Episode Notes | Episode Transcript | AskTheGuest
As a new member of the Oakland University Honors College Alumni, Heather Hamade looks back at her Undergraduate Experience in this podcast. Heather graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Oakland University Honors College.
Heather was very focused on academics in High School. She took a lot of advanced courses. Lots of English classes because she initially thought she wanted to be a writer.
But Art was where her passion lay, something she had been engaged in, since she was 11.
Hi-Fives from the Podcast are:
Episode Title: Heather Hamade of Oakland University Honors College: Studio Art, Honors Thesis, and Collaborative Peers.
Heather was very focused on academics in High School. She took a lot of advanced courses. Lots of English classes because she initially thought she wanted to be a writer.
But Art was where her passion lay, something she had been engaged in, since she was 11.
Heather joins our podcast to share her undergraduate honors college journey at Oakland University, about being an artist, her UG Thesis experiences, and Advice for high school students.
In particular, we discuss the following with her:
Topics discussed in this episode:
Our Guest: Heather Hamade received a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Oakland University Honors College.
Memorable Quote: “...and when you are in college, like I said, it's not really about your GPA, it's not really about, I'm the top student in the class, it's about learning”. Heather Hamade.
Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.
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Transcript of the episode’s audio.
When I was in school, and like I said, very academic, I was very focused on grades and GPA and it stressed me out a lot. But going into the Honors College kind of show you that it's more about the learning experience than it is about what your grade is, you know, obviously try hard.
That is Heather Hamade, who recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Oakland University Honors College in Michigan.
Hello! I am your host Venkat Raman.
Heather was very focused on academics in High School.
She took a lot of advanced courses.
Lots of English classes because she initially thought she wanted to be a writer.
But Art was where her passion lay, something she had been engaged in, since she was 11.
Venkat Raman 1:12
Heather joins our podcast to share her undergraduate honors college journey at Oakland University, about being an artist, her UG Thesis experiences, and Advice for high school students.
Venkat Raman 1:28
Before we jump into the podcast, here are the High-Fives, Five Highlights from the podcast:
[Overall OU Honors College Experience]
Very like going to college, and especially the Honors College was very like kind of one on one for my specific degree, which was art. And it just felt more personal. And like, You got to learn more specifically what your interests were. And they put a lot of time in like caring for the students.
[Why OU Honors College?]
so well first Oakland university was because it was close to home and the Honors College would be I just, it just seemed right. I was always like very big into academics. I was like an AP Scholar graduating high school and I just, it just fit for me.
[Honors Classes]
They definitely do cater towards seminar and like discussion. So the ones that I've all the I've taken the professor, so the classes would be like 20 students. So the professor, as you mentioned, like I said, they, they it was very personal so that he would talk with all of us as if we were just a small group of people meeting up many times a week.
[Thesis Project]
So for my thesis project, first, I had to kind of look at that criteria where I my thesis was both in art thesis for my major, but it was also an Honors College thesis. And they both had different criteria. So the art one, I had to make artwork that spoke as who I was, as an artist, it was going to be shown to a gallery. So I had to have, I think at least two or three pieces to show that to be large. And then for the Honors College, they wanted to how can I make a difference in society.
[Advice for High Schoolers]
Don't be afraid to like, try things, you know, really look into what you want to do with like, your life like it's not, it's not just about the now and what seems most stressful on paper. It's more like what do you want to do? Over time over a long period of time.
Venkat Raman 3:48
These were the Hi5s, brought to you by College Matters. Alma Matters.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Venkat Raman 3:59
Now, I'm sure you want to hear the entire podcast with Heather.
So without further ado, here is Heather Hamade!
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Venkat Raman 4:07
And so if you're ready, we can jump right into it.
Heather H 4:11
Alright, sounds great.
Venkat Raman 4:13
Awesome. So maybe the best place to start Heather is give us a feel for the overall experience you had at Oakland University Honors College.
Um, well, I would say that specifically the Honors College it was honestly really nice and different from like any like, of like high school or middle school or anything like that. It was very like going to college and especially Honors College was very like kind of one on one for my specific degree, which was art. And it just felt more personal and, like, you got to learn more specifically what your interests were And they put a lot of time in like, caring for the students. So it was very, it was just a very nice experience overall.
Venkat Raman 5:14
So, tell me why you picked Oakland University, Honors College in particular.
So well, first Oakland university was because it was close to home and the Honors College would be, I just, it just seemed right. I was always, like, very big into academics. I was like an AP Scholar graduated high school, and I just, it just fit for me because I prefer anything that was kind of a more advanced kind of setups. That's why, like, I didn't know much going into it, I just kind of it was like, oh, Honors College, I'm going to choose this.
