What I've Been Up To Lately...

[Jodo]

Well, in the past year several new things have happened, and I would say the vast majority of them are quite positive. I can't remember exactly when the forums went down, so I'll just start at the begining of the year. It started out with me in my first theater class, something I'm completely new to. This was taken a step further, when I was cast as the lead in the play, as Captain Jack Sparrow.:
(My friend Jacob and I)
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Furthermore, one of the people in the cast is Brad Jordan, a little person, who with his sister share the world record for "smallest siblings". Dicovery contacted his family for a one off documentary, so the fim crew came to our campus and filmed. While they were there, I was interviewed extensively on stage about how it was working with him,etc.

He was lucky enough to be contacted by TLC, and a TV series was proposed. A different (much ruder) crew then came out, fed us lines and totally ruined my experience. Where the first crew was wonderful to work with, this crew was much different. The show was very sterotypical fake reality. Through the course of filming that day, I quickly realized that all of my past beliefs about reality TV were true, and perhaps even worse than I originally believed. Having said that, I was used extensively in one episode, and I became a local celebrity myself. :cool:
(Brad and I after being interviewed at the last performace)

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Another main thing that happened, was the fact I got elected by the student body to be the student member on the board of trustees. I'm the most powerful student on campus, muhahaha! :p What this really means is that about once a week I am able to attend a college event, and get presented in front of groups of 300+ people each time. I attend all pinning ceremonies, graduations, and board meetings. Likewise, I get to have an advisory vote (it doesn't count) on the board, unless it is a tie breaker. My name also appears on every paper leaving the college, as it appears on the header. All the other pamphlets,etc that are created also have name (or face) on them. Additionally, I am also in the paper every 2 weeks or so.

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[Jodo]

I also won best actor for the season with my performace. Gonna be honest, unless I do really good in the Spring play, probably not gonna win this again. LOL...I'm playing Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol this year, and he's not my favorite person to play. LOL.

(File is too big to post, hahaha)
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/485805_372281229475487_2123409545_n.jpg

As far as costume go, as shown above, I finished Captain Jack Sparrow:

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I did John Dillinger:
(File is too big again)
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/401326_302525856451025_1093374792_n.jpg

A one off of Bob Dylan:

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For Halloween, I started working out to be Bane, but due to several repeated illnesses, fell off the bandwagon, and gave up. Another problem was the fact I couldn't source severl peices to the costume, and decided I'd rather save and have a better costume next year.

(File too big)
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/292958_423367491033527_349195074_n.jpg

I also decided to go cheap for my backup costume, which was a mix of Johnny Depp's Barnabas Collings, Jonathan Frid, and my own inspiration.:

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I also put this pic. together to show off a few characters at once, definitely some of my favorites!
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And I'm in the planning stages for next year's costumes. ;)

[Jodo]

Otherwise, I keep fairly busy. I have maintained my 4.0 GPA while at school, making the President's List for outstanding achievement every semester I've been at school. I will be graduating soon as well. I'm majoring in communication, as I would like to teach college level speech classes. I can't decide on a minor yet, it may be business, or perhaps English. I think the business minor would be more beneficial, although I actually think I have enough history credit hours to qualify for a minor there as well.

I will be going to a different college in a few months, and I hope it works out half as well as it did at my current school. Like many of my friends have told me, I really have left a mark on this place...I think some people mean that negatively though. :p It's a curious thing having literally every person on campus know you, including administration, staff, and students. I always joke that it's like being a rock star, LOL.

Right now I'm just looking forward to the semester being over, as there are only a few more class days left this year. However, until then I just write papers, preform skits, make special guest appearences in classes to speak, rehearse the play, and attend events. Oh, and additionally, I was also put on theater scholarship this year. I could have graduated this semester, but I can now pick up additional credit hours which will transfer to my next school. I'm a few years behind everyone anyway, so honestly, one semester isn't going to kill me, and it couldn't have worked out better with having the trustee position, as my term is up this coming May.
(My friend John, Brad, and I at the Fine Arts event)
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I'm also single right now. Which I hope is remedied soon. :rolleyes:

[Big Red]

Glad to hear everything's going so well! I'd have to agree that a business minor is probably the best/most practical choice. I majored in English and the biggest "benefit" I get from that is the headaches I get reading the emails from upper level executives who send them out without having their admins scrub them first. The idea that someone making seven figures has such a poor grasp on basic grammar is truly maddening.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

Great update, Jodo! The idea of you graduating college makes me feel OLD!

[figureaddict]

Great update, Jodo! The idea of you graduating college makes me feel OLD!

No kidding! Glad your doing so well. Thought for sure you'd major in something to do with theater/make-up/acting though. Keep thinking I'll see you on that Face Off show.

[Jodo]

Thanks guys, it's just good to be back!!! :D

BR, I agree, I think the business minor would be best as well. Espcially if I decide to major in the PR section of communication. I can't narrow it down to which specific field to enter...

And you wouldn't believe how many people think my major is theater or the like. People are always shocked to hear I have no plans to actively pursue a carreer in that area. However, I prefer to just fall into things either way. I hands down believe if I'm meant to do something in that area it will just all eventually work out. If not, then I have my degrees to fall back on, hahaha!

Anothe big thing that happened, which I forgot to mention, was that a candidate for state senate asked me to run his youth campaign. After speaking to 5 professors, who all agreed that I was the best person for the role, he called one of them, who I hang out with daily, and asked me to his house to discuss at lenth the positition. In the end I had to pass up this opportunity, as seveal key dates conflicted with my school schedule,etc. However, it was quite the honor none-the-less that I was sought out for such a position either way.

Another thing that happened, was that I was also hired by Macy's to do an event as Captain Jack Sparrow, so I did that over Summer. It was a fun event, but I just don't like the weird commercial element of it. I was actually just asked to return, but I don't know if I will or not. It's just not my cup of tea.

[OKWORDYODA]

Reading your well written posts warms my old man heart.

I remember when we could barely understand what you were trying to communicate.

Good job, kid!

[Galactic Hunter]

Jodo, I still remember you as the kid with the Jodo Kast costume at Celebration 3. It's pretty amazing how you've grown right before us. Great, kid! Don't get cocky. :cool:

-Mike

[Big Red]

I remember when we could barely understand what you were trying to communicate.

I have to admit to chuckling nostalgically at the small handful of misspellings in these here posts. ;)

[Jodo]

I went back and read them last night and saw several myself. :D :p Consider it a throw back to forums past. :p

So far in college, all of the essays I've written have made A's (or higher in some cases due to extra credit), aside from one. I had signed up for an ethics class, which at the time fulfilled a degree requirement. I had never had the teacher, and I really hadn't heard anything about him, aside from that he required you to call him "Doctor", and he would mark you down if you didn't abide by this rule. I took the class, and it was honestly really fun. His lectures were always really enjoyable, and he had a really dark sense of humor. At some points, he was sort of borderline obscene, to where he would make gay jokes, and tell the women he was their daddy...Which was moderate at first, but about 8 weeks in they were getting way too dirty, and he was making them way too often.

