On my way out of Burnham Center on Friday night, I had an interesting conversation with a couple of students from a competing college in town, both of whom pursuing animation degrees.
These two students initially approached me to find out if I was a student at Flashpoint Academy. I told them no, but that I work at Flashpoint, and would be happy to help them if I could. They told me they’d been to our school a few times for CG Society meetings and wanted to know where they could get a Flashpoint t-shirt to, in their own words, “piss off” their school.
I laughed, but they said they were quite serious. One of them then went on to tell me they’ve had it with their animation department’s lack of tools and resources, and they’re constantly frustrated by scarce and broken equipment. They said that when they come to Flashpoint they see what animation facilities really SHOULD be like, and that their school should be more like us.
As luck would have it, Perry Harovas, our Animation & Visual Effects chairman, walked by just as I was having this conversation with these students. I asked them if they use Mastering Maya in their animation classes, and when they said yes I pointed at Perry and informed them that he had co-authored it. They couldn’t believe it, and acted a little like there was a celebrity in their midst. “It’s the textbook guy!”
Both of these students already had a brochure in hand when I started talking to them and expressed interest in coming to Flashpoint after they finish their current BFA degrees in order to expand their education.
My conversation with these students further proved to me that we at Flashpoint Academy are doing something (in fact, a lot of things) right.
By keeping our emphasis on hands-on learning and exceptional teaching, our programs are gaining a reputation -- even among the students at competing colleges -- for providing superior education. The fact that these students see our 2-year Animation & Visual Effects program as something more akin to a graduate program than their own BFA program really says something about who we are and what we have accomplished in just 3 years. I am extremely proud.
