After Today I Really Am Rethinking Education

Well its official. I hate finals week! My day today can prove it. It was full of chaos, and I need to talk about it for a minute - ha ha. It all started with a public relations campaign I have due in a class tomorrow. It's a pretty big project that involves making a book about the campaign and a media kit. Good times! I had finished the whole thing, I just needed to print it. I was also needing to print a 15-page paper for another class. So I went to the Spori building this morning because I also needed to add a picture to the cover of my book. When I opened the document for the book and added the picture I realized I saved it wrong and it was pixelated. Due to the lack of time, I decided I didn't care. So I saved it and continued to print my 15-page paper. After I ran my I-Card at the printer and paid the money, I noticed a pretty red light on the printer indicating the paper was out. And of course there was no one around who could add more paper. So I decided to go to the library to print it.

The library is crazy busy during finals week. It is so hard to find a computer. So after aimlessly walking around trying to find one to use I finally found one. When I went to print the paper of course the screen says there was an error connecting to the printer. And to add to it, my I-Card was missing. We have to have that card to print on campus so it's kind of important. At first I thought it was no big deal and I would get a new one at the beginning of the fall semester. Then it dawned on me that I have three more finals over the next couple of days and I need my I-Card to take the tests. So in a panic I retraced my steps back to the Spori and couldn't find it. I needed to call the school and figure out what I needed to do. I then decided to give up on that for now and go to Quick Ship 'n Copy to print off my book for PR before anything else. (Can you imagine how I'm feeling in my brain at this point? I can't even describe it!)

When I got there I had them open up the documents for my book on their computer from my jump drive. I had saved the cover and the rest of the book in two separate documents. And the only one coming up was the cover. And the picture I had added to it this morning was missing. Awesome. I apparently didn't save the book right, it needed to be saved as a pdf. So I had the girl print the cover and I would figure out a way to get the rest printed. Frustrating! So I went home (in tears, mind you) and called the school about my I-Card. I just needed to come in and get a new card, at a $10 fee. So off to the Manwaring Center for a new card I went.

It took a while to get the new card, after the girl at the desk sent me on a wild goose chase to get my I-number that I can't seem to memorize for the life of me. After finally getting my new card I decided to head back to the library to export the book document as a pdf. When I found a computer with Microsoft Word 2007 I opened up the book and clicked to save it properly. Of course, the program wasn't updated with that kind of add-in so I had to install it. After about ten minutes of waiting, it tells me the installation failed because I didn't have the authority to install anything on a campus computer. So I couldn't save it properly. I thought I was going to break down in tears right there in the library!

After some thought I decided to chance the Copy Spot in the library and see if they could help me. And after a few clicks of the mouse my life was saved. I got the whole thing printed out, and I was on my way back to Quick Ship 'n Copy to bind it.

In the end, I got my book printed and bound, and it looks awesome! As far as the picture on the cover, I had to do some cutting and pasting (literally - that's not in computer talk, I actually cut that picture out and glued it on...classy, I know) and I didn't get the 15-page paper printed. After this day, I don't even want to chance it! I'm scared of what crazy adventure I might go on. One positive thing about this day is the fact that I got a new I-Card and I've needed a new one badly. My other one was about three years old and quite scary. I will be so grateful when finals are over! I have three tests left up till Friday, and then I move back to Idaho Falls. I can't wait!

PS -Thanks for letting me vent! I feel a lot better!