Kansas City Art Institute Top Questions

First off, I would tell myself to focus more on planning ahead. Although college seems far off, it'll come before I know it and I need to make sure I've saved up and met all important application deadlines. I'd tell myself to find away to enjoy my last summer at home but not to forget to take care of responsibilities. I would remind myself how easy it is for privileges to be taken away, so don't take things for granted. Also, I would tell myself to stay firm yet respectful about the things I believe in. All in all, the best advice I could have gotten would be to have all that I need planned out early so that the summer before freshman year isn't so stressful, and to focus on having a positive summer.

I would tell myself that college is going to be even harder than I thought. I would tell myself that I should have worked a lot harder and focused a lot more in the beginning of college. I should have tried to do more art in my freetime, and because I did not, I regret it. I should have tried a lot harder to go above and beyond. Maybe if i had, I would have been "noticed" faster by other artists.

I would remind myself how special this time is, take classes slower, to be less afraid to reach out to fellow students and faculty for assistance in classes immediately. I would have told myself not to stress my gpa status and liberal arts classes so much. I would say to have more discussions with the students in my major, to make closer connections with the people that will be my future colleagues, and dedicate more of my mental and emotional strain into my art work. I would tell myself that it's worth toughing out school life and my work ethic by following the instruction of my professor closer than I did. I would remind myself that doing things my own way isn't necessarily unique, but just stubborn and not always the most effective way to learn. That even if you get by, you shouldn't worry about losing your own voice in your work that it will always show. I would tell myself that living in a dorm or fraternizing with free time isn't what college is about. In conjunction, to appreciate having my family's support, that financial support isn't better than having them nearby.

Don't be so shy. Life is way to short to spend it alone. People aren't as scary as they seem.

College is a pusher, and that is in everyway a reference to force of will as much as it is to the coke vans on Troost. You step in with this general idea of how things are. Then, you actually go through them. Your artistic sensebilities are pushed into overdrive - you purchase higher education for a product of an occasional elated feeling and insomnia. All and good for every negative that entails, but in the end that rush and fall leads to a much more rewarding end - growth. Not simply as an artist, but as an individual, I find myself egged onwards - to the point of dropping - by the reward of completion. Completing work isn't just a grade at this place, it's an added piece of self. Your integrity in the studio increases, along with your standing as an artist in general. Your personality is solidified - you know a bit more about who you are. To me, that - finding who you are in what you do - is the most rewarding experience a person can have.

I have had the opportunity to create my own path on my own terms. So far I have enjoyed the advanced way of learning through various websites such as D2L and Imail.

When I started my educational journey I was very timid and had no self confidence. This was the results of a dysfunctional marriage. My college experience has lifted my self-esteem and made it possible for me to conquer all sorts of things. .I was terrified of any math classes that I had to attend. When I graduated with my Associates degree of Business Administration I was the main tutor of all the math classes that my college offered to their students. I also have started a course through one of the sites that I interned at to conquer Algebra I, II, and Geometry. I will eventually conquer Trigonometry as well. College gave me the ability to grow in my personal and professional life. I now help friends that are looking to start small local businesses. It has been a very rewarding experience. It has also allowed me to show my 3 children that you can conquer anything that you fear as long as you put your mind to it and face it head on.

I have recieved a greater sense of my limits and what I can do. At first I simply drew how I wanted, but by making myself draw objects I wouldn't normally draw, I've gotten better and have enhanced my own style. I didn't like this at first either, but gradually through these weeks, I've begun to notice a more refined, more complex me. If I had gone any where else, I probably wouldn't have discovered this. If I hadn't attended I probably would've always been drawing how I'm used to drawing and I never would've gotten any better. I wouldn"t begin to understand who I am or why I do what I do.

There were three reasons I went back to school at 37. One, to finally get the piece of paper that said I was professional, two, to stay current on design and three, to get out of the rat race and the machine like design for the corporate world that says, "here's my vision, now help me make it happen." I have loved my first year in design school because they have helped me to find what is my vision and how can I make that work. What I feel now is not how can I do what other people want but how can I do what I want to do, produce what's in me because there's a lot of stuff in there! It's been so refreshing to be in a community of people who want you to succeed for the sake of yourself, not anyone else.

First off most importantly, I want to say that if I could go back in time, that would be AWESOME!. ok, now the question.. hmm I think the most important thing to try and get used to for me are all the expenses. There's tuition, gas, food, materials, gas,more food,leting your friend borrow some money for a bag of dorritos from the vending machine!. I would go back and tell myself to start saving up early as soon as i started my senior year, get a job and work my butt off. Yeah, i thought i wouldn't have time to work in highschool, but now seeing how busy I am in college, I see I had plenty of time in highschool, that I should have taken advantage of, but being the procrastinator that I am, i put off applying for scholarships. So i had to kill myself everyday of the summer applying. I ended up getting enough scholarships to pay my first year, but if I would have started earlier, i would have plenty extra scholarship money for those extra expenses. So this year i've started my scholarships early, including this COOL one! Thanks alot!