Brett H Perkins - Murfreesboro, Tennessee » School

So its been a few days…

bretthperkins — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:14:39 +0000

Yeah… Graduating was awesome. It was a long drawn out process that was terribly uncomfortable and boring… But it was a graduation, so it was what it was. Thank God for texting! I was basically texting Eric, Mom, other peeps that were graduating, and even a few teachers during the ceremony. There was a terribly boring and cliche Manager guy from the Opry that made only a handful of good points, but it wasn’t too bad. It didn’t take as long as I thought it would take for me to actually get up to the line… then, it was QUICK!!! Before I knew it, I was next. I was about to walk across the stage and receive my “Diploma,” which in actuality will be mailed to me later, so I got an empty folder thing, but I got it, and then there were pictures. After, I talked to a few people that I had classes with, then that was that. I was done.

It really is a complete sense of accomplishment. And I am happy.

My last day at Wal-Mart is this Thursday. I am looking forward to my last week.

-=brett=-

Graduation Eve.

bretthperkins — Sat, 03 May 2008 03:36:07 +0000

I really did it. I finished college. Albeit 2 years late… but who cares!!! I am done. People keep asking me, “How do you feel?” And you know what? I really don’t know. I am not even sure that it has all really sunk in. Its like… ok. I know that I am done. I have my grades, I did all that I was supposed to do, but I have this feeling like there will be SOMETHING… I will be walking across the stage and the minute I reach out to get the ‘diploma’ I will be halted, graduation will come to a screeching halt and I will be told that some mundane detail will have been overlooked. Some test, checklist, or other THING will have to be done before I get my degree… Ok, I know this will likely not happen, but until I walk tomorrow, I am going to keep the excitement that I know I possess inside. But after the ceremony, folks, all bets are off.

Tomorrow is going to be one of the best days of my life. See you there!

-=brett=-

Too good to be true? Or so right, It’s meant to be?

bretthperkins — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:26:58 +0000

Perspective, perspective, perspective…

So, I have always been told by my mom that if something was meant to be, then you will know it and things will fall in place to make it happen. That is a good piece of advice. If it feels wrong, then it probably is, but when it feels right… Go for it!!! Anywho, what I am talking about is this house that I have my eye on. I am going tomorrow to look at it. I am SO excited, but nervous… OMG… I am buying. a. house! Seriously, there is some reality there… I am buying a house. My name, My deed, My mortgage, wow… when did I become an adult??? Its crazy. And cool at the same time. As more becomes concrete, I will write it, but for now, just keep your fingers crossed and hopefully things will work out just how they are supposed to.

ALAS!!! My last programming project for my Undergraduate School Career is done. 100% done! *Sings* “Couldn’t be happier. No. Couldn’t be happier” LOL That was a Wicked reference for those of you not in the know. And with that, all that is left is an Exam and, well, graduation.

And I’m done for now.

-=brett=-

Naps. . .

bretthperkins — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:33:56 +0000

Ok, I gotta stop taking naps. Its like 1:30, and I am not asleep. Now for some people (*cough tai cough*) this is normal, but I like my sleep in the night time. Anwho… Something great happened today. I was asked to take my vacation early, so I said yes, which means I am off until Saturday. w00t! I plan on getting some much deserved rest. I only have to finish my program in my Web Application Class and take a final next week and I am DONE!!! I’m so excited! And nervous and scared and anxious.. .. ..

And now, I am getting a lil sleepy. yay!

-=brett=-

So Close!!!

bretthperkins — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:03:07 +0000

So, I just turned in my last 2 assignments in one of my classes, which means that after Thursday, I am DONE with that class!!! So, by my calculations… I only have 1 test, 1 presentation, and 1 program to turn in and I am DONE!!! The invitations have gone out, the plans have been made, the cap and gown are on the way, and I am SO ready!!! As my mom said earlier this evening, “It has been a long road.” And she couldn’t be more right.