10 weeks in, we had a 3 page essay, as assignment which is no problem for me. I usually go over the page limit, and as usual, which he had already said not to worry about. I think I turned in a 5 page paper. It was nothing really over the top, or hard to do, because we were applying the characteristics we found about ourselves, as we had taken a personality test in the class. It was as simple as scoring our own answers, and just ranking the types, seeing what yours was. He said we could talk about 2 types if we had 2 major ones, and sure enough, I did.

I turned the paper in, and as always, I felt really good about it. I don't do half assed work, that's all there is to it. Fast forward another 2 and a half weeks in the class, and this had still been our only assignment. He said we might expect a test in week 15, and then have the last test on finals. I recieved my paper back, and it had an assortment of X's, check marks, circles, and arrows, none of which made any sense. I flipped through it, and I had recieved a C. A far cry from the A's I usually get on my papers! As the foreign exchange student behind me got up, he asked me, "eh, Jack, water you get on ze payper?", I told him a C. He held up his paper, and I saw he had recieved an A. The kid who couldn't speak English recived the highest grade possible....So I jumped into survival mode.

I went up to the profes-I mean doctor, and asked him if he could explain why I had recieved a C. He looked over it, and said I didn't fulfill the assignment. I asked him how, and he said he that I specifically was told not to do what I had done in this paper. Confused, I asked him to exlain, and he said he had said it enough times in class, and that I didn't pay attention. I could have walked out right then. I went on to ask what the X's, check marks, and circles meant, and he said it was just his way of keeping track of what was in the paper. Finally, I asked him about the arrow he had drawn, and he said it was because I had already stated the idea in a paragraph previously (of corse to my current beleive that is was a concluding paragraph does). I went on to explain him, making sure he knew I wasn't bragging, that I had made nothing but A's while writing my papers, and that I did pay attention in his class, as I had a notebook full of his projection slides to prove it. He then looked me up and down, looked away and said, "Well I don't know how you managed that".

I walked out, stunned, went to admissions, and dropped that class. It had been the only points we had made in the class that far, so I had a C. We were over 12 weeks into the class, and it was well past the point that I couldn't get my tuition back for the class,etc. but it was such a relief to get out of there. In hindsight, I should have went to the vice-president of student services to complain about his behaviour in the classroom overall, but I acted upon my feelings right then and there. It has sort of even turned into a joke, and even to some degree a rivalry, as when we pass each other, he will blatantly turn away from me, or look forward to ignore me. He favored a guy I was in the Pirates play with a great deal, and after seeing me with him one day, he also began to ignore him.

I've used him as inspiration for several skits in acting though. At one point in time he was a mean mall Santa. I played both he and I, and I went back and forth until I finally just blantly began yelling about how "I" couldn't write papers to save myself, and then the skit began to collapse as I yelled back at him,etc. Additionally, I always tell people what happened if I hear they're about to take his class,etc.

[Big Red]

Nothing irked me more in college than professors who allowed a personal like or dislike to influence how they graded papers. The first time I ran into it was in a high school religion class. I'd been a straight-A student since first grade or so, so when I started getting C's and D's in this religion class, I was stunned. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get above a C. I finally talked to the teacher and she said it was because she didn't like me. She was the sort who was trying to relive her high school years--only this time being popular. Had it happened 20 years later, I could have sued the school for her bullying me. The end result was that I took about three years off from applying myself at school.

By college, I had seen enough of it that I wouldn't put up with it anymore. One English professor's behavior was almost identical to the religion teacher's. To make matters worse, she had a thing for the barely literate guy who sat next to me, so while I'd turn in a typed, well-researched, wonderfully written 5-page paper and get a D, he'd scribble out half a page of illegible chicken scratch and get an A. I confronted her and threatened to go to the dean. I don't think she read another thing I turned in (although I don't think she read anything I turned in prior to that), but I got A+'s on every other assignment and ended up with a B for the class. Considering I phoned in the last half of the class, I got what I deserved.

The worst by far, though, was the racist Sociology professor who told us the first day that she wouldn't give anything above a B to any of the white students in class. Then, instead of her teaching the Comparing Cultures class we'd all signed up for, she taught a class on several Oprah episodes about African quilts (no joke). Yes, I reported her, and yes, the dean accused me and the other students who reported her of being racists then fell back on her being tenured as his defense. About halfway through my final project I talked to the professor and asked her what my grade was. I'd aced every test, including the extra credit, yet I was still only getting a B, as she'd promised. I asked her if I'd get anything less if I just quit showing up. She told me that if I turned in a perfect paper and aced the exam, I'd get a B. However, if I didn't turn in the paper or take the exam, I'd get a B. I thanked her, told her to have a good life and never went back. My partner was pretty upset and insisted on sticking with it, even though she was in the same boat. She wouldn't talk to me after that so I don't know if her extra effort paid off, or if she ended up with the B she'd been promised.

[figureaddict]

Had one near similar instance in a class in college, I can't even remember what the class was, all I remember it being was the instructor for some reason deciding he needed to let us all know that he was an athiest, and every discussion in every class was on that subject and not on what the class was supposed to be, a Lit class I think. I stopped going and can't remember what grade I received.

[Jodo]

I'm glad I'm not alone. XD

I remember reading about that BR! I want to avoid religion and "culture" classes as long as possible. I know a girl who took an African Culture class to fulfill a degree requirement (not by choice) at another college, and the instructor did something similar to the white students, to where she was prejudice against them. She said she wanted to drop it really bad, and try it out online.

The only other issue I've had with a professor was in a statistics class I took, which I think I talked about on the old GH. Long story short, he didn't like me from day 1. We did a research project that was above anything I had ever done in school ever, and it took 30+ hours to complete. He didn't give us any direction on how to set it up, and what he was looking for, just a short list of a few things that needed to be in it, and to handle it as if you were turning something into your boss. I handed in a 41 page project, and got an 86%. He said several things weren't in the project in his review sheet. I brough it back up to him after class and told him the things he missed were there, some even in bolded font. He said he'd look at it again. He held it for 42 days altogether, but tried handing it back to me with the 86% three times. Finally I got it back, and got a 96%...

The big issue was the second project was due 3 days later after getting it back, and I was relying on the hard copy he had for my numbers, as something had happened to the files on my flash drive. This project was based on the first, and everything went hand in hand with it. I started on the 2nd project that night, and worked very hard on it. I once again turned in a 41 page project. He said he would bring them in on our finals day, and hand them back. He did however have our grades, and I had recieved an A. Come finals week, he forgot to bring them, so the remaining 12 or so students in the class were out our binders.

