A year in review

Hello UB!

It's been a year since I have graduated with my Master's and let me tell you... with the economy we are in, I wonder if it was worth it? Yes, I have a higher degree than most. But does that guarantee automatic employment?... The answer, in most cases, is... NO... I gave birth to my daughter a month after I graduated, and although I choose to stay at home with her for the first year, beginning to apply for jobs now... nothing is coming up. I even applied for the management trainee program at Enterprise Car Sales and they said no. Not sure if I'm "over qualified" or what. But I find that in many cases I could either be over qualified on paper with my degree, or not qualified with the number of years in experience that they want. With that disqualification, don't I need to work in order to get the years of experience they want? Yeah, I get that a company doesn't want to train a person if they don't have to, but geesh! How else am I to learn?! At this point, a job is a job and a check is a check to pay the bills and get by in life... so anything (within reason) is fair game to apply for... wish me luck! Back to the drawing board!

End of Semester - Not

Being the alumni blogger for the UB Blog has definitely been an interesting and fun thing to do.  While it is the end of the semester for my fellow bloggers, I will keep plugging along in my job with no end in sight (well, at least for the next 20 years - give or take a few.)  It has been fun sharing my thoughts and I hope I was able to entertain with one or two of my postings. 

I am not sure if I will be back in the fall, it all depends on my work and the one thing I gave myself for my 41st birthday - a registration to run/jog/walk/crawl the Disney Half-Marathon.  So, between now until we head to Orlando in January 2011, we will be steadily working to be able to finish the Half Marathon in less than 3.5 hours. I will also be trying to lost 40 pounds during this time as well.  All this takes time and dedication.  If I may...let me tell you a little bit about what I am doing and why.

2011 - Get your Indy On

So maybe you weren't the biggest fan of the new Preakness advertisements encouraging you to get your preak on. Well in 2011 hopefully we won't be submitted to the same crude ads when the Indy Race league "hopefully" comes to Baltimore in August of next year.

The contract that was approved by the City of Baltimore and announced fabulously by Mayor SRB will begin immediately as road crews transform the streets around the scenic Inner Harbor into a race track capable of handling Indy cars traveling up to 200 miles per hour.

Some groups have estimated that the race will bring over 100,000 people to Baltimore and have an economic impact similar to that of the Preakness. I hope that they can also estimate the traffic delays and headaches that already plague this area.

Overall I think that this is a great step forward for Baltimore and becoming more then just that place from "The Wire." I certainly beeeelieve that we can turn this area around and become a thriving city. With mainstream events like the Indy Racing League coming to Baltimore it significantly increases our chance of landing bigger projects like Google Fiber.

Last blog for the semester hopefully they'll have me back! I hope that you all enjoyed reading as much as I did writing.

The end, and the beginning

This is my last blog entry, at least until Fall. Once per week for 10 weeks, I've posted a review or rumination of some sort that I hope has been interesting to someone out there. What's been most interesting for me, however, has been the process.

In searching for interesting stuff to write about, I've found that inspiration has come from everywhere: local events, news, classes, fashion, the world. Blogging has made me more observant and engaged with my neighborhood, city and environment. I learned that even the most mundane task might unearth some kernel of information that could grow into a new blogging idea.

A big step for me in actually hitting the "publish post" button and walking away from the computer has been silencing my inner critic. I'm a long-time perfectionist with a history of not finishing something unless it's perfect. The great things about blogs are: (1) readers don't expect you to be perfect, and (2) you can update them frequently with new content if your last post doesn't do you justice. Plus the law of averages goes into effect: the more you write, the better your chances of writing something good.

Will I feel the post-blogging blues, a sense of loss and emptiness next Wednesday morning, with no UB outlet for inspired online release? Probably not. But I will be searching for another creative outlet soon.

Semester Wrap Up

Well, with this being my last week this semester, I thought I would take some time and reflect back. Read on to learn more about how my philosophy developed during this semester, towards both life and school.

The Laws of Finals

Ahhh its almost over. As exciting as it is, its probably the most nerve racking time of the year. I'm ready for the next couple of weeks to be over but I'm honestly not prepared for it zip by. I have soo much work to get done. Just within these next couple of days, we have 2 essays due, I have 3d modeling to get done, a couple of programming projects to get out the way. STRESSED is an understatement of what I'm feeling right now. And I found it funny that the last few posts from everyone were about how stressed we are. Well I thought I would share something with you and hopefully it will lighten your mood for the day.

first law of finals:
your instructor assumes that you having nothing else to do except study for that instructor's course

second law of finals:
When reviewing your notes before the an exam, the most important ones will be illegible

third law of finals:
80% of the final exam will be based on the one lecture you missed and the one book you didn't read.

fourth law of finals:
the more studying you did for the exam the less sure you are as to which answer they want.

fifth law of finals:
if you are given an open book exam you will forget your book
Corollary:
if you are given a take home exam, you will forget where you live.

sixth law of finals:
At the end of the semester you will recall you having enrolled in a course at the beginning of the semester--- and never attending.


GOOD LUCK!!!

Writing Central Baltimore

Last semester, we published an article, "Filling the Hole in the Donut," in the University of Baltimore magazine about UB's involvement in revitalizing Central Baltimore. It's the area just north of campus, between MICA to the west, Johns Hopkins to the north and Greenmount Cemetery to the east--and long neglected, it's sorely in need of some assistance to again become the thriving area it once was.

UB, along with several other organizations--one of which includes the Central Baltimore Higher Education Collaborative--is involved in the area, investing time and resources as a "community engaged" institution to redeveloping and reviving the community. Now Jane Delury, a lecturer in the School of Communications Design, has teamed up with Tristan Davies, a senior lecturer in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins, to offer Writing Central Baltimore this past semester.