I didn’t realize it’s been so long since I posted an update. Anyway, spring semester started in January. I was originally supposed to take three classes this semester, but two of them were cancelled at the last minute due to low enrollment. The 2D programming class is being offered as a 10-week online class instead, which I guess is better than nothing since I need to take that class this semester to graduate in time. I’ll have to take the mobile apps class whenever they decide to offer it again. The only class I’m taking in person this semester is digital illustration, which is on Friday and Saturday. On the plus side, this schedule allows me to work more hours than I had originally planned, so I can save up a little bit more money for school.

I’m not going to lie, I was pretty angry about the classes being cancelled. Since that happened, I’ve learned from other people in various other degree programs that the same thing happened with their classes. I’ve heard from numerous people that they’ve either had to push back their graduation or have quit school altogether because LCCC cancelled classes they needed for their degree programs.

This is absolutely unacceptable. No wonder the graduation rate at this school is so low. Right now, my plan is still to finish this associate degree program and then transfer to Kent for a bachelors degree, since LCCC is still significantly cheaper and this will give me another year to save money before transferring (and moving further away). I’m just afraid that the same thing will happen with some of the other classes I need next over the next two semesters and I won’t be able to finish this degree next spring. I’m not willing to push back getting a two-year degree even longer.

With the number of students in the intro class last semester, I really can’t understand how only three people (including myself) registered for the second semester classes. I have heard that a lot of CGSD students never finish the degree because they fall behind in math. I could go on and on about  students not being ready for basic college level math by time they’re in college, but that particular rant might be best saved for it’s own post (protip: being good at math isn’t about memorizing boring formulas. It’s about actually understanding the concepts so that your brain can do cool problem-solving things.)

Anyway, I have only finished one assignment for my 2D programming class so far, but I’m enjoying it a lot more than any of the other programming classes I’ve taken over the years. We’re using the XNA framework in Visual Studio C# 2010 Express. Outdated, but effective. Programming games is a lot more interesting than making lame console applications and windows forms, that’s for sure.

In unrelated news, I was a finalist in Kotaku’s Photoshop contest last week. This was my “expertly” ‘shopped image of Sonic:

Well, I thought it was funny. And apparently so did the nice people at Kotaku… That’s the first time I made something for one of their contests. I usually don’t check Kotaku or Facebook as much on the weekend.