• Why are you in school?
I am in school to advance my existing skills and interests as an artist, photographer, and
honestly a passionate student. I enjoy learning new skills, as they give me a sense of
accomplishment and will be able to use my photography degree to support my career
goals as an independent photographer and technical illustrator.
• What are your strengths?
My strengths are in communication, creativity, and flexibility. I take all viewpoints into
consideration when I am communicating with others which allows me to empathize,
understand, and adapt to others. I also enjoy thinking out of the box and being creative
which gives me a unique outlook on most things.
• How do you learn best?
I learn best when I can be active in my learning. This requires for me to be able to
share and bounce my ideas off of others, practice the skills that I am learning as I am
learning them, and to have more visual representations of the things that I am looking
at (as an illustrator, artist, and photographer I suppose this makes enough fair sense).
• What are your skills?
Some of my skills are being very detail-oriented – nothing goes unnoticed – which
applies to both my personal and professional life. Also, I work well with others, whether
it be a small group or large team, which can be attributed to my communication skills.
• What skills do you want to improve upon or learn?
I want to improve my internal drive, or my intrinsic self-motivation, as well as being
more goal oriented.
• What are your interests and hobbies?
My interests include casual hiking and exploring, photography, and creating art. I enjoy
art in many forms including (but not limited to) drawing, painting, wood burning, and
more.
• What problems would you like to address in the world?
Most problems in the world feel too big to address or possibly over-addressed by the
public, but the issues that are near and dear to my heart would be social injustices in
the LGBTQ community, and neurodiversity inclusion/acceptance. Many of my family
members and friends have been heavily impacted by the negative stigma placed onto
these groups, and I do whatever I can to make sure they are comfortable everywhere
they go if I can help it. I wish to educate more people on the strengths and benefits to
society that these groups add to the world.
• Where do you envision yourself in five years?
In five years, I see myself comfortable. I hope to still be working with my current
company (I’ve been with them for a little over 5 years, so another 5 would be
wonderful), but in addition I would have my own side business selling my art in a steady
comfortable capacity from my home. Although I would like to work on my extraversion,
I still hope to be able to set up most of my successes from home where I am most
comfortable to do my best work.
• Which of the programmatic course themes is most relevant to your career or goals for
personal growth?
o Self-care
o Social justice
o Emotional intelligence
o Career connections
o Ethics
Emotional intelligence is easily the most relevant programmatic course theme that
relates to my goals for personal growth. I have become more aware of some of the
downfalls and weaknesses I have created for myself or been handed down through
genetics. Becoming more aware of those weaknesses has driven me to change my
outlook and set more goals for myself that will give me a sense of pride and purpose in
contrast to those that just give me instant gratification. Hopefully, this gained
intelligence will eventually have a better effect on my communication and relationships
with others. I have cut myself off from most of society due to my anxieties and lack of
drive, but becoming more emotionally aware of what I need in my life is a game
changer and a goal shifter.
Enjoy this fun little Picasso quote I chose to represent me. It's me: loves to learn rules
and skills, but the need to add my own flare to it all is unavoidable. I need to find a
creative way of doing what everyone else does on the norm or else, what's the fun in
it? Maybe it's just the artist in me, but a little creativity can go a long way!