I knew he would do this...because the slippery bottom hole had been stealing binders during his time at the school. It was evident to me, because a few weeks into the class, the girl infront of me asked where he got some of the binders that he was using to bring in our assignments, graded homework,etc. He acted realy strange, sort of choked, and said he thought some students may have left them behind.

So in short, research projects suck, stats suck, and I got my binder stolen.

[Big Red]

Religion classes can be a hoot. I took a class on the Book of Revelations early in my college career. The professor was very anti-Catholic and didn't know the material very well ("You're right! Madonna really could be the Whore of Babylon! It makes sense!"). There were also several very vocal anti-Catholics in the class and I was the lone Catholic. I wasn't nearly as well-versed in my faith as I am now, otherwise I would have been able to hold my own against the students and mop up the floor with the professor. He was quite fair with his grades, so I can't fault him that, but he had a tendency to deliver long tirades about Catholics and the Church that were completely untrue (I actually had to argue with him over whether the main purpose of the pope's hat is to cover the horns that grow when he becomes pope). I was at least able to point out how wrong he was in a few instances, at least before the guy who had a thing for alien conspiracy theories and the Illuminati dominated the argument. I don't think I bothered with religion classes in college after that.

[Jodo]

I would love to take a class such as that one, hahaha!

You mentioned the professor not knowing the material very well, and that reminds me of my wife...I mean...last math teacher, who was very pretty, but just didn't have a great in-depth knowledge of mathmatics. She would assign us problems, and really have no idea how to work them, or explain how to do so. It was almost as if she was learning on the job. I would bring the problem set into her office, and spend 40 minutes alone with her (...), and then come out of the office to find 3 or more people waiting to go in. She would then walk out and say she had to leave, yet in-class she would say she wanted every single student to visit her, and she would be available at nearly any time until 3:30 because her son would be getting out of school.

She was an excellent person, most likely one of the friendliest staff people I have ever met on campus, but she just skimmed the material in class, and when it came to her office hours, she had horrible time management for the other students. I never had an issue, but several other people hated me, because she always had an over abundance of time for me, LOL. I'm not that bad at math either, it was just the book wasn't very clear, and she sometimes didn't like the formulas they used...And then the formulas she would give us sometimes wouldn't work.

I know in the class following the one I was in, which I did not take, she administed a test around the midterm of the semester, and ALL the students in the class failed it. She then said they would retake it, but never got around to doing so. Then during finals week, she looked in her grade book and remembered she never let the kids do it again. She ended up having them come in an hour early to their finals (which were at 8:00), and had them do that test, and their finals back to back. ><

I still like seeing her in the hall. ;)

[Big Red]

I've always hated my math classes, even though I've typically been very good at math, as long as I applied myself. My algebra 2/trig teacher in high school despised me, though. She was a nun, so her blatant hatred of me really threw me off. However, she was nuts about math, and I hadn't taken a math class in two years. This set her off from the start and that initial animosity really turned me off. This was during the period when I wasn't too keen on school in general, so her attitude didn't do much for my enthusiasm. She held group sessions after school, but she insisted the students she didn't like sit in the back, right-hand corner of the class while she had the students she liked crowd around her in the front, left-hand corner. She then didn't speak above a whisper, so her study sessions didn't do much for me. She refused to give me one-on-one time, and when I asked her questions directly she told me to look in the book. When I got my first semester midterm, it was a D. This kicked me into gear and I managed to pull it up to a B by the time the semester was over. This infuriated my teacher, which just discouraged me. My next midterm was an F, which shocked me. I somehow pulled out an A by the end. This actually turned me around academically (at least until I learned how to drink in college). She was disgusted with my grade and didn't hide the fact, which made all that hard work worthwhile.

Getting back to that religion class, it was something of a train wreck. We had the hardcore Evangelical guy who brought a new theory about the End Times to class with him each day, each of which tied directly into whatever smutty video he had just watched on MTV (for a hardcore, anti-smut Evangelical, he sure spent an awful lot of time finding the smuttiest videos he could). We had the alien conspiracy guy who the teacher never reined in, no matter how loud or insane he got. We also had this militant angry atheist who started every argument with, "Wrong, wrong, wrong!", and had proof that the Bible wasn't written until the middle ages and was based on Nordic myths. Then, of course, we had the professor who listened to all three of these kooks and agreed with whoever spoke last ("You know, you could be onto something with the cross being the Christian version of Yggdrasil!"). I should try to find my old notebooks to see what sort of comments I wrote in the margins. I'm sure the notes themselves wouldn't be very insightful.

[Jodo]

Ahhhh, sitting away from the favored kids? You were a "satelite kid" as my friend (who is a school teacher) would say! :p

That is hilarious about your religion class! I'm glad I'm not the only person that writes the stupid things other people say in the margins of my notebooks...I've done so for every class I've been in, and not one other person has ever done the same. Last semester in Eastern Civ, I had a very good friend who sat infront of me, and we would have some great discussions with the professor, and they were always hilarious. He was very suprised when the day of our final came around, and I read him some quotes out of my notebook. It was really fun to go back and relive some of the things we talked about, hahaha!

Speaking of finals, I added up my total points for 2 of my classes, and I only need to get 21 points, or a 35% for my film final to get an A in the class. Then in health and wellness, depending on how many bonus points I recieve for my volunteer and attendance, I may only need to score either a 38% or a 58% to get an A.

Additionally, I also filed for graudation a few weeks ago! Now to just figure out where I'll be transfering too.....

[figureaddict]

Wow. Graduating from college already. I feel old.

[Big Red]

Congrats on the upcoming graduation!

As far as being a satellite student went, it certainly wasn't by choice in that class, although I made a point of it in other classes. When I'd go in for the tutoring sessions, if I sat anywhere near the other kids she would stand there with her arms crossed and tell me she wasn't going to start until I took my normal seat (my daily, assigned seat way in the back corner). It was unreal. What's worse is that my parents wouldn't do anything about it because they didn't believe she was as horrible as I claimed.

You've gotta love that extra credit. I had several classes where the final was meaningless either due to the curve or the extra credit I'd turned in.

[figureaddict]

Extra Credit was awsome in college. Bassicall it was a way for the instructor to say, hey, here is a way to learn what you need to and get actual learning/enjoyment out of the class withought having to regurgetate all the meaningless crap that isn't needed.

[Jodo]

I agree, although I think I've only had...hmmm...maybe 4 or 5 classes that offered E.C., 2 of which were this semester!

BR, that is rediculous to no end! And I absolutely hate assigned seats either way. I understand that it may help an instructor learn named quicker, but honestly my day wouldn't fall apart if someone couldn't remember my name...In your case she was using the seating arrangement to be down right evil!

I performed A Christmas Carol today as well! Over 700 people in the first showing, with 540 reserved for tomorrow's show!

