Choosing a college or university, whether it’s for undergrad or postgrad or fine arts or graphic design, is a tough decision. For me, I was rather “rushed” into making my decision to enter art school.

I started out as a freshman at Penn State University (University Park). At the time, it was perfect. Both of my older sisters and my father were all PSU alumni. It seemed like the next logical step and, as far as I was concerned, if it was good fit for them, it would be a good fit for me. I went in as an undecided major. I knew I loved art and my high school teachers constantly encouraged me to consider Fine Arts when I was applying for college, but I wasn’t convinced. Afterall, painting/drawing was not my only love… I loved writing, playing music, reading classic literature and European history. I had a lot of career options open to me. And, at the time, I also (regretably) thought like my father: that, financially, art was a very insecure major with little possibility of making a lifetime career out of it. Boo.

But, luckily, I changed my mind. As I began taking art courses, I realized just how many artists there were, just like me, choosing to take a chance on their talent. Choosing to withstand the hardships, knowing full-well how difficult it could be to make a living, but choosing to do art anyway. How cool. (How rebellious! Ha!) My family encouraged me to go for what I loved, and I’m very thankful for that, because I probably would not have a B.F.A. in Fine Arts now if they didn’t have more faith than I did.

As I made my choice to go for this degree, I slowly came to realize my college choice was the wrong “fit”. My creative needs were missing. There are many positive aspects about that school that I love and appreciate (and missed when I left) but, ultimately, I needed to be at a smaller college where I wouldn’t feel like a number. And I needed to be surrounded by all of those creative fields. Literally. I could only be inspired if I could feed off of it. So, when my first year of college was over, I rushed to make that important college decision all over again.

 To Be Continued…

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