Can this be done?

March 5th, 2012
Today you could definitely feel the stress in the air. Everyone was in panic mode about the video and it was evident that no one was confident in believing that we could pull this off in only two weeks and impress Jimmy by a flawless video that was similar to that of the video Kali Nikitas' showed us for Otis' graduate program. Right at the beginning of class we proposed to Jimmy that we should create the video as a class that way it would have better quality and be a more collaborative effort; moreover, we were sure that doing it with only two people was virtually impossible and unachievable. Jimmy kind of explained that we were copping out and that we were over thinking the project. He reassured us that we should focus on one aspectof the program and to stop being so literal and really think about what we wanted to convey. He even stepped out of the room for most of the class period and allowed us to have some much needed discussion about what we liked and disliked about the graphic design/visual communication program at Cal State LA. I must say there seemed to be way more dislikes than likes towards the beginning of the conversation. Many felt dissatisfied with the knowledge and feedback they gained from professors, most were dissatisfied with the poor facilities and unreliable lab equipment, and I can say everyone was annoyed by the fact we only really have two professors that teach in the program. After getting the bad blood out on the table, we began to really reflect on why the program is so great despite all the negative feelings.

Everyone agreed that the self learning and forced independence of student from teacher forced us to grow and learn more rapidly. It also created a more family aspect among students causing our classmates to often be our critics and our teachers. The self learning caused for more self growth and that has been very evident in almost everyones' work. We were really able to talk out our feelings and realize how great the program is after all, although there is a lot of room for improvement it seems to be getting better every year.