Righteous indignation (?)

Today we had our project reviews for the bridge. To my dismay, we had a rather informal review in our studio classroom. It's really a shame considering the mess of a working studio. You spend weeks of work and preparation, fine tuning your design and building your models, having things printed nicely and mounted, and then you present on your tables covered with scratches and over floors filthy with sawdust and paper. We all dress nicely too, I busted out the nice shirts with slacks and a belt. People take special care with their hair. It's like working for two days to create a full gourmet meal with all the elaborite garnishes and presentation, then eating in the kitchen off the kitchen counters. I want an event.

I presented my bridge second, and out of the first half of the students to be critiqued, mine was the judged to be the most complete and resolved of the bridge designs. They liked the design and the how I had translated from the ground to the height of the bridge. I used my mentor's advice to talk slower and conscientiously adopted a confident stance, looking my reviewers in the eyes. The only thing I need to work on more is lose the"I tried to..." and other passive voice prefixes in talking about what I DID. About half the class just had pretty identical bridges, just two trusses with a floor and a roof between them. It seemed to me like the other studios had a lot more variety and daring.

I've also got this parionid feeling about the studios. My entire studio from last semester, minus me and three other students, moved into the studio down the hall. They told us at the begining of the year that they were going to place us in studios to get a even mix of GPA's, genders, and ethnicities. I think they did that pretty well. What's disconcernting to me is that they said they did the same thing this semester. As a good three quarters of the studio stayed togather, I cannot but suspect that they kept studios togather because, hey, there's already a great mix of GPA's, genders, and races from thier first placing. As gender and race dont change much, was I separated because my GPA changed and threw the mix out of balance? Or am I just being parinoid over the whole B+ in studio?

On that point, I ran down my studio instructor in the hall who promised me he hadn't forgotten me and that we would meet sometime soon. I hate the situation he's put me in. I'm not going to make him a friend by pushing for the grade change from a B+ to an A- or whatever. He really is an intelligent guy and a great studio instructor, and has been with the faculty for a long time. His recommendation would be very highly regarded. On the other hand, this B+ is like a thorn in my foot, dragging down my GPA, especailly as it's a five credit hour course. It's also insulting to me, as either my craftwork, design skills, or work ethic is subpar. I'm not a perfectionist: if I felt like I'd really deserved a B+ I'd be perfectly fine with the grade, like the B I got in structures. I'm not happy about getting a B in that class, but I feel it was a fair grade. This B+ in studio just doesn't sit right with me.

Anyway. Project 1 is over and we're going to spend the rest of the semester designing an aquatic center for a national competition. First prize is quite a lot of money.