**Oh my, I am waiting for Greek to start on The Family Channel, and the Christian show “The 700 Club” was on, and I really wasn’t paying attention but the guy on there said something SO RIDICULOUS!!! He said, “If you want to have a hundred-thousand dollars, then give the church ten-thousand and see what God does.” Its no wonder that I am not affiliated with people and groups that think that you can just buy your way to happiness. These people need to get a clue!!!

K, Greek’s on. gtg.

-=brett=-

AITP Memphis

bretthperkins — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:20:40 +0000

Well, I already posted what all happened on Thursday night, which was really fun… So now, lets talk about the competitions:

Carl and I entered into 2 competitions: Database Design and Application Development.

Database Design:

This competition was HARD, but I must admit that it would have been a lot less hard had we ACTUALLY studied and practiced for it. The problem statement was relatively simple, and designing the structure of the database was really easy. The Entity Relationship Diagram took no time, and for those who don’t know what that is, it is just the diagram of the tables within a database and their contents and relationships to one another. After we got that finished, we had to adjust an SQL script to allow for a few more tables and some changes to the database schema. Then came the queries, and those were fucking HARD!!! I am proud of what we accomplished, and we completed about 80% of the problem statement. We did not place in this event.

Application Development:

This competition was a LOT harder than either Carl or myself expected. It was necessary to build not just one application, but THREE!!! There was a window’s app, a console app, and a web app. Carl took on the windows app and I tackled the web app. The most time-consuming part of what I had to do was fix AITP’s database for this program. It was absolute crap!!! There was NOTHING that I could use in it, so over an hour of the competition was designing a new DB. After I got that completed, I began the site, which to be honest looks like total crap, but it really didn’t matter. Carl was busy plugging away at his part and then about 4 hours into that competition, we left. We were certain that we would not receive any recognition from our work and it was too late to do anything better so we left. But, very much to our surprise, we actually placed 4th in the competition, out of a total of 67 teams. We were SO taken aback!!! I am extremely proud of that, and wish we hadn’t left early. If we had, then I wonder what we would have been able to accomplish. I am just happy that I now get to add the following line to my resume: “Award Winning Programmer”

Beyond the competitions and the outings, it was just cool to hang out with Carl and Lissa and the rest of the AITP gang. I had a really great trip and I know that the rest of the peeps did as well. I am looking forward to get home, though… and I am looking forward even more to starting at Deloitte.

-=brett=-

Night one!

bretthperkins — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:35:26 +0000

So, tonight fucking rocked!!! We had so much fun. The trip down was so much fun. I rode down with Lissa, Carl and Jake and it was just really, REALLY good conversation. Then, when we got to Memphis, we all just cut loose! We went down to Beale Street and had some drinks, and the coolest part was that we all got to take our drinks to the street. We all watched some guys doing some crazy gymnastics down the street and had some drinks called “Superman with Kryptonite” and those were fucking AWESOME!!! The made most of their drinks with PGA and they were awesome and I of course had some Long Island Iced Tea. It was good. And then we all ended up at Denny’s. It was a gr8 night!!! I would blog more but I am still a bit intoxicated, so this is it! I’ll post some more tomorrow!!! Night Night!

-=brett=-

Its been gr8 so far…

bretthperkins — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:16:18 +0000

My year, thus far, has been pretty good. I have pretty much stuck to my diet. At any rate, my habits are improving a great deal!!! I am really starting to feel different. I have more energy, but eat less and rarely drink coffee… go figure! I am not losing weight as quickly as when I started, but it is still coming off. I knew that would happen. I may not be at my goal in May like I wanted, but I will be well on my way.

School, thus far, has been quite easy. I am only in 3 classes, so that helps. I really like the classes I am in, too, so that makes it easier to show up! :-p

Kristin was in town for a few days, and it was nice to have some Kristin time. Not much has really changed with her at all. I find this both comforting and troublesome. At any rate, I was glad to see her.

