“How is school?”
I hate to be cliche, but I can’t believe we have already reached the end of the first semester of the STCM grad program.
When people ask me: “How is school?” I genuinely don’t even know how to answer the question. I knew starting grad school to pivot into a new career field in the midst of a global pandemic would be an unusual experience. I still maintain that I made the best possible decision. So I will break down “how school is going” for all of you truly interested in the answer.
Does virtual school at the cost of in-person school make me happy? Ha-ha no.
Would I rather be sitting at home working a job that I don’t exactly love? No. In fact that’s an even bigger “no” than the cost of virtual school.
So, here we are. When people ask me what I am studying, I tell them “Strategic Communication Design”.
This phrase confuses many. I go on to say, “we do everything from website and app design (UX/UI) to coding to 3D modeling & printing”. Even though this description is the tip of the iceberg, it usually satisfies the asker. (I’m starting to think people aren’t asking because they actually give a sh*t)
Anyway, I also mention our big end of the year project pitch.
In fact, I am most excited about combining all of the skills I am learning in the STCM program to deliver the big end of the year pitch. Word on the street is the WSJ might write a piece on my group’s solution, thanks to the networking skills of my group member Cal.
The space I chose is “Future of Work”, which has led to many interesting and insightful conversations both within my group and outside my group. The one OK thing Covid has done is bring to light issues in workplaces that were already happening, but have been accelerated due to the virus. It feels more important to deliver solutions now that help people prepare for future uncertainty. We are heavily discussing:
Upskilling workers
Diversity in the workplace
Rethinking the “typical” workday
Working from anywhere
Retirees being involved in the future of work
Work/life balance
Collaboration spaces
Company hierarchy
I am lucky enough to be in an amazing group with Heather, Cal, and Mye, and I have such high hopes that we will deliver an incredible solution.
We have called our solution a “moon shot”, which is a phrase I have become very keen on using. When JFK was president he said to everyone, “we’re going to the moon!” No one knew how the heck this goal was going to be achieved as the nation didn’t have the means or materials or ideas about how to do this, but what he presented has become known as a “moon shot”. We have a big goal, and we don’t know how we are going to make it come to life, but something will be presented.
The US went to the moon, and so will our group (metaphorically).
The other concepts I am excited about delving into are CAD and animation design. I have actually really enjoyed coding, learning about APIs, and about 3D modeling and printing. It’s like I have waited so long to finally be able to understand and conceptualize these tech skills, I am so relieved that me, Jacque Walo, understands all of this computer jargon.
It’s funny, you spend so much money on a ferrari-level laptop to only Tweet and watch Netflix that you miss exactly HOW MUCH can be done with computers. Maybe too much sometimes… like one of my wise professors, RJ Duran, has said, “people with computers can be scary”.
I spent the past two months trying to siphon information from Twitter’s API for research purposes, and I realized just how deep the rabbit hole goes. It’s also worth nothing that I was really proud of myself for pulling info from the API successfully.
I am invigorated by the freedom allowed on my final project deliverables for this semester. My serial killer cartoon character is definitely one of them. The Brown Recluse is her name, and I have been waiting for 4+ years to bring her to life, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. I discovered an Adobe program called “Character Animator” to animate her and make her walk and talk.
Going to school during Covid has also brought me the chance to make new friends once again. When you’re a single woman in a global pandemic, life can get pretty lonely. A lot of my super close Boston University friends are back east either continuing their education or just working. (Jing, Kaf, Abha, Tyler, Shapiro: if you are reading this, you are killing it in school!)
They are all my heart and soul, and the fact that we haven’t been able to reunite for a whole year breaks my heart. Which brings me back to why school has been great for another reason this year — new pals! I am so happy to get to meet new folks who share my similar interests, and who are just edgy enough to go to school in the midst of a pandemic. The future was always uncertain, and I think we all made a good choice to pivot at a time like this.
Being back in school again, pandemic aside, has been an interesting adjustment. The first few weeks, I would walk up to the campus proper on the Hill just to see what it was like and the resources available. Having gone from a true city school with a one-mile stretch of street for a campus to being in a more suburban place on a closed campus is such a wild experience.
A lot of the things I see, students and what they do, is so fascinating to me. Some of it is new, and some of it is typical college student behavior. I am only 26, but being on the campus ages me by about ten years.
So far, this semester has been a challenging on in the way of global pandemics and new material. Since I am not even sure what my career path after this program will be, I am going to continue to lean into all opportunities and find the sweet spot of where my interests and talents overlap.
So that, folks, is “how school is going”.
