{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"32259048","dateCreated":"1294198190","smartDate":"Jan 4, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Steve.D","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Steve.D","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/ourfreshmanenglishfamily.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/32259048"},"dateDigested":1532252968,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Hi","description":"Hey Barbara,
\nI'm Steve; I'm Ms. D's brother. It looks like she already told you I went to RPI. After a year there, I changed my mind about my major, so now I'm studying history at Middlesex Community College, with plans to transfer into UMASS or MCLA (Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts) in the fall. I guess that gives me a pretty good idea of how things work at a traditional school and at community college, as well as how the transfer process works.
\nIf you have any questions about what either school is like, feel free to ask!
\n-Steve","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"32446758","body":"Hello Steven,
\nYup, she did. Are there opportunities to do art in college? Do you have to draw what they tell you? Do they teach you the techniques that is needed to draw? Like shading, shapes, etc. Do you have to do only art at an art school? Is there something else besides art? Can art be in other classes, can you do art in like math classes? Do you like technical drawing? I'm kind off interested in Technical drawing, but I don't know what kind off techniques are needed.
\nThanks, Barbara.(:","dateCreated":"1294597166","smartDate":"Jan 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"BarbaraRangel","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/BarbaraRangel","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"32447696","body":"There's plenty of opportunity to do almost anything you want. Besides majoring in a subject, which would mean most of your classes would focus on it, most schools have dozens of clubs for students with other interests. An art class would give you the most direct instruction, but it might also limit what you're allowed to draw. An art club would either be run by students who are experienced artists or by a teacher, and would let you draw whatever you wanted, but they might not have as much to teach you.
\nAs for stuff outside of art, there's pretty much anything you want. This is actually one of the hardest things about college - a lot of kids (including me) will start on one subject, and then realize they want to do something else. Basically, if you can put a name on what you want to study, you can find a school that will make it your major. Clubs are the same way, if you can find at least one or two other kids with the same interest, you can start a club for it (and a lot of times get money from the school for club expenses).
\nClubs and classes aren't officially limited to a school's specific focus, but a bigger school will have more opportunities, since it will have more people with their own set of interests. In fact, most schools require that you take about a year of classes unrelated to your major. As an engineering major, I took two history classes, a psychology class, and an English class. As a history major, I had to take two science classes, two math classes, and two English classes. You can usually choose between several classes for these requirements, so finding one that you like is never a problem. Clubs are even more flexible - I helped start a cheese appreciation club at RPI, which had nothing to do with any of the majors at that school but still drew a pretty big crowd.
\nPersonally, I've never been the most talented artist, so technical drawing is actually my favorite kind of drawing because I find it easier. The main things you would need for it are precision (a tiny error on a plan could become a much bigger error in the finished project), some math skills (trigonometry, geometry, and a little bit of calculus), and computer skills. College can teach you anything you need to know about these things, but it's always nice to have a head start, so if you can take related classes in high school, go for it. You may also be interested in majors like graphic design, which is less math\/science focused, or art history. You have a few years to figure out what you want to do, so try to explore a little.
\nSorry if this was really long, but like I said, you there's a lot of options in college.
\n-Steve","dateCreated":"1294599989","smartDate":"Jan 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Steve.D","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Steve.D","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"32557942","body":"I see, so you can make your own club? That's pretty cool. What do you mean they wouldn't have that much to teach you? Dont they always have something new to teach? Yeah, i was realizing the same thing, that's good that there's other different things you can do. But, do the other clubs involve art as well?
\nAre the clubs after school? Or sometimes during school? Do clubs have there own schedule? Why do you need history to be a engineer? Oh, interesting, Why cheese though?
\nIm good at shading and drawing. You need MATH for drawing?! Yeah, I'm really interested in graphic designs. Whats art history? Alright, i will. Yeah, this was pretty long, but it was worth reading, you answered almost all the questions that were wondering in my head, Thanks a lot. :D
\n-Barbara.","dateCreated":"1294785874","smartDate":"Jan 11, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"BarbaraRangel","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/BarbaraRangel","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"32562622","body":"You usually need a few students to form a club, and some schools might not have the budget to give money to every club,but in general any club you can think of you can make.
