Hiya. I'm a prospective student thinking about coming here to major in graphic design. I was wondering; how are the classes and teachers? Do you think they're the same caliber as a hardcore art school? Thanks!

Champlain is nothing like a hardcore art school, at all! Which could possibly be a good or bad thing. The program is run like a business program, with a concentration in practical art. There are photography, drawing and illustration classes as well as a new conceptual art class that I JUST heard about. I'm not 100% sure of the details on this, but I know a few kids who took classes up at UVM this past semester. I'm sure you would be able to work something out if you wanted to take some serious art classes!

The teachers are amazing. I have to say : I have met quite a few graphic design teachers that have changed my life. I know it's corny and corny, but Eric Sample, David Lustgarten ( the director of the program) and Karen Klove (who has her own digital film program now) are all AMAZING professors that teach in the graphic design program. Also, in other classes, such as, CORE, and general electives, there are quite a few amazing professors.

BUT
Like everything, there are two sides. I've been lucky and I have had more amazing professors than dud professors, but the duds are there.

Classes, well, graphic design classes are epically fun. I'm taking a few design courses this semester which I love, one is a flash course called experience design, which ROCKS. The teacher is really cool: we get to essentially write our own syllabus and learn what we want to learn, which is appealing to me, but it's also a level 300 course ^_^

Well, I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions ^_^

Peace!
Mollie

Posted by Mollie Coons at 8:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

All right. One thing that I find SUPER annoying about dorm rooms is as follows :

When you walk into a dorm room, because they're in houses and are all different shapes and sizes with many a nook and cranny, it appears there is only one or two ways to set up the furniture. 1) The way it was when you got there and 2) the desk can go on that wall only a few inches from where it used to me.

WRONG! Think people! I should start taking pictures of the way my room is arranged to give ya'll ideas, but I always forget ><

The other thing I find annoying as sin is that I always find that the arrangement I like the best is arrived at three months or less before school gets out and I have to more somewhere else. You get that creative zen thing goin' on and then all of a sudden...oh hey, I'm in a new place! Time to start re-arranging.

The process then goes on
Peace
Mollie

Posted by Mollie Coons at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dorms.

They're fun, they're all dorm-like with an essence of, someone lived here before me, which not only adds to their character but enriches the vibe of the building. I live in Main Street Suites which is one of the newer dorms Champlain has, but not the newest! Funny fact about MSS, it won a design award! How cool is that! I'm a designer living in a design like place of awesomeness.

Two thing that bug me, and I'm not sure how this dorm did win that competition, the windows don't open, and there aren't any straight lines in this entire building. I have no idea what happened, but none, architecturally speaking, of the walls, elevator, baseboards, etc. are straight. It's pretty crazy!

Two things that I am in love with are : They didn't paint every single wall white!! Yay! That always drove me up a wall with the other dorms...the whitewashed walls, ceilings, ceiling tiles...you name it, it was white. They got fancy and painted one or two walls in the suites purple....a good shade of purple too.

Like anything dorms have their loves and their hates. With Champlain's housing, I've found the character of the house, yes, it is a legit, straight up house, (or used to be) over-ride the leaky sinks or the laundry machines being in the BASEMENT! It's a guaranteed work-out. Uber plus!

Peace!

Mollie

Posted by Mollie Coons at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One thing about college that always kicks me is that, when I left home, then went back home to visit, EVERYTHING is different. Change happens so quickly in college, everything is at a constant move and I find I see change the most when I go home for vacations. I find it harder to mesh back into a family dynamic, because I've changed, my family changed and even my pets got older. It's hard to find that right balance of being fake enough to fit in yet, real enough so you can show people how far you've come along in adulthood. It ain't easy! Even the coffee tastes different!

I think I need to do an entire post about coffee

Let me know what you want, and I'll try to give you dudes answers!

MC

Posted by Mollie Coons at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)