SuperQUICKupdate.

It is amazing. The school is amazing. Everything about it and THEN some.

Think of every metaphor for starting something that will change your life, that is this feeling I have.

Mark this moment as the first time I have been scared in 2012. Not for my life, health, or well being. But for my future. 

I am scared because the looming cloud of Art Center that has been over my head since I opted to move, start the blog, and document as much as I could, is about to clear and the curtain of mystery that is the experience of Art Center College. I debated at length doing separate entries all last week during orientation to document the process in as much detail as I could. However, when I was thinking about the aforementioned mystery, I would inadvertently cheapen the experience at my expense. How classless of me. So for those of you who have come here for me to do that - just apply and get accepted so YOU can experience it. Trust me its worth the wait. 

I will go ahead and touch on different points though that don't cheapen the deal but are a nice dynamic of orientation though. 

-I am glad myself and my partner in crime for the past 2 years have separated ourselves from the pack a little and took care of the business that administration wanted us to do before first week. Like parking pass info for car, after-hours passes for working on campus, and completing financial information ASAP to free up any outstanding questions the Admissions or financial aid department may be requesting. 

Tuition PER TERM (14 Weeks) is $17,000.

There will be 8 terms total.

While you're letting that number digest (trust me I wanted to throw myself down a flight of stairs) Ill throw some other neat information into the mix. 

Out of 350 people who applied for the Spring term semester, 175 were accepted across all the majors Art Center offers. 

22 Students will be in my class including myself. 

16 of those are from out of the country. Those 16 do not speak American English well (the only way that it matters is because when it comes time for a critique, keeping the dynamic moving forward will be difficult.) For the record I am not against an international classroom setting, because it is a true test as to being malleable for different business relationships and environments. 

only 20 showed up to orientation, so there is a possibility that only 20 will be the final number. 

The initial class load given is 7 classes and 19 credits. It was recommended that I drop one class in order to maintain a pulse. 

The average student takes a term off for either a break away from school or internship past the fourth term. 

So why am I scared? 

A couple of reasons are that I will probably not update this blog for the next fourteen weeks and because my first class is tomorrow and so starts the first of eight (to nine) terms of me becoming an actual car designer. An individual who, for lack of a better way of saying it, can dictate the buying decisions of thousands of people who make purchasing decisions on their modes of transportation based on looks alone. That is insane. That is the business. 

Also, I love that I have been able to be honest. To be raw and sometimes even emotional about subjects and difficulties of doing this. The toll 2 and a half years of full-on stress can do to your body and the fact that I have 3-4 years left. With that, the only amount of honesty I can provide is that I had a business project formulate last fall that I had to sign my very first NDA. An NDA is a Non-Disclosure Agreement. 

A NDA means that once you sign it, you cannot talk about whatever you had to sign it for. Its almost humorous that you're bound to secrecy for business sake. The reward is the networking and, hopefully, financial gain that you can get from it. Good luck to those who have the opportunity to sign one and hopefully work on wonderful projects. 

The NDA is what has kept me from sharing stories with you. I will say that success is best enjoyed in the moment and looking forward to the next step. So, Its with an honest apology that I can't share with you an event that would be made for this blog.  (holding my glass of coffee up) To the future!

Onward I go then, into my night of sleep, waking up to the morning of the greatest single change of my entire life. I hope my grandfather will be with me in spirit tomorrow. I hope my grandmother will think of me when she wakes up, instead of the confusion I am sure she normally feels. I hope my mom proudly tells her friends and her networks that her son is making her proud, and I hope when my dad is flying across the globe, he knows his son listens to his advice and tries to create a path that hasn't been created yet and that I am working hard to set in stone my future. I hope my friends know that, although I may be flawed, that I have their back and I hope they have mine. Now and in the future. 

Significance of Two

Two years ago this month I landed in the great neat state of California to begin basic art classes and build myself up to eventually apply to Art Center. Initially thinking it would take a year of preparation and classes, ended up leading to two years, 17 classes and some sort of headache.

I say headache because theres no gradual increase of 'standards in art' from the time you start to 2 years in. One day you're sort of taking it day by day then all of the sudden you are holding yourself accountable 2-4 weeks at a time when it comes to managing time with anything (working on assignments, laundry, eating, showering, sleeping, socializing).  I have to say that this becomes overwhelming at times and quite frankly exhausting. Speaking from my life everyday for 600 some-odd days now, you hold yourself to a certain standard with every project and you work hard to progress and the key is to progress quickly and if the talent isn't growing at the rate to which you would like or expect (which it usually never does) I personally get really pissed off. I get mad that I don't quite understand yet or my patience for formality in forming a great piece of art/design work isn't up to MY standards.

This summer is one of those shining examples as to why I feel like taking on the challenge of three classes ended up blowing up in my face by way of stretching myself too thin. I want to create substantial work for every class but there came a point and time when I just honestly didn't care how it turned out as long as the deliverables were met. So think of it as an almost point-of-regression where I am sitting there mad as hell looking down at my paper wondering where I drew such awful lines! Like many students (if not all of them), I love getting recognition for technique, ingenuity, and neat problem solving but it seriously fell off once I picked up Transportainment. I was unbelievably exhausted artistically and it was because I was too worried about making everyone happy and being perfect. If I was perfect I wouldn't be here. Thats what I need to remember. I just get frustrated, I feel, more than most.

SO-
this is the last week for summer ACN classes and I'm sitting at school wrangling these last few loose ends up. Wish me luck, because as soon as thats over I must assemble my entire portfolio for submission on October 1.

(ill let you in on a little secret)

I have never been so scared for my personal future and yet so confident in knowing that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, in my entire life. I feel so lucky. I feel very blessed. I don't thank my friends and family enough, but I love them and I really wish my grandfather were still here to be as excited as me and wish me luck. I know he is with me in sprit though.

At the end of the day though I am scared. Im scared because I want success and I want that to be exemplified by my actions and my words. I want to be as happy where I AM on the way to where I am going.

talk to you soon

-B

2 years. what can you learn?

Trust no one but yourself because at the end of the day that is all you have. You have to be confident and in control because this is your future. No anyone else's.