My last journal was very general, and my mind wasn't in it, so I'll go more into detail about what I skimmed over.

----Re: My Job at the Thrift Store----
The church my parents attend owned the building the thrift store was using. After some time, the church ended up being in control of the thrift store too when the old owners left the state. It wasn't making them any money, and there were too many repairs on the building for them to keep it running, so they sold the building. When the building was sold, the thrift store shut down. Unfortunately, it shut down early in November, which was way sooner than I was expecting, so I was out 2 months worth of pay. I had planned on quitting after Christmas because my move-in date for Student Housing was the first week in January. Strangely enough, the company my mom works for ended up in control of the building, and they decided to keep the thrift store there, only with their own employees. It was cheaper to just use their existing employees to run it rather than take on the 7 or 8 people who were operating it  before. It ended up being too big of a project for them to handle, and they asked me to help out for a few weeks pay since they knew me through my mom and I know how the thrift store operates. I miss working there, and am still in the process of looking for a job.

----Re: New Car & Laptop----
When I turned 21, my great-grandparents transferred over a life-insurance account they had made for me to give me the money I would need for living on my own. The account had matured a lot more than they expected and so I was able to buy myself a nice used car [A red Ford Fusion who I named Carmen], and a new latop [An blue Acer Aspire Timeline X who I named Victor]. And now the rest of the money from that account is the only thing keeping me alive as I have now moved out and still have no job...  I really need to find a job.

----Re: Changing Majors----
When I first started at The Art Institute, I sort of just rushed into things without thinking everything through. I knew that I liked video games, and that I like art, and so I signed up with the Game Art & Design major.  noticed there was a Character & Object Design course, a Background Design & Layout course, and a Conceptual Storytelling course, as well as Digital Painting as an elective. However, upon further investigation of the program outline, those are really the only classes that focus around concept art. This is why I want to switch out of that major. The rest of the classes in the major are related to 3D modeling and animation. None of those classes will help to improve my drawing skill or get me anywhere closer to becoming a Character Designer. So, my options now are to either (A)Switch to Media Arts & Animation, which focuses on 2D drawing and animation, also programs such as Flash and Illustrator, and only barely reaches into 3D, or (B)Switch into Fashion Design, so that I can take more courses on Costume Design, Fashion Illustration, and Pattern Making in the hopes that I can become either a Fashion Illustrator or Costume Designer. I loved that Costuming For Theater class to death at VVC, and I would love to design costumes or clothing, but I'm torn as to whether I would choose that over Character Design.

----Re: School Sponsored Housing----
So, there are 4 rooms per unit, and 2 people per room.  I was assigned, along with another student new to housing, to a unit which already had 3 out of the 4 rooms filled. It was awkward for me to come into an apartment where everyone already knew each other and had things established. Also, because I've never been out of my parents home before, it was all very overwhelming and I was freaking out the first week. After that, my room mates started trying to get to know me and we socialized a bit, so it helped relieve the tension I was feeling. Now I'm all settled in and I actually like it here, for the most part. The door for our floor is missing a door handle, has been for the past 2 months and nobody's doing anything about it. The electrical outlets in my room keep shorting out on me and randomly cut power to my xbox while I'm in the middle of playing something. The kitchen sink's garbage disposal is broken and now the sink is too clogged to drain properly. MY roommates have so far exhibited awful cleaning habits in the kitchen and it's always a filthy food-caked mess, but in past weeks, attempts to keep the kitchen clean have been put in order.
Overall, I enjoy the company of my roommates, even though most of them are pot-heads and enjoy stereotypical college antics such as going out to the bars and getting drunk then stumbling into the house after midnight.
The only person that I would really consider a friend is Josh, who is a video game geek which gives us common ground. He's entertaining, and we have similar interests, which makes hanging out easy and helps me to interact with the rest of the house. Unfortunately for me, I seemed to have formed a crush on him which makes things a little awkward. He's straight, he has a girlfriend [she's in New York, so it's not like she's with him, but that's beside the point] so there's no real chance for anything, but... feh.