would you like some cheese to go with that w(h)ine?

Part of the WELCOME SPEECH at orientation to grad school...
"Here at the Institute of Design, we research and observe physical, cognitive and cultural factors to design innovative, human centered design. When you graduate you will be masters and experts in Strategic Innovation Planning; Innovation Methods, Tools, and Frameworks; Information Structuring and Complexity Visualization; and User-centered Systems Conception. We will work on data visualization, sustainability, systems organizations, creating electronic learning records and work with companies and organizations such as the Doblin Group, Ideo, Mcarthur foundation, Motorola, Steel case, McDonald's, Microsoft, McKinsey and other companies to name a few. You will be doing every project in groups, your studio, life and social life is entirely here now and we welcome to one of the most intense design schools in the world."

What it sounds like to me:
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLABLABLA BLAH BBBBLA BLA BLA BLA BLAH. NYEEERRRR BLAH BLA, NYERRR, BLAH. WE'RE GOING TO WORK YOU TO DEATH.
(this reminds me very much of my undergraduate days at a tech school)

How I feel:
Lar....HYAMADASAAAAAAAAAN! HOW'S IT GOING IN CHICAGO? wanna go back to Greece? WOOOOHOOOO! FORGET WORK! FORGET HOUSE! FORGET HUBBY AND DOG! FORGET RESPONSIBILITY! LET'S GO TO THAILAND. yeah, forget school, lets go to SouthEast Asia. I can still drop out... I can get my money back. WOMAN, WHATS GOING ON? My roommate dropped out of school. My stomach still hurts and I'm not ready for this. Why do I keep choosing programs that go out of the way to welcome me to the hardest experience in my life? ITS ONLY TWO YEARS BABY. I've been studying my ass off non-stop for 28 years. Oh god this is my third degree, what the hell is wrong with me? How much more studying can I do? Why do I keep doing this? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ROOMMATE? he dropped out. pissed off that the school is nothing more than a thinly veiled business school and that they don't create anything in the long run and that they killed the fun and wit out of design. OH GOD I'm SELLING OUT. I said SCREW YOU to my business background, went to design school, came out a graphic designer, decided to go to a design grad school and came dancing right back into business world mumbo jumbo where you splurt alot of mumbo jumbo and sound so important. God What the hell are they talking about? OH MY GOD I'M STUPID. forget dropping out, I don't even understand them...... SO WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO? WOULD ANOTHER SCHOOL WORK? no... masters level design education blows massive chunks, I put off going to grad school last year because I simply couldn't justify paying through my nose for a piece of paper, a wee addition to my ego and the same career prospects out of my second degree. COME TO CALIFORNIA. right, I'll help you can your peaches, sit on the beach with the hippies, passing around the bong while I do interpretive dances to the shifting of the tides and the power of the moon and smear mud all over my body. DOESN'T THAT SOUND FUN? JUST DON'T TOUCH THE METH, METH HEADS ARE REALLY BAD. how about we just go back to Greece, open an inn, make pretty tiles and catch fresh fish everyday. Maybe that hut at Balos needs someone to prepare their greek salads? ITS JUST TWO YEARS. AHHHHHHH TWO MORE YEARS. WHY DO I KEEP STUDYING? SUCK IT UP. TAKE ME BACK TO GREECE! ICELAND! Turkey! I'll even go back to Russia!... ANYWHERE BUT SCHOOL. Chicago's really nice by the way. GOOD TO HEAR. I bought a bicycle and went bike riding for 3 hours yesterday. Its alot of really nice small towns clustered into one big city. The bagels suck but the water in the lake is really blue and its very clean and pleasant here. This is a really nice, affordable city... until the winter comes along I guess. HOW ARE YOU FEELING? my stomach still hurts on and off but the doctors don't know what's causing it. They're treating the other stuff and we're all hoping my body calms down over the next few weeks. I'm not as winded as I was the first two weeks here though. I can actually walk the same amount I did in NY again. Two weeks ago, I got winded going 5 blocks to the drug store. My roommate is acting like one of those guys who breaks up with their girlfriends and always wants to hang out with her after dumping her. Instead, he does that with school and keeps emailing the school and goes to events and confuses everybody. He's really nice though.. he bakes cookies and pancakes. Oh, my stomach hurts again. I'm gonna go for a nap... or a COOKIE. PUT DOWN THE COOKIE. chocolate! Double Fudge!! NUTS!!! PUT IT DOWN. THROW IT OUT. BAD! Woof! oh wait I'm not your puppy. Can we go back to Balos? HOW ABOUT SOUTH EAST ASIA NEXT SUMMER? SAVE YOUR PENNIES AND MILEAGE. STICK IT OUT, YOU GAIN MORE FROM THIS THAN DROPPING OUT. IT'LL BE OVER BEFORE YOU KNOW IT. grrrrrrr... fine. Why doesn't anyone agree with my idea of dropping out? BECAUSE YOU'RE ON THE FENCE AND ITS A GOOD PROGRAM. FINE! I'm just gonna play with the cat then. WHAT CAT? roommate's cat. you try ignoring this.