My friend John and I as Scrooge and Bob Cratchit in the good ol' office:
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[Big Red]

I performed A Christmas Carol today as well! Over 700 people in the first showing, with 540 reserved for tomorrow's show!

My friend John and I as Scrooge and Bob Cratchit in the good ol' office:


That's awesome! A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite Christmas stories. I need to start reading it to my kids again soon. There's a production of it going on locally this year but the only showings are on nights I work.

Curves were a lot more common than extra credit in my classes. A lot of the extra credit I got was because I looked at the syllabus and did projects weeks before they were due, then the professor had a change plans and came up with new or different assignments. This left me with one or several completed projects/papers and nothing to do with them. I had A's or higher in each of the classes where this happened, but the professor was always nice enough to accept them as extra credit anyway.

I did have one class where there were so many students struggling to pass that the professor, who was vehemently opposed to grading on a curve, gave extra credit for things you'd think were no-brainers, such as spelling your name, her name (which she printed on the board) and the name of the class (Geology, also printed on the board) correctly on the tests. And, yes, we actually had a couple students who didn't get any of the extra credit. However, that was also the class where the neon-wearing, mullet-sporting, constantly-flexing meat heads wanted to fight me and a friend of mine. I'm pretty sure the neon twins were two of the students who missed out on some of the extra credit. They couldn't get over the fact that my buddy and I would sit at the back of class, goof off the whole time and still ace every test and project. It got under their skin so much that they called us out in the middle of class one day. The professor--a sweet but grizzled old lady standing about 4'10"--said, "No, you'll meet me outside!" I think everyone in the building could hear her yelling at them while she waited on security to escort them off campus. After class she apologized to the two of us (it hadn't been the first incident with Hanz & Franz). She said she enjoyed having us in class and that she'd complain about us goofing off if not for the fact that we had two of the highest grades in the class.

[Jodo]

I had actually never watched it before this year! It was a good show, but our rehearsals had been going horrible before the performaces started. That's another story for a different day though! :p

I've never done an assignment that didn't eventually come to be required in a class. I really can't stand it when it seems we are running short on time, and assignments that the professor has seamingly forgotten about are suddenly pushed into our schedules. This has happened a few times, once with just 3 class days left in the semester, in an attempt to try and "get more points" into the class.

And wow, I've yet to have an experience with anyone acting belligerent in a class. The only people I have to put up with are the people who talk the entire class period, and are never asked to be quiet. One time in a chemistry class, there were two softball scholarship girls who sat together a few rows behind me, and they talked to one another for several minutes, in semi-hushed voices. I was already irritated at them, and had planned to say something to them at break, but then one of them answered her cell phone during class. I pushed my chair out from the table and shouted that they should shut the Hell up, as some people where trying to listen to the lecture. As I sat down I realized that everyone has stopped to look, including the professor. He looked at me smiling, nodded, and went right back to it.

[Big Red]

Belligerent classmates are one of the things that made college so enjoyable. :D

I guess I was lucky enough that cell phones weren't very common when I went to college. You'd see pagers from time to time, but those were mostly on drug dealers (like the one who offered to sell me an Uzi and a bunch of similar weapons, then brought some samples to class).

I had a few teachers who snuck assignments in at the last minute. I could never understand why we were expected to pay because he or she didn't follow the syllabus or forgot to add something to it.

[figureaddict]

Uzi's are big right now. You could a been a filthy rich armes dealer. Missed your chance Big Red.

[Big Red]

Ha! It was actually the second time in my educational career that I had someone open a book bag/backpack full of guns and money in front of me. I must have been doing something wrong.

[Jodo]

I always attract the people who have drugs. I will admit I probably look like I partake, but contrary to popular belief I do not. :p

And the semester is over! Thank God! :D XD

[Big Red]

And the semester is over! Thank God! :D XD

:D

My son's just ended today. Now we get to put him to work around the house for the next two weeks, lol.

The ones who showed me guns were mainly known as big-time drug dealers. The guns were either a side business or tools of the trade. I had several friends who were very into the drug scene, but it never appealed to me. That didn't stop one of them from including me in a lot of his stories. For years I heard of all sorts of crazy things I did with him. Some of them sounded kind of fun, although I can't lay claim to actually having been involved. I never could figure out if he was making up the stories altogether, adding me in to make them sound more believable, adding me in to make me look bad, or if he'd been hallucinating and really thought I did all those things with him.

[figureaddict]

A couple of my friends used to once and a while smoke pot, but I never did.

[Jodo]

One day as I was walking through the student lounge, a kid I know called me over to sit with him. Typically, the entire place is full of the same 20 or so people, who are either playing Magic the Gathering or something similar, and not being a fan of this, I do not hang out there (That's another story I guess, it seems like the typical taboo "dork" area of campus)...But anyway, the kid was sitting there, called me over, and asked me to take a look at some of his sketches. He wanted me to make the pieces he had designed, and make them into a wearable costume. As we sat there, and he reached into his bag, his eyes got really big, and he looked at me strangely. Come to find out he had quite a large bag of the ol' grass stashed in the bottom of his backpack, and he had forgot to take it out before going to school that day.

And on the topic of bringing things to school you shouldn't, another strange thing that happened recently was the last day of finals, when a guy in his late 30's brought the professor a bottle of Jack for Christmas. He told him merry Christmas, and I heard the professor make some weird noises. He then walked to the front, looked at me and stated that it was campus policy to not bring anything, and he was going to pretend he didn't see anything. LOL.

Additionally, a kid I know started wearing Victorian clothes this semester, including top hats, spectacles, and canes. One day the above mentioned artist/toker stopped both us, and started talking about cane the dude had. He eventually unscrewed the handle, only to reveal a 3 foot blade. The dude was bringing sword canes to school the entire time. XD

[Big Red]

I had a friend who'd pay me in alcohol for helping him with tests and projects. We were both in a hurry one day so he stuck paper shopping bags on the ends of a case of beer and shoved it under his desk when he came in. He didn't do a good job of concealing it so everyone could tell what it was. The professor didn't say anything but there was a lot of murmuring in class about it.

There was this one stoner in high school who came to class so drunk he could barely walk with a thick haze about him and a joint tucked behind his ear. He got tossed from class but his parents were big boosters so he didn't get in trouble.

In college, a friend of mine got himself into a bad situation with a few different girls. More to the point, he got himself in a bad situation with these girls' boyfriends. He started carrying a hammer in his book bag for protection. He never had a chance to put his hammering skills to the test.

[Jodo]

LOL! A hammer? I'll have to remember that!!!! I always tend to be attracted the ladies who have boyfriends, so this may come in handy...

Oh, and grades are in for this semester, and because the college goes off the last Fall semester for graduation, with my 4.0 I will graduate summa cum laude!

[figureaddict]

Way to go!

