Life @ Otis

In no particular order...

1. Elevators

If you are an Otis student you have definitely experienced the chaos of the school elevators. Yes, they may be less strenuous than taking the stairs, but the things that we have to put up with for taking the elevators makes it less and less appealing (but we do anyway because, let's be real, who's going to walk up seven floors?). Annoyances include: the line out the door in the mornings, the line at the end of class, feeling like a sardine crammed in a can full of other sweaty art students, foundation students and their portfolio bags trying to fit in when it's already cramped, trying to get to your class on time but having to stop at everyone else's floor first, people who take the elevator to go down one floor, etc. 

2. Complaints from Non-Art Students

Nothing is more annoying than sitting through your 3-6 hour LAS/studio classes and getting a text from your friend complaining about how boring their 55 min class is.

3. Ospace

This probably doesn't need too much explaining. Does anybody remember trying to figure out Ospace foundation year? It was like trying to cut a steak with a spoon or trying to tie your shoes with gloves on. Traversing the endless maze that is Ospace just adds one more stress-filled experience to our already stress-filled Otis live.

4. Cafeteria

“Hmm...what should I get for lunch today? Breakfast burrito? Nah, had that yesterday. Sandwich? I already ate that last night... Chicken wrap? Ehhh... What about the specials? Salmon? No, I had that earlier this week...*sigh* guess I'll just get a chicken wrap.” 

5. No Student Store

New students to Otis may not know, but the lot now being developed at the Playa Del Oro apartments used to be the home of the Graphaids art store. Since their closing around 2 years ago, students have been forced to travel to the next closest art store: Blick (previously Utrecht). However, Blick is still a ways away down the overcrowded Lincoln Blvd (especially for those without cars). How great would it be to have an art supply store on campus? It'd be fantastic. Maybe if we dream hard enough, it'll become a reality one day (probably won't happen until after you graduate though). 

6. Constantly Being Tired

Self-explanatory. Being an Otis student means sacrificing precious, sweet hours of sleep so that you get your work done and don't look like a slacker in class. However, this is kind of counter-productive because it's probably making you fall asleep in class, so you look like a slacker anyway. 

7. The Size of The Student Body

With our whopping student body number of 1153 students, everybody has a vague awareness of who everyone is at Otis. Hell, you might even follow a couple of people on Instagram but never talk to them in real life (or vice versa). This could either blossom into a wonderful new friendship or just add to the awkwardness that you already experience when you walk by that one student in your studio class, but never really talk to. One thing's for sure, whatever happens at or around Otis LITERALLY stays at Otis. And everyone will hear about it there eventually. 

8. The Speed Bumps in the Parking Garage

Let's be real, the speed bumps in the parking garage aren't so much speed bumps as they are miniature mountain ranges that spear the hell out of your tires. It's commonplace to drive wherever possible to avoid these car-wreckers. Hopefully you're not sipping your little Starbucks latte while driving over one of the bumps, otherwise you can say hello to the giant stain on your new shirt. 

9. 2nd Floor Office Referrals

If you have had to deal with any of the offices on the 2nd floor, you might already know what it's like to try and sort out your problems. You start out at one office but then get referred to another because you asked the wrong office about the wrong problem. Once you make it to what you think is the right office, you are referred yet again to another office. The best way to get your problem sorted out is to collect a group of your friends, and ask every office about your problem all at once, that way one of you is bound to be in the right office. 

10. Tension Between Departments

While you may have friends from every department at Otis, departments as a whole definitely talk trash about other departments. These grudges can stem from anything, like the fact that another department may have something that your department doesn't, the way you've seen people from other departments act, the way you've heard people from other departments talk, the way other departments are organized and how yours is not, the way one of your teachers may talk about other departments, etc. Can you say, “school spirit?”

- Ethan -