Will Smith is a 2024 graduate of VTSU Castleton now pursuing a master’s degree in Film Studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. 

When I was asked to write a guest piece for the Spartan, I was worried—worried about saying the wrong thing about my experiences and dissuading someone from going to graduate school. I will say, much like undergrad, I am not the target audience. 

So far, my time has not been the “typical” student experience. Also, in the words of Sir Charles Barkley, “I am not a role model.”

I have been waiting almost 30 years to write that last line. Digression aside, as with everything, take this piece with a grain of salt. If you decide to go to grad school, it could be the best thing that has happened to you. It could be the best decision you will ever make. Or.

When Dante wrote the Inferno, he did not include all the levels of hell because if he had, there would have been a lengthy chapter about graduate school and the students who go there. 

I think the level is in between sloth and gluttony. To pass to the next level, Dante must sit through two three-hour lectures, a lab in which no one knows what to do, and then do homework until Seth Meyers comes on the Television every day for the next few years.

All the while, Beatrice or Virgil asks if you want to hang out, but you can’t because you have to watch 50 films in a week, and they don’t understand because it looks like you are just relaxing. 

No, I am in film school. 

I have to watch films forever. 

I don’t want to do it on my time off.

Also, I do not remember hearing that people are just not like you for no discernable reason. It could be another student, that worker with no hair and an evil squint that rolls his eyes every time you say hello, or the custodian who wants to go home and not deal with your crap. 

They will just not like you. 

And to be fair, most of the time, they will not like you for petty reasons you will not understand. Then also, they may not like you because they are jealous of how freaking awesome you are. 

Unless you’re a jerk and do not understand constructive criticism, there is probably no way of knowing why someone doesn’t like you. If you are a jerk and do not understand constructive criticism, then that’s why people do not like you.

The worst part is that you can’t turn it off. In my downtime, I sit there and wonder what else I should do. I try to relax, but the guilt and stress get to me. Honestly, I think this could be a me problem, but I know many people go through this.

Regardless of all of these things, I am making it. I am clueless about how I have gotten this far, but like the baby bird that gets kicked out of the nest, I’m doing it; I’m flying.

Landing may be a problem, but who cares while I’m in my element? That’s a problem for another time.

I have learned some things, mainly about myself. That should count for something. One of the things I have learned is to cherish the ones you can lean on. I could not do this by myself. From friends who help me by watching my films to my family who make sure I eat, none of this would be possible without them. I thank the stars that I have them in my life. Seriously, you people rock and thank you.