I was "that kid" in high school who was too busy hanging around low-lifes who had already dropped out, or the twenty-something year olds who peaked as 17 year old partiers. I graduated high school by the skin of my teeth and my mother can vouch that not many people thought it was going to happen.
I managed to get accepted to a private university in Kentucky and was excited to start over and actually make something of myself. I was originally an Elementary Education major until I started my job at a local elementary school. That's when I realized that I couldn't tie shoes and wipe noses for seven hours a day. Thinking long and hard I thought about my art teacher from when I was eleven, Miss Detterline. She was the greatest, and really the only reason I was able to enjoy the end of my fifth grade year. Art was always an escape for me and the art room was a place I was always comfortable, so I decided spring semester of my freshman year that I wanted to be an art teacher.
I will never claim to be the best artist, but I have talent and appreciate the work and the techniques that artists use. After taking the basic art classes and some art history, I took a semester off to do an internship that was counted as upper level art credits. I received a 4.0 for the semester after blogging weekly of my daily life and working 600+ hours. After my internship was over I came home and started a new job being a teacher of an after school art program at KCA (a local private elementary school) where I got to plan and teach whatever art projects I wanted. I also took a few more studio classes before I had an art review.
That's when it happened...
I was called into the chair of the Art Department’s office to be told that they felt as if they were "setting me up for failure" and that they didn't think I would be able to be an art teacher. Followed by, that I was not allowed to finish my Art Education degree two semesters prior to when I was supposed to be graduating. I was devastated, pissed, and overwhelmed. I couldn't wrap my head around going from a 4.0 to being removed from my program where I had never failed a course.
After lots of crying and whining to my mom, I called our rival school and explained my awful situation and they set up times for me to come meet the Chair of the Education Department and the Art Department. I was welcomed with open arms and was ensured that they would make sure I finished within two semesters to be a successful art teacher.
I started my journey in January and in the last two months I have been given more opportunities and gotten more encouragement from my teachers than I did in my four years at my other university. I am in no way bashing the school, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, but it wasn't the place for me. Being removed from my program there was the best thing to ever happen in my college career. Because of that I am in art classes with a professor who understands I don't want to be an artist, I want to TEACH art, and thinks it’s okay that my drawings aren't frame worthy all the time. I was taught that even though it seemed tragic at the time, that really sometimes the most awful circumstances are really blessings in disguise.
