so i began writing down awards and achievements today. i realized there are a lot of bullshit things that "distinguish" people, like how i get recognition from like 7 different people for my good grades. this whole pressure to do perfect is crazy. i'm so glad i am not fully succumbing to it and am taking classes that make me happy this year.
besides my list of awards and achievements (which has the most random things at the moment), i have been looking at my list of colleges and finishing a chart i started about the schools i'm applying to. this chart involves showing the enrollment, if they have ceramics, if they have illustration, where they are, and their deadlines. my mother and i choose these columns based on what i was looking for in a school (highly recommend this method to people, it has helped me eliminate three schools, including PNCA today for being too small).
my current dilemma is over NSCAD and Maine College of Art (MECA) because i eliminated MECA for it only having about 424 students. i completely love MECA, it's in Portland, Maine that is beautiful and i liked what i saw when i toured it many years ago. for disliking the idea of that small number of kids, it seems unfair for me to keep NSCAD around, which has 798 students just because i seem so enamored by the idea of it. perhaps i am swept up in the magic of leaving the united states, which would be lovely beyond belief. i would also be able to visit family i have in maine and massachusetts more often via ferry and such. though seeing family would be easier if i went to MECA or Mass Art because my granddad was a temporary president at MECA and my grandparents live in portland and my aunt lives in boston.
current first choice art school:
MICA
current first choice liberal art schools:
Oberlin
Syracuse
Puget Sound
Saturday, September 5, 2009
the picture
looking at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) and totally fell in love with this picture of Halifax on the website. i am so putting this school on my list.
i added up expenses to go here based on what they say on the website and it would be 24,640 a year. this is looking mighty attractive.
alas, all good things must come to an end. as attractive as this school seems, it is small with 798 people, which if i add it, i will feel bad about taking Cornish and MECA off my lists for being small. ARGH!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
the tutorial
we have a forty minute tutorial period at school in which we can get help from teachers or do homework. our administration has decided to use that time for our assemblies, especially our guidance assemblies. today, without any prior warning, we had a guidance assembly about college and "putting our puzzle pieces together."
so cheesy, and they might as well of just given us the handout they handed out and called it quits because they just talked about what was written on the handout. i guess it's nice to be told and not forced to read and the puzzle piece thing is cute, i suppose.
anyway, the only thing i got out of it was stress (some of it good, i am going to work on college stuff with my friends this weekend!) and the sadness that they tell me i should have 5 to 15 schools on my list now and narrow it down to 3 to 8 soon.
this makes me sad because i like my list of schools. i know it will be good to eliminate some, but i am just no sure what to do. should i visit them? should i stop pretending i could get accepted to/stand the cold at Wash U or Syracuse?
lastly, an update on how i feel about colleges right now: antsy, stressed, nervous, excited, and scared. as many have said before me, this is an exciting time for kids, we get to think about our future and make plans and the possibilities are fun to imagine. there's also a stress to it, that involves nasty words, fights, stress, sleep deprivation, and sighs. mostly though, stress is over applications and actually having to choose somewhere because i really enjoy this getting to know myself and letting my imagination create future possibilities.
for now, i am just trying to share more on the whole college shindig. i feel like i should post too much, rather than too little.
so cheesy, and they might as well of just given us the handout they handed out and called it quits because they just talked about what was written on the handout. i guess it's nice to be told and not forced to read and the puzzle piece thing is cute, i suppose.
anyway, the only thing i got out of it was stress (some of it good, i am going to work on college stuff with my friends this weekend!) and the sadness that they tell me i should have 5 to 15 schools on my list now and narrow it down to 3 to 8 soon.
this makes me sad because i like my list of schools. i know it will be good to eliminate some, but i am just no sure what to do. should i visit them? should i stop pretending i could get accepted to/stand the cold at Wash U or Syracuse?
lastly, an update on how i feel about colleges right now: antsy, stressed, nervous, excited, and scared. as many have said before me, this is an exciting time for kids, we get to think about our future and make plans and the possibilities are fun to imagine. there's also a stress to it, that involves nasty words, fights, stress, sleep deprivation, and sighs. mostly though, stress is over applications and actually having to choose somewhere because i really enjoy this getting to know myself and letting my imagination create future possibilities.
for now, i am just trying to share more on the whole college shindig. i feel like i should post too much, rather than too little.
the email
so my granddad (perhaps that is spelled wrong, but i enjoy it more than grandad, cause it lets you know how he is a grand person!) emailed me today and it was all about my college search so here are parts of it, redone for your viewing pleasure!
