at math. How I got through 3 semesters worth of Calculus blows my mind.

Computer Linguistics and Compilers - This course is suppose to be THE most difficult course in the BS computer science degree curriculum. It is also taught by the most difficult professor at Angelo State (don't ask me how they come up with that). I am not about to explain what is taught, but I actually find it pretty interesting, and I am doing quite well in it. I hear things go south once you start hitting up the compilers subject though.

Game Development I - Yeah, I am taking a course that talks about how games are made. Yeah, we are suppose to make our own little game by the end of the semester. But right now the class totally blows. The class typically starts late and ends late, which is one of the most frustrating things a professor can do in my opinion. Accomplishing the vague assignments gets on my nerves. And on top of that, it just doesn't feel too organized. Hopefully things get better though. Originally, I was actually excited about this course. We work with 3D software called Lightwave, which I learned and loved in high school, so I was happy to be able to get back to working with it again. But I'm just not holding much interest in the class overall right now.

The Intro

There is this CRAZY trend going on with several of my family members. Many of them have these open journals that they tend to update regularly for the world to see... also known as "blogs." So, to keep up with them all, and to let my extended family know that my life is more interesting then the few sentences I write down for the family letter, I decided to hop on the blog train, and I am sure I'll be on for a while.

The blog scene is actually not new to me. In fact, I currently do maintain another one, but I decided to make one geared towards my family and friends. Hopefully, I will update everything on a weekly basis, so everyone can keep track of my "busy and complicated" life.

So yeah... this is Evan's blog. I am one out of ten kids (hence the name of the site), and I am number 8 out of the ten. There are seven boys and three girls. Half of my siblings are married, and the number of neices and nephews running around is growing at an exponential rate. I am still living in San Angelo, TX and attending Angelo State. There, I am a senior working on my computer science degree (only 3 more semesters including this one left :) ). I honestly don't hold much interest in my degree, and it stresses me out more than anything, but hopefully it will be worth the effort in the end... and hopefully some kind of interest will pick up before then. Yeah... I know I should have picked a major that held my interest, but that's a long story in itself.

I have had six different jobs within the last year and a half. In May, I left my most famous job at Chick-fil-a for an internship I did with USAA during the summer in San Antonio. During the Summer of 2006 and 2007, I worked for this terrible company based out of Provo, UT called Atlas. I installed satellite dishes with them in Austin, and by that second summer, the ethics of the company became extremely shady, and I quit mid summer. Luckily I quit as early as I did, because Atlas has since been bankrupt, and they still owe me $800... and to think I could have lost more... In the Fall 2007 semester, I worked as a lab assistant in the computer labs at ASU, but got frustrated with my work schedule cutting in with my class schedule... so that only lasted a semester. I also worked as a tutor for the computer science department for two semesters. Recently I have just started another intern program with IBM working at the Texas State Data Center. I should be doing that for at least a semester or two, followed by interning somewhere else next summer (USAA again if no options arise this Fall).

In my church, I am a membership clerk. I request and get rid of people who move in and out of our little student branch (branches and wards in our church refer to groups of people who meet regularly for activities and Sunday services). I have been doing that for well over a year now, and it's not too bad of a calling once I figured out the typical procedures required.

Anyways, that's it for now. Be sure to stay tuned :)