playing nice and making friends

It surprises me to hear some students at FIDM say they aren’t here to make friends. They’re just here to get their degree and get out. All I’ve got to say to that is: “Good luck out in the real world, honey. You’ll be all alone.”

What I’ve learned from the past 5 quarters is that it’s all about putting yourself out there, networking, and getting noticed. You don’t necessarily have to be BFF with the world, but to not befriend a single person while you’re in school for the whole two years—I find that a little dismaying… and quite frankly, SAD. I’ll be honest, FIDM is a design school, FIDM is fashion, FIDM is incredibly competitive (internally, that is, because ultimately at the end of the journey, we’ll be fighting for the same dream job) – I don’t know, who knows. But we’re also here to learn, to grow, to discover. It wouldn’t hurt to build bridges along the way. I guess what I’m really trying to say is: open up, make friends, SMILE and say hello to the people around you. You’ll be stuck with them for the next 6+ quarters anyway, WHY THE HELL NOT?! And while you're at it... be nice to your instructors and advisors. "Bad attitude ain't gon' get you far."

The beauty of the fashion industry is this: You’ll never know who you’ll need a job from in the future, who you’ll need to hire in the future, OR who can help you get hired in the future. It’s about who’s in YOUR network.

So new kids at FIDM, I advise you to take those little noses out from the air and play nice. Enjoy the first week at school! That’s all for tonight. ;-)