•Lindsay•
November 19th, 2007, 09:17 PM
What's the worst thing that's happened to you? Something pretty annoying has happened to me, and I want to know if this is a typical art school experience. If it it a typical art school experience... does that mean this stuff will happen to me in the "real art world?" Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?
I'm a freshman. I have to take 3d design as part of the foundation year even though I have no experience or skill with 3d work. The homework was very difficult for me and I didn't complete all of it. So, the teacher decided to drop me from the class. At the time she dropped me, I had gotten a B+, an A, and an F (for the homework I didn't do). So, I hadn't failed at the time. FYI, there was nothing in the syllabus that indicated this kind of punishment for not doing work. Before I took this 3d class, being kicked out of any class was not a possibility in my mind. I considered failing was a possibility, of course... but not being kicked out when I wasn't failing. Especially since I didn't break any rules.
I argued with her and got her to agree to let me back in, but only if I made up all of the previous homework. I agreed. We had an official verbal contract: I would re do all of my previous work, she would let me remain in the class.
I made up all of the homework. I was completing all of the classwork. I WAS PASSING THE FREAKING CLASS! Then, one day, I was 5 minutes late. She said if I was late for class 1 more time, she would kick me out. She then locked the door because about 5 other students where late from lunch break. After they banged on the door a few times, she opened it and yelled at them in front of the class. But did she threaten to kick them out? No.
So... last week I was 15 minutes late. She kicked me out, and that means I've failed this class and have to re take it during the summer. That will cost me several thousand dollars, not to mention an ungodly amount of work. I'm convinced that I wasn't actually late to class more often than any of the other students. I think the teacher made up extra rules just for me... I asked the dean if I could see the records showing how often I was late compared to everyone else, and the dean said "it was a mistake to let you back into this class in the first place!"
This teacher is nice to most people... but there are a few students she hates. She's very defensive, and she takes it as a personal attack if you're not good at something. She sees herself as fair, and kind. She says it doesn't matter if you argue with her, there are no stupid questions, blah blah blah. She says she cares about her students. But in reality, if you ask her any question, you're just as likely to get some kind of random rant about her arthritis as you are to get a real answer.
Once, she wrote in the instructions for a clay shell that it must be an abstraction. So, I made the clay shell a bit out of proportion compared to the real shell I was working from. She glared at me really creepily and said "this is not an art class." Ok then, what the fuck is it supposed to be?! (I didn't say that.) Then she told me to "read the instructions." The instructions say "abstraction means resolving essential forms and edges." Yeah... that doesn't exactly clear up the issue, does it? But this is what I came to learn through trial and error: in the teacher's mind, "abstraction" means "almost exactly like reality." Whatever.
This teacher keeps people late if they don't finish their work. Sometimes they have to stay until midnight. (I've heard it's illegal for teachers to do this.) On the day I was kicked out of class, I was told that another student was kept until past 6 because he didn't know how to finish his sculpture. The teacher refused to help him, but also refused to let him leave. Finally, she walked over to him, tore all of the pieces of metal off of it (he'd spent all day putting them on) and threw the metal at his face! Then she asked him what he wanted to major in. He said architecture, and she laughed at him. What a jerk.
I'm a freshman. I have to take 3d design as part of the foundation year even though I have no experience or skill with 3d work. The homework was very difficult for me and I didn't complete all of it. So, the teacher decided to drop me from the class. At the time she dropped me, I had gotten a B+, an A, and an F (for the homework I didn't do). So, I hadn't failed at the time. FYI, there was nothing in the syllabus that indicated this kind of punishment for not doing work. Before I took this 3d class, being kicked out of any class was not a possibility in my mind. I considered failing was a possibility, of course... but not being kicked out when I wasn't failing. Especially since I didn't break any rules.
I argued with her and got her to agree to let me back in, but only if I made up all of the previous homework. I agreed. We had an official verbal contract: I would re do all of my previous work, she would let me remain in the class.
I made up all of the homework. I was completing all of the classwork. I WAS PASSING THE FREAKING CLASS! Then, one day, I was 5 minutes late. She said if I was late for class 1 more time, she would kick me out. She then locked the door because about 5 other students where late from lunch break. After they banged on the door a few times, she opened it and yelled at them in front of the class. But did she threaten to kick them out? No.
So... last week I was 15 minutes late. She kicked me out, and that means I've failed this class and have to re take it during the summer. That will cost me several thousand dollars, not to mention an ungodly amount of work. I'm convinced that I wasn't actually late to class more often than any of the other students. I think the teacher made up extra rules just for me... I asked the dean if I could see the records showing how often I was late compared to everyone else, and the dean said "it was a mistake to let you back into this class in the first place!"
This teacher is nice to most people... but there are a few students she hates. She's very defensive, and she takes it as a personal attack if you're not good at something. She sees herself as fair, and kind. She says it doesn't matter if you argue with her, there are no stupid questions, blah blah blah. She says she cares about her students. But in reality, if you ask her any question, you're just as likely to get some kind of random rant about her arthritis as you are to get a real answer.
Once, she wrote in the instructions for a clay shell that it must be an abstraction. So, I made the clay shell a bit out of proportion compared to the real shell I was working from. She glared at me really creepily and said "this is not an art class." Ok then, what the fuck is it supposed to be?! (I didn't say that.) Then she told me to "read the instructions." The instructions say "abstraction means resolving essential forms and edges." Yeah... that doesn't exactly clear up the issue, does it? But this is what I came to learn through trial and error: in the teacher's mind, "abstraction" means "almost exactly like reality." Whatever.
This teacher keeps people late if they don't finish their work. Sometimes they have to stay until midnight. (I've heard it's illegal for teachers to do this.) On the day I was kicked out of class, I was told that another student was kept until past 6 because he didn't know how to finish his sculpture. The teacher refused to help him, but also refused to let him leave. Finally, she walked over to him, tore all of the pieces of metal off of it (he'd spent all day putting them on) and threw the metal at his face! Then she asked him what he wanted to major in. He said architecture, and she laughed at him. What a jerk.