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 