I was very honored and proud of the fact that I was accepted into SWOOP for this summer, but I really didn’t know what to expect. First, I was told it would be a quasi-like internship/class, which I expected would be rigorous. I was ready for the challenge, yet I was like a car driving through dense fog.
I knew Bill Ford from my JOUR 3055 class. He always pushed his students to do their best. You can see he cares. It’s a bit intimidating at times to receive constructive criticism from him, and I knew that as director of SWOOP, he would expect the a lot from his students and I.
From the get-go, we were expected to work diligently on the assigned clients. It was tough work. The work amounts a bit more and more each week, but it’s always felt satisfying to complete.
Ford is always eager to share tips and tricks on how to excel with his students. On June 7th, I got to know him more as a mentor than a teacher. Two points of advice that spoke out to me were; first, to work hard so you can get to where you want to be. He told us that, as an art director you could be working on several projects that you might not necessarily like, or you could be working on things that can satisfy your life’s purpose and career. In order to do work you love, you have to put in twice as much effort outside of class than in it. Secondly, according to Ford, the amount of things you learn goes as follows; ¼ you learn in class, the last ¼ you learn at your work/internship, ½ you learn through your own will.
I feel he hit the nail on the head with these lessons. I took this to heart and will continue to do so for the rest of my life.