[Jodo]

Thanks man! :D

I thought I'd update everyone on my newest project...In the college's theater guild, it is always a big deal what the next semester's play is going to be, and no one usually knows what it will be aside from the professor over the department, his daughter, a few people in the college's PR department,etc. When the last Spring play, "Pirates to the Rescue!", was written all I really knew was that I had inspired the play, and that Captain Jack Sparrow was the lead. However, in the program for that play, the professor also announced the next play, and it was A Christmas Carol. It's always a big deal who finds out what the next play will be and stuff.

So let's fast forward to Christmas Day this year. I hadn't spoken to my professor since the 14th of Decemeber (the last day of class), so I texted him asking him how he was, and wishing him a merry Christmas. He then texted me back telling me he was good, and returned the well wishes. That was that. Then 5 minutes lates I recieved a lengthy text from him asking me what I thought about his idea on the next play, which was to have some school students get sucked into a storybook. I told him I liked the idea, and he then started picking my brain about what fairytales the students might travel to.

And the end of the conversation, he asked me if I might like to co-write it with him, and if I would like to meet with him in a few days to exchange ideas further, and see what we could come up with. Needless to say, I was very excited, and by that night I had written a synopsis of what I thought the story should be. A few days later, I had completed the dialogue for the Alice in Wonderland scene I had came up with. I then met with him, and he said it was very good, and that I might consider writing more of the play, or even just writing the entire thing.

Well, last night...I finished page 45 of my script, and called it done! I ended up using my original synopsis as my "bible" to go by, and sure enough, it all seemed to just flow right together. I can't tell anyone locally, aside from my close family members, as it is a closely gaurded secret, but I had to share this with you guys! I'm just too stoked not to!!! :D

[Guido]

That's awesome Jodo! I've got a bunch of friends who are in theater, but none have moved to the writing side. And if you knocked it out in a few weeks time, it must come naturally. Congrats!

[Jodo]

Thanks man!!! It's been a weird short little 10 day journey, hahaha! :p I read through it just a bit ago, and added a few pieces of dialogue here and there, but I'd say it's still done.

...Maybe I'll do a longer "writer's cut" sometime. XD

[Big Red]

That's great! I wish I had more time to write. I'm in the middle of several stories now and just can't get the time to finish any of them.

[Jodo]

What type of stories are they BR?

Before I started on the play, I had actually just written some monologues for stand-up. I enjoy writing a great deal, and I absolutely love comedy. I usually have to credit my first English professor with giving me the drive write. After the first paper assignment was due in his class, he stoop up and told the class of about 25 people that everyone did well overall, but that my paper really stood out from the rest. He went on to ask if anyone wanted to read it, with my permission, he would let them...However I always think that it may honestly go all the way back to GH, and you guys hassling me as a kid to improve my grammar and spelling. :p

[Big Red]

General fiction right now, as well as cleaning up some of my stories & poems from college. Of the new stuff, one's about a priest which I started writing a couple years ago but I keep losing time to finish. Another's a general mystery story (something I've never tried before). If I get it right it should turn out pretty great. I'm also kicking around the idea of a story about a couple monks, the central conflict of which will revolve around their vow of silence and a misunderstanding that results from it. This one isn't a religious story per se, but came about just from an idea I had the other day about how to deal with a story with two people living in close quarters but who aren't able to effectively communicate with one another. I have a few other things that I've started and stopped over the last couple years, but I'm not ready to get back to those. I've been trying to get some writing done over the past year as part of a gift I was planning on giving to a friend but the new baby derailed things entirely. I managed to crank out 8-10 pages a couple weeks ago so I'm hoping that helps get me back on track.

[Jodo]

Very cool! I love the idea about the silient monks (hey, sounds like a band your son listens to...). It definitely sounds very promising!

I made a second draft of the play after meeting with the professor on Monday. The only changes he said should be made were the ones I had already listed on the front page that I had decided on the night before, but just hadn't added in yet. They were all fairly minor, such as adding about 10 extra lines of dialogue for the final goodbyes between characters, as well as adding in another line in the final speech one of the characters gives at the very ending. I also ran an alternative ending by him, which I had in mind, and we decided it was better than the one I had already written.

Tonight I'm going to do the sketches for set design, another area I have never been involved in. When I'm in the theater, I'm on stage, so I'm hoping to have some sort of role in that. This way I can dictate what the flats need to look like, LOL. We really don't have someone for that, and you can tell. For A Christmas Carol, a girl who was an actress decided she'd rather be in charge of the sets, and that was a mistake. Two flats looked exactly alike, when they were supposed to be two completely different places. One of the other flats featured two store fronts and alley between them, but she drew the buildings wrong, so they looked like they continued on forever into the distance. Additionally, she put "Toy's" on one store's window, and "Butch's Butchers Shops" on the other. She said that she meant the one store belonged to a man named Toy, and the other was a mistake.

It's pretty hard to not die a little when I look at that flat.

[Big Red]

I never got involved with the theater in high school or college, which is something I regret. The closest I came was when I was in the art club in high school. Despite being in the club, I didn't actually do anything. I think I was even elected to one of the posts (not president, possibly treasurer or secretary), but I never showed up for any of the official meetings. Me being in the club was mostly a way for my teacher to get me out of other classes so I could work on my art. This raised some eyebrows with a few of the folks who actually participated in the club so one time I had to help paint sets for the school play. I went down, opened my big jar of blue tempera paint, painted a door frame then complained that the sets sucked and got sent back to the classroom (my arch-rival was the set designer and didn't like the criticism).

Once I get a few of these more recent stories finished, plus some of the other stuff polished, I may self-publish a short volume of stuff. It would mostly be for family and some friends with any money brought in going to my daughters' college fund, but I'd gladly offer the link to others once it's done.

[Guido]

(my arch-rival was the set designer and didn't like the criticism)

hahaha- that killed me! High School arch-rivals! Do you still remember how important all of the ridiculous "kid stuff" seemed back in those days?

[Big Red]

hahaha- that killed me! High School arch-rivals! Do you still remember how important all of the ridiculous "kid stuff" seemed back in those days?

What's crazy is that it's still just as important to some of them. My arch-rival unfriended someone on Facebook because they wouldn't unfriend me. This guy was pretty nuts, though. He was the primary art teacher's favorite and the two of them destroyed all the artwork in my portfolio the day before several colleges showed up for a scholarship fair. Having slides of my work didn't help me any, and since the teacher backed him up, I couldn't prove what they'd done (his boot prints all over my portfolio, but without the actual art the school refused to do anything).

[Jodo]

He'd have my boot...A swift kick in the ***! :mad: Wow. That is freaking rediculous Red!!! I would have woopin' some booty if I were you!