\nWhat I meant by the teaching comment is that a club might not have a designated teacher, so it would be run by other students. They probably wouldn't have as much experience as a teacher, so you might already know most of what they do. Clubs also tend to meet less often, and for shorter periods, than classes.
\nArt is one of those things that can be used anywhere. You could make a poster or a cover page for a report, for example, for a class or club with no other relation to art. And there's nothing stopping you from doing it for fun in your spare time!
\nClubs' schedules depend on what kind of space they need to meet,what the members agree on, and what's available. If the club has a non-student leader or instructor, meetings will have to work with their schedule as well. Meetings would usually be in the evenings, when everyone is done with classes. There's a lot of variety between schools, it's something you'll have to keep in mind when you pick one. If you're curious, check out the webpages of a few schools you like - most will have a "student activities" link right on the front page, or under an "admissions" link.
\nOur cheese club is a bit of a weird story. There's about 25 people that all lived on the same floor freshmen year, we all became good friends. One kid happened to be from Switzerland. Sophomore year he brought up the cheese club idea, and we all agreed because it seemed like a fun way to spent some time. As it turned out, the Swiss student knows a huge amount about cheese, so we actually learned a lot from him.
\nThe idea behind history classes for engineers is to have a "well-rounded" student. Colleges look for this when they're admitting students too. Even though most of what an engineer would have to learn would be engineer, the school doesn't want someone who knows nothing about history or English. A little bit of math would help an author include a graph in a book, or a little bit of English would help an engineer write a report. It's a lot easier to communicate with people with other specialties if you know at least the basics of what they specialize in. Imagine Ms. D trying to talk about science to a science teacher - Ms. D probably wouldn't understand the science teacher as well another science teacher would.
\nFor technical drawing, you do need math, since a lot of your work would involve drawings out plans for buildings, electronics, or other products. It's nothing to advanced, and modern computer drawing programs will do a lot of it for you, but it's still a good idea to know how the computer does it. Some math applies to other art as well, especially for making things like depth. A lot of really artistic people can draw that kind of stuff without even realizing there's math behind it; for someone like me, I would have to measure everything to make sure it fits.
\nArt history is exactly what it sounds like - the history of art. It would involve studying not only how to draw, sculpt, etc., but how people did it in the past and what styles they liked at different times.
\nDo you have any interests or favorite subjects besides art? It can be good to combine talents, with history and a little engineering knowledge, I like to look at technology from the past, so I can be a little more focused than someone who just knows history.
\n-Steve","dateCreated":"1294791385","smartDate":"Jan 11, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Steve.D","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Steve.D","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"33236012","body":"Wouldn't it be better if the people in the clubs would help the club out with the money? Instead of the school giving them money. Do you really need money to make a club? What do you have to do to teach the class? Do you have to be like a professional in drawing? Doesn't it matter what year your in? [Freshman, sophomore, Junior Senior] Yup, very true. Alright, I'll check it out. Wow, interesting, i wish i can becomes friends with a Switzerland person. :D That would be pretty cool. What do you mean by well-rounded? Hmm, so History, English and a little bit of Math would help, alright I'll note to myself about that. So technical drawing would have to be like graphic design? And other stuff involving computers? I think i use math when i draw as well, and yeah your right, i don't realize it. But I'm not truly artistic..Yet. I like.. English, hmm i cant think of anything else. Hm, Sounds like a good idea.","dateCreated":"1296089519","smartDate":"Jan 26, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"BarbaraRangel","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/BarbaraRangel","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"33295062","body":"Some clubs have extra fees, some don't. It depends how expensive the club is. For example, the cheese club we had cost about $25 a semester, because we bought a lot of expensive cheese. There was a judo club that cost around $200 a semester because martial arts instructors get paid pretty well. And a politics club, which had no equipment or professional teacher, was free. The school gives a little bit of money so that students won't have to pay as much, but pricier activities still have a fee attached. The only benefit I can think of for the school is attracting new students - you'd probably prefer to go to a school with a free art club than one with an expensive club or no club, if everything else was the same.
