Amanda Rose Zampelli | the blog

I graduated.

On Friday, December 20th, 2013 -- one week ago from today -- I graduated from Shillington School New York.  Here is how the day went:

After a crazy night of working working working in the school 'til 8:30, then running half a mile in three minutes to catch the bus, then choking and coughing on the bus the whole ride home, I made it to school that morning.  I was total zombie status -- too tired to register emotions -- but I was there, and had lots of work to do.  The homestretch was near. 

By lunch time, I had the bold black and white and pink (surprise surprise) look of my portfolio down with most of the content where it needed to be.  Now to work on my website.

My friend Brita turned to me at one point and exclaimed, "Amanda, look!  Our work is right next to each other on Behance!"  I got sentimental and had to take a picture.  Brita sat next to me on the first day of school.  We had to interview each other and tell the class about the other.  Here we were posting our design work to Behance 13 weeks later. Nutso.

The setting up for graduation and visitors began early evening.  One poster from each student was hung on the walls like an artists' gallery.  It was quite exciting.

Mine is the top far left.  The green planet.  It made that with watercolor and then scanned it in...it was a great learning process.

Once the posters were hung, tables were set up and portfolios were set up, alternating between print portfolios and iPad portfolios.  (That girl in the polka dot was flipping through mine.)

There mine was, with DIY business cards in stamped neon pink ink.

This is how it looked with everyone walking around and viewing.  However, when family and friends arrived, this area was 5x more packed.

I was amazed by the work my classmates and schoolmates had done.  The growth was evident and quite extraordinary.  Mr. Andy Shillington (the creator of the program) himself was there all the last week, getting to know us, our story, our work...it was incredibly personal and inspiring.  I said to him on this last day as we were admiring and celebrating everyone's work, "Don't you feel like a proud daddy?"

Before graduation began, we presented our teachers with a present.  There they are -- Dailey and Sumayya.  (Not my cards.  I gave those to them later on.)

Dailey received a bottle of whiskey? Scotch?  ...some alcoholic beverage from "us".  Sumayya received a hanging terrarium.  I wanted one myself.  It was sweet, but like I wrote in my cards to them: there are not enough words, coffee gift cards, alcohol or hanging terrariums in the world to adequately express our gratitude (well, my gratitude).

Our computers became marked with our names, and the passing out of our diplomas began promptly at 5:30pm. 

In the next 15 minutes, each of our names and a piece of work from our portfolios were projected behind us, and we went up, hugged out teachers, and graduated.  It was the most heartfelt and intimate graduation of the few I've had (don't laugh) and my whole experience with Shillington was worth every heartache it took to get there.

I write this sincerely expressing much love to my classmates and teachers for making me feel -- for the first time in a long time -- that I got it right.

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That was my graduation, lovies.

The rest of the night was spent drinking and mingling and laughing and hearing everyone's plans for the next couple of weeks and taking photo-booth pictures and laughing some more.  

My dad picked me up from the city at 9.   We ordered late night gyro, and ate it with my sister at home.

None of my family came to my graduation.  Tomas didn't text me anything concerning it...or anything at all.  I was alone in the events of last week, but so full.  So not alone, for I was with my Shillington family, and my hard work celebrated, and my excitement and fears for what's to come.

But, I did it.  

I'm so happy I did it.

last day

Sweet Shllington School NY -- I love you forever.  I was typing this whole big post about how tired I am (only 3 hours sleep) and how stressed I am that I'm nowhere near done with my portfolio, and then I realized I am grateful and I need to shut up.  

I realized how happy I am that today's the last day of school (!!!), how happy I am that I made the decision to quit teaching and spend the last three months drowning in design and art talk, and computer play, and creativity and learning, and that HELLO! I'm graduating today (!!!).

So what it's like my 73rd time graduating from somewhere. Hip hip hooray for me, nevertheless.
I did it.  I really did it.

I would say some things more profound, but that's all my overworked brain cells are allowing me this morning.  Below is a quick card I made for my teachers, Dailey and Sumayya, last night: 

It's in reference to the first day of class, when their light-hearted, casual, witty and hilarious approach to teaching us first peeked its head.  Sumayya posed that above question to the class, and I knew I was in the right place.

