so i’ve officially secured a summer job of being a jewelry instructor at a summer camp ^^

free cookies in the morning, juice at lunch and ice cream after and i get paid $50/week to commute on their free buses it’s the besssssssssstttttt

hello! We do have summer classes, but registration has ended and the classes have started already … in the summer, there’s normally JD fabrication 101, beginner soldering, and wax carving. there’s also gemology but that’s not studio

I’m not entirely sure how simple the process is to start in the spring because a lot of basics classes are done in the first semester. And they’re all prerequisites for next classes so it’s possible that there might be registration issues as well (???) but you should email the chairman about that (unless you already got it sorted out and know you can)

//
to be hoooooooonesst …. when I first started, I love love loved the program and had no bad things to say
after finishing my first year and actually hating my second semester .. hahaha
some professors are nuts. sometimes you really just can’t get along with them or agree with the way they grade/hold critiques. some people in the higher up positions (won’t say who, but if you ask around, you’ll know) are also insane.

if you already have a bachelor’s degree and can transfer most of your liberal arts classes in, DO IT. they’re a pain in the butt, they screw around with your studio time (ie we’ll have open studio 12-6 and you’ll have a class 2-5 so you have like 1-2 hours to work and it’s not worth it) .. ugh
you get what you put into it, so if you get close to a professor or tech, ask lots of questions and try to learn as much as possible.
for the sake of one chasing project (where most people just formed a shape, cut it out and made it a pendant), I learned how to enamel, practiced making and cutting molds, made a hinge + spring, and set a pearl all by myself (or with the advice/help of some friends. but work was all done by me)

I don’t know, just try not to let the annoying things get to you and do your own thing.
I also recommend not talking to too many people (which I did and screwed me over), because then they start distracting you while you’re working or when you’re on a time crunch. but don’t be unsociable either. it’s good to make friends so you have connections later on in the future as well

I think I’ll enjoy the program a lot more next semester now that I’ve got the troublesome classes out of the way and have no more design (painting) classes and can concentrate on being in the studio more.

try it out! I took the beginning soldering class with Chie and the wax carving class with Karen over the summer and that’s how I definitely knew that I wanted to do jewelry. different people have different opinions so I’d recommend taking a class before diving in full time.