Fine arts and the not-so-fine mind of a student.
The life of a fine arts student isn’t what people believe it to be. It’s not easy. Things don’t just happen. Hard work doesn’t always pay off. You begin to ask yourself whether it’s worth trying to fulfil your dream. Whether it’s worth pouring your soul, your whole being into an unforgiving career.
Against all odds, the answer is usually yes. Something good or even someone good changes the perspective. Sure, you begin to be bitter and feel a part of yourself cracking away, but you don’t stray from the path you’ve set for yourself.
Things aren’t what you want them to be but you work with it. Students of all kinds begin to learn themselves in these times, we come to realise that if we aren’t flexible then it’ll be harder for us.
I’m not a fine arts student. In fact I’m not even an arts student. My course isn’t under a certain category which makes it harder to compare or classify. However I know exactly what it’s like to be putting my heart into my work, only for it to be shuffled into the ‘I don’t give a shit’ or the ‘It’s not good enough’ or even the ‘I guess it’s fine’ pile.
In my first semester I learnt the importance of professionalism as well as self-importance. I have shocking time management and when I was fresh into the course I learnt that I’d have to be on good terms with my teachers if I wanted to be able to enjoy my classes. Teachers don’t appreciate bad time management so semester one of last year was a bit rocky.
It wasn’t until I started to try harder and push myself to achieve more that I actually started to enjoy my course. In the beginning I didn’t try to stand out or push myself. My writing was alright, but it was missing a bit of spice.
I won’t lie, I was set on dropping out and moving home after two weeks. Uni wasn’t what I had expected. It was daunting knowing that I was one of a handful of people under the age of twenty four. It’s a relatively male dominated course and majority of people had already done previous studies, made their mark on the world and some even have kids. I felt inexperienced, unprepared and quite honestly, unhappy.
I held out for O Week because I wanted to see whether it would live up to the hype.
I’m still here so I guess it did.
Having a positive influence in the shape of the community at IH I began to enjoy my life in Melbourne. I realised I didn’t have to sit back and coast along my course, I had the ability to do what others weren’t and in this world, especially concerning creative arts, you need to have the drive to be different to be noticed.
I’m not saying it’s been all good or all bad, but thankfully I have enough support and drive to continue down my path. It’s very likely I’ll continue to struggle for a great portion of it, but I mean, my end goal is pretty damn cool so I’m going to keep on going.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; people can be shit but people can be great. For me as a screenwriting student, I try to take each person, shit or great, as a lesson on character. It could be a lesson on them or it could be on me. Either way, I gain a new perspective on how people see their world.
And so, next time you’re confronted by a difficult person, a negative force or obstacle, remember that each experience has potential to be much more than a shit time. You may not have control of your future but you do have the power to guide it, and you may as well try to enjoy yourself along the way.
Above: unknown source
