I got to finish one essay and I'll have my artz degree. good bye universitat!

two essays to go, then another two to four years. ugh.

I just have one big fat research assignment to complete which is slowly driving my insane. Then when it is all over I'll have the rest of my life to pay hecs GREAT.

I finished my degree in June. There's a course I'd like to go back and study, but I don't think being a broke student for another 3 years is exactly what I want to do.

Yeah I know what you mean Coz. I've been working full time and studying part time......no life no fun.

I got to finish one essay and I'll have my artz degree. good bye universitat!

and hello unemployment!

thats a bit mean. Let a person enjoy it while they can .

meh, uni is one way to get ahead but plumbers make more money

tell me about it.

what are you studying SS?

MEEEE!! I finish this year in 3 weeks kinda scary..not! WIll go back to uni next year maybe tho!

I'm gonna leave the country so that I don't have to pay off my hex. you should come with.

HECS Exile

This time of year is really hard. Staying up all night to study fucks me around but it is the only way I ever get any writing done.

I've got about four weeks or so until I finish my course.

Good luck everyone. By December it'll all seem lke a distant memory...

randy parker - i think she is studying sociology, or feminine hygine, ahh i always get this mixed up.

eergh, Fem Hygene is a dead end course.

but someone has to keep the Fem hygenek.

quack

moooo

That link is great clarebear, makes my point very clearly, thanks.

I especially like this line:
In some instances relevant experience and/or on-the-job training may be required in addition to the formal qualification.

Always wondered about people studying to become an artist, don't actually think it's possible. Sure you can learn about arts, and about artists, but art comes from within. I think it's more akin to an artistic incubator than an artistic education.

*Theory and methodology fall under 'about'.

Brian, have you studied to become an artist?

yes most certainly, though not through any institution.

Does anyone have experience with distance learning? The idea of spending the next six years working full time and studying is a bit daunting. I'm only six weeks into the first unit and I'm sure it's just a teething stage but it's giving me a fair bit of anxiety trying to juggle.

I guess it shows the massive difference between on campus learning and really soaking in the culture of university as opposed to self-learning.

im going to enroll in uni when i move to melbourne. whats a good uni in melbourne?

I did most of my VCE through distance. I don't know how the structure would differ at tertiary + level, but I found distance learning brilliant for everything other than languages (I took German via distance and my verbal German was pretty shit) but I got an amazing amount of support from my co-ordinators.

Brian: so you're saying it's possible to study to be an artist - just not in an institution?

Re: a good uni in Melbourne. they all have their strengths. It depends on what you want to study. Good for you if you can pick and choose.

Re: distance. Distance educators are usually aware of the issues and the form has its pros and cons. Most (OK, many) students at universities don't soak in any culture, they just waste the experience pretty much. Ultimately if you can cultivate the skill of (guided) learning it sets you up well for the future.

Iong distance can work great. in your own hours and that. if you're struggling with juggling it can relieve a lot of pressure. the 'on campus culture' can be really important though, depending on what you study, like woolfat said.

fowltonmeans: yeah pretty much. i'd say you need to study (does not mean in an institution) to become good at most things.
i'm not that black and white though. to be specific, you can become an artist whilst/after studying at uni, but it won't make you one.

I didn't have anything to do with ''on-campus culture'' at either of the two universities I attended. A lot of it is a COMPLETE waste of time, although study groups (even though I never participated in one) can be pretty useful for certain subjects.

sorry, i meant your example bout german s'all.

oh no, i wasn't having a go at you, just saying that campus culture is usually a lot of wank. at undergrad level at least. i was pretty repulsed by most of it.

yeah i agree, undergad lol.

but it can be important. I easily could've done community service and youth work online but I think it was a lot more beneficial to be in the room.

yeah, towards the end of my undergrad degree i realised how much i got out of group discussion. for the first three years though i was far too scared/intimidated to participate. by the end of it i was older than everyone else in the room and just stopped giving a fuck.

by the end of it i was older than everyone else in the room and just stopped giving a fuck.

mature age student par excellence

the kids in my classes in first year were bloodthirsty, privileged, smart-ass hooligans.

Brian - I still think with all due respect you are a bit off track. How do you define what makes someone an artist? I suspect you're saying that an institution should not decide it i.e. it doesn't automatically come with a bit of paper saying you've passed a degree. Which is of course true. But on the other hand a lot of art practice education (such as VCA offers) is about practicalities not just of art production but also working as an artist in the field. I guess hypothetically you could self-educate yourself all the way along, just as you could move to Romania and set about learning Romanian from scratch/by osmosis/ relying on the kindness of strangers. Or you could do a couple of years of Romanian beforehand which really is comparatively a fast track. I don't know if the journey to fluent Romanian would be as much fun - there is no way of knowing that - I do imagine it would probably have fewer highs and lows. In any case that parallel only goes so far. The bottom line is you can't cultivate an artistic aesthetic/mindset/sensibility purely through getting a degree in 'art' (is that even offered?) but your education, even if it's only half decent, in 'art' should give you a ton more skills than starving in a garrett will.

The 'art' thing is a bit of a misnomer anyway, because it's more subjective than many 'hard' technological areas. Nevertheless I don't think you should diminish art educators. You wouldn't go to a self-taught doctor (I hope). Art is as important as that. Artists need support, networks, and generally speaking, education.

What I'm trying to say can be summed up in the following true story: on the day I got my driver's license, I was a shit driver, but I quickly used the basic skills I gained practicing for the test, to become an OK one.

i don't understand why you'd assume fewer highs and lows. I'd suggest learning romaninan from one source would probably do that.

i'm not dismissive of educators at all, i am one. I do appreciate your interest but I believe it's you that has taken this in another direction. the weird thing is now you're kinda making my points for me, :)

i see uni (in terms of arts) as an incubator. it provides all it sees necessary and follows a predetermined structure. Think of an egg incubator, you put eggs in and out come chicks, not chooks.

i couldn't agree more about the importance you place on art, i applaud it. i believe education is second to none for personal growth in any field, but again, doesn't have to be institutionalised.

your car example made me think of this:

i knew two brothers as a teenager, 14 and 16. they both worked pit crew for their father who was big into drag racing. they could both drive by the age of 10. when the eldest finally was old enough to go for his license he failed three times before getting it. he's now a quite successful drag racer.
the thing i think worth taking away from this is that the guy could drive, the guy could drive better than most people, he now wins awards for it. but the institution wanted him to parrot, not explore how well he could do it.
I'm not suggesting they were wrong in this example, and I certainly don't see institutionalised learning as a hindrance. More to my original thought, uni won't make you an artist, they can only tell you what one is.

Makes sense to me

Argh. So over studying... Summer units are so damn full on. If you start behind there is just no time at all to catch up.

Two exams next week... Can't wait for it to be done with.

Starting Trimesters this year though, I think, so I should probably get used to this. Bah!

And yes - juggling work and study is pretty damn tricky, and I've had a few incomplete subjects because I haven't quite made it, but it can be done. The sleep-ins after your exams are the best sleep-ins of all. Can't friggen wait.

On the plus side - I get to start some of the more exciting units in my degree after these two. Rad.