13 days left until the big day. Allow me to repeat myself; 13 more days left. I think that as we draw closer to our deadline, the number of days left in which to finish grows more and more apparent in our minds. Up until this current week, I’m not sure any of us really understood how much time we have left to finish (with the exception I’m sure of Professor Pastre). Now that the big day is less than two weeks into the future, it is impossible not to think about how we are going to pull everything together in order to finish. We are so close that we can almost map out what we need to be doing daily from now until Thursday, November 18.
I’d like to reflect briefly on where we stand right now in relation to finishing by November 18. Someone mentioned yesterday, and rather dejectedly I might add, that we have two weeks left to finish. I wasn’t bothered by the statement itself – of course we have two weeks left, and yes, we still have an incredible amount of work to accomplish. Instead, what got to me was the attitude in which the statement was said. There was a clear, underlying tone of hopelessness. And that wasn’t the only time I had heard it either. There are, I am sure, a few people in our studio who aren’t entirely certain this will get done. My stance on the issue?
What choice do we have?
Studio V stands at the precipice of failure and success. And really, considering the situation we are in, is a classic example of the glass half empty/full scenario. It is easy (almost too easy) to look at the weeks ahead and give up hope. Instead, I challenge our loyal readers and any of my classmates who are feeling down and who might read this to hang on for a few more days and see where this thing heads. We might only have 13 days left to finish, but that is 13 days of great work that we can put towards completing this project.
Reasons why we will finish on time:
Reason 1: We are working at a great facility. Being able to work consistently during nights and weekends at JMO Woodworks has been a blessing, one that we couldn’t afford to do without.
Reason 2: Studio V collectively understands this project more than the previous one in Marion Square. We ran into issues last time around because not everyone was able to contribute. Not the case this time – all eleven of us have a general understanding of how this is working. Everybody can help and everybody will help over the course of the next 13 days.
Reason 3: We learned from the first project (albeit maybe just a little – we’ll take it though). Waiting until the last minute on project one backfired on us bigtime and increased efforts more than a week out from the deadline are already noticeable. This weekend is huge, but we understand the urgency that needs to happen starting NOW.
Reason 4: We don’t have any other choice. This film is contingent on our ability to finish on time. Failure simply is not an option.
Reason 5: Because we still have 13 days left, and by golly, we are going to put those 13 days to good use.
I will be the first to admit that I don’t quite have a real grasp on the amount of work left and time left to accomplish it. I have far too little experience and way too optimistic of a personality. But that isn’t going to stop me or my classmates from putting everything into it these last few days. Time may be running short, but we still have time, and we plan to use it effectively. By the way, you might be wondering where we do stand exactly. Let me share with y’all.
– Today we tensioned, templated, and cut the screen to size. Tomorrow we take it in to get the edges sewn, grommeted, and set to go.
– We are approximately 40% finished laminating members needed for the project. We should be able to be at 90% or 100% by the end of the weekend.
– What we do have laminated and what we do have cut to shape looks AWESOME. Get ready for an awesome end-result, it will not disappoint.
Until next time