And you mentioned painted the sets for the theater...that is one thing that bugs the crap out of me at the college. There is no cohesiveness between the departments. There used to be, because the girls from cosmo have done the performers' makeup in the past, but haven't done so for years. The different sections just keep to themselves. The guy over the music dept. is a total jerk, however he does helps the theater with the sound system, but only because the system is "his", and he doesn't want anyone else to touch it.

However, the administation has asked the theater, music, and vocal professors to all come together in Fall and put on a musical. Betweem the three departments I would have to guess there will be about 4 students capable of handling this. Our actors, admittedly aren't the best. I've hear the choir "sing", and I've heard the bands "perform". I honestly have no idea how they'll pull that one of. I'm just glad I won't be there as a student to witness it. :p

[Big Red]

I tried to get at him after I found the portfolio but the dean stopped me. He'd stomped all over some of my artwork a week or so earlier so when I found my portfolio in the trash with his matching boot prints all over it I knew what had happened. I started keeping my slides in a folder in my locker after he stomped all over my actual artwork, which is the only reason those were spared. Regardless of the boot prints and the earlier incident, the school still refused to do anything. The head art teacher backed him up and gave him an alibi so the only thing I could prove was that he'd somehow stepped on my portfolio at some point. I had a chance to do something a couple years later when I drove through Wendy's with a few friends and found him sitting in the grass outside as we got out of the drive-through. Enough time had passed that I didn't feel like risking any legal problems from beating him senseless, although we did toss our drinks and a mayonnaise covered bun on him as we drove past. It was somewhat cathartic, even if he didn't realize who I was.

Our theater club in high school had little cohesive interaction with the other clubs. While the art club handled the sets, that was about it. The "orchestra" was usually made up of band members, but anyone could audition. We had a glee club and school choir but neither of them had any official part in the play. All the singing parts were taken from the cast. Things usually worked out in the end, but I think they would have had better productions if they'd had the full band playing and the choir and/or glee club providing the singing parts/chorus.

[Jodo]

Hmmm, not bad throwing the drinks and bun on him! That's hilarious!

I agree that our productions could be much better if the departments would just assist each other in a few basic things. It really is sad that the dept. heads can't get along enough to work something out.

Rant:

As for the script I wrote, I finished draft #3 after we met for class the second time. This also marked the first time the professor and I disagreed about something. We ended up having 19 people for the cast, and I had written 15 roles. I fully support the idea that some people do not act well enough to be in the production, and that we can better utilize their talents backstage, or in the sound booth,etc.

Long story short, we had 4 new people sign up in the class. That morning the professor texted me and said one of the best actors he knew was going to be there as well, and that I should "write a new big part for him". I told him I didn't plan to write any more additional parts, let alone a new lead, and that the new people (enspecially the new "good kid") would have to be cast in the current roles. The story was already a bit looser than I wanted it to be, and I didn't plan to expand the cast any further.

Fast forward to last Monday when we met the first time, all we did was do introductions, and then he talked about not needing to have auditions. We are still maintaining the illusion that he is currently writing the play, so I couldn't stand up and ask why we wouldn't have auditions for me to see the new people. Additionally, the "good kid" we argued about that morning, who dropped out of a university to attend out college, also dropped out of our class. So I'm glad I stood my ground on not writing another main role into the darn thing.

Monday night and all of Tuesday, I began to try and adapt the cast list to the new people there, moving a few roles around, and to accomodate a request by one of the actresses to "never play Little Red Riding Hood ever again". This specific girl is a horrible actress anyway, and during her introduction mentioned that if we "didn't get to know her now, she wouldn't talk to us when she was at the Academy Award". >< She went on to say that she never got a role in HS, but at our college, she always got a good part, and that really meant a lot to her. The professor texted me that night and asked me to write her a lead role as well, because he didn't want to let her down. I told him she didn't deserve one, and I didn't plan to.

The professor pleaded with me all of Tuesday to expand the cast, because it would cause a lot of strain in the class. I finally decided to write 2 new roles, and to finish an optional character that I had already written, which simply needed to be placed into the play. For the 2 new roles, I simply split 2 existing characters' dialouge into 4 characters. That brought us up to 18 roles, with an extra person left over.

Tuesday evening the professor decided we probably should do auditions, so Wednesday morning, we held them on the fly. One girl, who I honestly had no idea what to do with dropped out, bringing us down to 18 performers. (18 roles, 18 performers!) The kicker was that our stage manager and assistant director auditioned for roles. So once again the professor asked me to change the script, as we now had 20 "performers". >< I once again recast the play, and finally convinced the professor the 2 crew members HAD to be crew members.

After this last recast, I am actually more pleased with the roles than I was the first or second time. I still maintain the 2 new roles do not need to exist, but I also think that it makes a few more elements in the story funner for the kids that will be watching it. All I need to do is update the narration to reflect that there a few new characters, and it is 100% DONE. We print the scripts tomorrow, so after this last minute addition, there will be no going back! LOL.

[Big Red]

I had my writing professor ask me to add a character then take out another character in a story I turned in once. The one character he wanted removed was the main character. I had to explain that if I did that, it wouldn't be the same story. I sarcastically told him, "Yeah, then get rid of that Hamlet guy and throw in Juliette and it will be perfect!" He didn't like my attitude, but he got the point.

[Jodo]

LOL, I hate being asked to change things anyway...Let alone a main character!!!

Well, I'll be short with this post...We got the scripts printed yesterday! :D 27 copies, a few extras to be passed out to the Dean of Arts, Vice-President, as well as one for archival purposes!

[Jodo]

Just an update for the curious, and a small rant. We're entering week 5 of school, which has given us 10 potential class days to practice, in which only 3 have been utilized, plus the original read through. Let's see how well that goes. XD

Also, it's Valentines Day...FOREVER ALONE.

[Big Red]

That sucks about the lack of practice. I tried to take part in a Christmas play/chorus years and years ago. The few practices we had were cut short and the walk-through before the final rehearsal was such a disaster that almost everyone quit. It was canceled just after that.

I proposed to my wife 19 years ago today. Lucky for her she said yes. :D

[Jodo]

Dang! I hope we don't have to cancel ours! LOL...I joked yesterday with the lead actress that around two weeks or so before the performace I planned to leave the college and take the play with me. Hahaha! Everyone is driving me nuts, that's for sure! We've also had one person actually leave because they felt I was being "tasked with too much", and because I wasn't getting paid, I didn't deserve the extra pressure. The sentiment is nice, but because I then had an unfilled role, it made my job harder. Thankfully things were moved around and we adapted to that change.

Additionally, in student congress, between myself, the treasurer, and 2 representatives (unelected people who just volunteer for their positions), we've filed for the president and secretary to be removed from office. I've always wanted to be in on a coup, and now my dream has come true! XD Neither the ol' prez or the secretary have attened the last 5 meetings (stud cons?), and within our contracts, we are allowed to petition for their resignation after 3. The girl who is the president is also my stage manager, and likewise, she is VERY lax with her position there as well. The girl who is secretary was one of the candidates that was out-voted when I was elected to my position, so there has always been a certain odd sentiment towards me from her.

