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[Urist McScoopbeard]

Yarp. I'd say my biggest goal outside of learning and regular academic achievement is just to make as much as possible portfolio-worthy content. Seriously, in the wake of a bunch of therapy and ADHD/Anxiety/OCD stuff, I've really tried to work making something every day intrinsically into my schedule.

[Retropunch]

Yarp. I'd say my biggest goal outside of learning and regular academic achievement is just to make as much as possible portfolio-worthy content. Seriously, in the wake of a bunch of therapy and ADHD/Anxiety/OCD stuff, I've really tried to work making something every day intrinsically into my schedule.

Good to hear. Something that it may be worth keeping in mind is that I know a lot of my more creative friends have gotten others to choose their portfolio, or at least make recommendations (that they have taken really seriously) out of the body of work they have. It's very easy to think that a piece you like because of personal reasons/reasons unknowable to the viewer is great, whereas others may not be able to see that.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Ya, very true--I've personally experienced thinking something is good and then revisiting it later and being like, why would I ever put that in a portfolio? Luckily, portfolio days are a thing and hopefully I'll have plenty of people to check me at SCAD.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Right, so I move into my SCAD quarters Tuesday! Very exciting, a little nerve-wracking with all that's happened and all that could happen (for good or for ill).

I've got some plans on how to organize myself (scheduling out my assignments up front, keeping a daily schedule, doing SOMETHING every day, therapy, tutors, et al.) but going back to school... Well, it's a bit different, and I absolutely need to hit it out of the park. So I was just curious if any Bay12ers have any artistic, networking, or study habit advice for me now that I'm diving back in? Or even just advice on keeping your apartment clean, cooking, etc?

[Retropunch]

Right, so I move into my SCAD quarters Tuesday! Very exciting, a little nerve-wracking with all that's happened and all that could happen (for good or for ill).

I've got some plans on how to organize myself (scheduling out my assignments up front, keeping a daily schedule, doing SOMETHING every day, therapy, tutors, et al.) but going back to school... Well, it's a bit different, and I absolutely need to hit it out of the park. So I was just curious if any Bay12ers have any artistic, networking, or study habit advice for me now that I'm diving back in? Or even just advice on keeping your apartment clean, cooking, etc?

Learn to cook as your absolute first priority - it will save both your health and bank balance. Also, no matter how bad your day has been, coming home to fantastic food will cheer you up (it also helps no end in any romancing you may do!). Once you've got a few recipes down that you really like, you can start buying your main ingredients in bulk which is way cheaper, and you'll be able to prepare meals in advance. There are tons of recipe sites, but you can't go wrong with BBC Food and Jamie Oliver (as much as he grates on me).

I'd also strongly suggest the gym. Even if you're not a 'gym' person, it'll keep you healthy, more energetic and happy as well as help deal with stress. Getting a one off personal trainer session will sort you out if you're not sure what to do/need a plan. It's especially important at college where it's easy to just sit around all day not doing a lot. If you've got any health issues you can chat to them about it and they'll tailor something to you.

Lastly, make yourself a really good to-do list. You might think of programming your own as a bit of tech experience, but find something that works for you and use it religiously. Whilst not something I've done, I know a friend who teaches fine art, and they recommend that each morning when a student wakes up they put a fresh sheet of paper out on their desk, and that they fill it with *something* even if it's just 'I hate studying'. She's had a lot of good feedback on it.

Those things together will keep you in the best possible place to deal with studying, and keep you in the zone. Remember that motivation is nothing compared to discipline. We have a weird culture around motivation being the key to success - it's in all our films and media, but it's discipline that actually works.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Thing's on my plate:

Working especially hard to stay ahead of/on top of my schoolwork since I have no idea if I will be prescribed any kind of medication anytime soon nor do I know how long I will be able to stay in therapy (just speculation, but hey, I could have to look outside of SCAD to get a weekly therapist). Goal is straight A's. Gotta put in the work.

Kinda nervous about orientation tomorrow, I live alone and will have to make friends the good ole fashioned way. (The plus side is, when I was a real freshman my roommate was my age now lol, so I know exactly how he felt.)

Made myself some awesome food and should be set for a while. Am excited to A.) continue cooking, which I love, and B.) keep trying new recipes for big portion meals.

Am also slightly nervous about my therapy appointment, it seems (understandably) a little more... formal? Than my small-town therapy. Not sure what to expect.

Excited to start classes, I'm pumped to be improving myself in general and also working towards something again.

P.S. I don't expect people to respond to every post I make here, it just helps to kind of journal things now that I'm on my own--and commentary that DOES arise has been consistently helpful.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

First day == great success

Even made a friend! Woot.

