College Blog #16

“Another Day Older & Deeper In It”

By Terrence Cain

Man today is as smoky as ever. Fires are getting out of hand that’s for sure. If you’re in the vicinity of one of the wild brush fires, please do the smart thing and evacuate when it gets to be unsafe for you to be there.

This week has been most definitely a busy one for me because finals are coming up in a little over a week. I’d have to say that this semester was most definitely harder than the last, but also more rewarding because I felt more challenged this semester than the last.

At the end of the semester I will get into greater depth on my second semester here at Howard College in Big Spring. For now this is my farewell till next week. Much to do, and little time to complete the many tasks at hand, so stay strong minded everyone. Not much longer till the semester is over with and not much longer for some of you and you will have an official degree you can be proud of. This is Howard College’s Blogging Machine, over and out!

Peace - Terrence

College Blog #15

Edging Closer & Closer…

By Terrence Cain

This week has most definitely been a long one for me; and a bit of a scary one with all these fires in 252 of 254 counties. Hopefully a huge rain storm will cover all of Texas soon and put these fires out for good. Stay safe if you’re in one of the areas where there are wild brush fires.

Well this week continues the teachings of script writing in my Creative Writing class. We watched a couple of shows briefly to get a feel for how scripts are written, as well as few actual unedited scripts as well to show how things can change easily. It’s getting very interesting indeed.

In US History we’re kind of roaming all over the map. Tuesday we talked about US Military influence from World War II to today’s wars in the Middle East. On Thursday we talk about the disgusting era of mistreatment of African-Americans in our society in the 1950s and 60s when they were looking for better equality across the land.

That time period always drives up extreme emotions in me because it is still quite hard for me to fathom how anyone could hate another because of their race or religious beliefs, let alone want to kill someone because they want to be on an equal playing ground as the rest of society. Let’s hope that our nation’s history will never repeat such a horrible era ever again.

In our Mass Media class we watched the movie Citizen Kane; which was a movie about a man who basically sold his soul for fame and fortune through his newspapers. The movie is loosely based on William Randolph Hearst who many believe lied about the Maine ship’s sinking in Havana Harbor in Cuba in 1898. Hearst made the claim that the Spanish blew it up, but many decades later it is believed that the ship’s engine malfunction and blew up, thus causing the Maine to sink, not a mine from the Spaniards. It’s a very good movie that I highly recommend if you like movies with art and depth.

In my Business Computers class we’re working on a final Power Point presentation that showcases just what we’re going to college for, so naturally mine will be about being a writer since that’s what I am in college for, to be a professional writer on all levels that is. I am working on a degree in print journalism, but that’s not the only thing I plan to do. I hope to eventually publish a few books, maybe make a few movie scripts, and maybe get into writing a few graphic novel stories. Journalism is just the full-time job security that would allow me to write other things on the side as well, so that will be what my presentation is all about.

Now that’s all I have to say about my classes this week. Well, not that much longer until finals. I hope all of you have kept up with your studies and did your best. I know college life can be a bit of a struggle, but just remember what your goals are and to study and you’ll do just fine. Well that’s all this week from yours truly. This is Howard College’s Blogging Machine saying, until we meet again…

Peace - Terrence

College Blog #14

The End Is Near

By Terrence Cain

Well just four more weeks and this semester will be over with. Honestly, it feels a bit strange for me to be 28 and in college seeing the college life through my eyes when the majority of all college students are between 18 and 22 years of age. When I was 18 I never thought I would be going to college because my parents couldn’t afford to send me to college and there were no loans being granted to me to go to a junior college because my parents made too much, and yet they could send me to a vocational school, so they did.

Unfortunately it was a waste of time because it didn’t help me find any work, no one wanted to give me a chance and the education I received was quite inadequate at the time. Fast forward ten years later and here I am in college going for a degree in print journalism, which is what I wanted to do ten years ago. It’s funny how life can throw you down different avenues until you get where you want to go.

I feel I have been very fortunate these last eight months to have a second chance at actually getting an education that means something to me and that will help me in what I want to do. I feel even more fortunate that Cindy Smith has given me a chance to tighten my skills as a writer here for Howard College’s blog site. So as you can tell, no doubt, I am in a very positive state of mind and that I am looking forward to another semester in the fall with Howard College.

That’s right; I will be back in the fall not the summer. I am taking the summer off to use that time to do some things I need to do to get things back in order because with college life you don’t have a whole lot of spare time for the personal things because you study so much and work so hard to try and get a passing grade.

