A little over a year ago, I started something that I should have started a decade ago, but I never did. That something is my Master's Degree. Now that I am officially 90% complete with the program, I am happy to have done it, but my enthusiasm level is gone.
I am pursuing my degree through Arkansas State University. The program has been ideal for me for several reasons. First, the degree is completely online, and I have only had to take one class at-a-time. Also, each class is only five weeks in length, so it is easy to earn a lot of credits in a short amount of time. Finally, the program has been quite affordable for me.
Out of all of these benefits, the five week class length has been my saving grace. It's fairly easy to put up with anything for only five weeks.
I am going through the program with several other teachers in my building, and it has been so helpful to be with people that are exactly in the same boat as myself. When we all went through the statistics class, I think we only communicated through glazed-over expressions and grunts indicating how many more weeks we had in that class.
I have one more class to go, but I'm spent. This most recent class was a struggle for me, because I just didn't care. Up until that point I had earned all As, and I had a laser-like focus on that 4.0. But my philosophy changed during that class. I just wanted to get it over with, and my sentiment was echoed by most of my coworkers.
Fortunately I did enough to earn my 9th A in-a-row. So even though my tank is running low, I am motivated to get that last A. Unfortunately, I have to wait until April. The last class is considered to be a capstone class, and it is only offered at certain times.
So I have several months to prepare myself mentally for this last class. Right now my enthusiasm level is really low, but come April, it will need to be higher. Oh hell, even if it's not, I'll be ok. It's only for five weeks.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
A Surprising Introduction
Some time ago, I was hanging out with my friend Bob watching a movie. Bob, is a filmmaker and holds a film degree, so one might think that we were watching an art-house film or some cinematic masterpiece. But noooo, we were watching a wonderfully bad movie from the 80's. This movie is so bad that it makes Stop or My Mom Will Shoot look like something from the A.F.I. list. But, I have to admit that it's a guilty pleasure of mine.
Moving Violations is the tale of Dana Cannon, a sarcastic wiseass, who finds himself in traffic school after one-too-many traffic tickets. Cannon is played masterfully by one of the Murray brothers. Was it Bill? Of course not. What about the prolific Brian Doyle Murray? No way. It wasn't even the "3rd string" Murray brother, Joel, of Dharma and Greg fame. This movie stared John Murray.
Not surprisingly, Murray's IMDB reference is sparse. After doing Moving Violations, in 1985 and Scrooged in 1988, his acting career laid dormant until he finally burst back on the scene in 2007.
But I digress, for John Murray is not the point of this post. During this viewing of the movie, I noticed something...or someone, that I had not noticed before. During one scene, I spied a familiar actor playing a fast food employee. That actor was Don Cheadle.
After I recognized Cheadle, I went to his IMDB page, and I saw that this cinematic classic was his first movie. I know that every actor probably has a movie in their resume that they would like to forget, but I was surprised to see that this movie was his first introduction to the world of film.
Everyone says that you only have one chance to make a first impression, and while I do believe that is true, it's also important to not let that first impression pigeonhole you. Cheadle has been able to rise above his debut in a forgettable movie and develop into a highly-regarded actor.
So while we can't always control the way that we are introduced to others, we are in control of what we do after that. Nobody reads a story just for the introduction. They read it to see what happens next. That's when the amazing stuff occurs.
Moving Violations is the tale of Dana Cannon, a sarcastic wiseass, who finds himself in traffic school after one-too-many traffic tickets. Cannon is played masterfully by one of the Murray brothers. Was it Bill? Of course not. What about the prolific Brian Doyle Murray? No way. It wasn't even the "3rd string" Murray brother, Joel, of Dharma and Greg fame. This movie stared John Murray.
Not surprisingly, Murray's IMDB reference is sparse. After doing Moving Violations, in 1985 and Scrooged in 1988, his acting career laid dormant until he finally burst back on the scene in 2007.
But I digress, for John Murray is not the point of this post. During this viewing of the movie, I noticed something...or someone, that I had not noticed before. During one scene, I spied a familiar actor playing a fast food employee. That actor was Don Cheadle.
After I recognized Cheadle, I went to his IMDB page, and I saw that this cinematic classic was his first movie. I know that every actor probably has a movie in their resume that they would like to forget, but I was surprised to see that this movie was his first introduction to the world of film.
Everyone says that you only have one chance to make a first impression, and while I do believe that is true, it's also important to not let that first impression pigeonhole you. Cheadle has been able to rise above his debut in a forgettable movie and develop into a highly-regarded actor.
So while we can't always control the way that we are introduced to others, we are in control of what we do after that. Nobody reads a story just for the introduction. They read it to see what happens next. That's when the amazing stuff occurs.
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