Cat BeckstrandĪside from the financial and emotional turmoil SFAI caused me, it also nearly prevented me from becoming the journalist I am today. Savash, Cat's co-worker at the school library. That’s why when I see poor, idiotic grassroots campaigns to save SFAI - an institution that was so cruelly expensive it forced 90% of domestic students to take out loans they will likely spend their whole lives paying back - I want to shake organizers by their shoulders and scream, “STOP.” There are so many ways to support artists, and the best way to do that is to give them money directly as opposed to letting some incompetent middleman fumble the bag. ![]() Right now, my family is appealing to wipe out my student loans, but it’s not yet clear whether that burden will ever be lifted, or if my wounds will ever truly heal from this experience. Regardless, I maintained this emotional and financial balancing act for nearly a decade. And the dissociative episodes that nearly landed me in a hospital. Cat BeckstrandĪfter years of “taking breaks” from school, working minimum wage jobs and navigating San Francisco State University’s strict matriculation standards, it made me question whether I even had the strength to get a degree at all. So when I arrived at San Francisco City College’s administrative office and discovered that hardly any of my credits transferred to local state schools - meaning that I had to start all over - my mental health spiraled. The median tuition cost $45,664, a staggering $31,264 more than the average cost of special focus institutions, according to Data USA.īy the time I left as a sophomore, I had taken out enough student loans to buy a small 7-acre island in Nova Scotia. That’s when I began to notice that many of us, including myself, were falling into a black hole of student loan debt - and without academic credits that transferred to public universities.Īs of 2020, SFAI had just a 39.2% graduation rate, and it’s clear why: Previously, KQED’s Sarah Hotchkiss reported that a four-year degree from the “nonprofit” school cost nearly $280,000. But once I settled in, students around me started dropping out or transferring after just two semesters, sometimes less. I didn’t really know who I was yet, but I knew that I loved taking pictures, so I decided to pursue photography. These experiences were invaluable, and my friend Jeremy Cain - whom I still exchange postcards with - says he met people “worth staying connected to for life.”Ī year later, it only seemed natural to graduate high school early and enroll in SFAI’s bachelor degree program. It was where, for the first time, I felt a deep sense of community among my peers, some of whom I still stay in touch with well over a decade later. ![]() I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that this program changed me: At the height of the indie sleaze era, it was where I first fell in love and had my first real kiss (unfortunately, it was actually at the AMC theater on Van Ness, but I usually spare that detail). When my parents dropped me off on the corner of Sutter and Taylor, I was just 15 years old.Ī collage I made of my friend Jeremy during the SFAI pre-college program. ![]() Most of these memories are “firsts” that I got to experience in SFAI’s pre-college program: A monthlong summer program where teenagers got to live in a dorm in downtown San Francisco and simulate college life. In many ways, it feels like I’m grieving the loss of a troubled relative or partner, one that I have had to push away but still share lifelong memories with. By their senior year, students will style menswear and womenswear editorial photo shoots for various publications, and build their styling portfolio.Like many former students and alumni, I have strong, mixed emotions about its closure and even stronger feelings about the complicated legacy it left behind. As students advance in the program, they will mature their skills in personal styling, product styling, while learning to produce and art direct their own photo shoots. Right in their first course, students will be introduced to the foundations of fashion styling and have the opportunity to work on photo shoots with models, photographers, makeup artists and hair stylists. This highly collaborative degree will help you acquire the creative and technical skills to build an industry-standard styling portfolio that showcases professional, imaginative, and visually engaging fashion imagery.įashion Styling is about creating outfits and fashion imagery based on a concept. Graduates will be fully trained to style, produce, and art direct for print and online fashion magazines, ad campaigns, commercials, e-commerce, look books, fashion shows, fashion videos, and personal clients. ![]() Join the only accredited Fashion Styling degree in the United States and get a jumpstart to your styling career.
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