Out of all the possible majors at Southeastern Louisiana University, I eventually chose to be an art major as a final decision. In the beginning, I always knew that I was art-inclined and more of a right-brained individual than a left-brained individual, who is more focused on the heavy technical subjects, such as math or science. That is not to say that I do not have any interest in the sciences. Right now, I'm currently self-teaching myself some coding. I have many interests, but art is the most familiar subject that I felt was right.
Thinking back to my junior high days, we took a test on what field that we should take if we were to go to college, and mine was the Arts and Humanities. So I felt that trying to pressure myself into getting a degree just for money's sake wouldn't do me any good. Forcing myself into a subject that I was not brought up to do or felt was not something I could personally do. Part of what attracts me to the arts is the idea of feeling in control and feeling the satisfaction of letting my emotions out. The other enjoyable experience that is the most enlightening is the audience's reaction. Now there are some scary moments when it comes to showing your work publicly, because it is not your own anymore, but I really feel that what I've always wanted to do is to uplift others and myself through escapism from the stressful days of their life in a similar way that musicians do.
Back in 2006, I used to video edit various video games or anime to certain musical tunes or comedic clips at the age of 12 and share it with friends and on forums. While I would get some negative feedback, the positive feedback inspired me. Bringing a smile to people's faces outweighed the negativity. Arguably, that is not art in the traditional sense but more of the commercialism arts. On the side, I am a writer as well. I very much enjoy that, too, but I also love drawing. Combining storytelling with audio, video and graphics keeps me attentive, and I tend to space out on other topics that are not attention grabbing for me, which is why my specific concentration is New Media and Animation. In the past, I was a communication major, but I preferred a curriculum that was less focused on television news and speeches but still retained the idea of communicating to your audience and the specifics of retaining its attention from graphics. Personality-wise, the communications major as a curriculum did not fit me as a person. I am more of a behind-the-scenes person and at the time did not want to be put in front of the camera to talk about what other people are doing. I wanted to learn how to convey my individual perspective about life to imagery without having to say too much, as well as how to verbally communicate my works through multiple sessions.
Overall, the arts are relaxing and therapeutic for me.