Now that we are halfway into the semester, I feel like I have developed myself as a person so much these past seven weeks, both as an artist as a person. I’m currently living in my first apartment on my own, paying bills and buying groceries, so I’ve been having a lot more independence. However, I’m still a student so I remain not completely “in the real world” yet, but this is a stepping-stone towards being okay when I am. This has helped me in my social/emotional development; although I am not completely mature yet, I am much more so than I was coming into this semester as I have to play an adult in many situations where I don’t feel like I am ready to be one yet. I am still a student, but not immature. As I learnt once in my leadership program, a leader can only lead if one listens to others. I hope to contribute a warm environment to my peers, where I give them constructive criticism without them feeling too intimate by my voice. Maturity plays a role. On that note of being mature, I definitely feel that I make use of the feedback in my work that is given to me. I am constantly wanting to improve myself, as an artist, leader, and human. I take feedback and try to use it to improve myself in the long run, increasing my level of challenge to myself. However, I still need to strive to continuously better and challenge myself, since I may falter. Making use of my practice time is needed. When I design or edit photographs, I usually set aside a time to do them all in one go; I should try to keep it consistent throughout my week instead of sporadically doing it when inspired. When I work, I hope to have a sense of sophistication to my work. Personality is very important. Awareness of who I am as an artist is important as I hope to show flow and suaveness in the methods and products of work.
My goal for my expert hours this semester was 100 hours, or around an hour a day. Because graphic design is my minor and I am taking 18 credit hours as well as a job, I wanted to be realistic about how much time I could dedicate to design. As of now, I have around 55 hours completed at the halfway point, which is showing a very promising end to my goal. The quality of the outcome is fairly accurate to what I’ve been putting in. I hope to make my hours more spread out throughout the week rather than having one day where I end up doing a lot of design.
The “delta” in me is changing a lot. I came into this semester very ambitious about what potential I could make with a new major and a new mindset (a mindset that took the whole summer to prepare for). I am happy, and I can really appreciate life a lot. Even though school is very busy, for the first time in a long time I’ve been putting myself over anyone else and it has been refreshing to do so. I do things because I want to do them, not because anyone tells me to, and happiness has come with it. To reach my potential, I know I have to continue working on myself first so I can start making an impact on others, which is what I hope to do the rest of my life.
