Talk to Your Profs!

Quick Disclaimer! :  This is just advice that is the result of my own personal experience.  Take from it what you will (or won't).

So this particular bit of advice has really been on my mind recently (especially after this week) and so I have decided to share it with whoever is following this blog.

Being a student trying to major in something that my school does not particularly specialize in does not come without its significant stressors.  Two of the big ones are definitely scheduling for classes and also some major feelings of doubt.

Why doubt you ask?  Well as much as I truly adore IU I can't help but have lingering feelings of regret about not having chosen to attenend a private or traditional art university.  I have gone over the pros and cons and compared the two options a million times, but no matter how many reasons I come up with to justify that my being here is just fine I always loop back around to feeling unsure again.  Stressing over something like this consumes way more time and energy than I have to spare, but what I have found that helps the most is to speak directly with my art professors.

Every time I have a good one-on-one conversation with any of my art professors I leave them feeling more confident than ever that what I am doing here is the right choice.  They have all been so supportive and insightful that I just don't know what I would do without them being there to offer me guidance and advice.  So my advice to any of you out there facing the same feelings about the university or professional track you've chosen, is that you take the time after class or during your professor's office hours to really sit down and have a chat with them.  Chances are they are going to have a lot more experience in whatever field it is you are studying (more so than say, your advisors) and therefore a lot more vauable things to share that may help you to validate any decisions you have made or feel you need to make.  Now if you're worried about talking to a professor because you think they won't be interested or are too busy, don't be.  Most likely your profs will be more than happy to help you and is probably giddy over the fact that you came to them for help in the first place.

This same bit of advice applies to the other thing I mentioned about scheduling for classes.  Since I'm building my own curriculum I am responsible for choosing what classes I take, and so of course I am concerned with choosing the best, most applicable courses.  Again, the very best thing you can do is to talk directly to your professors.  Most likely they know a lot of the other professors in their department that you would be taking classes from anyway, and so they can give you the most direct info on how to contact them or on just what exactly they will be teaching.

I realize that some of you may find this to be completely obvious, but personally I still think it's something worth mentioning.  A lot of colleges really urge students to get to know their professors and not be afraid to speak to them one-on-one, but I can't help but wonder how many of them actually do.  Speaking from personal experience, it really is worth it. 
(And for those of you who are a little more goal-oriented, it's also a great way to begin networking.)

PS.  Sorry for another incredibly wordy entry.  I promise to have some examples of my work up soon!  Until then enjoy the new banner I made from some illustrations I did a few weeks ago for a school project :)