And then tomorrow I actually attend the Hall of Fame lunch, and then following that, we have a double header basketball game, which I'm MC'ing the half time events for. For the past two months Student Congress has been putting together a King and Queen event, reminiscent of the events which took place on campus in the 1940's to 80's. I also get to walk some of the queen candidates in. XD I've also been asked to host the Got Talent event, which is a 3 hour local talent contest for the college. We'll have to wait and see how well I can Ryan Seacrest these events! Hahaha!

Red, that is awesome! I hope I can say the same thing someday! :p I have the undeniable track record of only falling for girls who either have boyfriends or are engaged though. XD

[Big Red]

And I thought I over-extended myself! I was never active in any sort of student congress. I tried running in the eighth grade, but that was a disaster. We had a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. It was a general election, so you didn't run for a specific office, just for the council in general. Whoever got the most votes would be president, then vice, then secretary, then treasurer. We didn't have any speeches or debates, but relied entirely on campaign posters (so it was more of an art project than anything). There were only four of us running, and the teacher practically had to force a couple of the students to "volunteer." Since it was based on the posters and I was the most artistic, creative guy in the class, I figured me winning was a no-brainer. Since it was 8th grade, the only issues we were running on were things like homework and recess, so there weren't any ideological hangups that would prevent someone from voting for me. If I remember right, I was the only person who actually made posters. They were all done by hand and looked great. Unfortunately, I was running against the two best athletes in the class and one of the two girls in class who put out. I came in fourth place. Since the treasurer was a pointless position--we had no money and no budget, and the treasurer didn't get a vote because that meant we could end up with ties--I never showed up for any of the meetings. I lost all interest in student council after that.

The only time I ever fell for a girl who had a boyfriend, she ended up introducing me to her best friend. I instantly forgot about the first girl and ended up marrying the second. I did have an "interesting" history with another girl, though. She was an old friend and despite some interest on my part, she never showed any interest in me. Out of the blue at a party one night, she was all over me. She then stopped abruptly and ran off. Turns out her fiance had just showed up. This happened countless times over the next couple years or so. Each time she'd tell me she'd broken up with her strapping, 6'6" former marine, fireman of a fiance, and each time she'd run off when he showed up. He was insanely jealous and apparently prone to violence, but I somehow lucked out and never had his attention directed at me. I got to the point where I'd do everything I could to avoid her at parties, but she'd ambush or corner me and, even though I wasn't reciprocating, would still put me in very compromising positions. Her parents were family friends and they've despised me ever since all this took place. I found out a couple months ago that she never actually broke up with the guy (which I already kind of knew) and that her carrying on led to years of problems in their marriage (I have a hard time believing I was the only guy she carried on with, but I'm the only one they blamed). I've had at least half a dozen people suggest her to me as a friend on Facebook. They all know what went on with her (several even apparently knew about all the other issues). All I can think is that they're insane.

[Jodo]

We did elections per position, but because 4 people ran for student trustee, and there were unfilled positions, some people had the option to apply for a different role after the elections. Additionally, our president (my "lady friend" at the time) stepped down, so the positions once again moved up. We had the option to run posters, and I did. I made one, and the cute girl on the first page of this thread made two for me. I'll have to try and find the one I made!

That's funny about the treasurer position not mattering in 8th grade! I don't know about other college's, but our student congress does a pretty good amount of stuff, and by that, I mean I do crap ton. XD I attend nearly all the college events, meaning graduations, entertainment events, board meetings, etc. I have an advisory vote on the board of trustees, which doesn't usually count unless it is a tie-breaker overall. I also sit on the nursing appeal comittee which determines if nursing students can take a class for a third time after failing it twice. One of the reps in stud con just told me today she didn't know how I kept up with all the stuff I do, because the King and Queen event alone just about took everything out of here.

Speaking of which...I ended up not MC'ing the darn thing, as I ended up filling in for a guy who couldn't be there, who actually won the freaking thing. Therefore because I acted in his place, I got the sash and award,etc. The real award was the pretty ladies I got to escort and talk to the entire time. XD Which I don't really have any good pictures of either!
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I've not had any issues with these girls' boyfriends...yet. Hahaha! I absolutely can't stand girls like that though. The same would go for the families that tend to go with them. I think they have the mentality that their daughter (or whatever relation) can do no wrong, and that men are just always after her. I have definitely noticed the vast majority of women are more, how would I say this...more forward...than I ever expected. I myself am pretty forward, but I keep a certain amount of self-respect in my flirting, whereas these chicks seem to have no self-decency.

[Big Red]

This girl's family always made me uneasy. Her dad in particular. He always seemed to have his own private joke about every situation that only he was in on and he'd look down on anyone (meaning everyone) who didn't get it. The few times he talked to me about his daughter, he always acted like he was holding back some information and he expected me to know what it was. He'd even give hints, asked me if I knew what he was getting at, then incredulously say, "Oh, really?!?" when I had no idea what he was talking about. I never have figured out what it was he was not-talking about. Oddly enough, I think he knew exactly what type of girl his daughter was, but that didn't stop him from holding it against me and anyone else she threw herself at.

As far as how girls act now, I see a bit of that with my son. There's one girl he's currently interested in. About the nicest thing we ever hear about her is that she's a tramp. In fact, just about all we ever hear about her is that she's a tramp. I've tried to explain to him that there's certain qualities you should look for in a girl, and that's not one of them. I've also told him repeatedly that if that's the most respectful thing he can say about her, there's not much hope of ever having a lasting relationship with her. To be honest, I really think I need to quit banging my head against the wall over this and start using his head instead. :D

[Jodo]

Wow, that is really bizarre! Now I wonder what he was getting at, hahaha! I've not had any weird encounters with families yet, as the past 2 girls I went out with didn't have fathers, and their moms really liked me. Realy, I think you could seriously argue the moms liked me more than the daughters, which seems to be quite typical for me. I attract young girls, older women, and men. LOL

LMAO, that hilarious about the tramp girl. Just a few days ago I spoke to a really cute girl who seemed very nice, whom I had never met. She was working at Wendys, and I posted a throw away line on FB about how I should go to Wendy's more often. About two hours later a girl from the college messaged me, and asked if it was because of the blonde girl who worked there. I said yes, and she replied to stay away from her, because she was the biggest slut around. She went on to talk about some first hand stuff she had seen, which I won't go into detail about, lol. The next day I shared this story with a friend, and all these things were confirmed by him. XD Needless to say, I'll stay away!

