[what's your color? kiiro? midori iro? aka?]
So, I finally talked to my parents about my plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in fashion merchandising management.
It actually went...better than expected. O.o Ma didn't say much, which I'm not sure is either her way of acquiesing (she tends to talk more when she DOESN'T approve, believe it or not) or her way of saying "Fuck it, I know I can't convince you otherwise". Dad was fairly supportive, and asked a lot of questions, and operated under the misconception that I would be deciding upon the stage clothes of the Rolling Stones (!). He DID balk, though, at the idea of me living out of state, in particular, New York, which gets me to talking about my future plans:
First, I'll need to attend community college. In high school, I was ridiculously smart; aced my tests, but came from redneck lower-middle class multi-children family and was teased a lot - hence, I suffered from pretty serious depression. My schoolwork suffered BECAUSE I had such serious depression - honestly, I don't think I have more than a 2.0 GPA.
So I've GOT to get my grade point average up before any four-year school will think twice about accepting me. Fortunately, there's a community college about ten minutes from my house that offers low tuition and the opportunity to transfer credits to the college of my choice.
My college of choice? The Fashion Institute of Technology, in Manhattan, New York.
To be honest, it was a hard decision. Tuition at FIT is not TOO high (about $6300 a semester, which with fees totals to about $13,000 a year), but the living expenses are what's going to put a dent in my wallet (*wince*) at about another $10,000-$12,000 a year alone. There were other schools that offered the same degree at a LOT cheaper tuition, so why FIT? There's a couple of reasons.
1.) MANHATTAN. It's so loaded to say this, but I really feel like New York is the HUB of fashion in the United States (at LEAST in the East Coast; you can't argue that). A chance to be there, in the thick of things, among the boutiques and executives and trendsetters and all of these amazingly SUCCESSFUL, FASHIONABLE people is almost giving me an orgasm right now (jk). This is also, unfortunately, the reason Pop doesn't want me to go - to him, NY = HOOKERS AND CRIME. There's no explaining to him that New York City and Manhattan could almost be separate PLANETS for all the difference in median income. Besides, I'll be careful - I've read enough Cosmopolitan magazine now to be downright PARANOID about social scenes in general. O.o
2.) The courses offered. True, other universities offer a bachelor's program in fashion merchandising, much the same as FIT, but the curriculums themselves couldn't be more different than air and water. The other universities I've investigated (again, short of ones on the West Coast; in particular, California) offer similar general education courses for the first two years of college, but in the major areas of study, there's a huuuuuge difference. Classes at a somewhat-liberal-arts-oriented-state-college? General Chemistry. Introduction to Macroeconomics. Fashion, Style and Culture (acceptable). Critical Reading and Writing (WTF?). Introduction to Sociology. Costume History (ACTUALLY, I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE LOL).
Classes at FIT? Fashion Business Practices. Advertising and Promotion. Contemporary Retail Management. Merchandising Math Applications. Team Development Workshop (FUCK YEAH WORKSHOPS). Statistical Analysis.
See where I'm going with this?
3.) Career placement upon graduation of college: %90. 'Nuff said.
4.) If you file for it early enough, and base your first two years of curriculum around advance planning for it, FIT actually offers an international study abroad option in goddamned FLORENCE. Yes, Florence, Italy. They also offer programs in Paris, Hong Kong (enjoy your AIDS), Milan, and London, too, IIRC, but Florence was the one that appealed to me most. The classes are still taught in English, but focus more on the international aspects of merchandising (trading overseas, spreading/predicting trends, etc.) and of course, the SETTING. *___* FFFFFFF such a gorgeous country with such a colorful and romantic history. Italian 101, here I come!
Oh, and did I mention that I'll get to live in New York?
Anyway, that's my plan for now. It's still a ways off before I achieve my goal, but hopefully I'll be winking at you all from behind the desk of some huge multimillion dollar corporation one day LOLOLOLOL.