\nTo lead a club you would need to be fairly skillful at whatever the club's focus is, and to be good at organizing people. The best thing about clubs, and college in general, is the chance to meet people with a bunch of different skills and interests. A lot of what people learn outside of the classroom is more like sharing than teaching. If you know a lot about drawing, and someone else knows a lot about painting, and you spend a few hours a week together doing art, by the end of the year you'll probably know much more about painting and the other student would know much more about drawing. You definitely don't have to be a pro, you just have to be interested. Many people pick up a completely new hobby when they go to college, some kids may have never even drawn before while other might have started when they were three.
\nYou can join a club in any year, but some schools won't let you start one until you've been there a semester or two. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from grabbing a table in a study area with a few other people interested in art whenever you want to, it just won't be an "official" club and you won't get school funding.
\nWell-rounded means you know a little bit about many different subjects. A lot of people have highly focused degrees, and after working for a bit, become even more focused. But this is limiting - if all you know is drawing, and someone wanted you to draw a castle, you wouldn't be able to do it unless you knew what a castle looked like. If all I knew was history, I might have no way of explaining why Europeans didn't have as much of a problem with smallpox as Native Americans or Pacific Islanders did, because I would need to know a little bit about geography and biology to do that. The point of a college degree is to know a lot about a specific subject - art, history, engineering, whatever you want to learn. But nothing exists totally in isolation; everything is connected at least loosely and distantly to everything else. So without at least a little knowledge about other subjects, it's not very useful at all to become an expert in one. Another example that's a little less abstract: you might know how to make an amazing tuna salad, but if you don't know how to open a can of tuna (or at least how to find someone who does), you'll never be able to make that tuna salad.
\nTechnical drawing and graphic design are different, but do have similarities. Technical drawing is mostly about plans for machines or buildings; think blueprints. Graphic design has more to do with creating an appealing image. To be honest, though, that question is right at the limit of my knowledge of art, so you might be better off asking an art teacher. Either way, and even if you go with something completely different, you'll need at least basic computer skills. And the more you know the better, since more skills make you more useful to someone looking to hire you and gives you more opportunities to find a job you really enjoy.","dateCreated":"1296172980","smartDate":"Jan 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Steve.D","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Steve.D","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35011102","body":"Oh, i see, Well, i wouldn't mind it being expensive, we'll work hard to gain money for our club(If i ever make one).
\nWhat do you mean "You have to be good at organizing people"? Like you have to know what kind of duties club members will do? And be able to assign them different duties? What if some fan members speak different languages? How would that work out?
\nHmm, i see, How can i start a club? I know i need people, but what else are you suppose to do? Because I know you dont just randomly get people and there! Its a club call "Funimation".
\nOooh, i get what you mean, i understand now what you meant by "well-rounded". So, being well-rounded is pretty important when it comes to learning something that you would like to learn, hmmm..
\nOh, alright i'll ask a art teacher. I think its pretty munch the same, but it uses different way of drawing things. For example: Technical drawing are blue prints, that show buildings and other stuff, and graphic design is like on a computer making character BUILDINGS and anything that is pretty munch animated. Thats another thing thats different. Well, that's what i think, but im not sure if i'm right, but i'll ask. Yup, that's right.","dateCreated":"1298932003","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"BarbaraRangel","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/BarbaraRangel","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35022720","body":"You got "organizing people" exactly. I think having people who speak different languages would be different in every situation - it would depend on what languages they speak, what languages other people speak, how well everyone knows whatever languages they know, and probably on other things I don't know about. I have been in organizations with people from other countries before; but they all spoke English fairly well. Maybe the best example I can come up with would be my history professor right now (and last semester as well); he was born and lived in Spain until about 10 years ago before moving here. He's very good with English, but every once in a while he'll have trouble pronouncing a word or won't be able to think of an English word for something. Usually he'll ask someone in the class who speaks Spanish for help, since there are a few kids in the class whose first language is Spanish. If no one else who speaks Spanish is around he knows enough English to explain things in other words, but this can take a bit more effort.
\nOther than getting people interested, forming a club basically just requires a few pieces of paperwork. Typically, a list of members and\/or leaders, some sort of mission statement or club constitution, and something that says the club won't break any of the school's rules or stuff. You might also need to sign something saying you accept responsibility if you get hurt, but I doubt that would be a big problem for an art club.","dateCreated":"1298942514","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Steve.D","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Steve.D","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]}],"more":false},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}