One of the things I miss most about being school is the community. Everyday I would walk into OCAD and get to work, talk or shoot the shit with some pretty bright and creative people. I have now been out of school for 18 months. In those 18 months I have accomplished a lot of things and learned just as much. However the connection to my colleagues is still lacking and is one of my key concerns at the moment.
Now this lack of connection may be exaggerated because I work from home and only have virtual colleagues, who are 6 hours away to boot. Without people in my immediate surroundings I find myself lacking something pretty important. Colleagues and co-workers are something that I think is essential to a productive work environment. Despite this I am stuck in my current situation until I find another job.
Thinking about the subject, I made the connection to this outlet. My blog is my online voice and could act as a sounding board that fills some of the gaps that come from a lack of fellow workers. It is perhaps a shift in how I think about blogging, moving away from an outlet to framing it as a tool. This tool would not only be for me to think things through and keep track of information, but also for others to stay updated and join the conversation.
So I will leave it at this for now. In due time I will begin to expand on this and try out some new ideas. I will try my best not to turn this into an industry journal or something that is too “inside baseball”. It is my hope that by exploring issues and topics that are a little broader, I will be able to create a conversation that comes close to the one I’m missing.
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I fully endorse this idea Nate! I sent you that article a few weeks ago for exactly the same reason, a gnawing feeling that I’d read something interesting and wanted to bounce it off others. I need to carry forward into my professional life the kind of awesome conversations we had as students. School’s over, but our perspectives keep evolving, so let’s keep talking. This is absolutely a good venue for that, and I hope you follow through with it. Let me know how I can help!
What you say is something I feel many graduates come to experience once they’ve left OCAD for a while. Your observation recognizes the value of the artist community at OCAD, a community which I suspect is fairly difficult to match at other art schools or in other art programs, largely because OCAD is a large school and it is exclusively populated with art and design students: No accountants; No lawyers; No doctors; No business administration students, etc.
When I’m asked why OCAD is a good school to attend I find one of the most compelling responses I can give is to describe the value of the community you now find yourself missing.
Congratulations on finding ways to stay connected!
@ Kelly Sending me that article was actually a key impetus in my altered approach to this blog.
@ Stan Thanks for the comment. You are bang on about OCAD, the community is one of its greatest assets. One of my criticisms of the school would be the fizzle when a student’s four years ends. It is really up to each individual to continue the conversation, which is the way it should be, but perhaps OCAD and all schools would provide a means to do this? Not sure what this would be, just putting it out there.
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