A sneak preview of student organization PIT’s upcoming exhibition (photo: PIT President Kelly Schmidt)

Last week, I started my last semester at Columbia. In stark contrast to the beginning of my first semester, a time of (admittedly scary) experimentation in a brand new city, last week’s schedule felt like the culmination of years of planning (because, well, it was.) Every day I was working, in a new and separate way, toward the same goal: the almighty thesis. This, faithful reader, is my battle strategy.

Monday: My Mondays this semester are going to be split between working at the Writing Center and attending a writing class: Word, a class usually taken by students in the MA program. Although I’m primarily a visual artist, writing has always been an integral part of my practice; in fact, that was one of the reasons I chose Columbia’s Interdisciplinary Arts program over a strictly visual-arts program at another school. This semester’s goal? Getting all of the writing finished for my thesis exhibition signage and the stories behind many of the objects I’m making.

Tuesday: While ostensibly my day off, grad students never truly rest. This Tuesday? Root canal. I wish I were kidding.

Wednesday: I finally got to see the writing and photographs from my thesis artist book go from the digital realm into solid, physical films. This is exciting, of course, but also unnervingly final; after this point, everything I’ve written in this book is set in stone. I’d rather redo that root canal than find a typo now.

Thursday: More Writing Center, and then it’s off to Thesis II class, where I check in and speak with my thesis cohort. I’m lucky enough to be graduating with a highly supportive group of amazing and talented women, and while I kept in touch with all of them over winter break, there’s nothing like seeing us all together again as a team. We went over details of our May exhibition and expectations, which includes scheduling meetings with gallery coordinators, finalization of tech requests, planning out the production of PR postcards, and more—all while deadlines continued to circle overhead like vultures. Yikes.

Friday: My Fridays this semester will be spent in my DGP—Directed Graduate Project—with professor Fo Wilson. I’m drawn to Fo’s experience with half-fictional historical works, sculptural narratives, and elegant physical art objects. I was tasked with giving a 15-minute presentation on my work for all of the other students taking a DGP with Fo—just one of the trillions of brief presentations I’ve given over the last couple years. At this point, I could public-speak in my sleep! I’m going to use my time in this class to work on the sculptural art portion of my thesis exhibition.

Photographs of European pagan costumes by Charles Fréger are one of the sources I’m referencing in my work with Fo this semester.

Saturday: I headed downtown to install my work in C33 Gallery, a Columbia-run gallery that offered Pulp, Ink, and Thread (PIT)—the Book and Paper department’s student organization—a group exhibition this semester. Our opening night is February 9, so the gallery was abuzz with PIT members hurriedly planning out the show.

Sunday: And here we are: Sunday. As I write about my first week back to school, it seems like a microcosm of my entire time here at Columbia. I can only hope that my time here ends like my week did: hanging up work that I’m proud of in a gallery full of friends.

Come one, come all! The sign for PIT’s upcoming show. (photo: PIT President Kelly Schmidt)