Today was the last day of finals. The students in my HUW 269 New Media Project lab capstone course were scheduled to turn in and present their final professional portfolios. The final presentations are always interesting because it gives the students, and me, an opportunity to see how far they have progressed as multimedia artists since the beginning of the semester. This year was a little different. In addition to displaying visually stunning portfolios, these capstone students, many who had graduated last week, surprised me with a end of the semester thank you party. They bought pizza, cake, and soda that we all chowed down on as we laughed and critiqued the final portfolios that were presented.
In the 12 plus years I have been teaching at LaGuardia I have never had a class do something like this for me. Hell. they even put the Bat symbol on a cake. I was more than a little emotional since this may be the last set of graduates that I personally teach from the beginning to the end of their studies at LaGuardia. Next year my teaching responsibilities will be significantly reduced as I work on some special projects for LaGuardia and undertake new responsibilities in my role as an Academic Director over at CUNY SPS.
While I am excited about the new position, one of the things that I will miss in heading up a online program is the daily face to face interaction with my students. They are truly amazing.
