A selection of my Graduate Student Ambassador t-shirts from the past year.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending my third graduate student orientation, and it was a blast! The first orientation I attended was, obviously, my own. But I must admit that working the event as a Graduate Student Ambassador is just as exciting. Since beginning graduate school, I’ve developed a sincere affection and appreciation for my graduate program—Interdisciplinary Book & Paper Arts MFA. So, I couldn’t wait this year to meet all of the new folks that are starting and will be going through the program (and surely rockin’ it) for the next three years.

A wonderful part of our program is that, after the first semester, most classes are a mix of all three years. That means that, though particular classes form bonds within their year, there is always interaction between everyone. Most of my classmates would agree that by the end of even your second year, you know everyone’s projects inside and out. You have read every other person’s artist statement millions of times, heard them give presentation after presentation, and discussed for hours outside of class what’s next and what’s brewing. This dynamic is great. And my classmates are an invaluable source of feedback for me. Fresh eyes and opinions and experiences are awesome.

This is especially true (and effective) in our program, because we really are such a diverse group of people. Graduate students in the Interdisciplinary Book & Paper Arts MFA program come from an insanely varied selection of backgrounds, including but not limited to poetry, photography, graphic design, printmaking, and traditional painting and drawing. We’ve got it all! That means that all of our students have really unique approaches to the book and paper arts.

So, to sum it up: I’m excited. And even more ready than expressed in the last two posts to get this year going!