One of My Roughest Starts

This semester has been one of my roughest starts.

I thought it would be easy! I decided to take magazine article writing and public speaking to help me prepare to market my book. Then I added two exercise classes to make sure I was full time and could receive my scholarship. All I needed was one art class and the rest could be fun, right?

Two weeks into the semester, a little voice said I better make sure I am really on track to graduate.

It's a good thing I checked. All along I've been thinking I only needed one class.

Wrong.

I needed eight more credits.

During spring semester, I took four studio art classes. It was such a heavy load that I was thinking I had finished my electives, forgetting that two of those "electives" are required for all art majors. Woops!

Because I changed my degree last year from art education to 2-D art, Matt, the department chair changed one of my art methods courses to an elective credit, so then I needed five credits.

I humbly asked the video professor--whose class I had dropped in favor of jogging--if I could come back. Despite offending him, he let me back in.

So now I only needed two more credits to graduate.

I would not be able to take another art class, because by this point, it was too late to add any more. Not to mention with public speaking, magazine writing, video, swimming, yoga, and oh yeah, my BFA thesis class, that's fourteen credits. Maybe I should have dropped some of the other classes, but I wanted the training. One thing for sure: I definitely didn't have the time for another studio art class.

Having my graduation delayed by two credits, especially when I'm enrolled in classes I don't need for my degree (but need for life), left me unbalanced. My heart tells me I need to graduate. I need the time to focus on building my platform and publishing my book.

I recently talked with Amir Jackson of Nurture the Creative Mind to see if I could somehow work with NCM and apply that to a senior project. He was able to squeeze me in to volunteer painting lessons at a treatment center, but I still didn't know if I could apply this to my semester.

I talked to Matt again today. I felt so nervous that I had to pray for help falling asleep last night. I kept hearing him say it's already the middle of the semester and why was I asking for more credits now . . .

This morning, as I told Matt my idea, he began reviewing the hours one would spend in class, and the hours I would spend with NCM. He said, "Well, with those many hours, I could approve you for two credits."

What a relief! And thank goodness I need two and not the typical three! I took a four-credit art history class years ago that made that nice round number. I am so happy that I am back on track to graduate this fall! Matt was happy, Amir was happy, and I am certainly very happy! Despite my work load of sixteen credits all while taking the capstone class of my degree, it will be over before I know it, and I am feeling ironically far less overwhelmed.