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Have you seen it? Sure you have. The “it” I’m talking about is anticipation. This isn’t the edge-of-your-seat anticipation like in the old ketchup commercials. I’m talking about wide-eyed, can’t-wait-to-the-change-the-world anticipation I saw in the new Film & Video – Screen Directing MFA students. The look is all over campus. That “look” is one of my favorite parts about a new semester. The anticipation is fueled by lessons of the past and optimism of the year to come.

So now you’ve got all these people running around campus with their eyes bulging out. We need to get these people focused. They need to be prepared for the year to come. Preparation is my personal theme for the new semester. Maybe it’s the Boy Scout in me. (Actually I only made it to Webelos.)

Why is preparation important? It puts us in a position to succeed when obstacles are sent our way. Preparation allows you to gain advantage over the ill-prepared. Think about it. If a producer has a choice between you and another director, they are going to work with the person with the best pitch. Yours better be the best.

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Let people brag about coasting through lecture, not reading assignments, or tuning out professors. You will be prepared when it counts, and they will be S-O-L.

I have a few ideas. One is to go over your texts before class begin. Now, we’ve probably been in school a few weeks, so don’t be afraid to read ahead. I’m serious. Review what the professor will go over before lecture so that you can actually have a discussion with them in class. I find simply listening and copying down notes painfully boring.

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I haven’t just prepare by reading texts, though. I’ve committed to a project — my roller derby  that I could become passionate about. I’ve made calls, set up interviews, and knocked out my test shots.

Outside of class, I’m using the resources provide by Columbia to prepare me for life on the outside. On the first day of class, I made an appointment at the Portfolio Center to meet with an adviser. The sooner I get my resume together the better. My success is their success.

So take these ideas and use them as a way to prepare yourself for a semester of graduate study, whether that semester has just begun, or whether you’re a year or two away from entering a graduate program. And remember that opportunities at Columbia are all around. Don’t cheat yourself. Be prepared.