Up until now i haven't given much of an insight into my actual course or the university itself that i attend as part of my Erasmus adventure - Here i shall share with you some images, a video and some personal experiences as an Erasmus student at NABA Academy, Milan.
NABA is the largest private educational academy in Italy made up of a series of 12 small white buildings that look like old army barracks... maybe they were once, who knows! I struggle to call it a campus as at it doesn't feel that way, but the grounds cater for the students just like any ordinary campus with a caffeteria, student lounge room and even ping pong tables!
Here is a video the academy share on their website for students interested in their courses, I have also attached a link to their website:
Graduation
In the photograph above on the left you can see there is a line of different coloured strips hanging from the roof of the building. These are actually all the names of students graduating. The difference in colour represents the course of the student and once you have officially graduated, you are granted with the pleasure of tearing your name down from the wall as closure on your degree. I saw people doing this on several occasions with their friends and family, chanting 'for he's a jolly good fellow' in Italian, taking endless amounts of pictures with friends, fellow students and staff.
At home in England when students graduate we wear the cloaks and graduate caps (which cost a fortune) Here in Italy, they wear normal day - to - day clothes but wear a simple grass wreath with red ribbon weaved through - And they look amazing! - I wish graduation was less formal in England and I could just wear a pretty dress and fancy wreath!
Tutors
I remember showing up to my first class for Fashion Design - the class was to be run by a British woman named Helen Field. Naturally, being a British student the thought of having a fellow English woman teach you for a whole term sounds rather comforting - How devastatingly wrong i was! I immediately fell into a false sense of security and my expectations of having a friendly relationship with this woman were crushed almost the second i walked into class!
We had a whole eight hours of 'first day' meet and greet influenced activities lined up. But first up she wanted to know where everybody was from and what we were all about. Myself and two friends, Kayleigh and Abby stood up individually and introduced ourselves - she picked up on the fact that we were from a coupling university in Coventry, UK and instantly seemed to take a disliking to us nicknaming us 'The Coventry Girls'. I took an immediate dislike to Helen and decided i was going to hate her from there on out ... Then i got over myself and set myself up to impress her with my work and i did just that.
The reason i came to Milan to study for an extra year before committing to my final collection (the biggest collection of my life so far) in my final year of university, was so i could explore my talents and try new things. I can safely say i have grown as a person and as a designer and i owe it all to Helen Field, i simply couldn't have done my final collection without her input as a tutor!
Aside from Helen, my fashion design tutor, every tutor i have had has been AMAZING. Knitwear, Textiles, Pattern Cutting and Marketting are just some of the classes i have attended. The most brilliant thing about the tutors at NABA is that they are all currently working in industry aside from teaching at the university - naturally this allows them to be the best they can be as tutors as they have first hand knowledge of the fashion industry and it also allows you as a student to have a realistic insight into what they do.
No comments:
Post a Comment