So you got in. Now what?
Your first term will start in a few weeks. You are excited and nervous at the same time. Upper terms students will tell you there will alot of work and all-nighters. You are not sure how you will handle it. Let me tell you this. It will be hard. Period. But, here are a few tips to make the experiences a little less painful if you know what to expect.
Time management is key to survival
1.Cut off social media. You don’t need it. It will eat up your sleep time.
2.Organize your schedule, use a digital calendar to plan your schedule to the minutes. Plan everything! From how long you take to eat, shower, brush you teeth, take a dump... you get the point. You need to be fast at the moment you get out of bed and out the door.
3.Plan your route to get school and find the quickest path without speeding. Plan out the time you are going to devote to the projects for each classes. Do not fall in love with one class and burn up all your daylight for one or two projects and let the other suffers. Spread them out evenly so you don’t suddenly have an emergency for one class. That can quickly create a downward spirals. Avoid that.
4.Have your printing supplies and vendors in-line before term starts is a huge time saver. You can avoid burning precious daylight from unnecessary trips to office depot for paper and ink. Have a few local printing vendors business card ready
Reserve you all-nighter
Your goal is to not have to pull any all nighters. Reserve those in the last two weeks of the term should you have to. Surviving a term at Art Center require a marathon mindset, not a sprint. Or else you will burn out real quick. Trust me. Use your all-nighter card wisely.
Say goodbye to your 8 hours of sleep
Get use to sleeping 4-5 hours a night. Some night even less, but definitely try to sleep a little. Even a simple nap will make a difference in your productivity. Again, the goal is to avoid spiraling downward. Lack of sleep will start the spiral and you become zombie-like. Don’t do it!!!
Camping in your car
Give your car extra functions by turning it into into a sleeping pod. During my time at Accd, the backseat of my Honda can fold down flat like a bed and there was an opening that connected to the trunk for leg room. That came in handy when i needed to turn it into a sleeping pod. I kept a sleeping bag and pillow handy in the trunk for those nights where it was safer to sleep in the car than to drive home. Make you have a warm blanket. Winter up on the hill during the night is freezing.
Cheat box
Have of snack box. It will make things go smoother when you can reward yourself for little victories throughout the day. Stock some of your own favorite cup noodles. It will come in handy during all nighters. The campus is literally out of nowhere up on the hills. Don’t expect any decent restaurants to be opened pass midnight. The drive down to Pasadena is probably not worth your time anyways. On campus vending machines with their limited selections of frozen burritos, hot pockets isn’t going to cut it. Trust me.
Adios Amigos!
Inform your friends and family that once the term starts, you will be mia (missing in action) until your break in between terms.You won’t have time for much outside of Art Center. At least that way, you don’t freak them out when you go radio silent on them.
Model shop crew, your best friends
Be nice to the model shop crew. They will be your greatest resource when it ‘s time for model building. They have extensive knowledge on modeling building techniques and it is smart to tap into their expertise.
Cops on Lida
Beware of the hillside motorcycle cop. Check your speed, avoid the California roll, and keep your eyes open. I got busted one time on a California roll and there are no mercy. The cops all think you ‘re rich and are quick on their feet to slap a fine. Check the Facebook page ‘Cops on Lida’ for updates by other students who may have spot one. It might be useful insights.
In the trenches
Be friendly to your classmates and upper term students. Everyone is in the trenches and it can make it a better experience when everyone help one another. You will be spending a lot of time together and going through all the obstacles. Some of you will make it, some will not.
The 4th term
If you made it thru the 4th term, you’re more likely to stick around and get to the finish line. It took me until 4th term to develop a system that worked. The tips above is what I would tell myself if I had to do it over again. It would have made it a little easier.
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