meanwhile...my studies

I am still doing the same study as last semester it is for the book that I am writing "Bringing to life The Spirit of the Deceased - a Sculptor's Journey". I am presently working on a sculpture of little Lucas a 5 year old who died in a swimming accident. It has not been easy as I don’t think I had enough photographs of him from a profile view, but I did the best I could. The pose that I am doing him in is a superman/batman pose. I could not capture it in photographs so we did it on computer in 3D. It is great to have that to work from.

I finally caught his personality in the clay, which is what the entire book is about. I should be done with him in the next week. I’ll try to post it.

My process writing for this month is different than it has been. It is more reflective, instead of just the process of creating art. It is greatly due to one of the books on my bibliography - Applegate, Shanon. Living Among Headstones: Life in a Country Cemetery. N.Y: Avalon Publishing, 2005. It is an excellent book and a welcome treat for my study.

I just finished reading From Chalk to Bronze by Hutson, Alice TX for one of the four books for this month. It is very good. It is about Waldine Touch a woman sculptor who lived in Texas 1892-1986. It is great to read about other sculptors especially women. It is inspiring.

Studying for the humanities CLEP

I took my first practice test in humanities of the 150 I missed 85. I only need to get 1/2 correct, I think?

According to the American Council on Education (ACE) I need to score a 50 which means that I need to get ?????? I can't figure it out. I have located the scoring on college board.com and am not really sure what a 50 is.

I am using the CLEP general exams by Research and Education Association. After taking the test I looked up all the answers and began to read cliff notes as well as just searching the Internet for things. I even listened to some of the music and found that I love Percy Grainger and Debussy (http://musical-impressions.net/midi.html in case you want to listen to Debussy). Actually I really am enjoying the study.

I seem to do o.k. in the art and poetry as well as some of the music, but the music theory, beyond just basics, is a bit much for me. I have had to really learn philosophy and vowed I would right a fun book on philosophy with cute illustrations. I also have to brush up on the literature.

I am trying to study at least one hour a day but am averaging about 1 and ½ hours a day.

I took the second test in humanities and this time missed only 71 out of 150. So I am getting closer.

By the time I take the test on February 10 I hope to have 21 hours of studying in. Today I wrote the check for the test, it needs to be there by Wednesday. I got nervous just writing the check.

I breath heavily when I am thinking about the test and my husband says, “no problem you can do it.” I am glad for his support it means the world to me. I just walk around saying “I think I can, I think I can.” Then I repeat some of the things I need to know. Beowulf is… The story of Hamlet is…. The last of the Mohicans was written by about…. Utilitarianism is….a ghost note is…etc. etc. etc.

EXCEL is mailed!

YIPPPPPPEEEE! It was o.k. focusing on the last 20 years of my life but it is time to go on.

Now I am focusing on Humanities CLEP test. I plan on studying an additional hour a day until the test on the 10th of Feburary. That should be about 27 hours of studying. WOW

Then I will do the same thing for the following month and the history CLEP that I want to take in March.

My brain aches a little. I must also keep up with my scupting work and my regular school work.

CREDIT FOR MY LIFE EXPERIENCE!

I have been working diligently on credit for my life experience.

Vermont College will give you up to 30 credits for your life experience. It is a huge process to create the documentation (EXCEL) needed for this but I knew I needed to do it to possibly graduate in October of 2006.

The first step I suppose was actually going to the meeting that the school provided during residency. Though you can’t do the EXCEL in your first semester I went to the meeting and picked up all of the documentation that they had. Anyone trying to do this should attend the meeting.

I sent in my proposal, which also consisted of an outline. Not mandatory but I would highly recommend it to anyone who is trying to do this. An outline really lays the entire thing out. You may have read previously that I received permission on October 17th to proceed with the essay.

So it has been less than 3 months and my essay is going back to the school. It is the entire 80 pages plus extra stuff like letters, newspapers clippings etc. I really was surprised that I could finish it so quickly. Though I had no weekends, or holidays. It is terrifying. Though I have had it looked over, maybe there is something wrong? Breathe, breathw.

I’ll let you know how it goes