What are your plans, f-list? What are the things that you guys are going to school for? What are you hoping to achieve?
It actually went...better than expected. O.o Ma didn't say much, which I'm not sure is either her way of acquiesing (she tends to talk more when she DOESN'T approve, believe it or not) or her way of saying "Fuck it, I know I can't convince you otherwise". Dad was fairly supportive, and asked a lot of questions, and operated under the misconception that I would be deciding upon the stage clothes of the Rolling Stones (!). He DID balk, though, at the idea of me living out of state, in particular, New York, which gets me to talking about my future plans:
First, I'll need to attend community college. In high school, I was ridiculously smart; aced my tests, but came from redneck lower-middle class multi-children family and was teased a lot - hence, I suffered from pretty serious depression. My schoolwork suffered BECAUSE I had such serious depression - honestly, I don't think I have more than a 2.0 GPA.
So I've GOT to get my grade point average up before any four-year school will think twice about accepting me. Fortunately, there's a community college about ten minutes from my house that offers low tuition and the opportunity to transfer credits to the college of my choice.
My college of choice? The Fashion Institute of Technology, in Manhattan, New York.
To be honest, it was a hard decision. Tuition at FIT is not TOO high (about $6300 a semester, which with fees totals to about $13,000 a year), but the living expenses are what's going to put a dent in my wallet (*wince*) at about another $10,000-$12,000 a year alone. There were other schools that offered the same degree at a LOT cheaper tuition, so why FIT? There's a couple of reasons.
1.) MANHATTAN. It's so loaded to say this, but I really feel like New York is the HUB of fashion in the United States (at LEAST in the East Coast; you can't argue that). A chance to be there, in the thick of things, among the boutiques and executives and trendsetters and all of these amazingly SUCCESSFUL, FASHIONABLE people is almost giving me an orgasm right now (jk). This is also, unfortunately, the reason Pop doesn't want me to go - to him, NY = HOOKERS AND CRIME. There's no explaining to him that New York City and Manhattan could almost be separate PLANETS for all the difference in median income. Besides, I'll be careful - I've read enough Cosmopolitan magazine now to be downright PARANOID about social scenes in general. O.o
2.) The courses offered. True, other universities offer a bachelor's program in fashion merchandising, much the same as FIT, but the curriculums themselves couldn't be more different than air and water. The other universities I've investigated (again, short of ones on the West Coast; in particular, California) offer similar general education courses for the first two years of college, but in the major areas of study, there's a huuuuuge difference. Classes at a somewhat-liberal-arts-oriented-state-college? General Chemistry. Introduction to Macroeconomics. Fashion, Style and Culture (acceptable). Critical Reading and Writing (WTF?). Introduction to Sociology. Costume History (ACTUALLY, I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE LOL).
Classes at FIT? Fashion Business Practices. Advertising and Promotion. Contemporary Retail Management. Merchandising Math Applications. Team Development Workshop (FUCK YEAH WORKSHOPS). Statistical Analysis.
See where I'm going with this?
3.) Career placement upon graduation of college: %90. 'Nuff said.
4.) If you file for it early enough, and base your first two years of curriculum around advance planning for it, FIT actually offers an international study abroad option in goddamned FLORENCE. Yes, Florence, Italy. They also offer programs in Paris, Hong Kong (enjoy your AIDS), Milan, and London, too, IIRC, but Florence was the one that appealed to me most. The classes are still taught in English, but focus more on the international aspects of merchandising (trading overseas, spreading/predicting trends, etc.) and of course, the SETTING. *___* FFFFFFF such a gorgeous country with such a colorful and romantic history. Italian 101, here I come!
Oh, and did I mention that I'll get to live in New York?
Anyway, that's my plan for now. It's still a ways off before I achieve my goal, but hopefully I'll be winking at you all from behind the desk of some huge multimillion dollar corporation one day LOLOLOLOL.
What are your plans, f-list? What are the things that you guys are going to school for? What are you hoping to achieve?