I almost feel like art school shouldn't exist.

I love it, and my freshman year was filled with tons of fun and fantastic learning experiences, but there's a part of me that feels like it's kind of too good to be true.

And I guilty when I talk about college with other people. Because there are lots of other people who are studying "serious" subjects that will help future generations of people here on Earth. And I'm making movies.

I get to wake up and go to class where I stand behind a camera and create made-up scenarios where people pretend to do things that I tell them to do. It's the best.

My family members often ask if the work is "challenging." I don't know how to answer that question. Truthfully, the work I'm doing is challenging. I'm working hard to figure out how to cultivate an artistic voice in a way that, hopefully, resonates with other people.

But try comparing art school to something like law school or medical school.

There's an argument to be made about the authenticity of the hard work that art students do, but I think it's a much harder argument to make. I'd have to put actual effort into making the argument that what I'm doing is "hard." I love making movies. It's what I want to do with the rest of my life. But I think the reason people dismiss art students is because they look at what we do as a "hobby."

Objectively speaking, I could be studying to do something else with my life. I could, for example, be studying to be a podiatrist (first profession that popped into my head) while making films on the side. There are hundreds of books which claim to teach people how to make films. These days, anyone has access to a camera and a computer. Anyone can upload a short film to YouTube. (Maybe not my cousin.)

But can anyone be a podiatrist (I wish I picked a different example but I'm in too deep)? Does anyone practice podiatry on the side (this is a terrible example)?

Art students aren't studying art because it's a hobby. To many art students, creating is how we communicate. It's what we're most comfortable doing, and what we're happiest doing. And, hopefully--one day--we can create stuff that will mean something to someone.

Art is unquestionably invaluable, yet we often devalue artists. Sure, anyone can learn to draw or sculpt or play the triangle (I'm currently learning to play the triangle; progress is slow). But how many of those people will push through years of steady rejection and failure? How many of those people will be lucky enough to be paid to create?

Four years of art school may not be as "challenging" as four years spent on another major. But life after art school will be challenging enough (read: unemployed).

And art students do it anyway.