Art School D-Day

There is a disembodied, female robotic voice in my head, calmly and coldly repeating "T-minus 3 days and counting," as my internal world explodes with excitement.  I attended orientation today.

I arrived on the steps of the auditorium, a beautiful old church with a stone facade near Union Square, about a half hour early.  I wasn't the only one; there were several new students already milling around, some with parents, and most generally keeping to themselves.  The building exudes a palpable sort of venerability.  Everything about its architecture says that the things that go on inside are a big deal.  I certainly felt that way.

As I waited for the doors to open, I could immediately pick out the Game Design kids, with their official Companion Cube messenger bags and pixelated tee shirt designs.  Maybe everybody would be that easy to pigeonhole if I had that much in common with them.

When the doors opened and we sat down in the decades-old pews, I could feel the anticipation of my fellow students fill the air around me.  The ambient noise was not the idle chatter of a cafeteria or a typical auditorium. 

The Auditorium fills.

When the first speaker took the podium to introduce the Academy President, Elysa Stephens, and asked the crowd if we were excited, everyone in the audience, myself included, demonstrated an air of uncertainty.  Here we were in this big, austere edifice.  We're allowed to be excited?  This is about us?

Ultimately, it was.  The president's speech focused on opportunity, and how the coming years will change our lives, giving us a chance to make our dreams come true.  She mentioned some statistics and some anecdotes to communicate the school's credibility, but I appreciated the fact that the speech was ultimately about us, the students.

The high light of the presentation was a speech from a member of the Game Design faculty, Michael Buffington, Jr.  He was an engaging speaker who really drove home the idea that the only way for us, artists and designers, to succeed, is through hard work.  He laid a few quotes about this on us, such as "Success is 10% talent, and 90% sweat," and "there are many ways to fail, but only one way to succeed."  He followed each of these up by asking us if we believed them, and interrupting our response with, 'it doesn't matter, because it's true.'  I like Michael Buffington, Jr.  I intend to take a class or two from him.

Next, we had a Q&A session with the head of our department, Nick Villarreal.  Also in attendance was Francis Hsu, a Visual Development faculty member.  Interestingly enough, Nick was in Argentina during this Q&A session, magically projecting his voice and image through this morass of witchdoctory we call the Internet.  Hard work was further emphasized here and some frank and bleak truths were disclosed: the "industry" is kind of crazy right now.  That is to say, video game companies are laying people off or closing, movie studios are erratic in their hiring patterns, and the economically vibrant, fly-by-night world of my childhood is most definitely gone.  The good news is, according to Mr. Hsu, "If your work is good and you're nice, you'll do fine."  As a matter of fact, that was a recurring theme in the session: if your work is good.  It all hinges on that.  Well, at least I've got the 'nice' thing down.

My new classmantes.  Mr. Hsu is at the top-left.

I am girded now for years of intense work.  As far as I'm concerned, this is going to be like getting ready for the Olympics.  I will be breathing art for these coming years.  Keep your eyes on this spot to see it, and to see where it takes me.

In my next few posts, I plan to define Visual Development (the kind of art I'm studying), tell you a little more about the Academy of Art University, and also talk a little about the process of getting money for college.  It was quite a kraken  to wrestle, and I am still wrestling it, but I hope to share its secrets with those in need.

More to come.  Robin out.

EDIT: Fixed a dismembered sentence.  High-level blog magic was necessary, but it has recovered nicely.