dear students,

I can see (from here in this forum and other means) that many of you are already feeling the bittersweet wistfulness of ending a summer of TIC at ATDP. So now can you see why so many former TIC students over the years have come back, to be TAs, mentors, and teachers of the class? :-)

But as I've said every summer to ten generations of TIC/AIC/TVA students: TIC is not ending. The summer was only a beginning, and now you have this online community to look forward to, and rely on. And perhaps the get-togethers that some of you will have throughout the coming schoolyear.

Remember what I said in the beginning? TIC is a classroom without walls... and now you know exactly what that means. Your learning will continue, along with the friendships you've made, long after this summer at the Tolman Hall computer lab will have become a memory.

However, to thoroughly fix these memories in your minds, I'm starting this thread, where I'll be posting some particularly lovely photos taken over the past six weeks. I'm starting with this one:

Those of you in the afternoon section might have seen me playing with this odd lens on my borrowed Nikon dSLR. It's a little bellows-like tube, which you can flex thisaway and that, forward and backward, until you get the focus or blur effect that you want. Of course you can do such effects with Photoshop post-processing, but it's really neat to capture such an image directly.

The above image is the original, un-edited version on the camera. I love how it isolates an area of the photo--in this case, Alex and YiYi--and renders the rest motion-blurry. But I mostly love how it perfectly captures the moment, in which two of your beloved TAs are smiling at something, happy and content. Like an impressionistic painting, almost.

I'll have more images to post here, so stay tuned.

~ Lloyd

p.s.: comments and reflections here very much welcomed! ^_^

1. I love that picture. :D

2. I'm going to miss TIC soooo much. D: Everyone has to meet over the school year a billion times. :P

3. Does anyone else feel like TIC has become a HUGE part of their lives? [even more than huge. GARGANTUAN.]

Lloyd you take amazing pictures, The emotion and thought in the picture has really made me feel...*sob*...It's just amazing and TIC has been awesome

Dunno about you guys, but this one makes me tear up for some reason. My dear, sweet Cindy... we miss you already! You've grown up so wonderfully. Remember when you were, uhm, shy? ::chuckle::

Shy? Hardly. Maybe for the first week or two of AIC. :/ *hmmm* I remember how it felt to not know anyone in the class but everyone was surprisingly nice and welcoming. I'm sure a lot of the TIC students felt that way, too.
___

Public education out the window, indeed. ^__^

omg this is gonna make regular school considered like, not even school

PUBLIC EDUCATION OUT THE WINDOW, INDEED. :D

Regular school is considered prison after being in TIC.

lloyd! don't make me cry!

i've been reading the student logs and i'm really touched by what you guys are saying your TIC experience and your new friend. i'm gonna miss you all, but we'll be seeing you online and during future summers, right? RIGHT?!

=)