But, I have to say, I find the whole graduation thing rather depressing. My youngest sister is gearing up for her grad, and that certainly brings back a slew of rather uncomfortable memories. Whoever said that highschool is supposed to be the best years of your life must have been certifiably insane.
Thursday, though, was the graduation event at ACAD. I walked through the building on the way to the secondary classroom for art history, as the lecture hall was being occupied for the ceremonies. On the way I passed by all these people in caps and gowns, discussing and laughing with a twinkle in their eye. And the thought creeps up into my consciousness... "That could be you." Yeah, if I would've had my act together out of highschool, I could've taken a year off to work, gotten into school, and I'd be graduating right about now. Instead what do I have to show for it? A savings account, mostly.
I thought about it, though, and those four years between school and other school was rather necessary. Had I not been in need of decent employment, I wouldn't have landed the job I have now. And had I not stuck that out, I wouldn't have discovered that I rather enjoy doing graphic design, and that I'm somewhat capable at it. And as I spent the last four years doing the job I wasn't technically qualified to do (and I still am not), I built up lots of necessary skills. I can say with a certainty that a lot, if not most, of the work I've produced at this job is rather amateur. But what else would you expect for having zero training? Some skills I kind of caught on and picked up and developed through repetition, learning things over four years that I'd come to re-learn in a single 100-level studio course. And it wouldn't have been without a certain challenge to draw once a day, every day, that would give me some sort of foundation to stand on in terms basic artistic skill. A simple and shaky foundation, but a platform none-the-less to work off of.
So, in short, there's no way in hell I could have applied and got entrance into this school and this program if I had done so right after school, or even a year after. In that time I learned what I wanted to do, the basics of how to do it, and how to draw. I couldn't have gotten into ACAD with just two of those three things. There's no way that could be me, sweating out the early summer weather in a cap and gown of black and red, while I watch a backpack-laden first-year student trek across campus on the way to a spring semester class. That poor soul.
Still, though. Seeing how much time has ticked by urges me to tally it up, somehow. But that's another can of worms.
I guess I've come to terms with the fact that where I am now is a product of incubating and developing something in its own due time. But it doesn't change the fact that I still have three years to go, and there'll be two other graduating classes before my turn comes. It's a rather daunting prospect, seeing how far I still need to travel after the grind of this last year. Judging by the tales of second year design students, I think I'm coming to dread this next year more than my first one. And that's saying a lot.
In the mean time, one foot in front of the other.
-Cril
Ee he o he-o cowboy
Ee he o he-o oooo
Ee he o he-o cowboy, cowboy, cowboy
Under the moon
I was ridin’ my horse
by the Rio Grandee
and all o’ them coyotes singing
in a prairie symphony
I was ridin’ my horse
down by the Rio Grandee
when I seen me a cowboy, cowboy, cowboy,
ridin’ toward me
Ee he o he-o cowboy
Ee he o he-o oooo
Ee he o he-o cowboy, cowboy, cowboy
Under the moon
Tom Hanks - The Cowboy Song
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