Autobody Courses are now complete.

The time has finally arrived! I have completed another semester of Junior College. I started back in the Fall 2010 Semester after mentioning to a gentleman I had met while working as a sales associate at the Ferrari Store in San Francisco. It started out to be a good day, and well it got even better. I was working downstairs when I happened to notice this gentleman coming down the stairs. I recognized him, but was unable to recall his name. So I just said - "Hey! I know you!" Not really the thing to say to a potential customer, but I said it anyways. He then says - "Really! Who am I?" Yes the guy can be a funny person. I simply responded by saying - "You're on that show! World's Most Expensive Rides." He then said - "Yes I am!" am we then started into a general conversation. This gentleman was Fireball Tim Lawrence. The Hollywood movie car builder. So as the conversation went on, I happened to mention to him that I was contemplating on going back to school. Yes I was pretty hesitant to do it at the time. However, he simply asked me "What are you looking to go back to school for?" So I let him know I wanted to get into Custom Car Building. He immediately told me I should just do it. So, since it was coming from someone that knows a lot about cars, my decision was made. I had been asked several times by my wife if I wanted to go back to school several times, but, as I said, I was pretty hesitant about doing it. Well that no longer was an issue when that conversation ended. So, I have to thank Fireball Tim for helping get that decision set.

It wasn't to long after that, that I had started to check into the Community Colleges in the area, and I decided to go to Modesto. I signed up to receive a class catalog, and I was on my way to doing something serious again. To take a step back for a moment, I just have to fill in anyone that may be reading this that I quit going to school at 15 to get a job. I eventually did go get my General Education Diploma when I was 18. Hence, the reason why I was hesitating to go back to school. I was frightened to go back. Now, as things are different, I am very happy I did go back. I have been doing rather well. I signed up for school, and went to my scheduled orientation. The problem however, I wasn't able to get into my Autobody classes right out the gate. But, I did get into 2 classes to get my credits. These eventually factored into my plans for the A.S. Degree I want to finish off an receive. I finished the Fall semester with good grades, and signed up for the Spring semester when the date came up. At this time, I was however able to get things on track and take the classes I needed. The first Automotive Collision Repair lass, as well as the first Automotive Refinishing class. I also took two others that semester. An Introduction to Tech Industries, as well as something I felt I needed to do, a Basic Photography course. I went through the semester and did pretty well again. The grades were almost perfect. Once again I surprised myself by accomplishing good results.

The Spring semester was done, I did well, and I then decided I would take a Summer class. I decided to take a Healthful Living course to put towards my General Education that is required for the degree. Little did I expect it to be as hard as it was. I had most of the Summer off, until the the class started around the end of July. I went in and as I had not expected, it was pretty difficult for me. This class was a condensed version down to 5 weeks, and was 4 days a week. I struggled a bit, but pushed myself through. Well as it turns out, I did way better than I had figured I could do. 5 weeks of hard work paid off with an "A" to my GPA.

Then the time for another full Fall semester of classes had come. I I had signed up for 4 classes this time and I knew it was about to be pretty rough for me to get through it. But, I did it anyways. I signed up for the second installment for Autobody Collision, as well as the second Automotive Refinishing course. Besides those two, I signed up for a General Automotive course that would help me to learn my way around an engine. My fourth class was to be a course that would count towards my General Education for the requirements for my A.S. Degree. The class was Critical Reading. I managed to get through the semester, the long nights of studying, and being stressed out. My grades were good, my GPA stayed up, and somehow I managed to get myself on the Deans List for my hard work. Not bad for a 38 year old man that never went to High School.

Now for the recent semester. I signed up to finish my final Autobody Collision class, as well as my Math Pre-Algebra class. These 2 classes I needed to complete so I could get my Certificate of Achievement. Then I signed up for an Independent Study course I needed so I could get my Skill Recognition award. I was hoping to be able to work on some of my own projects in this course, but as things always go, I didn't get anything done of my own. It started out when in the first week, my instructor was bringing in a couple of bowling pins he managed to get for me from his neighbor. Well when he was bringing them in, he had them in a Western Flyer Chief Wagon. So I asked him if he was going to restore it. He immediately replied with a - NO! You Are! I actually got really excited! So I spent most of the semester working on it. The end result was better than I had expected it to be. Then I was able to repaint a Communication Sign Board that had been sitting in the shop for 2 semesters. All I needed to do was sand it down and repaint it. As far as the Math class, I was pretty worried that I wasn't going to get through it and pass. But, somehow I managed to get it done and I passed. So that completed my Spring semester. I went the following week to the Technical Education Ceremony for Certificate and Skill Recognition, and after that was over, I went to lunch with a few of my fellow classmates to celebrate our achievements.

So! What do I do now? Well, I am looking for a job. I am taking the Summer off from school, and Will be taking 1 class per semester until I get my A.S. Degree. I have been to 2 interviews so far, as well a a 3rd possible. The first was a bomb. The second I have called back but have not gotten a reply to my call. The third I went in and dropped off my resume. This one may be the one that hopefully pans out, and it's one I prefer to hopefully get. It's at a local Custom Paint shop. Now let's see what happens.

Just to share, Here are a few of my class projects -

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This is a Podium Desk that several of us worked on.
No pictures from before.
They were into the tear down before I was able to do so.
So here is the back side.

Here is the sides in progress.
I thought about doing a flame job,
but the scallops worked out much better.
Here's the layout -

Here is the final result. Including my horrible striping job.

Not Bad! But I wish we could have done it better.
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Here is a Boat Motor Cover that needed some fixing.
2 other students had worked on it. Both did crappy paint jobs.
SOMEHOW I managed to get it done right.
After the sanding!

The final result!

Not Bad!
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This is my Bowling Pin project from the Fall 2011 Semester.

This is how it was when I bought it for 2 bucks from a thrift store.

Here I am shooting the clear.

This is how it looks currently.

If you want to see the all of my pics from the project -

http://razzi.me/a/7637

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This video is from my General Automotive class from my Fall Semester.

A Full Engine Tear Down and Rebuild.

This is of the final result of the hard work.

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This is the Western Flyer Wagon I restored in the Spring 2012 Semester.

DANG IT! I forgot to shoot pics before I took it apart.

This is the final result.

If you would like to see all of the pics from the restoration - http://razzi.me/a/10492

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Here is the Communication Sign Board.

Yes! Once again I forgot to take photos before I took it all apart.

The end result!

What a fun time the classes were for me! Now to complete the General Education classes.