I went into the Massey Deign degree with no expectations of what it would be like. I did it because i couldn't really think of anything else to do and didn't want to be stuck doing something boring like law or a BCA.

Consequently my first year and a half was this strange mix of thinking 'what the hell am i doing here?' and 'God, i love this stuff!'. Second semester i took advertising and it was like this huge 'light bulb moment' (too much Oprah!).

The pressure of trying to come up with concepts that work in realation to what the client wants to say is a rush. When you get an idea that you know is working its a gut reaction and you get passionate about it. When you know you've nailed it its great. The highs are really high but also the lows are really low, sums up my personality really.

Graphic design seemed too much like just putting pretty things on a page, you got good marks by working in the style your tutor liked, not your own.I also believe computer stuff can be learnt easily at a later date.

Well, seeing as i'm still studying, its mostly "lets play pretend" i.e. lets pretend that Nike has come to me and wants an ad selling such and such... and the tutor and the rest of the class is the client who we have to present to.

A presentation may include overheads, mock ups etc or it may just involve a detailed explaination of what you've come up with and why. They class then provides feedback on whether or no your campaign has worked and why - and they're very honest! Occationally we have a 'live' brief in which the client may potentially use your idea.

I'm working on one like this at the moment for NZ Family Planning Association. We were briefed by them on what they were looking for, what they had done in the past etc. At presentation time they will be present.

Sometimes outside people come to the class for ideas, last year I heard that a large agency came to a third year class looking for teams to come up with some ideas for them, also the Design school itself has come to us for ideas on promoting it to future students - maybe not such a good idea considering the current debate on the quality of our new premises!

Whatever, the presentation we try to make it as interesting as possible so people don't fall asleep - in general if you believe in your idea people pick up on your enthusiasum.

Well, on the outside it's a fabulous building, they did an awesome job of renovating it and I think its a great idea housing design, fine arts and music in a building with history and character. However, I believe it was chosen so that Massey in Wellington could compete with other universities like Otago whose buildings are very much a part of the prestige of the school.

Unfortunately they didn't really think about the kinds of classes that go on in a design school. We have studio classes where the tutor does a lot of talking or is talking to students individually. For some reason they couldn't separate classrooms with walls and instead rows of lockers serve as dividers. Add into this the echo of the building and you can here more of the class next to you than your own. The real issue the students have is the fact that it is still incomplete.

On the first day of term we had no desks or whiteboards and the floor was covered in about two inches of dust. My advertising class has since shifted three times to try and establish a room that fits our needs. In the room we are now in, we have had to put up with banging, drilling, toxic paint fumes and workmen using the service elevator. Management don't really want to hear our complaints even though it’s our money that has helped build it.

Not much has been done to ensure an environment in which we can produce good creative work, a bit of a Disappointment for such a beautiful building.

Not a the moment, that's why, apart from advertising i've taken my money else where and am doing papers at Victoria University that will be cross-credited to my degree.  I guess when they sort their shit out, students will be getting their money's worth but who knows how long that'll take!