Embracing and enduring the final countdown
You might be a SCAD student if…if a kid biking down the street in full cosplay seems normal; if you’re a sound designer who can draw in flawless one-point perspective (if you’re a sound designer and you know what one-point perspective is); if you puff yourself up to full Gerard Butler swagger before fighting your way onto the red line. We can all spot fellow SCADites from miles away, so I’ve decided it’s time to turn the mirror inward. Welcome to (Cult)ure, a weekly column dissecting the ins-and-outs that make us SCAD kids SCAD kids. It’s a laugh-so-you-don’t-cry sort of thing.
Finals week has finally arrived. And now that you’re finally finishing your finals, you’re probably finding it hard to focus.
Now that my mental degradation is pretty clear to everyone, and I’m assuming you’re all coming with me on this steep downhill ride, here’s how we’re going to tuck and roll and stick the landing.
Here’s the thing: during finals week, we have a tendency to turn into little self-absorbed art monsters. I’m sure most of us don’t notice, we’re just trying not to drown in the growing pile of art history note cards and eraser shavings. But those note cards and eraser shavings and tears of bitter regret can get really messy really fast. And though it’s hard to believe you can add anything else to moving out, finishing the school year and making summer plans, that mess is your responsibility.
So, clean up after yourself, especially in computer labs and other communal work areas; someone is always going to be running later than you, and the last thing they need is your charcoal dust all over their life and homework. That doesn’t just mean brushing your scraps and shavings onto the floor, either. I guarantee there’s a trashcan somewhere in your view right now.
Pick up your room or your workspace at home too. You’ve made it this far without your roommate killing you in your sleep, and it would be a shame for the remnants of your cardboard chair (glorious and functioning, I hope!) to be the thing that finally does you in. Even if you don’t share a space, take five minutes to organize before you make the mad dash to class. You’ll feel a lot better when you return from critique if you can just collapse and take a nap instead of cleaning.
Clean yourself up, too. Shower. Use dry shampoo, if you have to. Put on clean clothes. Brush your teeth. You won’t regret the ten minutes it takes to be hygienic. It’s certainly cringe-worthy that I feel the need to mention this at all. But I do. Let’s just say we’re all a little pre-occupied.
And, of course, clean up your act. You’re stressed. We’re all stressed. Be patient and kind with your friends, professors, fellow students and even your mom when she suddenly decides to come into town a day early. Just remember that there’s only three days left.
I wish you all a 10/10 on your 2016-2017 dismount, especially soon to be SCAD graduates.
Three days left.
Written by Shelby Loebker.
