My school is actually preparing me for a successful career in the visual arts! Hecks yes!

I don't think I've mentioned how well art school is going
lately. Have I? The thing is, things have really clicked
this semester. It happened pretty much right away in
September, when I began my most intensive semester yet
--five illustration classes, including one focusing
entirely on editorial illustration. I felt, almost right
away, that I just knew how to do stuff BETTER than I was
used to doing stuff. I don't think it was simply that I
just had confidence in my work, but who knows? It also
doesn't seem likely that I got better overnight. I know
it was the result of a couple of years of truly hard work,
exposure to good instructors, and access to the right tools.
But whatever it was, professors began reacting to my work
with overwhelming approval and enthusiasm. I was asked to
do a couple of projects outside of school, expanding my
still-limited-but-not-as-limited-as-before professional
experience. And when I put up my work for critique in
class, I almost always feel that my illustrations are at
the top of the class -- a significant change from one year
ago, or even one semester ago.

All of this makes me hopeful and excited about my career,
for probably the first time in my life.