I was born in the Philippines in the city of Manila on September 15th 1978. Most of my closest relatives live in the province of Sagpon, Daraga, Albay just north of Legazpi City. In 1987, my family boarded a Northwest Jetliner and, many hours later, we landed at the LAX International Airport in California; and so began my assimilation into the American culture which later lead to an obsession with airplanes and automobiles.
My family lived in Los Angeles for a few years, and later moved to a small town about 60 miles north of Los Angeles called Littlerock (that’s right, it’s spelled with one word and it is in California, not Arkansas). Here’s when my airplane and car obsessions began; the city I lived in was only 30 minutes from Edwards Air Force Base where top secret aircraft were developed and tested, it was also a landing site for the NASA Space Shuttle. Not only that, Northrop Grumman and the Skunkworks facility (builders of the Stealth aircraft) were just off the main highway. To put the icing on the cake, the Los Angeles County Raceway was literally 5 minutes away from my house. The streets were littered with high performance cars every weekend. By the way, did I mention that the Willow Springs racetrack was also in the area? — I should have.
OFF TO COLLEGE
Well, going off to college (as the subtitle suggests) wasn’t quite as simple for me as it sounds. At the time, I really had no idea there was such a thing as an automotive design program, or that Art Center even existed. Even my high school counselors didn’t know where to direct me; but I knew I wanted to design cars. I thought the only logical way for me to become a designer was to get a degree in either mechanical, or aerospace engineering. So I applied to the California State University in Northridge. Later, I was shocked to receive a letter stating that I was not accepted into Cal State Northridge even with a 3.5 GPA and 4 letters of recommendation. I had high school classmates who had a 2.7 GPA and were already attending.
After being declined, I didn’t really know what else to do. I decided to attend a local community college in Valencia, California called College of the Canyons where I took mind-numbing classes to accrue college credits while working at a local “race shop” just a few blocks away. Though I didn’t know it at the time, one of my instructors was going to completely change my career path.
Apparently, my Drawing 101 instructor (I think her name was Joy Von Wolffersdorff) graduated from Art Center as an Illustration major. She realized my interest in car design and explained that a college called Art Center had a very prestigious automotive design program. She then decided to take the class on a field trip to the Art Center campus.
After seeing the student gallery, I was completely blown away, and became absolutely sure that this is where I needed to be.
Later, I took some classes at the Art Center at Night program and at the Pasadena City College. After building a portfolio from Stan Kong and Albert Yu’s classes at PCC, I submitted my portfolio.
MY ART CENTER CAREER
Stan Kong, one of my instructors from PCC had told me earlier that after submitting a portfolio for entry, I may get one of two envelopes in the mail; a small one or a large one. Small = bad, Large = good. I checked my mail one day and I got a shiny one. It was wrapped in cellophane with a tag that read, “Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA.” Well, until then I had never seen an official Art Center envelope, so I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad. I took a breath, and like a bomb disposal officer, nervously opened it. The first word read, “Congratulations.” I knew then it was good news – though I still had to read it several more times.
I finally began attending the Art Center day program as a Transportation Design major, more commonly referred to “Trans.” The first few academic terms were equivalent to a reality kick in the pants. I had already anticipated the program to be extremely difficult. It turned out to be everything I had expected and 10 times more. Never in my life had I ever believed that there were not enough hours in a day; but as an Art Center student, you constantly cursed the fact that a day only had 24 hours. And what’s worse is that it gets exceedingly more difficult each term you advance until you finish your 8th, and final term (obviously, 8th is the worst). Not sleeping at all for 2-3 days straight is the norm especially for Product and Trans majors. The reason is not necessarily due to the workload assigned by the instructors, it is usually because of the heightened competitiveness amongst myself and my classmates. It’s simply because everyone (and I do mean everyone) wants to be the best.
As fierce as the competition between my classmates were, I would have never been able to get through Art Center without them. I have never spent so much time and developed such comradery with a group of individuals. If the design you presented, well… sucks. You’d better believe that every single one of them will tell you that your design not only sucked, but proceed to make fun of you until you show them something better at the next presentation. Everyone received this treatment at several points during their time at Art Center. Nicknames and practical jokes were frequently spawned from these events.
However, don’t be too quick to form an opinion. Those are the same bunch of guys who will call you asking where the hell you are after they’ve realized you are late, or not in class. Even when you’re a bit short on cash for lunch someone will cover you. From something as little as asking for a quick opinion about your design, to something as big as needing help because you might not make the deadline, every single one of them will do everything in their ability to help you out. Such was the case in my 8th and final term of study.
A classmate unknowingly chose a primer that reacted severely to his quarter-scale clay model where it left the once smooth surfaces rough and covered with an uncured primer coat. The deadline was less than a week, not enough time to fix the clay surface… at least not on his own. Without a completed model, graduation was impossible. At this point, he was ready to give up and would just try to graduate in the next term.
One student after another picked up their clay tools and started to help scrape the reactant chemical off the model, leaving deeply gashed surfaces. More and more fellow students picked up their clay tools along with some extra clay and began helping. Before you knew it, every single person in the studio were hunched over helping to resurface their classmate’s damaged model; a major part of his final design and senior thesis. With the help of his classmates, he graduated with all of us.
Art Center College of Design is arguably one of the absolute best. In order to make it though, acute drive and determination alongside comradery are key. Completing the program would put an individual within a certain fraternity. I am proud to be apart of that fraternity.
To all those who pointed me in the right direction, those who extended their support and those who helped me throughout Art Center… thank you.
