Photo Credit: William Arthur

Dear Cohort,

This is what you mean to me.

Definition: an ancient Roman military unit, comprising six centuries, equal to one tenth of a legion. The MAM students are arranged in cohorts, moving forward together more or less as a unit through all the classes, struggles and joys of the Masters program. The cohort model provides a number of benefits and one that’s not entirely academic is the creation of lasting friendships. Like an ancient Roman military unit we are charging into the future armed with the skills necessary to become excellent arts managers. The fact that we are working together provides an incredible benefit to us as individuals and a group, but the value of a cohort can extend beyond the classroom…

Many of the students in our cohort have already started working on projects outside the classroom, some of us go to church together, or we have brunch at each other’s apartments. We are pretty tight-knit, and that sense of community provides us with people to collaborate with, hang out with, and occasionally complain with.

When complaints happen they are subsumed into the camaraderie and changed into active creation, study, and the generation of new ideas. I’ll be perfectly honest, I love my cohort. That might sound cheesy or overly sentimental, but I honestly don’t care, because it makes me so happy to be a part of the personalities that have come together for the common purpose of becoming phenomenal arts management professionals.

Some of our Cohort at Lazer Tag

We all have different, and sometimes overlapping disciplines, and our strength as a unit is made evident by our desire to see everyone in our cohort succeed, even if that means receiving or giving a little tough love sometimes. There was a Second City show called “We Are All In This Room Together” and I think that’s an excellent metaphor for an MAM cohort, we’re not separate, if one of us falls we all pick them up.

And, like a Roman military unit we have each other’s back through thick and thin. Community is built from individuals committed to a common purpose and to each other, and I’m proud to be a part of the MAM 2015 cohort. More than feeling a sense of pride, I’m thankful. So thank you to all my classmates, you’re making graduate school not just good, but great.

Sincerely,

Joshua R.