A little worried about my work load... but I'm back to (hopefully) regular therapy tomorrow, so hopefully that will help. SO excited to get into my projects, but I am... unsure if I can keep up the pace here at SCAD (in my current state). At least I know what I want to accomplish and take some pride in the fact that I'm going in the right direction.

EDIT: I might consider dropping down to a part time student to cope... I think I am realizing there is simply an effective limit to the work I can juggle at one time. That is... not my first option, but... SCAD, all this education, is not worth it if I'm not getting straight A's.

[Retropunch]

EDIT: I might consider dropping down to a part time student to cope... I think I am realizing there is simply an effective limit to the work I can juggle at one time. That is... not my first option, but... SCAD, all this education, is not worth it if I'm not getting straight A's.

Don't. Or don't unless you have something else to fill your time with (like a placement or volunteering or something) - you'll just end up becoming lazy/not as dedicated as you should be. Everyone I went through education with that swapped to part time did worse in the end. It sounds as though you'll have more time to dedicate to the work, but you'll just end up procrastinating.

More than that, when you go for jobs they'll ask you why you went part time. Remember that college is easy mode (even if you're doing something applied physics) so having on record that you can only manage to do it part time doesn't look good. It's fine if you decided to do part time because you had a side job, or you wanted to get industry experience or whatever but not just because you wanted a more leisurely pace.

Part time will look way worse than a few B's and C's

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Well I certainly didn't think about that. Unfortunately drop/add is perilously short here so... guess we'll just have to see how the semester goes.

On the other hand, I should have an appointment for medication evaluation some time in the next month.

And it's not a few B's and C's, it's at least one every semester/quarter, if we're going off my records.

[Doomblade187]

Well I certainly didn't think about that. Unfortunately drop/add is perilously short here so... guess we'll just have to see how the semester goes.

On the other hand, I should have an appointment for medication evaluation some time in the next month.

And it's not a few B's and C's, it's at least one every semester/quarter, if we're going off my records.

So, a note on GPA.

In my field at least, and definitely moreso in yours, nobody cares about your college GPA after your first job post-college. My report cards consist primarily of B's and C's. This has limited me in applying to some companies, but almost every company will ignore your GPA coming out of college if you have an extremely strong resume.

I am a STEM major, but remember- your GPA doesn't define you.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Hahaha, damn you're right of course. Just kinda overthinking things as usual.

(still an awkward time with the parental units ofc)

[Doomblade187]

Hahaha, damn you're right of course. Just kinda overthinking things as usual.

(still an awkward time with the parental units ofc)

Well, of course it will be awkward with the parents. :3

You should make sure you visit the career center, assuming there is one. They know a lot more than me.

[Retropunch]

Doomblade is spot on that no one cares about GPA/grades after your first job - and that's in technical fields. I can't imagine they'll care more in creative fields where you're mainly judged on the power of your portfolio.

When I've been looking at hiring people, the thing I care about most (as in, absolutely 100% above all else) is if they're going to be reliable and that's true of most managers/etc. I know.  Not only that, but how you've done stuff sticks around a lot longer than how well you've done it - no one will look at your grade sheet, but they will ask 'why was this only part time', 'why did you retake a year etc.'. 

In terms of dropping a few grades, I strongly stick by the motto of 'perfection is the enemy of good' - showing me you've got straight A's isn't anywhere like as important as showing me you can manage your time well, work under pressure and keep going when it all gets a bit hairy.

[choppy]

Doomblade is spot on that no one cares about GPA/grades after your first job - and that's in technical fields. I can't imagine they'll care more in creative fields where you're mainly judged on the power of your portfolio.

When I've been looking at hiring people, the thing I care about most (as in, absolutely 100% above all else) is if they're going to be reliable and that's true of most managers/etc. I know.  Not only that, but how you've done stuff sticks around a lot longer than how well you've done it - no one will look at your grade sheet, but they will ask 'why was this only part time', 'why did you retake a year etc.'. 

In terms of dropping a few grades, I strongly stick by the motto of 'perfection is the enemy of good' - showing me you've got straight A's isn't anywhere like as important as showing me you can manage your time well, work under pressure and keep going when it all gets a bit hairy.

hey, I wanted to pop in and say thank you for this. I am having some issues with my English class and this helped.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Okay! I made it through my first week of classes and it was not as bad as I feared (in fact, I gave a speech which was not terrible, a big fuckin plus in my book), in fact, after doing a good amount of drawing and design work already, my confidence is starting to come back to me. It's start kinda hard to get started/stay focused on some stuff, but it looks like I'll be able to keep pace.

I still worry about when things inevitably get ratcheted up to 11, but that is what the therapy and (hopefully, down the line) meds will be for.