Professional Student Guide

PSG 101 Entitlement - Part 2 - Entitlement was an issue we explored in our last PSG. We are expanding on that topic by discussing how students feel they know more about subject material and how instructors should teach. This is kind of a funny "educational paradox" where the student believes him or her self to know more than the instructor. Instructors are themselves industry professionals and not only teach but practice what they teach in the professional world. In fact, this is a requirement of the instructor’s employment. In order for a student to become a professional, a continuous cycle of listening and watching other professionals is crucial to success.

The teacher / student relationship is the most complicated lesson learned in college. The misunderstanding on the student end is the amount of work required of them. Observed, consumer culture is migrating into our education. Instead of the instructor explaining and guiding through the process of learning, students are demanding what they want to learn and how they want to receive that information. These demands stress the student/teacher relationship. How can a seasoned professional deliver their knowledge if the perception is that the person delivering the knowledge is unable to perform their job? The limited amount of time given to instructors to teach, what generally takes years to perfect, makes it impossible to cover everything. Four hours in the day and eleven weeks is just enough time to fully explain basic techniques or integrate details of creating a film, once. The majority of learning takes place outside of the classroom doing projects that practice what is taught in the classroom.

College learning is about mentorship and relationships. Students need to do much of their learning on their own under the guidance of the teacher. The teacher’s role is to say if the student is heading in the right direction. Making the leap from a high school style education to college education is difficult for some students. Students can not expect instructors to spoon feed them the information. What you are paying for in your continued education is the investment in yourself to be a professional. As students, we must learn to be a student and take charge of our education.

Advice – Always listen to someone who claims to be a professional in the field. Their accomplishments will speak to their expertise. 

Professional Student Guide

Hello Everybody,

It has been some time since I've last posted anything on the blog (mostly because I'm really not much of a blogger) but I think after spending time as a student of Ai and meeting different students while working at the CAGE I've thought of some topics that may be helpful to addressed. Therefore, with the help of some faculty members I will be posting short Essay's on how to be a "Professional Student" and what you can do to both get good grades and maintain a good reputation on campus. These post are open for debate and are meant to give a type of guidance to students who need a way to put college life into perspective. Maybe there are those of you out there who agree or disagree and we welcome positive criticism so long as the main goal is to help students adjust to college life. Thank you.  - Freddie@TheCage

PSG 101

Entitlement – Part 1

As a new student to any school you should not feel entitled to anything. Entitlement is a tricky issue when dealing with various assets of the college experience. Reputation is everything in the filmmaking industry. Retaining the reputation of being “entitled” labels someone as being difficult to work with and unreliable. In dealing with the cage and staff, students should be aware that they are investing in the expertise of their instructors. That expertise must be respected at all times. Yes, there are many frustrations and limitations working within an academic environment. However, that should not overcome everyone’s responsibility in respecting each other’s role in academia. A false sense of entitlement puts students in danger of setting off on the wrong path while they are in school. Schools and institutions can only supply what they can afford, just like you can only afford what gets you by. For example, most students have jobs that they get paid for and they use this money to pay for things like:

Utilities – Electricity, Gas, Water etc.

Rent – which can be $500 and up

Credit cards

Car Payments or (transportation to and from work)

Food

I am sure many students can relate to the items above and you may even have more expenses to add to that list. Well a School or Institution is a business and believe it or not businesses also have to pay for things like:

Utilities – Electricity, Gas, Water etc.

Rent – which can be $10 Grand and up

Employees – (could be you)

Equipment – Computers, office supplies, other work related items

Transportation for some employees

Food

Walking into any school assuming that the institution can provide every student with thousands of dollars of equipment is a one-way trip to disappointment. Every institution’s priority is a student’s success in their field. Even professionals have to problem solve their way through budgets and limits. Students should embrace the assets and instruction they receive humbly. It may save their career someday:)