Bridge 5
I still cannot forget the first Parsons Orientation that filled my heart with the glorious joy of being a student of Parsons. Not only I excited about what Parsons is going to teach me but also, I could not wait to meet and share ideas with Parsons peers that have big interests in art fields. However, at the same time, I concerned about my lacking skills and abilities that I need to be a professional art student. Along with my expectations and worries as a freshman, looking back on the last and this semester, I can find myself in making great progress as a student who adapts to the Parsons education environment and acquires the flexibility of managing what makes me challenge. I am no longer afraid to confront the new and challenging task that initially stressed me out. There are so many things that I have changed before and after entering Parsons, but there are three main things that I gain; ability to cooperate, a variety of skills, analytical and critical thinking.
Here is one of the memorable projects that changed me a lot that I mentioned above, especially in terms of collaboration with others. At that time, I was preparing a final project for the studio class at the end of the first semester. The fact that made me the hardest while doing the final was that this was a group project. It was not a matter of trying alone. Since I have attended Korean middle and high school for the whole of my school life, I was not familiar with the group project. Korean school usually prefers to do individual work. I need time to get used to working together. In order to lead the project successfully, we had to separate each role and encourage and respect individual’s idea in order to achieve a final goal. However, before starting the project, I did not realize that if I did not comply with those elements and proceeded with the group project, the project would not flow in the right direction.
The aim of the project was to redesign the functional and creative sculptures that deviated from the traditional conventions of monuments. But the thing is that there was a big argument at the stage of sharing and developing ideas on how to redesign the statue. As I was not accustomed to the group project, I was a bit of a passive and adaptive member. I had an idea meeting with a consensus of other members’ opinions. however, the matter is that one of the group members got seriously mad about my attitude. She was dissatisfied with my inactive attitude in favor of what she did without any thought.I was not indifferent to our project, but rather I played a role as a good listener to reduce clashes that people might have with their many different opinions. She and I have struggled a lot until completely settling the final idea. The emotional fighting and conflict within the group led tobreak down the atmosphere in the group and make it impossible to perform a productive role. Through teacher intervention and advice, I tried to change myself as a team member who is more engaged and contributed to the team.
I could learn that the most important thing in a group project is to respect each other and take own responsibility as one of the group members. Though I had a negative thought about the group project at first, the problem with the group member taught me a lot how to deal with hard situation happened in group work and it allowed me to raise the ability to handle issues between social relationship.
Additionally, this project enabled me to learn new skills from
various fields. To be more specific, we had to make the monument in the form of a large puzzle which is made of wood. In order to accomplish it, I had to learn the skills I did not do well such as cutting wood, manipulating illustration program for laser cutting, measuring and managing different kinds of materials, interviewing people at some place, finding out resources and information for research. When I was almost done with this project, I realized that I gained multiple skills and have greatly grown compared to before I started the project.
Moreover, in accordance with the studio class, the seminar class has given me a lot of readings and writings about social and political issues in relation to art. Through the class, I was able to think analytically and thoughtfully about social phenomena. And I have the power to observe and analyze things in a critical view based on sufficient knowledge resources. While I used to understand the information as it is before, now I have not only think about the information itself but also, I am trying to view the hidden meaning behind it and to look at it from a different point of view.
In this regard, throughout this first year, I have learned a variety of things as an artist, writer, and student. What I learned over a year is not easy, and sometimes it was very challenging. But I am satisfied with my growth as a result of it. Many of these first year’s teachings are likely to make me the remaining three years of school life as a more creative and inspiring.
