So how shall I kill time this year?
Since I'm currently underemployed and I don't know what to do with myself all day, I've signed up to take some classes at DeAnza. Part of me thinks, "You know, you really should just stop going to DeAnza because it's become an excuse to avoid taking a full-time job," but that's not true. If I can get a good job (decent living wage, benefits, full-time) somewhere, or even a mediocre job in my field I'll take it! In the meantime, I think that taking classes as a part-time student will be better for my future than working full-time in a low-paying retail job.
One of the classes I'm taking is genuinely useful: Spanish. Yes, I am once again wrestling with this language. I can read Spanish decently, but I have a lot of trouble understanding spoken Spanish (people talk too fast!) and I simply cannot converse in the language. If someone asks me a question that requires an answer more complicated than "si" or "no", it takes me a good five minutes to figure out what I want to say, translate it into Spanish, conjugate the verb correctly, and reply. So my goal is to start over at the beginning with Spanish 1A and really focus on getting the basics of grammar down and practice using the language in conversation.
The other two classes that I'm taking are just for fun. In the morning, I'm taking a Ceramics class because it seems like it will be a cheaper alternative to glassblowing, which I enjoy but can't afford, and Life Drawing, which I hope will spark greater creativity when it comes to drawing and improve my human figures.
It makes for a very long Tuesday and Thursday - the two studio classes are three hours long, and Spanish clocks in at two and a half hours. But if I combine the hours spent at school with the hours working at RHA, it's about forty hours so it's almost like working full-time. Right? No? Well, so be it. It's better than sitting at home watching TV while Seanie's working in the next room.
One of the classes I'm taking is genuinely useful: Spanish. Yes, I am once again wrestling with this language. I can read Spanish decently, but I have a lot of trouble understanding spoken Spanish (people talk too fast!) and I simply cannot converse in the language. If someone asks me a question that requires an answer more complicated than "si" or "no", it takes me a good five minutes to figure out what I want to say, translate it into Spanish, conjugate the verb correctly, and reply. So my goal is to start over at the beginning with Spanish 1A and really focus on getting the basics of grammar down and practice using the language in conversation.
The other two classes that I'm taking are just for fun. In the morning, I'm taking a Ceramics class because it seems like it will be a cheaper alternative to glassblowing, which I enjoy but can't afford, and Life Drawing, which I hope will spark greater creativity when it comes to drawing and improve my human figures.
It makes for a very long Tuesday and Thursday - the two studio classes are three hours long, and Spanish clocks in at two and a half hours. But if I combine the hours spent at school with the hours working at RHA, it's about forty hours so it's almost like working full-time. Right? No? Well, so be it. It's better than sitting at home watching TV while Seanie's working in the next room.