This post is in praise of texting, kindred spirits and spring break!
My second term of school ended yesterday…what a long three months this has been. Still waiting for two of my grades to be posted, but so far I have 5 A’s…which makes me happy! Going back to school has offered me the opportunity to meet new people, although the vast majority of students are younger than me, I’ve enjoyed getting to know so many different people. In my Digital Acquisition Class, we were put into groups. As a team, we had to create an advertising pitch for a specific product. The idea was that there would be one student from each of the four programs (digital photography, graphic design, video production and radio broadcasting). Our final presentation, where we “pitched” our product to the instructors and all the other students was yesterday. Oh my goodness…I was so thrilled to be finished with that project.
I can’t imagine working in a group setting like we did, trying to coordinate the schedules of four busy people, without texting. I clearly recall a conversation I had in 2007 with a group of friends who all had teenage girls. At the time, we didn’t have texting as part of our cell phone service. All four of my friends assured me that I would need to get on board the texting thing, but I wasn’t convinced, until we received a huge phone bill resulting from Shanna’s discovery of texting. Needless to say, we subscribed to unlimited texting for her and then for Russell and I. It truly is the way that teens communicate. I wasn’t big on texting until I got my new phone, the LGnv3 with its wonderful little keyboard. So, back to the school project…we discovered quickly that our best communication method was texting followed up by longer emails.
The whole group process gave me a new appreciation for people who step forward and go the extra distance. We started out with two guys (one in video and one in radio) and three women (two in graphic design and myself). Our video guy dropped out mid-term and the radio guy, well, let’s just say he’s a nice guy, very young and more committed to other aspects of his education than this class. Being the team leader meant that I spent a lot of time coordinating, communicating, pushing and nagging. However, the bright side of the story was how much I enjoyed working with Serina and Hunter. Serina is 24 and has rheumatoid arthritis but despite her disability, she’s an amazing graphic artist. For her age, she’s very “together” and was wonderful to work with. Then there was Hunter. I met her in my first term at MHCC. Sometimes, you meet someone and are instantly “drawn” to them…it's that feeling of being “kindred spirits” (from one of my favorite movie series, “Anne of Green Gables”). She’s an amazing musician, has a great sense of humor (an essential in life) and was so fabulous in getting this project done. She’s one of those people that I hope I have as a friend for a long time. While we have very different lifestyles, there’s that connection. Finding good friends, who accept you as you are, is such a gift.
It’s a beautiful sunny day and I have 10 days off…looking forward to sleeping in, getting creative in my scrap room, taking lots of photos, maybe even spending time with my girl…if she has time in her busy spring schedule for her Mom. Happy Friday!!