Ten Things I’d Like to Have Known When I Started College
I went off to Moore College of Art in Philadelphia in September of 1972. Thirty-eight years ago. When I think of it that way, it feels like a long, long time ago! Looking back, I’d like to have known…
- … that homesickness was temporary. I wasn’t sure I could make it to Thanksgiving.
- … that I could have brought more stuff with me. I had two cardboard boxes, a suitcase, and my quilt.
- … that I wasn’t going to be the only person who felt like a fish out of water.
- … that studying art all the time was not the same as being one of the good students in Mr. Motovich’s art class in high school.
- … that I could have switched majors and it wouldn’t have been a crisis. To this day, I think a Textile degree would suit me better than an Art Ed degree.
- … that I was strong, stronger than I gave myself credit for.
- … that I really was creative and artistic, and that I could believe in that.
- … that I was attending a women’s art school in a time near the beginning of the women’s movement, and that I would be taught by many amazing women artists. I would have asked a lot more questions, and paid a lot closer attention.
- … that you can never have too many art supplies. Just as in knitting, the right tools are everything. And I would have liked to own a set of Dr. Ph Martin’s Concentrated Watercolors.
- … that I would be assigned a roommate who would become my best friend, and I mean best friend forever. I would have been more myself, sooner (who knows, that could have backfired on me). By now, thirty-eight years later, Judy and I know each other well enough, I think.
Not Plain Jane 
This makes me just a little weepy. And I've been thinking longingly of my Dr. Ph Martin's, probably because I'm in the middle of doing textile designs for this class. We were just a little goofy back then – so many opportunities that we didn't quite yet grasp. Still, it all had an incredible impact, even if somewhat subliminally.
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I've been enjoying your 10 for Tuesday from the start, but this is the first one that I want to compile my own list !.
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Stop it, Judy! I was trying not to go all nostalgic, and now look!
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Lovely list. My younger stepdaughter was an Art Ed major, too. She wanted to be an art therapist. Then she found her true calling – working with children with autism – and is on her way to her master's and Ph.D.
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My DD will leave for college next year. There are so many things on your list that I hope she will discover for herself.
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A wonderful list and some things are quite similar to the ones on mine. Great minds and all that.
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What a perfect, thoughtful list! I wish I'd been . . . smarter. . .as a college student. Not in an academic sense, but in a worldly-take-advantage-of-everything kind of way.
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I love the whole notion of this list! And I so agree about the asking questions part. And the paying attention. AND the changing majors. OK there I go making my own list…
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I wish I'd been there to meet that Jane too!
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I often wish I could have been the person I am now when I was in college. I probably would have learned more, appreciated it more and been more open to different experiences. Then again, I did change colleges three times and majors four times … hey! I could run for VP!Lovely post, wonderful thoughts.Jen
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