My time at University

My three years at university have been a little chaotic to say the least. Half-way through my first year, time spent in uni got cut short because covid came and surprised us all! These were uncertain times for everyone over the world and in every area of life, things had to be adapted differently and with this being the first pandemic in our lives, no one quite knew what to do. As the government gave out guidance, it all seemed a bit useless and the university were left to figure out what to do and how to work around this big awkward thing. I had to move back home from halls around march and finished my first year and got everything submitted all from my parents’ home and everything was reliant on being online. Because of the adjustments made in that academic year, we felt we were ready to get going with second year in whatever way that would be. Fortunately, over the summer the restrictions and rules were relaxed a bit which meant me and all my classmates could meet back up in the studio and catch up and have a nice atmosphere again to start second year off well. It wasn’t long before cases were spiking again and we all had to go back home yet again. This began the long and stressful year of meeting online for teams calls and I spend almost the whole year in my bedroom of my student home, doing work and going a little crazy. I found this change really hard to adjust to (especially with ADHD) as one of my favourite parts of university has been the people I’ve met and the friends I’ve made. I think one of the most important assets you can have as an illustrator is other illustrators and creative people to talk to, get feedback off and bounce around ideas; this is how development and personal growth happens. If the only work you see and the only opinions you get are your own, it does not open you up to be able to improve on what you’re creating. Despite all this awkwardness, we came back for third year in person and had been mixed in with the graphic design course which I think was really beneficial as we had twice as many amazing people to get to know and I have made even more great friends to stay in touch with after uni.

In my time at uni, I have got to do some pretty cool things. First year was filled with lots of cool workshops and getting to use and learn some interesting facilities! Some of my favourites have been screen printing, risograph and book binding. I am annoyed at myself for not utilising these more while I had the chance and wish I got that bit of covid time spent at home, using these amazing facilities instead. After finishing the course and opening my shop, I hope to be able to buy and set up a small screen printing station at home where I can produce all sorts of funky designs and print them myself on to t-shirts, tote bags, wrapping paper and more! Another thing I would love to have myself is a mini dark room where I can develop film however this is a bit trickier and on the expensive side. Aside from the workshops, I have learned so much from my projects over the years and can even see development in my own work which is really nice to see. The projects and the tutors have helped me in so many ways, they have helped me add depth and a professional aspect to my work, given me amazingly useful resources like unsplash (https://unsplash.com/) and the AOI, and how to use Adobe software to a much better standard. Along side my studies, the real world has helped me develop in to a better and more understanding person. A lot can happen in three years, especially with how fast the world is always changing and it can make it hard to keep up with. When starting uni at nineteen, feeling a bit useless and clueless, the thought of leaving uni felt daunting but so long away! I am now twenty-two years old and more ready than ever to get out in the real world, armed with everything I’ve learned, ready to learn even more.

When starting uni, having just left college I was still a bit unsure of myself, of who I was and how I wanted to present myself. I couldn’t help but feel the burden of imposter syndrome and feeling like I wasn’t a confident enough illustrator to be at university, but since then I have learned its okay to feel like that sometimes and you have to step back and look at what you’ve already done and how far you’ve come and tell yourself its not as bad as you think, have a little faith in yourself and be proud. I have learned so much about myself in these three years, as a person and as an illustrator and even through things were stressful and the thought of giving up crossed my mind, I’m glad I am where I am now. There are times I wish I could go back and have worked a little bit harder and given myself a bit of a kick up the bum but the past is the past and all I can do now is learn from it and put my all in to passing and getting this degree and strive to work hard to achieve my dreams. If it wasn’t for this course, certain modules and projects, ones I loved and ones I hated, I wouldn’t have realised what I wanted to do with my life. I have always loved drawing and creating and sharing those creations with family and friends but other than knowing I wanted to draw, I never knew specifically what I wanted to do with that. When asked as a child what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always ‘eh I dunno, something with art probably’ but now I absolutely love sharing my plans and aspirations with people and hearing their thoughts and even their ideas for me! I feel so much more confident in who I am and part of that comes with knowing that I don’t always feel amazing and one hundred percent happy with my work and that’s okay! That is how you improve, if you don’t fail, you can’t know the best outcome to then succeed. To me, success is about growth and self-belief. If I know something didn’t work, then I can use that to figure out how to make it better and grow from it. Success is also about being happy in what I do and nothing makes me happier than drawing what I love and getting to pursue the career of my dreams. 😊