GIA Carlsbad students?

Hi Orchidians,

I’m going to the Carlsbad GIA campus for the August 9 -February 22
Graduate Jeweler course. Wondering if any of you will be there,
either for that one, or for other courses running around the same
time. I’d love to meet up with you.

Thanks,- Lara

Hi Lara,

Well I am not a student there, but used to teach there and was the
jewelry manufacturing arts manager for over five years with them.
The instructors are really good and know what they are doing and just
make sure you ask all the questions you can and soak it up…always
ask for more work to do…the more the better. All the instructors
are very good and Don Hughes works the room probably the best…he
will show you everything he knows… Good luck out there!

Sincerely,

Russ Hyder
The Jewelry CAD Institute

Hi Russ,

Thanks for the note! I’m -very- excited to be going. I’m the type to
ask a gazillion questions and keep asking for more practice and more
work to do, so if I don’t drive anyone too terribly nuts, I think
I’ll get a lot out of the experience. It’s really kind of you, as a
former instructor there, to drop me a note. I’m really looking
forward to meeting Don Hughes, now.

Any other tips/advice/info you would be willing to offer about the
program itself would be -extremely- welcome. I’ve got absolutely no
preconceptions about what to expect other than the need to work
really hard. I got my AJP last summer, but that was online, so I’ve
never seen the campus before.

Any places I just gotta visit on-campus or around Carlsbad? Are
there places such as farmers markets? Any places to actively avoid?
(I did mention I was the type to ask a gazillion questions, right?

Being able to go take this course is fulfilling a major goal for me
career-wise and skills-wise, so I intend to get everything out of it
that I possibly can, work hard, and soak up and
experience. Again, thanks so much for writing.

Thanks,- Lara