Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Majors

What is a Major?

–noun
1.
a commissioned military officer ranking next below a lieutenant colonel and next above a captain.
2.
one of superior rank, ability, etc., in a specified class.
3.
Education.
a.
a subject or field of study chosen by a student to represent his or her principal interest and upon which a large share of his or her efforts are concentrated:History was my major at college.
b.
a student engaged in such study.
4.
a person of full legal age (opposed to minor ).
5.
Musica major interval, chord, scale, etc.
6.
the majors,
a.
Sportsthe major leagues: He coached in the majors as well as in the minors.
b.
the companies or organizations that lead or control a particular field of activity: the oil majors.
–adjective
7.
greater in size, extent, or importance: the major part of the town.
8.
great, as in rank or importance: a major political issue; a major artist.
9.
serious or risky: a major operation.
10.
of or pertaining to the majority: the major opinion.
11.
of full legal age.
12.
Music.
a.
(of an interval) being between the tonic and the second, third, sixth, or seventh degrees of a major scale: a major third; a major sixth.
b.
(of a chord) having a major third between the root and the note next above it.
13.
pertaining to the subject in which a student takes the most courses: Her major field is English history.
14.
(initial capital letter(of one of two male students in an English public school who have the same surname) being the elder or higher in standing: Hobbes Major is not of a scientific bent.
–verb (used without object)
15.
to follow a major course of study: He is majoring in physics.
Dictionary.com definitions of a major but for us college kids, #15 is basically what we call a "major".
Even before i came to college people were asking me questions like, "what's your intended major?" or "have you decided on what you want to major in college?". I simply answered..."something artsy".
Currently a junior in college and now im starting to wonder, what really is a major? why do we even need one? For me, I've switched majors twice from interior design to advertising design to computer art and now I'm not really liking what I do in computer art as well xD Surprisingly im still graduating on time thanks to roll over studio credits.
This question of "what is a major" came to me in illustration class today. We had this scratchboard assignment and we were critiquing it and I noticed that everyone's piece was so nice and very technical. Mines on the other hand, a bunch of scribbles that somehow came together to make up what is thought to be a headshot of Phil Collins. Its then that I realized how much passion my fellow students have for their work, something that I lack very much. I have no motivation to do maybe 90% of work from school whether it be drawing, painting, sculpture, collaging, photoshop, design, audio sampling, audio and video editing, animating, movie making, and all that other good junk. What I have motivation of doing? (random videos for sister's night lol) Anything random. Sometimes I am really passionate and motivated to do an illustration while other times im really passionate with creating a musical score. My style of working is very random. I cant describe it anyway else. I love working with illustrations and audio sampling and designing layouts and making films...all at the same time. My interests tend to shift a lot from here to there hence im once again unsatisfied with my major.
Why do we need a major? For me, its just something that I "need to have" so i can actually graduate from college. A good percentage of students graduate with a certain degree and go on to do completely opposite things. Im bound to be one of those. Im gonna graduate with a computer art degree and go into something totally random. Maybe for some people they found THE ONE area of study they REALLY like and want to do for the rest of their lives. I haven't. I like leaving my options very open. Yes im gonna graduate with intermediate knowledge across the board in art, design, and transmedia, but its what I like doing. I hate being confined to a singular style of work. I need more freedom in my work. Something sort of a picasso who completely defied all the trends of art schools throughout the world. I wish I can define my own major which would tie in all sorts of art elements into one. I really hate not being motivated to do my work and I get jealous sometimes when I see my fellow classmates who seem so passionate about their major and im just...meh, just get it over with. Once I graduate, I dont wanna think about it cause the future doesnt look to bright at the moment. Might end up working at a fast food restaurant or something. I just wish that this world can just accept randomness as a style of working. Maybe I'll change my major again, probably not (dont wanna stay here for any longer than needed). As for now, I guess computer art is my "major" so im stuck to this particular field for the next 1 1/2 yrs or so. Still, inside of me stirs an energy of random creativity that will never be satisfied with a certain "major". Its just waiting to explode out into the real world and maybe reshape what defines creativity and art, or just fail miserably. So at the moment, will somebody please save me from this single (or dual...or triple)-major-defines-who-you-will-become-world!







Think Different.




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