As a single 22 year old Caucasian male living at
home with no job. I find it easy to associate myself as the typical college
student. I attend IUPUI mainly because I live within a close proximity to the
campus as I live about 5 minutes away. When I first started college I expected
the ritual of going to class, studying all day, getting 4 hours of rest and
repeating the whole thing the next day. I was astounded when I went
to class and found the work load to be much lighter than that of high school.
The material was certainly harder and more advanced, but the actual work
was less. I didn't know what I wanted to do when I came here, but knowing that
technology and myself seem to go hand in hand I signed up for intro to new
media and I fell in love with the idea of being ahead of the curve when it came
to new ideas and creations that the informatics program supplied. I was ready
to take on whatever lay in front of me, but I hit a snag. I found myself less
motivated to put in real quality work because of the people around me always
putting in better work (or so I felt). I would say all of this came to a
boiling point my sophomore year, where I sat down with a professor and really
explained the situation and told him I was finding it hard to keep myself
motivated when I felt so far behind. I was able to overcome this obstacle by
taking on a difficult model for a final project in class. I worked very tedious
hours perfecting this 3D model and when I was done with it, I had never been
more proud of myself than I was at the moment I saw my classmates faces when I
showed them the finished work. All I had to do was try, which I wasn’t doing.
Seeing Sideways was always a class on my list to take before I
graduated and left IUPUI. The idea of thinking outside of the box always called
to me. I feel as if it is the life I was meant for because in my opinion I
haven't found my calling yet. I never once felt that this class was a waste of
time or boring like some people told me from previous seeing sideways classes.
The main reason I never felt the need to drop the class was the fun
conversations we have as a class. Our class size maybe small but it’s fantastic
for our topics of debate that always seem to come up during discussions. I
always feel like everyone has a chance to speak their mind and their isn't
enough opportunities to do that in life to begin with, there is no way I would
take that nice commodity away from myself.
I can see myself in 10 years’ time having a desk job and not doing
what I went to school for and you know what, I'm okay with that. My parents
have always been a big part of my life and sometimes I get in the mind set I
seem to be doing all of this for them and not for myself, but that doesn't mean
I don't enjoy what I am learning and doing. A piece of paper and an good accolade
to my name is really what my parents want, but more importantly they want to
set me up for a better life when I get older. It's all a part of a process and
I can see the appeal, but sometimes I do want to escape and just go into a
fortress of solitude. That is why, for the future, I don't expect to be married
with kids or even have a stable relationship. I don't think it suites me,
people will always say, "Oh, you just haven't found the right
person," but I'm okay with being self-supportive and being alone on
a Friday night eating roman noodles thinking that I still
have a shot with Zooey Deschanel.
IUPUI, like all universities, has its flaws. Personally, I like
IUPUI, if it wasn’t for the name IUPUI. Whenever I tell people that I study New
Media, which in itself brings questions, and that I go to (inhales) Indiana
University Purdue University Of Indianapolis, they also have no idea what I am
talking about or they believe that it is another form of Ivy Tech or a lesser collegiate
school than those of Ball State, Indiana University, Purdue University, Indiana
State University, etc… Well it’s complete bullshit. IUPUI is right up there
with those schools and the school shouldn’t be discredited just because of the
names that are attached to us. I love the Informatics program and I love the
people that teach it and I would never want to leave and abandon what I believe
is the start of something beautiful. That is why, if I had my way, I would
rebrand the school and change the way the city, the people, and the world view
us.
Do away with the name IUPUI, it’s lengthy, its sounds like
something a 5 year old could say, and it is not respected. Personally, I like
the idea of just rebranding us as Indy University or better yet, have IUPUI and
University of Indianapolis merge and let the school flourish with a new name
and a new identity, while increasing the size of the campus and putting more
money into struggling programs. When I pay money to go to school I want to be just
as respected like those who went to Indiana University in Bloomington or Purdue
University in West Lafayette. I understand the benefit of being under the wing
of prestigious schools such as those, but it’s time for the school to make a
true name of itself and take a step toward being the best University in the
state and if I were head of IUPUI that would be my goal.
I would implement various new structures in particularly the New
Media program. The process and structure of this change would be analysis,
execution, and fluidity. First I would take 6 months and have an overall review
process in every area of the program. From the classes themselves to the
advisors who point you in the right direction. When the analysis process is
finished, any new change to the program will be required to last for at least 8
years, so the student body can get used to it and it will avoid shifting criteria
for students that are used to the old structure. As the program now in place
will most likely be in place when this process starts, all students currently
following that program will be grandfathered in and they will follow the old
process until they graduate. This allows for every student to fully grasp the
process and no confusion will be had and the typical questions “Where am I, in
terms of graduating?” will be gone.
The program would really start to flourish as the students know
what they have to do and the stress of figuring out classes for next term or
how long you have left to graduate will be eased tremendously. The final step
in the process (fluidity) is the most important. To achieve fluidity the administrators,
the staff, and the student body all must communicate effectively and that is
where the organization of the AEF comes in. I would implement a place where
Students can go to talk with somebody about any problems or situations they may
have and I would require someone of power or prestige to be there Monday-Friday
12-5. Students can feel that their voices are being heard and they know that
University cares about their issues.
In my life I use analysis, execution, and fluidity for every
aspect of my day to day preceding’s. It can apply to anything such as: social
life, finances, relationships, school, work, etc… If people spent more time analyzing
their problems or issues instead of trying to make quick fixes or working on
the fly, then we would be way more productive in this world. I took something I
do every day to keep stability in my life and I applied it to IUPUI. It isn’t
that difficult to solve problems if you analyze them first. I have enjoyed
Seeing Sideways to the nth degree because it has opened my eyes on applying
things I do in life to my career or my creativity. I will give the thanks by staying
sideways in life.
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