lady rainicorn
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Posts posted by lady rainicorn
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I had a really random list that I wanted to accomplish before starting grad school, and somehow (after much time out) managed to hit all of them:
1. contribute some time and effort to cancer-related research
2. explore Korea, its culture and language
3. find biological family
4. develop my teaching pedagogy
5. pay off the bulk of my undergrad loans
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ENTJ!
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Anyone else apply to the AAUW career development grant? I know we won't hear until April, but I was wondering if anyone knew how competitive the it is? Thanks!
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Hi Lzhang917-
I was an ETA in Korea a few years ago, and so I know it's hard. Looking back at the experience, I remember it fondly, but the first 6 months were pretty challenging. I went to Korea with a very limited language facility (and knowing almost nothing about the culture), and so having to learn Korean in my mid 20s was really difficult for me, foreign languages are not my strong point. It's definitely lonely at first. I was stationed in a small factory town in the middle of the country. I also had a very close person in my life pass away my second day of teaching, and had to both mourn and act as a support system from overseas (as you know, I couldn't leave the country to go to the funeral b/c this person wasn't in my immediate family). This made teaching extremely difficult because I had to perform and exhibit a cheerful countenance to the hundreds of middle school students I saw every week. I also had to teach one of the worst classes that had rolled through my school in a while (all the teachers agreed that that particular class of 400 students as a whole was pretty bad behaviorally). That said, the latter half of my grant year was amazing. I was a much better teacher, my language ability went up (with a lot of studying, I took a language class over the winter break), and I was beginning to connect with people in my community more.
Personally, I wouldn't terminate early, unless you experience something really out of the ordinary negative. But what you described so far (alienation, loneliness, housing drama) seemed to be the norm in my year, and I think everyone stayed until the end (and Korea was def NOT for everyone, and some people were able to switch host families). During my grant period, Fulbright admin stressed the importance of not picking up and leaving suddenly b/c it causes a lot of administrative issues for the host school and the relationship between that school and Fulbright. The attitude may be different in your respective host country though, I can only speak for Korea's program. I did consider terminating early b/c of the complicated nature of the person who passed away, but in retrospect now, I am really happy that I stayed in Korea. I even renewed for a second year.
I agree with Torrid that you should talk to the commission in your country. If things really are going beyond the normal amount of isolation/depression that is expected with living abroad in a foreign country, that may warrant a relocation or ultimately the final decision to leave. Only you can decide what is best for you in the end. Your mental health should come first, but make sure you talk it out with people, especially if you have other ETAs you trust. You will probably find that they are having difficulty too.
Best of luck! PM me if you want to!
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Nothing yet... this wait is driving me crazy, especially since I have more free time now to think about it over the winter break. >_<
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I got mine last night too! Gahh, waiting another month, oh the torture!
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Nope, I also haven't received an "application received" email yet either.
@obot, two years ago you didn't receive any notification at all with regards to your final status??? Yikes, that's terrible! Eee, come on interview invites for all of us this year!!
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Yeah, I'm applying for funding for my second year (if you want to talk specific programs, feel free to pm me). I dropped the ball on researching scholarships during my grad application process, partly b/c I honestly didn't think I wasn't going to get into school on my first try. I have also been out of school for some time, and one of my letters was a professional reference, though from a completely different field. I just hope my strange background isn't a weakness!
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Yeah, that was confusing. I didn't realize until too late that we could send a CD in. Though, I included some examples of work in the exhibits section. I feel like for me it's a shot in the dark anyway, especially after reading past fellows' bios, but who knows. When do we find out about interviews?
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Just submitted my application, eeee, the waiting begins! I feel like I am constantly waiting for rejection letters >_<. Anyone else now in the waiting game?
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I'm applying too. I figure I have a shot in hell, but hey, at least it's a chance?!.....