I will be forever thankful to Dailey and Sumayya for their kindness, patience, wit and humor. They are great designers and great teachers and I feel immensly lucky to have had them mentor me. I'm forever greatful to Pete and Cindy and Mike for imparting their knowledge, and being so gosh darn helpful.  I'm forever thankful to Holly and Michelle, for their belly laughs and keeping the school so clean and organized and happy and comfortable. I'll be forever grateful to Mr. Andy Shillington -- whom I met this week and talked to for a while -- for creating the program.  

Thank you forever, Shillington School NY.
You will never stop hearing good things from me. <3 <3 

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Happy Friday.

Happy Graduation, fellow classmates and myself. God speed a job we adore.

action plan

My classmates and I graduate from our little 6th floor NYC graphic design school in four weeks from today.  Just four weeks! Do you know how lightning-fast four weeks go?! (I'm sure you do.)

With the clock ticking, and the end drawing near, I've been thinking about my action plan come the end of the next 4 weeks.

First and foremost, I want to make it to graduation.  There is Thanksgiving, Project Life-ing, Document Life Workshop projects, decorating for Christmas, shopping for Christmas presents, December Dailiy-ing, my Power Point presentation to my class, Tomas visiting from Texas for eight days, and two weeks of "portfolio time" before graduation day on Decembere 20th.

Once December 21st hits, however, it's me-time for the next few days.  I know myself, and I'm going to want to do nothing*. *Correction: I'm going to want to be locked in my craftroom and work work work on art art art (hardly nothing).  Realistically and logistically, though, I'm going to work on my resume, scout jobs like a mutha, and purchase the Adobe Creative Suite so I can continue to practice what I've learned the last 3 months.  

Come January - I'm hitting the ground running. The goal: land a paying job by February 1st.

I believe that's all I want to divulge at the moment.  There is more up my sleeve (including a full-on blog re-haul before the year is out), and I started the previous paragraphs of this post this morning with the intention to flesh all those up-my-sleevies out with words, but now that it's approximately 14 hours later, I've changed my mind.

I'll be back tomorrow and Sunday with posts, but for now: G'night!

I'm beat.

school / life

It's been awhile since I posted about design school.  It's been a while since I felt like there was something worth postin'.

As you can see, fall has definitely arrived.  Chapstick applications every 15 minutes, black nails, scarves, layers and layers of clothing, orange and yellow leaves everywhere!!, it being straight up pitch black NIGHT when I walk of out school at 5pm everyday (thank goodness NY is so absolutely gorgeous at night this time of the year).

I could complain that it's not Summer, but that wouldn't make Summer2014 come any faster, or take me back to Summer2013, so I won't.  One positive of this cold and lonely season is that it makes me want to sit at the computer longer and focus harder.

A testament to that are some of the graphic design projects from the past two weeks:

 I'm not really sure which ones work and which ones don't, and I find Fall brings with it that immense self-doubt (who am I kidding? It's always there).   However, I listen hard to my teachers everyday and observe hard what my fellow classmates are creating, and I just do the best me.

I've come to the conclusion that the best design work of my life is NOT going to come from this class.  It's going to come later, and I'm okay with that. 

I have, however, been thinking hard about what I want to come down the line for me.  I've been writing it down hard...over and over again...on different notebooks and paper surfaces...

And then, my birthday happened on November 9th.

 I got a WOOOO! card from my Grams, and I continued with the third year of my birthday chalkboard tradition.

My one request was a nice diner breakfast with the fam.  It happened, and was nice.

For my birthday evening: I honestly truly deeply with my whole heart just wanted to stay home and watercolor paint my birthday night away.  Anti-social? Yes. Hermit-like? Absolutely.  Exactly what I wanted? You betcha.  However, my sister put in effect a "night out" to the city, which I cancelled last minute, and made local instead.  My friends who came out were not in the celebrating birthday mood, but I suppose neither was I, and at one point my sister (Yes, my best friend, and partner in crime) leaned over to one of my friends, straight up said something mean about me (on my birthday!) and then they both gave me this pathetic look. I retreated to the bathroom, and felt like I was going to cry.  

I wish I had never went out.  The night ended with noshings at another diner, my sister drunk as a skunk, and sleeping on the table.

I cried a little the next morning, recounting to my mom what happened.  (I think it also had a little something to do with it being my first birthday without Tomas physically there. He called, and left me a sweet message, which I was grateful for.)

