The Good Times: Transition

The two years between undergrad and graduate school were not particularly exciting from a social standpoint, but it was a key moment in my life where it was important that my energies be focused towards the future--specifically Graduate school. Life wasn't bad: I was making money working both at a full time job and doing side-work as a freelance renderer. I was able to save quite a lot of money doing this in Jacksonville, since the cost-of-living was practically nothing compared to what I would be paying once I left the Sunshine State. All the while, the experience was helping me hone my skills and learn more about the industry that I had essentially committed the rest of my life to.

The first year out of undergrad was fairly calm. I lived in a rather shitty apartment which you can read more about here. But other than that, life was kind of relaxing. The following year is when I started preparing for graduate school applications and subsequently filling them out. It was a long and arduous process that I am glad to say I'll never have to do again. I applied to 10 schools, which meant overall I needed to: get 30 letters of recommendation; print 13-14 portfolios (one per school and one to each person from whom I was requesting a letter of rec); pay over $500 of application fees; take the GRE; write several essays of intent (which admittedly were mostly the same) -- well you get the idea. It was exhausting. The deadlines varied from very late December to early February. So by mid February it was simply a waiting game.

Around mid-march I got my first acceptance letter from the University of Florida--it wasn't surprising given that my last visit there as a visiting critic I was introduced to the new dean by a former professor who told her: "Give him as much as you can to at least consider going here."

In collegiate terms, March Madness is typically applied to the playoffs of NCAA Basketball. My March Madness was the sudden and ego-pumping barrage of phone calls and letters of my acceptance to each of the 10 schools I applied to including many highly regarded institutions such as UCLA, Yale, MIT, UPenn, Princeton, and Harvard. Around this time was when my father was starting to yield a little bit on my choice of study. It was an exciting time for me and probably marks one the best moments in my life as I felt that my professional pursuits had been validated.

The following weeks were filled with informational brochures coming through the mail, congratulatory phone calls, and furious emailing as I tried to get as much guidance as I could on what might best suit my desires. I also made a rather chaotic trip to the north east where I hit 5 of the 10 schools in their Open House sessions. Ultimately, I decided to go to Harvard. And to this day it still feels a little surreal that I can say that.