Zub Tales

A relaxing weekend. I did a little bit of work, but most of it was chilling at the apartment or catching up on sleep. My cel phone’s acting up, so if you can’t reach me there, call my home number.

Probably my only frustration as I get ready to tackle another week is the course application stuff. I finished sorting and ranking the portfolios over a week ago, which was nice to get out of the way, but even after I very explicitly told applicants not to pester the school about their application status, I’ve been getting absolutely pelted with e-mails and phone messages at the college from students doing exactly that. Last night an applicant e-mailed me in a rage (seriously, it was dripping with angst) asking why he was on the waiting list, so “Please look at my portfolio again. I feel in hell these days. Please re-mail me.”

Maybe it’s just a matter of me getting older and doing that cliche “man, kids nowadays are idiots” thing, but I don’t recall feeling so self-entitled. Confidence is good, but some of this is just getting ridiculous.

There’s that Hollywood-delivered nicety of “If you work hard, you will succeed”. I really do believe in that. Seriously.

The tough part comes in understanding how much hard work that will be for some people. If you work hard and you still aren’t making it, then a lot more hard work is required. There is no motto that states “Your hard work will be the same or less than anyone else who has ever succeeded”. Maybe you have to work twice as hard, maybe aspects of it will come easily – no one knows. Maybe someone you know will get an easy break and you won’t. Fate (if you believe in that kind of thing) doesn’t state “work hard for a year” or anything specific like that. Your path is unique, even though there are tendencies we can look to as far as growth and technique.

Do the research, look at your work and be honest about where it’s at. How bad do you want it? Just saying or feeling that you want it really bad is not enough. I’m not saying this to be mean. I don’t think I know everything, but I have a decent idea of where my skill falls on the ladder and what I can and can’t do at this point. I wish my skills were stronger, but wishing alone doesn’t make them better. Blaming someone else doesn’t improve them either.

It’s not like a I sit around cackling like Doctor Doom raising up or destroying people’s lives as they apply to get into this course. Would it be right to put this applicant’s portfolio ahead of someone with higher quality material just because he complained to me? Of course it wouldn’t, and I won’t… but this idea that I should because he e-mailed me makes me bristle a bit.