Once the afternoon hit, my stupid drama diminished, I talked it out with my sister, and mostly got over it.  Major side effect, however, of my birthday going the way it did: my desire to hermit became exponentially greater.

Mom tried to make me feel better by taking me boot shopping:

 When I came home, I gave myself a birthday gift: some craftroom time to watercolor my heart out until The Walking Dead. 

 Enter these past five interesting days.

 I donned my new headphones -- a gift from Tomas all the way from Texas.

A bird striaght up pooped on my head 30 seconds after I - with much foresight -gave my neatly wrapped up leftover french fries to a homeless woman.

The sun blasted us in NYC one day, and completely abandoned us the next, but both weather situations were cold cold cold.

I've been walking the streets of midtown by myself during lunch, or eating the smelly soups and food I bring from home by myself during breaks.  I've been feeling socially awkward, weird and lonely, and oh so hermit-like.

I started and finished the book Christmas Jars.
It was a little "Hallmark" for my usual taste, but I think that's what I needed this week.

...and yesterday, I visited the New York Public Library, and was pretty blown away.  Actually, I just visited the awesome gift shop, and walked the halls a bit.  I plan to sign up for a library card, and spend many a chilly lunch hour there.

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Thanks for reading about my pretty ordinary school / life this month so far.

I'm going to go have myself a weekend, and see you soon.

one month

To think the first day of graphic design school was one whole month ago!  It has been one fulfilling, GOOD month.  I can't wait to wake up in the morning and hop on public transportation, and find out what I'm going to learn next...

...and learn I have.  Even what I've learned in just the past two days...mind blown.  Taking this class was the right decision.  I'm so in my element it's downright ridiculous.  It's made me come alive, like in this quote:

Thank God x one billion.

so far

These images are kind of what's been happening since this post.

So far, it's been pretty great. I feel like everything I'm learning is important, and I hope when it's all over I find out it really was.  

My routine these past ten weekdays has been to hop on the bus around 6:35am, recline my seat a bit and think about everyone I love.  Before I know it, we've made it under the tunnel and into Manhattan. I get off at magical 42nd Street, right at the corner of Bryant Park, and walk about ten minutes to my school.  I'm usually the first one there, and set up my work station, look over my notes, stamp my notebook page with the day's date.  Promptly at 8am, the day begins.  My two teachers walk out of the office, cheerily say 'Good Morning' and we get started.  The rest of the day is a mix of learning, designing, trying new shortcut keys, questions, problem solving, critiquing, researching, laughing, snacking, and back to designing again.  The atmosphere is relaxed, yet productive; informative, yet creative; it's structured, yet flexible, and I'm loving it.  

Today's Monday, and I'm okay with that. Good sign, readers.  Good sign.

That's been it so far.  

Two weeks down, eleven more to go.

Thanks for checking in.

first day

yesterday was my first day.

hopped on the express bus at 6:22am. in Bryant Park by 7:15am.
tried to take a series of outfit shots, but got wildly embarrassed, and abandoned the idea.
will try again soon. 

the entrance to Shillington School.

when you first walk in.

blurry white board shot with my name & the names of my classmates.

welcome folder.

near-empty classroom, almost 8am.

my sweet-ass window seat.

the row I'm in, and pink-pen ready.

my name tag claiming my window spot space for the next 13 weeks.

and then there was lunch on a cool and sunny Monday in Bryant Park.

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It was a truly great first day.

Thank you to everyone of my friends and family who wished me luck, well, and assured me I'd be great.
It meant the world to me yesterday.

Have a successful Tuesday.

the start

Across the street from Grand Central Station, up the block from Bryant Park, and within view of the Chrystler Building is where I'm headed today.  I guess you can tell from my previous two posts here and here, that I'm a bit a terrfied by the wonderful new beginning.

Last night, Moneyball was on.  I saw that movie for the first time in January of 2012, smack in the middle fo my hardest month as a teacher, and the song "The Show" hit me like a ton of bricks. Funny to hear it yesterday with today being what it is, and although the song reminds me of 'that time' when I felt so afraid for the quality of my life and confused for what to do about it, the song still tugs on heart strings now, too.

I will tell you one thing before I go: I didn't wake up this morning dreading that it's Monday.

That's always a plus.

Adios, Summer.
Hello, Fall.
Hello, new chapter. 

review on my school here