Hey look, confetti! Big news: I've been awarded the Augusta University Individual Teaching Excellence Award. You can read more about it here: https://jagwire.augusta.edu/augusta-university-celebrates-its-outstanding-faculty/ Teaching is tough. Teaching in the Animation world is it's own challenge - there's no playbook. It's a new field that never stops changing. It's a good time to look back and see what I've accomplished. I arrived at Augusta University with the dream of building a new Animation program in 2018. I wanted to build a program that had the art school edge, but with the tools and diversity of learning that a public University could offer. And it goes without saying - I didn't want students paying art school prices. We launched our program in 2019 with a class of around 6 or 7 students. I taught a total of 10 separate courses over the next 2 years. This program kept growing, even during COVID. We're now creeping up on 100 students and on track to keep growing significantly throughout the years. We're hiring new faculty, getting new facilities, and pushing the work inside the classroom to new levels every day. It's all about the work we create and setting the students up for long-term success. Students show up on day one with a fuzzy picture of what they want. They're trusting me to show them what the industry actually looks like. They're trusting me to challenge them and teach them things that will help them grow. It's sometimes frustrating, sometimes fun, always creative, and a lot of work. But I hope I keep earning that trust to give the students the tools as they move into that next phase of life. I've successfully been promoted to Associate Professor, earned Tenure, and won this award in the same year. I'm grateful for those who have made this possible, including my family, my students, and the fellow faculty, administration, and staff that make this University special.
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