Art 100 - wonderful experience!

One of the most interesting and enjoyable classes of mine is art class this semester. It's Art 100 class which is drawing and composition art class, and it is the beginning drawing class, so it does not require you have to be really good at drawing. Through this course, the professor would show you step by step to get to know more about art, and I promise that you will learn something really cool and fantastic after this class, especially, you will love this class and the professor.

My class is located in building 2200, art building, which is next to MiraCosta theater and the Administration building.

View of art building

Inside of our art class

This class doesn't require any textbook; all you need to prepare is the material for your assignments that was provided by the professor. The good thing from our class is that the professor will bring as much his material as possible for us to share and then we can save our money for that. During class, our professor will present some slides to explain what we are going to do for the new project, and his presentations are also awesome with a lot of interesting projects and pictures.

color pastel

drawing paper and pencils

spray paints

ink, pens, and brush

art charcoals

One of the most important things about this class that makes me really love is our professor, Mr. Gilbert Neri. He's an amazing professor. He's sense of humor, really chill and never make you feel stressful with your assignments. He always gives you extra time to finish your assignments if you couldn't finish at the due day which is really nice of him. Professor Neri is also a happy man because he always makes jokes during class to make his students relax. The best thing of him is that he's really helpful and creative. If you are struggled with ideas for your new projects, he's willing to help you find out, and provides as much material for you as he can to help you save money.

Another fantastic thing of this class is the assignments. It is not too hard, relaxing, interesting, and enjoyable. It's also creative, and funny when you do some project together in group. For example, we had a spray paint project which is really cool and excited, and ink paint with brush project which makes me feel like Chinese drawing. There are some of my project that I have done so far.

black and grey project

spray paints project

fingerprints drawing

During class, professor Neri always turns on music, and that is so cool. This is the first time that I have an experience in art class, so it makes me really excited. That is why this class is my favorite class. After we finish our project, we will hang those on the wall, and the professor will help us point out what we've done well and what we need to improve our project. That was so awesome! Sometimes, we took us to the gallery to see another student's projects, and they are really fantastic!

ELI - a wonderful family for international students!

ELI was the second home for me when I first came to the U.S. It is not only just an English course, but it is also a place that I can make friends from all over the world and learn many different cultures from others. Besides, the professors are really patient, friendly, helpful, understandable and so sweet. They help us not only for school, but also for mental whenever we have problems in life or being homesick. They are such an amazing professors!

Awesome friends

Wonderful classmates and professors

Also, the course is really useful and enjoyable for us who are still young and always want to explore something new. For example, beside those classes to help us improve our English skills such as grammar, writing and reading, idioms, American culture and speaking, and so on, we also have a Friday activity class which is our favorite class. Every Friday, our professors will bring us to different place to introduce us about life in the U.S. and their culture. For example, we went to see a movie together which is so much fun, played bowling or went to the restaurant to get to know each other at the very first day. We also made a pumpkin for Halloween day, played paint balls, went to Boomer to enjoy so many games such as racing, laser gun, and so on. Is was so much fun, and it brought us closer and closer.

Climbing

whale watching

laser gun

paint balls

racing

Also, there are some feed back from current students in ELI class that I have talked to. They are from all over the world with many different culture and languages. Some of them have been in this course for few months; some of them just attended this course at the first time.

Linh, a new student in ELI class, who came from Vietnam like me! He is sense of humor, out going, and kind.

He love ELI class as his lovely family. The professor are very friendly and helpful who help him improve his English skills every day to prepare for his TOEFL test to attend to college. Besides, through this course he learned more about English, American culture, American slang and idioms which are really interesting. The classes are very fun, and he could make a lot of international friends from all over the world.

Rahaf is from Saudi. She is a little bit shy, but she is really nice and funny.

The things that she loves from ELI class is the material that the course provides them. They provide coffee, drink, and snack sometimes. About the class material, the professors will give you documents that you need during your classes, and you can print and make copy in the lab room which is really convenient. Besides, she really likes the schedule because it is not too early in the morning and too late in the afternoon. Their classes start at 12:00 pm and finish at 4:00 pm.

Silvia, a very nice and calm woman, who is from Barcelona, Spain.

She really loves the professors in ELI class and the material of the class. She also likes the Friday class activities because she can learn many new things from American culture and life, especially, she can get to know more about her classmates.
However, there are few things that she doesn't really like about the course such as the schedule. It is not really convenient for her, who is the mother of her family. It is kind of the middle of the day, so she couldn't do anything else besides classes because she has to take care of her family. She also suggests that this course should have online class which makes it more variable and interesting.

Moving to Oceanside



Harbor Beach

Coming to California, USA was the most wonderful experience that I have had in my life. Every thing here is different from my country which makes me feel really interesting and I want to discover as much as I can.  



When the first time I came to the US, I lived with my host family, who are my parents' friends in San Diego. It is pretty far away from MiraCosta College, and I did not have a car, so I had to take buses to go to school every day. It was really inconvenient and wasting time because it took me almost 3 hours for just one way. It means that I had to spend almost 6 hours per day for transportation. That was the first reason I wanted to move to Oceanside to live.

Oceanside Pier view

Oceanside is an awesome place which has so many beautiful views, beaches, and activities such as Oceanside Pier, Harbor Beach, or Mission San Luis Rey.  Oceanside is small, peaceful, and quiet town which reminds me about my hometown a lot.   My apartment is really nice and close to MiraCosta College. I live with my roommate who was my classmate in ESL 40 class. She was an awesome person who makes me feel like she is my sister. She took me to the Oceanside Pier to see the sunset and have a bonfire at night with some friends. Besides, we went hiking and shopping together sometimes whenever we have free time, and we also relax at the pool in my complex apartment whenever we feel bored. It was unforgettable and really fun. 

This is where I live now

Now I live very close to MiraCosta, the buses to go to school are really convenient for me. With just 2 to 3 minutes walking from my apartment, I can take bus 315 to College Blvd, and then I will take bus 325 to get to MiraCosta College. It takes me just 45 to 50 minutes. I am really glad I moved to Oceanside!



A beautiful complex 





We have a pool and jacuzzi in our complex



Here is my roommate who is very beautiful and awesome!

We had a bonfire at the Oceanside Pier

On the top of the hill where we went hiking



On the way to the top of the hill