Venkat Raman 5:55
Okay, now now. So you just said that you didn't really know what an Honors College was? Or did you have an idea of what it meant?
Heather H 6:03
I had an idea where I knew it was kind of more advanced students, but I didn't know exactly what it entailed. I thought there would be more difficult kind of classes and stuff more based on academics, but it was actually more, it was different, where they kind of catered to your interests, the classes were smaller. So like I said, it was more personal between you as a professor and the students. And it was just kind of a better learning environment. So that was very surprise.
Venkat Raman 6:36
Tell me a little bit about Heather in high school, what was she like?
Um, I studied a lot. So I really just I focused on school, I always thought about college. So I would take advanced classes that I thought would better me for my major and for going through school. So like, all AP English classes, I originally planned on being a writer, so are like other classes that will give me credits and just, I just studied a lot in just just a lot of advanced classes. I don't know that was me.
Venkat Raman 7:10
Yeah. So what did you do outside of class?
Heather H 7:14
Homework, I really didn't do much. I was focused academically, I didn't have a lot of time, I took a lot of AP classes. So I really did not have much time I did take a I was in like a German club, I think, but that we only met like once a year. So it wasn't anything strenuous.
Venkat Raman 7:38
So you apply to Oakland University Honors College. You get in. So what was that transition Like, from high school to college? You said, it was very nice. Compared to high school very different. So what how, what exactly did that mean? And how was that transition?
Um, the transition was, it was definitely different. Because you kind of had to get used to you. You tell yourself like how you're going to spend your day schedules, you work out the classes that you want. And you have to think like, you have to meet with advisors and go through your Degree Works and kind of look at, well, how do I get myself to where I need to be in whatever amount of time it takes for you to graduate. And it's very, like personal and independent based, and then the classes themselves or different because, you know, you might like a lot of people, I feel like think college is very, like stricter than like high school, but it was more like independent, it was like, Okay, you choose to come, you choose to like if you're going to succeed, or if you're going to work hard on your stuff. And the professors are actually very understanding at least in my major, I don't know about other majors an art major. They were very understanding they worked with you, you would stay at the campus for like, a long time, like working on artwork or trying to like work with the professor to understand what was happening in the class or it was just very different atmosphere, it was actually more toned down than I would say like high school was because it was more of what what do you need? And what is the spirit that you need out of this? And like, how are you going to push yourself and they were all very there for you very helpful, and want to see you succeed. So that was nice.
Venkat Raman 9:30
What were your peers like? what were your classmates like?
Heather H 9:37
They're all very nice. So in like an art major. We all work together and critique on each other's artworks. Very often, like every class while we're working in studio after class. So they were all very helpful and we always kind of work together to better each other. It was a bit different because we did go through the pandemic and we were online Fine. So there wasn't a lot of like one on one with the peers, I was more with the professors. But when we did get a chance to meet up with peers or Zoom meet with them, it was, it was all very nice. And we're all very friendly and helpful for each other.
Venkat Raman 10:20
Now, you mentioned that the Honors College classes were different was this. I mean, I understand they were smaller and more personalized, and one on one attention. Were these also more seminar and discussion based classes? Or were they lecture style as well.
Um, I think I had a mix of both, they definitely do cater towards seminar and like discussion. So the ones that I've all the I've taken the professor, so the classes would be like 20 students. So the professor, as you mentioned, like I said, they, they, it was very personal. So he would talk with all of us as if we were just a small group of people meeting up many times a week. And then it would just be like, alright, you do this kind of reading, or I'm going to show you this video or talk about this, and we're all going to discuss it, it was very, wasn't stressful, it's more low key, and you just had these actually, like, it wasn't like a ton of work either. It was more wanted, they want to cater towards us talking and understanding whatever the class was about, and kind of becoming kind of like a family.
Venkat Raman 11:35
Research and your creative thesis project. Tell us a little bit about it, what, how did you get into it.
Um, so for my thesis project, first, I had to kind of look at their criteria where I my thesis was both an art thesis for my major, but it was also an honors thesis. And they both had different criteria.
So the art one, I had to make artwork that spoke as who I was, as an artist, it was going to be shown to a gallery. So I had to have, I think at least two or three pieces to show that be large.
And then for the Honors College, they wanted it to how can I make a difference in society? How can I? What can I research that no one has really looked into before where I could bring my major into it and kind of help people.
So I thought about kinda like where I was as an artist. And so this kind of goes into what it's about, I noticed that a lot of art was very personal. And it was very kind of like biased how people would view it, because we all have.
