Better late than never? Let's Hope so :-)

Soooo leave it to me to forget to blog for the last week of posting. I think I must have gotten so excited about this whole being done with school forever thing that I forgot I actually still have some work to do. To be quite honest I don't really know what to post about. I could find a video on youtube or vimeo and talk about how I think it was done. Or I could find a recent news story related to motion graphics. But to be honest I don't really want to do either of those things :-). Not that I don't love motion graphics, I just think my senior-itus has gotten the best of me over the past few days. So, I figured instead that I might offer some words of advice for any underclass-men who just happen to decide that they'll read the blog this week. Sooo here it goes

1. If you can and haven't already INTERN seriously you wont regret it. Not only is it a great networking opportunity but it is also a really good way to get a feel for what you want to do/don't want to do as your career. The opportunity to work in a professional environment rather than a student run one like ICTV or whatever is seriously great. Yes, it sucks that you have to pay for credit and then work for nothing, sometimes doing "bitch" work but in the end it is totally worth it for your resume and just as general experience. If you choose to do an internship over the summer I recommend trying to get credit from a state school or local community college since it's insanely expensive to do it through Ithaca. You don't have to give up an entire summer though, you can easily find an internship in the Ithaca area during the semester or do a semester in LA/London...which brings me to my next point
2. STUDY ABROAD. Seriously you will not regret it and will have the best experience of your life. Doesn't matter where you go just go somewhere and if you can squeeze it in/ afford it I recommend going twice. Once to a foreign country and once in LA. I had an absolutely amazing experience in France but going to LA was even more valuable. Especially if you're considering moving out to Cali after you graduate. A semester at the Pendelton center is well worth it because you can get a feel for whether or not you'd be happy living in LA before you move out there officially.
3. I think most people already know this but get involved in as many student productions as you can. Now that you know how to use AE I'm sure you can find plenty of student projects in need of a motion graphics artists to do titles or even effects. Even if you're not into the whole After Effects thing just get involved in projects in whatever way you can. I've found that a lot of what I learned before taking Media Thesis came from working on student productions just as much as in the classroom.
4. Realize that your professors are a valuable resource and use them(especially Arturo)! Seriously, I can't even begin to tell you how much help I got from Arturo this semester. From career advice to help on projects that weren't even assigned in class, I have gained so much by just stopping by his office in my free time and bugging him with a million questions. And in all honesty you probably couldn't bug him enough, he really does love to help, and he knows A LOT about many, many things, not just motion graphics. But really be nice to your professors, be an engaged student and not a passive one, it will pay off.
5. Finally, enjoy and cherish your time in Park. Pretty soon you're PPECs card will expire and all the amazing resources you have at this school will be gone. Take advantage of them while they last but don't forget to have fun. College goes by in a heartbeat and you only get one chance to do it right.

Welllll this blog post ended up being a lot longer than I expected. I guess that kind of makes up for the fact that it is 5 days late and has nothing to do with motion graphics really. It's been a good semester and I am more than happy to have taken this class with all of you. Although I do wish you all were a little less quiet and a little more weird like me :-). Have a good summer, never stop animating!!