As of June 1st, 2024, I have completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation! 🐝 This post is a little different from my usual art posts, but I simply wanted to share since it’s a pretty big thing that has happened in my life to have happened recently. I know I could just copy and paste one of the versions of my little spiel posted on the other pages I have, but what’s the fun in that, especially if I have more room to share here? Technically I already had a little speech here, almost ready to post, but it ended up not saving, so I’m going to try to recover what I can from my memory ,:0 (Also I feel like this is so much longer than my past little speeches on this combined, but I feel pretty good getting it all out once again ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
The past four years have definitely been a rollercoaster for me, and in so many ways. I started attending virtual classes while also being registered to an entirely different campus for my first two years, since a lot was happening in the world a few years ago—and still kind of is now, but that’s a whole other topic. Anyways, I eventually ended up transferring from Atlanta to Savannah by the end of that period, as it was overall a more beneficial option in several ways, and it wasn’t until my third year that I would finally attend classes in person. But even so, my third year still had me feeling a little out of place. I did attend class, but I feel like I had limited myself by wearing a mask a majority of the time. To put it simply, I feel like every year I had spent with this college, I was finding a new persona or side of myself, and while it did feel weird, they eventually helped me learn more about myself as well. When it was finally my senior year, it felt like I had somewhat of a blank slate, since I don’t think people recognized my face without the mask, or at least that’s what it felt like? I decided to make the most out of my final year, and while I would definitely do some things differently, I think I was successful in achieving that goal for the most part.
Overall, I feel like I had learned so much with each new experience. My last year was mainly made up of working on my senior capstone film, an adult comedy 2D-animated 3-minute short film, which I will definitely share more on in the near future hopefully. I was the last to join the crew towards the end of my junior year, but moving past the stress of finding a project to work on, I was grateful to have found all these new people specifically. They made it so that I really looked forward to show up to class, and even the people who signed up as extra help were also very fun to work with. Honestly, there was never a dull moment with them and I’m proud of what we had achieved in the school year. Of course, I met so many people outside of capstone as well. I still was a little shy still, I feel, since my ability to be more social would reset(?) from time to time, but if I even had a short conversation with you, or simply witnessed your presence, especially since I was surrounded by so many unique personalities on the daily, I am very grateful with the impact you have had on my time here, no matter how big or small.
In the end, I definitely grew more independent. From living alone, with the exception of a roommate and a kind neighbor who helped me every now and then, to familiarizing myself since Georgia was pretty new and different to me altogether. Savannah can also be a little scary sometimes compared to the familiarity of my own home, but I had taught myself to navigate with the help of the school’s not-so-perfect bus system and walks through the small city I en eventually became comfortable with. I didn’t have the luxury of a car or a bike that may have made travels a little smoother in retrospect, but I also grew to like taking in my surroundings whenever I could, since Savannah was fairly pretty. I had grown to like my new “normal”, so it feels a little weird that it’s all over? I don’t exactly remember how I had come to find SCAD, but I’m happy I made the choice to come here as I think it helped me grow closer to an even better version of myself. I definitely still have more room for growth, but I’m proud of what I had done in the past four years and the fact that I had come to allow myself to open up to new people and experiences, which did help me in my journey as a whole. I don’t have any specific plans or know what’s to come, but whatever it may be, I hope to make the most of it. There is so much I want to do, but for now I will be taking my time to rest and recover from the pretty big workload from all my classes over the years, while also continuing to express myself through my art and trying to build my social presence a little more!
*TLDR; I graduated college and while I’m surprised to have made it to another pretty big milestone in my life, I wanted to share some of my thoughts. I’m not sure if anyone is actually reading this, but another thing I had learned was sharing to some extent made me feel better rather than the past me who would usually keep everything bottled up to myself. I also am the kind of person who thinks a lot and doesn’t usually get the opportunity to share or put my thoughts together as I feel I kind of just go through whatever happens. I did journal for some time, but school work took my priority, so maybe I can get back into it soon. But if you did read this, I appreciate you <3 Whether you’re an incoming college student, or someone I’m already acquainted with/have seen my work before, I’m happy you saw my page in some facet. I’ve always loved art and hope to share more of my own personal work moving forward, as I love to draw inspiration from my own life and interests, in addition to trying to get involved in other projects whether related to animation or not. Thank you for coming to my not-T3D Talk! + Congrats to anyone else who has also graduated recently or reached a pretty big achievement in their lives :D
