#photomajor

Most people go to college right after high school, those who don't go into the workforce or the armed forces. Everyone does something different, growing up my parents always told me to do what I wanted. 

For the longest time I had a plan, I was going to go to the tech school for two years and get my general education done then transfer to the university for the last two years. For the first three months or so I wanted to be an architect, then remembered I'm bad at math. So I really didn't know what to do, but around October I took a few photos on my smart phone of my friend at her cross country meet. She loved them and still uses them as her profile picture to this day! That's when I came to realize I love taking photos, it didn't matter what or who it was, I loved it! 

I began my research to see if there was a way to learn more about photography at the university I wanted to go to. I made a few phone calls and they told me they had a photojournalism class and nothing more. I went to show what portfolio I had and they looked at it and told me that I would never become any photographer and should look for another major. 

I went home that day heartbroken and feeling like I would never be a photographer. Something in me told me to search art schools that taught photography. I looked at a few schools but most of them were in California or Chicago. I looked a little closer to home and found AI (The Art Institute of Nashville). It was only about an hour drive away and I could easily make that! Then came the hard part, telling my parents I wanted to go to school in Nashville. 

Though worried, they supported me and agreed to help me in any way they could. So in July of 2017, I was enrolled into AI! 

A year later, going into my summer semester I received an email saying that AI was not accepting new students. I didn't pay much attention to it and was looking forward to the new semester. I remember walking into AI and seeing everyone in a panic, the directors I had pulled all of the photo/video students into the studio and told us that the school had declared bankruptcy and that we had three days to figure out what we wanted to do. They told us that if we couldn't graduate by December 2018 that we needed to leave. 

With the help of some of the teachers I had, I found Nōssi! Nōssi helped me get back on track for my Bachelors and this is where I spent the next four years. 

I was in college for a total of six years, not because I failed or missed something, but I had a hard run. I came over all the hard times and overcame so much. I graduate this Saturday and I couldn't be happier! I did it, and so can you! Don't let anyone or anything hold you back!