It's Concerning Me...

Since this is one of my blogs, I hope no one thinks of my further words as taboo, considering most other pages I've seen in the Ringling string have stuck to just artwork. Furthermore, I apologize if anything I say offends anyone; I merely believe that as a freshman it's my right to be able to blog about my school.

To start, this year has been amazing so far. Not only fast but furious too, in the good way. I've met a lot of really nice people aaand some not-so cordial ones as well. To say the least, every single person I've met have had a lot to offer me an insight on college life. I just graduated high school in May so there wasn't really much time before I was thrown to the wolves.

Nonetheless, being here has taught me a lot about myself, and how to live [and time management has really taken the cake on this one]. I've been able to be around those who care about art like I do, and even if jealousy is a somewhat rambunctious part of socializing here it's the groups and school involvement that I've found so refreshing.

For a little insight on who I am; my name is Lindsay, and I am a freshman Computer Animation here in sunny [not so much in the winter, eh?] Sarasota. My family lives in Largo, a city a little over an hour from here so Florida has been my home 95% of my life. I was born in Conchord, New Hampshire and have been involved in the visual arts for a majority of my life. On a silly side note, I'm proud to say I am the girlfriend of NC's also Computer Animation Tommy Taylor. In all likelihood, if you see him, you'll see me, and I like it that way :).

One of my career goals before high school was journalism and creative writing. I have been working on a few stories since the beginning of 2003 and I hope to either finish them, or finish and illustrate them sometime in the near future. I've met a few well-known authors, including E. Rose Sabin, author of A School for Sorcery. My current dreams in this field include meeting one of my favorite authors, David Sedaris, and attaining the Amazon Kindle.

As for school, it's been tough having literally no artwork to my name but I have had the most amazing instructors and have learned so much. I really miss having figure class from the first semester, but thats what FEWs is for, right? Similarly, I've been learning how to keep a sketchbook and pushing myself to draw more.

But in all honesty, it's been really difficult working solely within my major. I knew that my field was going to be difficult yet I wasn't really prepared for this kind of dedication and I'm afraid it's been showing. I have no history in animation, and my instructor is notorious for being a little hazy. As much as I enjoy traditional animation, it wasn't until recently that I was able to branch out to my references in attempts to get a hold on one of the key principles of animation. I'm just really grateful for all of the sophomores and fellow classmates that have been helping me out with my CA issues.

Despite my problems so far, I have bright hopes for the next few months, and as for myself, improving my skills and maybe, just maybe, working out what it takes to be a Ringling Animator.