I am looking forward to tonight. AITP, a group I am a member of at school, is hosting an event at Buffalo Wild Wings, and I know that I am going to have a great time. I have recently stepped up in that group and am an officer now, and do some of the planning for these events we attend. I really enjoy contributing to the group, and I know that it will help me solidify my relationships with the faculty in my department. I NEED GOOD REFERENCES!!!

As for everything else… More of the same. Which, in and of itself, isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

-=brett=-

The light…

bretthperkins — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:18:02 +0000

So, I registered for classes and all, and I thought that I had to keep 12 hours, but guess what!?!? I don’t!!! I am registered for only 9 hours!!! That’s it, folks… 3 classes and I am done!!! I am absolutely thrilled!!! The classes that I still have to take are going to be demanding, but I am sure I will do fine. I have to take Web Oriented Programming, which I think is actually going to be very fun. My buddy Karl is in it with me, he and I get along well and we work well together, so we’ll be working a lot together in that class. He is in my other two classes, too. After that class is my Decision Science Techniques class, which is essentially uber-advanced Excel. This class will be challenging, but I think I am going to do just fine. I have a massive break and then I have Business Policy, which is the last class that you take as an undergrad for the School of Business. This class will be a lot of research. Of the three, I dislike the last one most. BUT, I am going to get through this semester with no problem, I predict.

Its a little poetic, but when I started MTSU back in 2002, my very first class was ENGL-1010, and it was in BAS S262. This, my last semester of school, I am taking the last class that you take with my curriculum, BUAD 4980 (Policy) and it is in BAS S262. It is like I have come full circle. I started school at 20 years old, knowing almost nothing compared to what I know now… And I leave through the same room I entered ready to take on the world.

Its scary… I know that I will do well, I am not concerned about being able to make it, but I fear what will become of me. Will I change? Of course, that is a silly question… Of course I will change. I change a little bit every day. I honestly don’t know how I am going to handle NOT being in school… It has been that way since I can remember. School, Work, then time for me. I am very much looking forward to having my ME time, but I think that I will need to get a second job to make up for all the money I am going to have to start paying back… I borrowed SO much money. I don’t regret doing it, but I know it will be a struggle to pay it back. Getting a better job beyond Wal-Mart will help. I will probably get a second job, part-time, just to make a lil extra and eat up some of my time. I don’t know, though.

I have a lot of decisions to make, but none are that pressing at the moment. I do know that I am going to begin looking for a job this semester, and I will be attending some serious Job Fairs. Opportunity will be knocking, and I plan on being “home” to let it in.

-=brett=-

Wow. . . its been a few days.

bretthperkins — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:14:21 +0000

Where to start. . .

The semester is over, thank God (or whoever is in charge up there)!!! I am relieved, yet nervous. I graduate college in 5 months. Its a very unsettling feeling to know that your life is about to make that drastic change from everything that you have ever known into everything that you have waited for. Since I can remember, I have dreamed about what my life will be like when I am all grown up. While I am still very much youthful, I have to now make decisions about where I am going with my life, and I have to decide how I am to get there. I still have some time, and there are plenty of opportunities, but its still that scary thought that I will be very much on my own. No loans, no school, and no excuses… It will be make or break… I just hope I will be ready.

On another school-related note… I got a 199 out of 100 on my Final C# Program, meaning that I essentially aced it, and then some. I am really glad that he gave me the score he did because I had missed an assignment due to an illness and that grade pushed what would have been a D to a B+. I worked almost 40 hours on that program, and I wanted to prove to him that it really worked and I really understand the concepts that he taught. Apparently, he got the message.

Work has been about the same as usual, except that I made a really dumb mistake and almost got into some serious trouble, but it all blew over. Apparently someone up there likes me.

Other than all of that, nothing really significant has happened… Eric gave me my X-mas gift a few days early, on the day that I found out I was in trouble at work. I’m not sure if he knows it, and I am really bad at articulating how much something means to me, but it really made my day. Not so much that he gave me something, but that he wanted to make me feel better. He’s really good at that making me feel better thing. It’s no wonder that he means as much as he means to me.

In the hands of my destiny, I place my faith.
For that is the only way.

-=brett=-