"Art"

I don't like my art class. At all. It is a required class for Digital Media Arts and Design and I can tell you right now that I am not learning anything relevant to my major.


Our professor studied architecture quite while back and never learned to use AutoCAD (the program now used for architecture) and has refused to. So basically, he isn't a computer person at all. Except the few people taking the class for fun, the entire class is made up of only Digital Media Arts and Design students; in other words: graphic designers, who use the computer.
Our class is two hours long twice a week and he reads us the whole book that we got for the class. He talks a lot, but nearly everything is coming straight from the book. Because of this it's really difficult to even pay attention. 
There is no room for creativity in that class at all. At the beginning of the semester, he told us he wants us all to buy a sketch book for the class and use it to write down assignments, take notes, draw sketches etc. I am a terrible perfectionist and when it comes to writing, the paper must be lined. Why can't I use lined paper to write down my assignments and put it in the binder I use for my classes and then draw my sketches in the sketch book?! Also, he asked us this before anyone got their grants. So he is expecting us to spend 10 bucks + on a sketchbook we will waste for a single class. We are college students. I don't believe we should be told EXACTLY how to do everything, what pencils to use, what brand of paint. My goodness.
When he has us write down our assignments, he goes completely overboard. One assignment takes up a full page in my notebook. It's explained in so much detail, to narrow the whole thing down so that I'd do it right, I might take up just the first few lines in my notebook. Basically:


"You can use pencil, crayon, pen, colored pencil (but don't use this and that brand because I find that the lead breaks off when you sharpen the pencils. They also aren't a very high quality and don't quite do what they are supposed to. As far as crayons go, I would prefer you to use Crayola over Rose Art because Crayola has less wax then Rose Art and they tend to melt............)"
Congratulations. You have turned what should have been a short sentence into an essay. Make sure to pick up your gold star before you leave. >.< 


The projects also really limit our creativity, at least the ones so far. He assigned us recently to make a sculpture along the lines of Louise Nevelson, who my professor loves, which makes sense, since her art is basically architecture. I personally am not the biggest fan of her work, so I wasn't looking forward to the project much anyway. But we weren't allowed to create anything on the computer. We had to take a bunch of junk we found laying around, attach it together and spray paint it black, gray or white. The art class is also mainly 2D design based and he was assigning a 3D design project. o.O 


Our next assignment is to take a bunch of white paper and a pencil, put the white paper on a textured surface and rub with the pencil in order to create a design on the paper. Then we are supposed to look for things in the pencil rubbings, cut them out and create a collage. >.< How is this helping me AT ALL towards my graphic design degree? I might have enjoyed this in Kindergarten, but certainly not in college. It's so frustrating and I am tempted to skip out on this project completely. He will tell us to have fun and be creative, but just don't do this, that, the other thing and whatever else you'd like to do to make the project more to your liking. But have fun!! 


I don't understand why one must be so single-minded, ESPECIALLY when it comes to art. I had an art teacher last semester who said on the first day:
"I want you to take what I teach you in this class and apply it to YOUR need for it. I don't care if you paint, draw or use the computer as long as I see elements of what I've taught you and I can see you understand it." 
Awesome! So I did nearly all my projects in Photoshop, learned a TON about the program and learned the principles of what was being taught as well! And she even asked questions about the program, because she was eager to learn, even though she was a painter. I thought it was awesome. I really learned a lot. But the art class I am taking now doesn't allow me to do anything I am at the college for. Anything foreign to my professor is discouraged. Wouldn't it be more interesting to see so many different aspects of one type of design? It would make the class so much more fun, even for our professor to see people come up with things that he might not have even encountered or considered before. 

My College Experience

When I first moved here, I only had a brief idea about how high school and college work. They were completely different systems than I was used to...it was all Greek to me. I'd never had a locker, the same classes every day or the ability to drive to school in my own car and have a parking space. After looking into college and what I wanted to major in, I didn't even know what a credit hour was. I really had no clue.

I spent the first several months in the US talking to people at the school's financial aid office, which was a complete nightmare. Since my parents were overseas and not supporting me financially, I had to apply for financial aid in order to pay for my books and tuition. Because of all of these "special circumstances", I had to have someone at the Financial Aid office actually fill out my FAFSA (The Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for me, in order to get any financial aid in the first place, since none of my given information was being accepted. I believe the FAFSA didn't even give me the option to list a foreign country as a place I'd previously lived.

I spent the longest time doing "research" and broadening my knowledge about college and which grants and scholarships I'd be eligible for. 

I have now started my third semester in college, and am in the DMAD (Digital Media Arts and Design) program. Although the classes are VERY demanding and time consuming, I absolutely love the program - the classes have taught me so much and our main instructor is just awesome. This is just a general idea of what a weekday in my life as a college student looks like:

8:45 AM Alarm goes off, usually playing Nirvana or Sublime. I press the snooze button.

8:54 AM Alarm reminds me again to get up. I press the snooze button.

9:03 AM "I'll just press snooze one more time..." Z...z...z...

