Hoops to jump through

Folks who know me know that I rarely do anything by half measures. I develop an interest in something, and go all-out to immerse myself in it, to the point of obsession sometime. Such is the case with passion flowers, such is the case with 1937 Studebakers, and now, such is the case with photography.

I never took photojournalism in college. I earned my journalism degree without learning how to take even a snapshot, and from time to time, this sad lack of skill on my part has reared its ugly head to complicate situations that should've been fairly straightforward. I wasted lots of 35mm film by not having a clue what I was doing, and while the acquisition of a digital point-and-shoot improved matters dramatically, any decent photos I take are still more a matter of luck than competence.

So, I've learned a little bit of the underlying basics by reading The Wife's old photography books (she's actually a pretty good shutterbug) but theory has only taken me so far. What I need (I've gotten into my head) is formal training. It just so happens that Texas State has a staff education developmental leave program, which allows select individuals to take classes at the university, and the university picks up the tab for tuition and fees. There are restrictions--participants are limited to four semesters worth of participation, lifetime; one must take a minimum of 9 hours and a maximum of 12. Lots of approvals are required. Time off from work is also an option, although this poses severe problems for a small office staff such as mine (there are only two of us).

Even so, I've applied and been approved for this. I applied as a transfer, under the classification of "Second degree seeking student" and been accepted. After conferring with an advisor and taking my unique needs and situation into consideration, we settled on three courses--a straight photojournalism course, an introduction to photography course offered by the fine arts department (which has a degree specialization in photography) and a 2/D design course, which is actually a prerequisite for the intro to photography course, but which I'd be allowed to take concurrently via a departmental waiver. This has been consuming me for the better part of two semesters. The logistics are quite daunting, particularly paperwork deadlines that are in conflict with when actual information needed to complete them will be available. But now that I've been approved, everything is all hunky-dory, right?

Wrong. I found out today that the photojournalism course isn't being offered in the fall. There's talk of maybe bringing in an adjunct to teach the class, but the department won't know one way or the other for another three weeks. I have to turn in my class schedule to HR next week (with actual registration for classes beginning the following week--go figure). I am, as they say, up the proverbial creek. If I can't take that photojournalism course, or find a suitable substitute to make my nine hours, I'll probably have to drop out of the program. Which would suck, after all the hoop jumping I've done thus far.

I've got a meeting scheduled with the advisor tomorrow. Hopefully we can work through this mess. If not, I'm probably going to be in a pissy mood for the next four months or so.

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