I attend Columbia College Chicago. No, that does not mean that I spend all day painting in each of my classes instead of learning actual, relevant things. The truth is I have three hour-long classes and intense deadlines.

Contrary to popular belief, art school kids do not slack off all the time.

We certainly do not taking the easy way out to get our college degree. So, please for the love of god, stop rolling your eyes when I tell you where I choose to spend my final four years of my academic career. Stop making a snide comment about how I must not like the idea of making money.

Columbia, as opposed to more traditional colleges, teaches you how to think outside the box. We are not being taught things that we'd absolutely learn on our first day in our chosen field rather we are learning how to think creatively on the clock every single day.

Employers pay more attention to us because of our unique skill set.

Every single class I take has found a way to make real-world solutions to real-world problems. Yes, three hour long classes may seem absurd to you, however, it makes sense for Columbia. The thing Columbia is really good at is understanding that we are artists, we are not typically math geniuses or science geeks.

As artists, we are wired differently to begin with and we need to be taught differently -- textbook learning will not cause us to engage well while hands-on learning will.

If you are willing to overlook the intense deadlines, Columbia would be a good fit for any artist. When I say intense, I mean intense. There are some classes in Columbia College Chicago's curriculum require some students to repaint the Mona Lisa in a week. If you are willing to take on that, then you'd be a great fit for Columbia College Chicago.

So, no, art school kids don't just sit around and get high in between classes, assuming they even show up to being with. We are actually hard workers, and stressed out college kids too. Just because I choose a less traditional education for my undergrad does not make me any less smart or hard working.