weeding the weaksauce (professor rudy gardea)

I oftentimes wonder if this profession is truly right for me. I have no doubt in my mind that this is what I want to do, but the cynicism that comes from the mouths of veterans in the field begins to scare me. Are these the kind of people I have to work with? Are these the kind of personalities that are born from years and years of anal tasks and harsh criticism? Is this what I'm going to become?

When I looked at my class schedule, I saw that I had digital grid systems with Gardea. I then remembered that my friend said he put in 8 hours a week for his class and barely walked away with a C. I pondered for a minute, considering whether or not I should switch this class out for another. Oh well, laziness got the best of me.

BAD CHOICE

I have decided never to let laziness get the best of me. I walked away from the first class a bit nervous, only because he had assigned us a ridiculous amount of homework. In fact, 90% of my total homework was comprised of assignments from his class. So I do all of it, still iffy on a few executions, but walking into class two weeks later feeling somewhat prepared.

Boy was I wrong.

Everyone in the class got thrashed. He told us to come back an hour later because nobody had scanned in their thumbnails. WHO THE FUCK KNEW TO SCAN IN THE THUMBNAILS? So we do that, then we realize there was also an essay due. There was an essay due? Apparently he had briefly mentioned it in class, and only 2 people of the 24 got it. Half of us scrambled out of the classroom to get our shit scanned, the other half trying to get the essay finished. By the time everyone had finished, an hour and a half had already passed. Want to try and guess Gardea's mood? No, it wasn't that bad. He just went right ahead and destroyed our thumbs, constantly mocking our drawings and basically saying that we did extremely inadequately. Although some of the critique was deserving, the method was hardly constructive. He would pick apart our 10 artist biographies all the way down to the our font selection. The worst part about the class was that I sat right next to him. I couldn't look him in the eye and I felt like vomitting during break. It was that bad.

POOR METHODS FOR A RIGHTEOUS CAUSE

I consider myself not a weaksauce when it comes to stuff like this. I understand why teachers do it, but frankly, it's cliche and it's stressful. I fully acknowledge that hardcore teachers hate amateurs in the field that lack work ethic, are inconsistent with their production quality, don't understand anyone or anything about the field, and lack the brains and wit to keep up with how fast the ball moves. This process is the weeding out process, and it is not for the faint of heart. Those who can't handle maximizing perfection in everything they do will get chewed out and there's nothing they can do about it. The difference between school and work is that in school you get an F and at work you get fired. At least that much has been pounded into my skull, quarter after quarter of lecture. I get it. My only complaint is that I'm sick of it. I did all of my work, but I don't feel like I should suffer as well just because a teacher set up loose guidelines for the first few assignments then yells at people who don't overachieve.

GOOD CHOICE

In the end, it's for the best. For those of you who don't understand what I'm saying - the visual design industry is all about hardening your shell. You will create work and people will hate it. How do you cope? Yo don't. You just stomach it and move on. Producing work in this field is much like creating a baby. You love and cherish this child and are so proud of it. Then all of a sudden this professor comes by and says your baby is a complete utter piece of shit then slays it on the spot. How would you feel? Years and years of your slain babies piling ontop of your conscience and heart. It starts to harden your shell, make you cynical, turn your tastebuds bitter, and your humor black. That, my friends, is the blight of the commercial artist.

That, my friends, is who I'm going to become. So fucking deal with it.

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