So this is one of five final blog posts this week. Only four more will be posted and then silence will hit until the fall. I hope you all have a great remaining semester and will be in class every day until the week of May 9^th when we take our final exams for this semester.

Now the coolest thing I can say about my week is that my Creative Writing class is showing us how to write scripts for movies and television! If you get the chance next semester, and attend the Howard College in Big Spring, I do highly recommend taking Prof. Kelly-Anderson’s Creative Writing class. She will unlock your mind and free your potential as an artist. We had two choices for our final project. Write a novel…or…write a script. Well we unanimously voted for script writing.

We’ve all read novels, we all pretty much know how those are composed, but I don’t think that any of us know how a script is made for television or movies. Well I know I don’t so this is a treat for me. This is why I am so happy to be in college.

I didn’t have any of these teachings in that vocational school in 2001. We were just taught how to use a computer for business purposes and that was it. Now I am in a real junior college thanks to federal Pell Grants; so I do feel very fortunate to be in college at my age. Sometimes the tragic events in one’s life will give them an open door to walk through to have better life than the one they had before. That’s how I feel about all these things that have gone on in my life that led me to going to college at my age.

Well that is all I have to say for this week. One more important thing before I say adios; Big Spring’s Howard College will have a Rodeo from April 14^th – 16^th, so come on out and enjoy a true West Texas sport this Friday and Saturday. Until next week, this is Howard College’s blogging machine, over and out!

Peace - Terrence

College Blog #13

Strange Brew…

By Terrence Cain

Man this week’s weather has just been one strange brew! One day it’s cold; the next it’s hot. I hope Mother Earth makes up her mind soon cause this weather is getting real whack, pardon the use of an early 90s expression. Anyway, not much to really say about this week. I had to miss class the last two days this week due to some personal issues going on that I needed to resolve in San Angelo, which ended up taking two whole days.

Next week I have a test in Algebra; so I’m going to end things right here because I got lots to do and only a few days to do it in. Stay safe, study hard, have a good time, and have a great weekend ya’ll! This is Howard College’s blogging machine, over and out!

Peace - Terrence

College Blog #12

One Step Closer To Something Better

By Terrence Cain

This week has been very busy for me. I mean I thought last week was busy, lord no, this week was even busier. That’s why this week’s blog post will be short. On Monday we finished watching All The President’s Men in my Mass Media class. A great film about the Watergate scandal, under President Richard Nixon’s administration, that ultimately led to his impeachment hearings. If you haven’t seen it yet, I do highly recommend it. It’s a great film starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.

This week’s Algebra lessons seem to be the easiest out of all we’ve done so far this semester. Let’s hope it stays that way for the rest of the semester. This week we started on PowerPoint in my Business Computers class; which is probably the easiest software to use out of all the Microsoft Software, except for Word that is. It should get interesting in that class.

For my Creative Writing class we’re exploring the many different styles of poetry. This week it has been Haikus and Sestinas. Next week it will be a Villanelle that we are working on. This class has been my most interesting, and intriguing to me, of all my classes. Especially since my best talent is writing.

This week’s U.S. History class with Prof. Tommy Tune here in Big Spring, which is the Howard I am attending, has been very eventful. We finished up this week with talks about the Great Depression, what were the causes of it and what led us to get out of it.

I do have a side note here to all the students who are attending Howard College. Don’t be rude to the Professors. I don’t care if it is five minutes or fifteen minutes to your next class; wait till the professor dismisses you. They’re usually generous in letting you go quite early; so if they happen to be running the clock a little extra long, don’t act like you’re somehow superior and most definitely don’t tell the professor that you’re going whether they like it or not. That’s just rude and disrespectful.

These people work hard to make sure you know the facts and learn something that may be beneficial to you in your success in the future; so chill out and wait till the professor dismisses you.  I don’t know how big the other campuses are for the other two Howard Colleges, but the one here in Big Spring is rather small. It usually takes you two minutes to walk from one side of the campus to the other, so don’t get all huffy when you got fifteen minutes left before your next class.

Most professors are pretty lenient on time and they usually don’t get all upset if you’re a couple minutes late. I’m not saying you should be late, what I am saying is that you should not be so rude when it doesn’t take that long to walk from one class to the next. Okay, that’s enough ranting from yours truly. Everyone have a good weekend. Check the sports section on Howard’s main page to see if any games are coming up, I am sure there is. This is Howard College’s Blogging Machine, over and out!

Peace - Terrence