#scadarts

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!