With the first class session behind me, I have to say that Art 220 is going to be a very interesting course. It’s safe to say that I have been in plenty of classroom settings as this is my last quarter as a junior at Cal State LA. I’ve become use to the routine of the "first day" of the quarter and all the introductions that come with each class. But as soon as the professor walked in and greeted those in the room with an individual good morning, I knew this course I signed up to take 6 weeks prior was going to be different. The question then was if this class is going to be a good different or a bad different, and based on the first class meeting, I can say it’s a good different. Well, let’s just say a small mandarin had something to do with it.
The professor had two students pass out small mandarins and had us examine the small fruit for a couple minutes. As the two minutes were passing by, I couldn't help but feel a connection with it. I didn't know why this was happening until I later realized that in some crazy way, it was not only my first day in the class, but it was the same for the mandarin I had in my hand too. Next the professor had us pair up with the student next to us and describe the mandarin as best we could. My partner went first and in those two minutes, I quickly learned that another person can have a very different outlook of a small fruit than me. You think something like a fruit is a simple thing to describe and explain to someone but even that can be very complex. So, when my turn came around, I described the mandarin as best I could and as I was, I couldn't help but think, here I am in a classroom communicating with a person about my particular mandarin, that up until now, was a complete stranger. This was definitely not something I was expecting especially with the title of the course being Concept Development. But nevertheless, after that, the professor told us to hold onto them as we were going to be capturing the mandarin on paper through drawing, painting, and all kinds of art mediums over the next 10 weeks. Since i have taken many drawing courses and have experience with many types of art mediums, I feel that the documentation of my mandarin will be interesting, especially since there needs to be a total of 50 pieces of work. A daunting task? Maybe, but so far there has been nothing I can’t accomplish since I’ve been in college.
One thing about the professor I noticed immediately was that he asked the students many questions. These questions ranged from how we could tell he was a professor just by looking at him, to what we thought we would learn in the class and what we would hope to take away from this course at the very end. Questions that one doesn't expect especially for the first day of class and yet it was ok that they were asked because it made sense to ask them for the theme of the class. I think the mood any class as a whole or the way it is setup has a lot to do with a professor and the ability of the professor to make a class engaging. One thing that's for sure is I got a very positive vibe from the professor throughout the entire class meeting. I can tell that he is going to be the type of professor that keeps you on your toes which is a nice change for me being that I’ve had a lot of professors in the past that never quite pushed my critical thinking skills to the limit.
In terms of the attendance policy, being late is not an option for those that want a good grade in the class. I was very glad to find out that my professor is going to take tardiness and absence seriously. I’ve always been a firm believer in being on time, and not just for classes, but for anything in life. I was somewhat stunned at how many people walked in late. Not so much because of the time schedule issue, yes 8 AM can be a bit harsh, but because it was the first day of class. First impressions are everything. So, it’s good to see that the professor made it loud and clear about all that, because like he said himself, we paid for this, why not get every second we can of this experience? That was definitely a comment that stood out to me.
While i did learn a lot that day, I think there is a lot more to be learned in the coming weeks. I think the students in the class are going to be pushed to think critically and to expand our minds to the thoughts of concepts or ideas, which we also learned the meaning of as well. While the syllabus outlines what the basic run-through of the class will be like the next 10 weeks, I feel there is much more material and other things not listed that we are going to learn as the class progresses. It might be small things, but things that we are going to learn about in the class and even about ourselves. Can we truly think outside of the box when we are asked to, or to develop some type of idea or assignment in class that will require us to go above and beyond what we already have stored in our minds from past classes? So many questions wait responses and only time will tell if we will all be ready for the challenges and expectations that lay ahead. It will be interesting to see what the coming weeks hold for my fellow classmates and I.
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