Togetherness
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One of the things I am most often asked about is how close the grad students are as a unit outside of the classroom setting. This closeness varies between programs, but the photo grads are fairly close. One of those reasons is our Grad Room on the 13th floor. This room provides us with both a workspace and a gathering space. If you are a photo grad student, you will be spending time here with other grad students before and after every class you have. We eat, talk, print, and assemble our work in this room. There is always someone whose opinion can be asked or someone to get help from.
The interesting thing is how much of our conversations revolve around photography. There is actually a great deal of learning that happens between grad students, not just between faculty and students.
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One of our recent conversations revolved around the March Madness photography bracket (pictured above) that one of the grads created on our chalk board. There was a great deal of argument about who should have been selected for inclusion in the bracket and who of those that were selected would be advancing to subsequent rounds.
Another reason for this closeness is the classes that we are required to take. For the first year, almost every class we take is with other first or second year grad students. By the end of that first year, which quickly approaches, you get to know the other students fairly well.
There are also the get-togethers that happen outside of school. We get together in small groups pretty regularly outside of class (some of the grads live together), and every now and then we have a larger gathering. This Saturday, since the weather has been so nice, we will be having a cook out at one of the grads places. And while these gatherings originate outside of school, we usually end up talking about either school or photography in general at some point in the evening.