"i am happily in school right now, with minor stresses in work, little sleep and college. I am taking two art classes to my delight and a metal shop class (not quite as delightful, but am looking forward to new skills and knowledge of how to work with my hands and be useful). I find time to spend with friends in addition to work and relaxing and reading. I also spend usually two extra hours at school in the art room, so I am content as ever.
as for choosing schools, i look at websites and see what they offer, where they are, and how big they are. as for what they offer i desired illustration and ceramics, at most any school i am looking at (granted many liberal arts schools don't offer those majors or programs necessarily). i found a website that provided me with information on schools that had illustration and did a material pick from those based on where they were and if i liked their name, etc. also my school provides me with a search program to find schools based on area and majors and that is how i found the schools in Canada, because I thought "why not look at Canada!?" plus i pay and get to be on their socialist, sweet health care plan, woo!"
i thought sharing this would be nice because i never really explained my process for my list, i don't think. not that the explanation above is all that great, but it gives more of a sense of what i'm up to rather than just a list.
"i am happily in school right now, with minor stresses in work, little sleep and college. I am taking two art classes to my delight and a metal shop class (not quite as delightful, but am looking forward to new skills and knowledge of how to work with my hands and be useful). I find time to spend with friends in addition to work and relaxing and reading. I also spend usually two extra hours at school in the art room, so I am content as ever.
as for choosing schools, i look at websites and see what they offer, where they are, and how big they are. as for what they offer i desired illustration and ceramics, at most any school i am looking at (granted many liberal arts schools don't offer those majors or programs necessarily). i found a website that provided me with information on schools that had illustration and did a material pick from those based on where they were and if i liked their name, etc. also my school provides me with a search program to find schools based on area and majors and that is how i found the schools in Canada, because I thought "why not look at Canada!?" plus i pay and get to be on their socialist, sweet health care plan, woo!"
i thought sharing this would be nice because i never really explained my process for my list, i don't think. not that the explanation above is all that great, but it gives more of a sense of what i'm up to rather than just a list.
Monday, August 31, 2009
the dull panic
i now have two schools to add to my list:
Pacific Northwest college of art (PNCA)
Syracuse
...and i choose yet another school where i can successfully turn myself into an ice cube, yay! but it has ceramics and illustration and it's a liberal arts school.
currently, i find myself stressed and ready to apply RIGHT NOW! i think this has something to do with me procrastinating homework and having a shit-tastic day in art class. so now i am nervous for portfolios and stressed about what to do in art class to enjoy myself and be prepared and i want to apply and there is so much i want to do and so little now. so instead of doing anything productive, i am sitting here writing this.
Pacific Northwest college of art (PNCA)
Syracuse
...and i choose yet another school where i can successfully turn myself into an ice cube, yay! but it has ceramics and illustration and it's a liberal arts school.
currently, i find myself stressed and ready to apply RIGHT NOW! i think this has something to do with me procrastinating homework and having a shit-tastic day in art class. so now i am nervous for portfolios and stressed about what to do in art class to enjoy myself and be prepared and i want to apply and there is so much i want to do and so little now. so instead of doing anything productive, i am sitting here writing this.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
the second list
after a tabfest on the internet (i thought of you, emma, haha), i have narrowed my list down to ten schools i am applying to. there are still a few schools that i could look into and possibly apply to, but at this point, i just want to start applying!
schools i am applying to (names in parentheses is what i will refer to them as in the future!) :
University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC)
University of California Berkeley (Berkeley)
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
Oberlin
Puget Sound
CSU Long Beach (Long Beach)
California College of the Arts (CCA)
Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri (Wash U)
Massachusetts College of Art and Design (Mass Art)
Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD)
as my mother says "we need to look at them still and make sure we didn't fuck up." in other words, my list is not set in stone and my mom is awesome.
and yes, i will leave all of you for Canada and south park will animate me with a annoying head, eh.
schools i am applying to (names in parentheses is what i will refer to them as in the future!) :
University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC)
University of California Berkeley (Berkeley)
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
Oberlin
Puget Sound
CSU Long Beach (Long Beach)
California College of the Arts (CCA)
Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri (Wash U)
Massachusetts College of Art and Design (Mass Art)
Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD)
as my mother says "we need to look at them still and make sure we didn't fuck up." in other words, my list is not set in stone and my mom is awesome.
and yes, i will leave all of you for Canada and south park will animate me with a annoying head, eh.
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