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Exhibition history isn't important, or at least with my experience with the whole admissions process, it wasn't important to the schools I applied to. I have been out of undergrad for 7 years now and got into mfa programs this past application season, but I would say that my art resume isn't terribly impressive. However, depending on the program, I think a rich personal history is more important, or at least beneficial when presenting a story of yourself/your intellectual interests/motivations for making art to the admissions committee.
In the end, a person with solid work and no exhibition record vs a person with mediocre work and a long exhibition record, the person with the better work will have a much higher chance of getting in. All of the conversations I had with faculty during this process were focused around the work, and never about my past showing record.
Good luck to everyone applying for 2014!
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Thanks lady rainicorn, I'll just wait for the bad news to come in. Sent in my enrollment fees for RISD already anyways.
Oh sweet, that's awesome that you're going to RISD! Congrats!!
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I had my Skype interview for Columbia about a month ago, march 15, still no word. Did anyone else interview that day and hear back already? At this point I assume rejection, but I'm still curious.
Hey Katelogue, I interviewed for printmaking that day, and got the call from Tomas the next day. I would call if you haven't heard back yet. Good luck!!!!
New to the forum. Hi all. I'm 40 (still alive, thanks), and have been pretty successful in business, but a long time wannabe artist (sculptor), have a reasonable amount of work and have spent weekends for many years at various schools.
My question is - at my age, should I even bother applying for Columbia? I feel like I want to (and thank fully can afford to) go to the best, but if it will be me and a bunch of 23-year olds I'm thinking that could be a bit challenging (although fun I'm sure
)Any thoughts?
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Eudorauser, I would apply, and not worry too much about age. The average age of students (or was it applicants? can't remember) for Columbia is around 28 I believe, so if there are any 23-year olds, there won't be too many. I'm almost 30. I'll be attending in the fall, and so far, all of the prospective students that I've met have been really amazing people, with a wide breadth of experiences behind them.
- smartstrategy and Emoree
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I was pretty certain about Columbia for a while but I've been second guessing myself - to be honest I'm not totally sure.
-Also does anyone know when we'll be getting financial info?
Congrats! I'm happy you got in, but sad that you may not go to Columbia!! >_< In the end, go with your gut, it knows best.
One more annoying question about peeps being notified about Hunter's acceptances, was your status on Hunter's online portal changed? Thanks for your patience!
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I'm in combined media. hope that helps.
Thank you! And congrats!!!!
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Well, I was accepted for Spring 2014... Not sure if that changes things... What I mean is-- I don't know if they notify differently for the Fall since it is sooner. I was reading that they call (I was terrified when I got an email) but they didn't.
I hope that made sense. I am just spitballing... But I wouldn't lose heart yet.
Just curious, what department did you apply through? I have a friend waiting to hear, and we're both on the edge of our seats!!!
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I don't know if this experience is helpful to anyone, but I managed to negotiate, however, through the head of the department I was applying through. I think if you have your heart set on a school, but don't get the best package from them, and you get better offers elsewhere, just let your top choice know that you really want to attend but that you do have other offers that are forcing you to really consider your other choices. And they should understand, the amount of student debt that's out there is a very serious matter. Also, if you can get a faculty member to fight for you, that's also really helpful, since everyone wants more money.
Just curious ArsenicYellow, which Boston school are you deciding on? I did my undergrad at BU, and took classes at Mass Art over the years. I have a lot of love for Boston! Best of luck!
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As a side note, I'm not saying peeps here were necessarily using the term "illustrative" as a pejorative specific to the work being discussed here. But it can be, as I've heard it used that way by countless professors and artists. I just think the semantic argument that people can get into can be distracting, so I don't mean to put anyone down. It's interesting, b/c I feel like in Asia, the boundaries between design, illustration, and fine arts are far more fluid and overlapping. Not sure why that is, but it sure was fun to be in a culture that loves paper!!
- worldly, littlenova and capers
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Despite some recent um, awkward posts on this forum, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been supportive and helpful on this forum! I don't think I would've survived the application process without it!!!