So I saw a little background, I'm really into like neurology and psychology. And I'm really able to put that into art. So I also kind of want to study into that and kind of put the two together. Because what people don't realize is that art is psychology. Art really caters to our nervous system and like our neurons and all that.
I noticed that the interpretation of artwork was based largely on our cognitive response to it. And so that causes us to have an individual understanding of it. So an artist could make this art piece and have a whole meaning behind it, but a viewer got to look at it. And they would just take a whole another interpretation because of their own background, their own environment and their own response to it.
So I want to research well, how can I break this gap?
You know, we see them reading as well in different interpretations. How can I break this gap in cause all to have a universal understanding of what did the artists mean, when they created it, there would be no more. So I noticed that are kind of two response to make it kind of more of a simple project, because it's just me, and I'm researching for a semester.
It kind of base it based off of art techniques. So things like color and texture line work. So I researched into how do people in modern Western culture, interpret color? And very similarly, and how are we interpreting this kind of texture? So I made things based off of that.
And my experiment was, once I finished these paintings that were based off of three different brain chemicals, dopamine, cortisol, and oxytocin.
When I showed them in the gallery, how are people going to interpret it? Are they going to get the response? I want them.
I wanted to see if people got that feeling. And overall, I got a pretty positive response. And so I was just kind of researching and how can I universalize our In response to start work, that was a long explanation from sorry.
Venkat Raman 15:04
No, that's, that's, that's awesome. I mean, it sounds like a great topic. I mean, I think doing things to, so that people universally, you know, respond in a certain way. Or that, you know, people don't have different reactions to the same different people have different reactions to the same painting or the same piece of art.
Now, how did you, in your experiment, So you, you were tracking how people responded or reacted to it? How did you do that?
Heather H 15:33
And why did the tracking was not as large of the project because I couldn't I couldn't ask people like through the gallery and so on that I would just kind of like stand there. And I listened in on like people's responses, or I've asked people I know, because thing is my, the name of the paintings is the chemical compounds. So people didn't know what they were supposed to think of it. I wasn't sure. You know, so. I would ask people, What do you feel by this? And then I would kind of know I'm on the right track, because I would listen to people's response when I was making it. I did a lot of research, studying like articles on like, coloring. And I kind of also went in like, do I get that response from that color? Yes, this article is saying so. So I went, I painted him, I kind of just focused on, like, I made myself feel the emotion I want to show for training. So that way, it was easier to make sure that that's what was interpreted.
Venkat Raman 16:37
Sounds fascinating.
Venkat Raman 16:43
Now, before we go any further, I want to actually ask you, how did you discover this love or passion for art? Where did it happen? And how did it happen? If you remember,
When I found a passion for um, I don't know, I, I was very academic, like I said, but I won like a talent outside of studying. And I thought creativity was really cool. But I could never actually couldn't draw growing up. I was really bad at it. But I kept focusing on it, because I noticed it was kind of like a stress relief. And I thought, hey, it would be really cool if I could like, actually draw something. So I kept working on it. And then I found out that my passion was in so I'm actually really into portraiture, real, realistic portraits. So I found that that was my passion. And then I was actually really good at it. So I kind of just went along with that. I guess I was around when I was like, 11 When I finally figured that out.
Venkat Raman 17:45
Awesome. So I see that from this experiment, you had some interesting outcomes. Now, where do you go with this? Do you take that anywhere? Are you taking this idea and running with it? In the future? What are you doing with it?
Heather H 17:59
Um, I think it would be more for personal reasons, I would like to implement my research into my artwork, I don't really have I'm not sure if I have like, I would try some platform to like show other people. I think it's just, it was an interesting experiment. And I would look into it personally for my own independent work and see if, because I've always struggled with people misunderstanding my artwork, especially like professors. So I think I would kind of personally use it to make sure that like I I'm expressing in a more universal manner.
Venkat Raman 18:40
Okay, so you did all this. The thesis, this experiment, this research. Now, how do you think that that research impacted you over the course of the was it four years, three and a half years, four years?
Of the research itself was a semester because we didn't know anything about our thesis until the last semester? Yeah. Um, but it personally impacted me because it caused me to kind of look more deeply into our I've always been very symbolic, and I love, you know, symbolism, especially in artwork, and it kind of forced me to look deeper into that. And now I have a better understanding of it and how I can better my artwork and help other people who I've had questions, you know, from other artists, I've worked in like an art department and I've just, I think, like helps.
Venkat Raman 19:39
So let me ask you this. So you're done. Right? You've graduated. And is it studio arts? Is that the major?
Heather H 19:48
Yes, that's fine art. Yes.
Venkat Raman 19:52
So So now what what's next? What do you what do you plan to do with this now?
