Beginning to feel settled

I just finished my second day of classes. Grad school is a lot of work. Everyone says it because it's true. In order to maintain funding, students at this university are required to be enrolled in 18 hours of classes every semester. I will graduate with a lot more hours than the catalog says I need. This also means that it's difficult to graduate from this university with just the bare minimum. I'm not interested in the minimum. It's uncomfortable, but growth doesn't come without effort.

I am very grateful that I don't have a job beyond my weekly 10 hours of being a TA. They are having me jump right in to class. I get to assist teaching in a foundations course. I haven't taken the course that allows me to be the instructor of record, but they set up my TA position so that I can team-teach with the professor (to an extent). Even though I have a positive impression of how it will play out, there are plenty of other things to do just trying to keep up with classes.

It was daunting at first, but I finally got all of my classes lined up for this semester. I'm not officially enrolled in all of them, but the only obstacle is completing paperwork. My schedule was largely determined by classes I'll need that are not offered every semester (or sometimes even not even every year). Since I would like to get some deeper teaching experience, I'm taking the class on Pedagogy. Contemporary Art History is going to require a lot of reading and writing. I think taking it now rather than my third year will allow me to examine how critics and historians view and judge art of today, thus helping me strengthen my practice sooner rather than later. I'm taking a Painting seminar on other ways painters engage with the art world as professionals. I am hoping this will help me learn how to build networks, something I'm terrible at right now. Those three classes are only seven of my credit hours.

The other 11 semester hours will be studio classes. I'm putting it all into the regular studio painting class and an independent with one of the other painting profs. The independent will let me get a voice critiquing my work that I wouldn't otherwise hear. I need to get going because my first studio visit is in two weeks.

In my undergrad experience, most studio classes met for 3 hours a day, five days a week. Here we meet much less often, but the onus is on me to make sure I am producing work in quantity and quality to justify signing up for so many hours. I wasn't sure if I would be better off doing all painting or mixing another medium into my hours, but both professors and students recommended breaking it down the way I did.

It's great to have so many other people here who are willing to help. Second and third year MFA students are happy for a chance to assist someone in navigating the problems they've just conquered. Profs really like helping the grads out because they rely on us and also let them consider art on a deeper level than the undergrads generally do.

I still feel anxious about my work and how it will be received. I have to put a 12 minute presentation together to introduce my work, process, and intent to my peers. I hope it goes well. I almost expect them to decide that they were wrong about my work and that I will have to go home. I'm thinking that less as things settle. After introducing my work and seeing others', my nerves should loosen up some.

My wife has just started her PhD. Her professors keep telling her that everyone feels like a fraud at the beginning. I hope I don't keep feeling that way very long. I'm guessing the best way to overcome that is to make more work.

Orientation is over

note: I wrote this yesterday (Friday) but didn't have a connection to post it until today. References to days are all a day off.

I had expected graduate orientation to be full of useful information, just like my undergrad orientation was 20 years ago. For the most part, it was not. There were two main points: don't cheat and maintain good academic standing. Perhaps the lack of other information was their way of letting us all know that it's all up to us to figure out how to make it go. While there are many people who are willing to help, they are all far to busy to ask us if we need assistance. If we do, it is up to us to seek them.

Yesterday (Thursday) was the general orientation. They told us a lot of things that seemed more to cover their checklist of things to be able to say they told us than information we needed in an immediate, practical sense. Need info on parking or getting a student ID? You can probably find it yourself if you ask around or check the website. I haven't handled my parking situation, but I know where to go Monday to get it sorted, which will be easier now that I have my school ID.

Today we had the Art orientation. This had a much different feel. It could be that there are only about 75 students total in the program, versus a few thousand total graduate students. There is a nice community atmosphere, but the thing that stood out to me was a statement one of the professors made: "This is not undergrad 2.0. This is a professional degree." We will be expected to work as hard at our artistic research as a student in any scientific field works. This is not a pass time, it is serious labor. Only those who treat it as such will succeed. It isn't a challenge meant to put us off. It is encouragement that we will succeed if our efforts are properly focused and our priorities thoughtfully considered.

Separation is not my favorite thing

Wednesday was the day I drove down to Athens to take possession of my apartment. I didn't think it was going to be that difficult. Though I didn't relish the idea of leaving my wife in Columbus, things felt really ok at first. I knew I was taking necessary steps for my personal and professional growth. It became difficult when I got to the point of putting things in my car. That's when the reality of the separation hit me.

I cried when I got out onto the road. We had the opportunity over the past summer to spend a lot of time together, to re-strengthen our bond. To anyone who doesn't know me personally, I love my wife as much as I understand how to love another human being. She is my best friend. That said, we are both taking steps to make things better beyond just our relationship. It requires that we focus on our professional and academic development to be ready for the next phase of our life together.

First Orientation

First Post.

I am about to start an MFA in painting. That's not completely true. I've been thinking about it for several years and actively trying to get into a program for a couple. I applied to four schools, but was accepted only to one. If it weren't for the fact that I really like the school I got into, I'd lament I didn't apply to more schools.

There are a few orientation events this week. I attended the first that relates to me today. It was a general introduction to being a TA. While I can't say it was the most interesting meeting I've ever attended, it was full of things that I need to know. Toward the end they even got into a little pedagogy, which is great since I'm scheduled as the TA for a class this coming Monday.

Part of what makes this interesting is that my wife is attending school in the city where we live to get a PhD in Education. The school I'm attending is about an hour and a half away. The drive down was all foggy, which was a great metaphor for this experience. While beautiful, I couldn't see what was very far ahead of me. That's good. I can focus on what's happening now.

Tomorrow I go back to take possession of the apartment I'm using as a base during the week. Hopefully there aren't too many surprises.