[Big Red]

I dated a girl whose dad absolutely loved me. He basically gave me free reign to come and go as I pleased, any time day or night. Not much happened (she was insane which was one of the things that kept me from doing anything I'd regret), but I'd watch TV and play cards with him before he left for work, then I'd still be there when he got home at 6:00 AM and I'd have coffee with him while he made me breakfast. This infuriated his two daughters because they viewed him as the enemy (they blamed him for their parents' divorce and their mom "switching teams"), but I always had a good time visiting with him.

That girl was an absolute freak. I wish there was a nicer way to put it. She tried to hook back up with me after she dumped me and the whole thing was utterly crazy (I wrote about her numerous times in my Tales of the Uncanny in the old forum). Her sister, two cousins and several friends really pushed for me to get back together with her. They told me all the things she was doing in the hopes of getting me to take her back and save her from herself. I considered writing it all up and submitting it to Penthouse Forum but they would have rejected it for being too unbelievable. The worst part was that I got to find out firsthand that, of her and her sister, she was the saner one.

[Jodo]

I know several people who have even said they prefer their GF/BF's family to them. XD One girl I know said she was going to break up with her boyfriend months ago, but was going to miss his mom more than anything. (She finally did dump him though)

[Big Red]

I know people who still got invited to their ex's family functions after the breakup. With one guy, his ex's family would invite him and not her. My mom invited my insane ex to my wedding, despite my extremely clear instructions/warnings not to. It didn't cause any problems at the wedding and she didn't show up to the reception, but for several years after when my sister-in-law would complain about and want people to feel sorry for her about how much my mom liked my brother's one ex, my wife would put in her place by mentioning that at least she wasn't invited to their wedding.

[Jodo]

LOL! That's pretty awesome. :p I can't believe that, hahaha!

Well, the most recent news at school is that I lost $1100 worth of my FAFSA aid today. >< I got my check in the mail, and it was...lacking...to say the least. I ran back out to the college to see what happened, and long story short, after involving 3 department heads, and the secretary of the VP, it was finally decided that because one of my theater classes could only be repeated twice, and this was my third time taking it (which I had been told was for credit, as well as my scholarship), it didn't count on the FAFSA side of things, which brought me below a certain number of credit hours. This in turn dropped me $1100 below what I qualified for. :( And I can't do ANYTHING about it. :(

[Big Red]

That sucks about FAFSA. I never qualified for any financial aid when I went to college. I did start out with a partial scholarship, though. The local community college had two different scholarships it gave out--a full and a partial. It gave one of each to every school in the area. This wasn't a well-publicized fact and I didn't find out about it until a couple days before the deadline. I was hoping to get some sort of assistance so I talked to my counselor one last time. He didn't know anything about the scholarships until he did one last search for me. Nobody from my school had applied for either of them when I turned my application in on the last day, an hour or two before the deadline. I called the school the next day and they confirmed that I was the only person from my school who'd applied so there was no chance of me not getting the full scholarship, which included all tuition, fees, books and a few hundred dollars each quarter for supplies. A few weeks later I got the letter in the mail letting me know that I'd received the partial scholarship, which covered 50% of my tuition costs for up to 15 credit hours per quarter. No fees, no books and no supplies.

I called to find out what went wrong with the scholarship since I'd been assured I'd be getting the full ride. There was a girl in my class who was technically a Cuban national. On her scholarship application she told how her parents had sent her over on a crowded, leaky boat. There wasn't any room for them so they were left behind. She was here in the US with her two younger sisters and had been providing for them since she was old enough to work, but they had been passed around between family members and friends prior to that. She portrayed herself as her sisters' guardian and according to the IRS at least was the head of their household. She turned her application in a few days late but due to the hardship of her situation the school felt they had no choice but to give the scholarship to her. It gave them an opportunity for some great, positive publicity and avoided any negative backlash should she go to the local press about losing out.

It was a very dramatic and moving story. Unfortunately, it wasn't true. Yes, her parents had sent her and her sisters to live in the states, but it was via a plane to relatives in Canada who then drove her down to her wealthy aunt and uncle who lived around here. IIRC, she was actually born in the US so she was already a citizen and didn't have to struggle with the naturalization process at a young age as she'd claimed in her cover letter. She never spent any time on a leaky boat, never fell into the ocean with swirling sharks and never had to dodge bullets from the Coast Guard helicopters. She was technically listed as the head of her and her sisters' household, but in reality they lived in one of the wealthier suburbs around here. The car her aunt & uncle gave her for her 16th birthday cost more than my first two cars put together. The only passing around that had gone on with her and family members was when she first came here from Canada. She'd lived locally ever since and had always gone to private schools. Until her uncle told her that he wanted her to learn some independence by putting herself through the first four years of college before he paid for law school, the only real hardship she dealt with during high school was when one of the other rich girls came in with a more expensive purse.

The school wasn't willing to correct things or give a second full scholarship after they found out the facts in the situation (I'm not sure who, but I wasn't the one who told them she'd fabricated her application). Even though she'd made everything up, they thought they'd look bad stripping her of her scholarship because the story had been so good. They did avoid using her in promotional materials, though. She actually apologized to me when she ran into me at school one time and realized I was the one she stole the scholarship from. She told me that nobody had applied when she asked about it, then alleged that the only reason she told the story she did was because she was turning it in after the deadline. Amusingly, we got into an argument on Facebook recently where she claimed that she didn't personally know of a single case where a more deserving/qualified man ever lost out on anything in life to a woman. I was nice and didn't bring up our scholarship history.

[Jodo]

Oh man, that sucks!!! I don't know the specific percernt of our students who get aid, but it's fairly high overall. I didn't qualify until after I turned 21 though.

The lady over the entire "front" of the college, meaning admissions and financial aid stopped me while I was working my raffle table on Thursday, and said she'd try to help me as much as possible, but I'm doubtful she can get the $1100 for me.

[Jodo]

Well, I ended up getting an additional $115 back from financial aid, but I don't think I'll be getting any more than that. :/ It will at least pay for my gas for the next few weeks to and from class.

I am also MC'ing two events at the college this weekend. On Thursday night, I host the "History of Diversity Day" event, and on Friday I host the "Got Talent?" show. We'll see how that goes, as I've never really hosted anything like this before. I'm winging the talent event, but I was specifically told I had to follow a pre-arranged/approved script for the other event. LOL

[Jodo]

The two events went really well, about 300 people at the diversity day, and around 125 people at the Got Talent event!

However I have important news! :D Yesterday I found a manila envelope laying on my desk, with a red, white, and blue address sticker on it. It was from the college, and was from the administration building. I quickly realized it was from the President of the college. As I opened it, I really didn't know what to expect. My term as student trustee is up at the end of April, so I thought perhaps it was a thank you letter or something. To my surprise, it was a letter congratulating me on winning a statewide award for outstanding achievement on the board of trustees! I will also now get to go to Chicago and be involved in the ceremony,etc. I was shocked, LOL!

[Big Red]

That's great news. Congratulations!