Another year in the books!



I've been kind of looking forward to this day for awhile, because I always make the most of my summers...but by the same token, I've been kind of dreading this day too.

I always look forward to traveling and spending time doing things at home. I love having these few months off work, and it gives me a chance to re-charge for a new school year (2012-13 is just around the corner!)

It's very interesting to feel that familiar lump in my throat for about the 15th year in a row, as my students walk out the door for the "theoretical" last time though. I know that when (and if) they come back, it will be to visit, not to learn and to create here in the studio. I have had my time with them, and now it is someone else's turn to influence and help them. I always feel a little bit funny about that. Some of these people I have known since they were in middle school, so it's weird to see them grow up and fly away! But the cool places that they will get to go! We have students going to art and design colleges all across the country, not to mention into some of our best universities both here and out of state. It was a great year for our senior class, as they earned over one million dollars in scholarships in my department alone. I have a lot of senior students leaving for the east coast this year. Last year we had a few go out to California, this year, it's more like Maine, Maryland, Florida and Georgia. Not to mention our usual crop of UNT, UT, OU, etc., it's been a great year for our seniors to head off to study in awesome programs.

I think it is particularly happy that they get to do what I would have liked to have done... study at prestigious design colleges. It isn't every kid that needs to go to a design school, but if they KNOW that they want to be creative for a career, why not consider it, especially if you can earn a scholarship? I wish I had been more informed when I was in high school and I would have enjoyed spending half my day in a program that would have given me a preview of college choices before I was 18 and headed out to college registration. What a privilege a school like Career Center East is!

I wish all of my students a great summer, and although I will enjoy my time off, I am looking very much forward to seeing students again in the fall semester. Happy June and July, students! I will continue to post from time to time, so be watching the blog. I will be posting more regularly in August.

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