LOSER 110: Intro to Life

I am uncertain whether or not today could have been any more uneventful.

Classes began – naturally, they were completely inevitable. I was somewhat looking forward to this afternoon when my transition from a frustrated, procrastinating and underachieving aspiring artist to the oblivious and vast mass communications department would be complete.

It goes without saying that I was utterly skittish about the whole ordeal. My first and only class of the day, Intro to Photography, wasn’t slated to start until 3pm, which feels like 9am on my watch (for those unaware, I am an avid insomniac). I thought that awakening at noon and killing a few hours before class would be a piece of cake.

Wrong.

I roamed campus, bewildered and without direction. My senses innately led me to the Center for the Arts, my former stomping grounds, and I immediately felt at ease. It was in this familiar building that I had spent hours upon nights upon weekends hunkered over an easel and relentlessly working and reworking pastels, ink, conté, watercolor, and pencils. The computer labs, the ones with which I’d grown so jaded as I put the finishing touches on a graphic design assignment at 5am, suddenly didn’t seem so lackluster.

I ran into a friend, one that I’ve had many, many courses with over these past few semesters. She brought it to my immediate attention that I looked exhausted (not one of my favorite things to hear, but I cannot deny), and so at once I set off to the corporate coffee monster, none other than Starbucks (are they in the dictionary yet?) and promptly ordered a tall Chai Latte. As I mistakingly walked away with a mammoth Venti-sized drink (a completely ridiculous and unnecessary amount of coffee in my book), the only thought crossing my mind was, “I wonder how completely unwieldy I look carrying this epic drink.” It was, indeed, nearly bigger than I.

Ages and evermore later, three o’clock rolled around and I assumed my position in said Intro to Photography class. I thought it clever to arrive five minutes early in order to claim a seat; apparently, I wasn’t the only one with this bright idea. By the time I entered, each and every computer was occupied and I found myself somewhat of a wallflower in the back of the room (surprising, I know!). I frantically scanned the room for any sort of familiarity, but the closest I came to knowing anything were the Apple computers (and a girl I’d had a class with my first semester of college, but even she denied our former company). A Macintosh! My friends, I’d never been so relieved.

The room was insipid and dreadfully uninspiring. Compared to the art and design rooms, the classroom was about as pleasing as watching paint dry. The few tacks on the wall to hold future prints were about as exciting as it got.

SLR, rangefinder, twin lens reflex, view camera. Shutter speed, aperture, ISO – compared to the classroom, the students, and the instructor, the material spoke volumes and gained my undivided attention. I want to learn.

New adventures to come tomorrow, beginning with the much-dreaded Speech course. Yuck.

Computer friendly,
jc