9:12 AM "I'll get up in fifteen seconds. one...two...three...four...five....six...seven...eight...nine...ten...eleven...twelve...thirteen...fourteen...fifteen...fifteen...fifteen...fifteen..."

9:15 - 9:40 AM I roll out of bed and creep to the bathroom, get dressed and ready for the day. I try to force down a banana and finish packing up my backpack.

9:40 - 9:45 AM "WHERE are my F***ING KEYS?!"

9:45 - 9:55 AM I drive to school and chat with Mike...usually about the drivers who have apparently gotten their license out of a gumball machine at the mall. 

10:00 - 4:20 AM/PM Sitting in class, (minus the lunch break in between the first and second class, which I spend at home with Mike watching South Park) usually wishing I hadn't put in contacts, since I would spend the majority of the day staring at a computer screen. Luckily, most all of the time, the classes I take require less verbal and more physical participation, which means I can listen while drifting off into my world of imagination and creativity and not have to worry about getting in trouble for it. I remember the times when doodling or drawing in class as an absolute no. Now, it is encouraged, as long as it is along the lines of what is being taught and discussed. 

On Mondays and Wednesdays I only have one two hour class from 10 AM to noon, so afterwards I use that time to do some homework or skype with friends or family overseas when I can. 

4:30 - 6:30 PM "Free Time". This doesn't mean I can do whatever the hell I want. It means I can choose freely in what order I want to do what. It can be anything from homework (which it most always is) to running errands. On occasion, I will spend time with a friend, but that is fairly rare during the semester. Unless on vacation, in most all cases this time is spent doing homework, since we have so much of it. When I have several projects at the same time, I usually have just enough time to use the bathroom in between. Sleeping is kept to a minimum and eating meals usually takes place while I'm working. There are some days that I spend around 6 hours or more on homework, because I will not allow myself to do "the bare minimum." If I am not happy with a project, I won't stop working until I am certain I will get an A.

6:30 - 7:30 PM Either go out to grab dinner with Mike and his family or eat dinner at the house. Sometimes even eat dinner while I'm working, as I mentioned before.

7:30 - ??? PM/AM I take this time to continue my homework or other side projects. As you can tell, I am not at ALL a morning person, so this time of day is actually when I work best. My mind is most active and I like the peace and quiet at night. If I happen to have finished everything I need to get done for the day, Mike and I watch a movie together or I curl up and read a book before bedtime.

On Weekends, often times our instructors give us big assignments, so I spend the time I have all day to work on a project in one sitting. When I am really on a roll, I have a hard time quitting what I am doing. I just want to keep working until I'm done. So if I need to sit down for 8 or more hours at a time, the weekend is really good for that. When I can, I do like to get out a little bit and see some friends or go to Mike's band practice with him. I also like to spend my weekends getting caught up on the sleep I lost in the past week from being up until all hours of the night or pulling all-nighters doing homework.

I've found that time in college can be a great mixture of things:

It can be a fresh start: Generally, you won't know anyone at all when going to college, so you will have a completely clean slate. Nobody will know that you're the one who passed out in gym class or that you were once a band geek with braces. It will be an opportunity to meet new people and start from scratch. You will also be able to find new groups of people, who share your interests and goals; people you can really relate to and who can also really relate to you.  

It can be a great and important experience: You will finally be able to figure out which direction you want to go and who you really are. You will be able to express yourself in many ways you weren't able to before. If you are staying in a dorm at a four year college, you will often times encounter things you never have before, since you've (in most cases) been dependent on other people all your life, so you will learn what amount of detergent you need for a load of laundry, not to put aluminum foil in the microwave and why your parents were so anal about you not staying up until all hours of the night. 

It can be a challenge: With all this new freedom, you are now responsible to discipline yourself. You need to know for yourself if it's okay to stay up until 3 AM or if you can afford to go to that big party instead of putting off studying or homework. It's a time of trial and error. Some people are better prepared from previous experiences and some people are just learning.

From my experience: College is not a big party. It is not like it is in those cheesy American teen movies about parties, relationships, sororities and fraternities. College is some serious business. That of course doesn't mean that you can't have fun or go to a party once in a while. But if you came to college to Party, good luck finding a job. In all seriousness. If you really want a degree and good grades and perhaps even to be on honor roll, you are going to be sitting at your desk on your butt studying and doing homework the majority of your time spent in college. And trust me, it pays off and it feels really good to see your high GPA after all that hard work.

College has also really helped me learn that when I have my mind set to something, I am capable of much more than I was aware of. I am a much happier person than I was before I started college, because I have found something I am really good at. Taking classes that I enjoy and have talent in really give me hope and let me shine in a way that I wasn't able to while taking classes I hated back in "high school". 

I am sure that my experiences are much different from yours. This is only my perspective. How is/was your college experience? What did you love, what did you hate? If you aren't in college anymore, is there anything you miss or don't miss so much? What was/were the most important lessons your learned while in college? Feel free to comment. :)