Collaborate with students outside of advertising

So I am graduating very soon and from an advertising student's perspective - my education was filled to the brim with projects. Whether it was (putting together an integrated campaign), (filming a movie), or (working on a group research blog), These projects certainly kept us busy!

It has been a rich experience of working with likewise people, but in my opinion, there was just one downside: that working on ‘school projects’ often meant you were limited to working with people within your directed field of study, or major.

I noticed the lack of major inter-mixing very early in my university career and made a conscious effort to take classes and get exposed to all of the extremely talented students the school has.

I have two examples of personal projects that involved collaborating with students outside of advertising.

Exhibit A; Going for experience: I was asked to be the actress in a movie filmed by Korean students in my 2nd year and got exposed to all of the elements of putting a short film together (screen writers, set & costume designers, cinematographers, acting, etc), as well as script rehearsal & the intensity of a full 3 day - back to back filming experience (A Rose in the Mirror, directed by Jung Hyng Park).

Exhibit B; Making a skilled trade: I met another director, MPT major named Christopher Gilson III and really hit it off in terms of creative collaboration. I’ll be working on developing a brand image for him and he’ll be filming my last class project, which happens to be an improv. dancing flash mob in Union Square with bananas and scarves.

Art school is just FULL of talent within arms reach! 

These are the students who will change the world with you someday.

The school is not going to foster your collaboration process very much. If it's something you are interested in, I would highly recommend it. Talk to a student you find interesting. Find out their story. Learn from them and the various majors the school has. You need to take it into your own hands and build that network. Network building takes time, so if you're working a full time job, you may be at a disadvantage. Think of networking with students as an investment. If you put time into it, it will pay you back!