So, I plan on starting out off with like freelance work. So working more independently and trying to like, build like a platform and kind of like sell some artwork. And then I do want to self learn character design, I think it would be really cool to kind of be hired on to make characters for gaming companies. I know where I'm angling towards right now, still trying to figure out the kinks and all that. But
Venkat Raman 20:27
That sounds interesting, very interesting, actually. Huge opportunity. Now, you mentioned psychology and interest in weird psychology and neurology. And what about that? Where does that come in? Or is that sort of fit into your expression of art?
Heather H 20:48
That's kind of fitting into my expression of artwork, I've, like I said, I'm very big into symbolism and stuff. And the I, I'm very, I make emotional artworks I like, I want it to mean something, I want someone to feel something from it. And that's largely based off of like, our psychology, and, you know, how are we going to interpret it? Like I said, Tori, feel that so that's how it gets brought into my artwork.
Venkat Raman 21:15
Okay, now, you said you were you were commuting. So did you engage in any campus activities, were you involved on campus in any way at all you,
um, somewhat, I kind of brought my personality from high school, and I was very still academic and didn't really do much. But I did take part in an outdoor club for a semester, and we just kind of would meet up outside and do some activities. I got pretty busy, the Honors College does require you to have outside hours doing something club job, but I will suggest work so I can make money. So I was just still very academic and like,
Venkat Raman 21:59
sure. You know, at the end of the day, it needs to be something you like, and something that makes you happy. You've just graduated, as you look back at your four years, or how do you think being in the Honors College has made a difference to you? How do you think,
um, I think the overall environment of their classes, kind of. So this is gonna be a little confusing, but when I was in school, and like I said, very academic, I was very focused on grades and GPA, and it stressed me out a lot. But going into the Honors College, kind of show you that it's more about the learning experience than it is about what your grade is, you know, obviously, try hard, but they didn't make it super difficult. And very, like, you have to study and you have to like, they, they weren't as strict as you would be in like an AP class. And so it kind of taught me that I need to stop focusing on only caring about succeeding in the class and actually focus on the topic at hand, and am I learning and that make me successful?
Venkat Raman 23:15
You know, as, as we speak, there are 10s of millions of high school students around the world planning, or making their way or making their plans for college. And so what would your advice be to high schoolers?
I advice would be, you know, don't be afraid to like, try things, you know, really look into what you want to do with like, your life. Like it's not, it's not just about the now and what seems most stressful on paper, it's more like, what do you want to do? Over time, over a long period of time, and when you are in college, like I said, it's not about it's not really about your GPA, it's not really about I'm the top student in the class, it's about learning. And there's gonna be times when you're going to struggle, and you're going to really feel like you're kind of failing in a way because you're focusing on those grades. But really, what you need to get out of it is that you're actually learning from that experience, and you're putting in your, as long as you putting in all the effort that you have, you're succeeding, like, it's it's more like the real world where you're gonna mess up and it's not always gonna feel pretty but like, you just need to keep pushing forward because it's the outcome that matters not that temporary, like grade or am I like top the class?
Venkat Raman 24:51
So, we're gonna start winding down here, and before I let you go, maybe You could share some vignette or memory or something that, you know, the listeners might like to know.
Um, I think my fondest memory would honestly, as an artist, it was just going to the studio after hours and just kind of be able to sit there and like, Get inspired with my peers, you know, my friends and just paint. And I don't know, like, it was calming for me, like I struggled with my passion for art throughout the last four years. And those moments kind of helped me remember, like, why I like art. So I'll say those. No, I mean, I
Venkat Raman 25:46
think I think I think that, that makes a lot of sense. And lots of times. It's not a single memory, but it's a pattern that, you know, that you've discovered, has been coming so fabulous. So Heather, this has been a fascinating conversation. Thank you for sharing your passion for the arts about the Honors College and I want to congratulate you on graduating and wish you all the success in all your endeavors. So, thank you so much. And I hope to speak to you again. For right now. Take care be safe. Thank you so much.
Heather H 26:25
Thank you, you too.
Venkat Raman 26:26
Yeah. Bye bye.
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Hi again!
Hope you enjoyed our podcast with Heather Hamade on her undergraduate journey at Oakland University Honors College.
Heather was very focused on her academics, and benefited from a personalized learning environment.
Her big takeaway was about emphasizing learning over just the grades.
Her Thesis in Art tackled the interpretation gap between the artist and the art viewer.
I hope Heather’s story motivates you to explore Oakland University Honors College for your own undergraduate pursuits.
For your questions or comments on this podcast, please email podcast at almamatters.io [podcast@almamatters.io].
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