get a masters degree

Yay me!

Last night was the (informal) graduation ceremony, and the exhibition/graduation show… It’s really over…

“read the blog entry”: http://www.bananeira.net/stories/archives/2006/12/its_done.html

This week, we had our final presentations to the external examiner from the University of Wales. It’s done!

We have our final exhibition on December 15th. :-)

Dissertation is due next Friday. Five days left to write it.
Final project presentation is on November 30th.
Officially, we finish on December 15th.
This entire year has flown by.

I wish we had another year.

OK, so we’ve been here since the 23rd December. we spent christmas and new year’s here. my course starts on january 11th, which is a wednesday, bit of an odd day really. short school week though.

i know some of my classmates are arriving in the next few days. we’ve made arrangements to meet before class starts. i have to go back to the netherlands for a few days because i have to see my students at TUE for the completion of their projects. but i’ll be back on the 10th… it’s weird, i stop teaching at university and now i am starting my own postgrad education in the same week…

can’t wait to start my course! :)

i found a few people who are going to do the course with me. one is a fresh graduate of a design school in india. we’ve emailed and spoken over YM/MSN and he seems nice enough, certainly a curious guy.

another person is a furniture designer based in NY. and a colombian girl currently living in glasgow (?) or somewhere in scotland.

i’m feeling a bit nervous. i feel like i’ve been working too long, even though it’s only been 5 years. i feel like i’m molded in a certain way, and i’m curious to see how i will adjust to the study environment again.

i’m insecure in the sense that the fresh graduates will be more creative/innovative/skilled than i am. that’s what i think, anyway. also, the tutors might expect a lot more from me, simply because i’ve had a lot of industry experience.

daunting thought, really. well. i guess i’ll just dive in there.

p.s. there’s always cooking school, right? mmmm, alimento delicioso ;-)

i’ve enrolled on the IDII/DA Interaction Design course, starting in January 2006. i couldn’t come to a favourable deal with my employers regarding working+studying+financial help, so i have resigned!

resigning feels sooo good! :)

i feel so relieved. so it looks like i’m definitely going to Milano at end of year. december is my final working month. i’ve enrolled on the course, paid the deposit, and found a flat in central of milano, a bit expensive but close to amenities. and i may have even found a flatmate (if robert doesn’t come with me to italy).

things just fall into place. i think i’m really meant to go. :)

well, sometime in mid-march, before our wedding, i got an acceptance from ivrea. interaction design institute ivrea. yay!

then in may i got an email saying domus and ivrea have merged. several things that will change due to this merger is:
1.the masters course will be a 1-year course, instead of 2
2.the course commences in january 2006 and ends december 2006
3.the course is moved to milan
4.at least there will be other students from other disciplines to collaborate on projects with… yay!

last week i had an email saying i have been granted a partial study grant. yay! i still have to pay €9000 but i think that is a manageable amount.

my manager said they’ll do a deal with me about sponsoring my study, but the deal offered was very strange. listen to this:
1.i have to work 30% during 2006, that’s approximately 4 months
2.the office will pay me 30% of my current salary
3.after i graduate, i have to return to the same studio/company for an indeterminate amount of time

isn’t that weird? i seriously don’t think i owe them anything in terms of finances. i declined commenting anything and told my manager i’d think about it and get back to him. i don’t know if there is actually anything to think about?