I get the illustration thing a lot, but I have no interest in that. Illustration is inherently commercial or for some sort of purpose, while fine arts is outside of that. There's lots of artists that do illustrative-type work that aren't illustrators, say like Marcel Dzama or Amy Cutler. But really I think people just associate drawing with illustration, and everyone sees painters as fine arts.
Sorry, I am a day late with this post! I've been sick and working. O_O
Anyhoo, dude, don't worry too much about any of the comments thus far. "Illustration" is a dirty word in the world of fine arts, but it doesn't have to be. The reason for this pejorative use is complex, and so I think a lot of it stems from confusing the "easiness" of the reading of an image with as you said, mistakenly associating graphic/linear (and sometimes humorous) works with that easiness. Personally, I can see your images developing, but they're just not quite there yet, however you ARE definitely on your way. Don't worry about potentially being read as illustrative, and just keep making the work you need to make and pushing yourself and your comfort zone (with both regards to ideas and form). I can see a little bit of Lisa Yuskavage dotted in and around your portfolio, which is interesting. It took me like 5 years of bad drawings to get into school (and your drawings are way ahead of what I was doing a few years ago!). I have also gotten the "illustration" bit, b/c of my love of line-work and use of humor. So don't worry, and just keep making stuff! I was going to remain anonymous, but I have nothing to hide nor regret any of my past posts, so here's my website if you're curious.
Good luck to you in your future applications, and as the Koreans say, fighting!!!!
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Accepted to Columbia! Financial aid details to come soon. Good luck to all the Hunter interviews today!!!!
- capers, Sseu, sculptress and 3 others
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CONGRATS! That's amazing news. Nice to have that in your pocket going into the Columbia interview... Good luck! Making the final decision is going to be so hard...
Thanks! Yes, it is!!! If Columbia makes an offer of admission, they're going to have to offer more than half tuition to really convince me I think. If I turned down the Rutgers offer for over $40K of debt, I think Jerry Saltz would call me a fool. haha.
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Woah. Rutgers just offered me the full TA position: full tuition scholarship, teaching every semester, and a more-than-livable stipend. Ha, the stipend is more than I make now! I still have my Columbia interview tomorrow. Oh man. What to do, what to do, what to do...
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I received notice of my wait-listed status via letter the other day for RISD's printmaking department. So now my applications have run the whole gamut: 1 rejection, 1 wait-list, 1 acceptance, and 1 interview. There really is no rhyme or reason to this process, is there?!
We can focus on developing our ridiculously complex metanarratives and impressive artspeak all day long, but it still doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to the majority of society, who are meanwhile going through withdrawals, desperately craving our talents and creative insight. The population is forced to seek inspiration from the artists of the past, because this generation of artists has forgotten its calling. We are too busy to bother with benefiting and changing society, as we are all trying to be famous artists instead. In an ironic twist, it seems the most creative people in the population have all suddenly found themselves trying to squeeze inside the same little box. I say we go find another box. Or better yet, break free.
I'm reading Artaud's collection of essays entitled,"The Theater And Its Double," and he was just as passionate about this-- in 1938.
"Given the theater as we see it here, one would say there is nothing more to life than knowing whether we can make love skillfully, whether we will go to war or are cowardly enough to make peace, how we cope with our little pangs of conscience, and whether we will become conscious of our "complexes" (in the language of experts) or if indeed our "complexes" will do us in. Rarely, moreover, does the debate rise to a social level, rarely do we question our social and moral system. Our theater never goes so far as to ask whether this social and moral system might not by chance be iniquitous. I believe, however, that our present social state is iniquitous and should be destroyed." (Artaud, pp 41-42)
I recommend it, it's a fun read.
Ok, I'm off to catch the NJ Transit to visit Rutgers!
AAUW Fellowship
in The Bank
Posted
Does anyone know where on the website the recipient list will be posted?