What’s it Like Being an Art Major: Kristen Speelman

April 4,2016– Kristen Speelman has a heart for art. When interviewed with her on Monday she had a positive outlook on what art is. Most people do not think about art as much, but as an art major I guess art is something that has to be brought up a lot of times in order to actually get to where you are headed in life. We did not get to talk too much about her personal background because most of the questions were centered around art, and it’s stance in society. Kristen is a young woman who is figuring out what she wants to do with her life. As a business and art student she is thinking the advertising job would fit her better. She stands alone when the time comes for her to get focused in her art or photography work.

Growing up she always went to schools focusing on art so she always knew that when the time came in college she would major in the Fine Arts. Society is something she focuses on when talking about art. As she feels that you can tell a lot about art and society from the way leave art. As a vital role in her life she has decided to be a Graphic Designer someday that works in advertising. This even leads into her love of photography specifically nature photography. My favorite quote by from the interview would be, “Sometimes the lens can see things that you can’t. Like the little droplets of water on a window or things like that.” This reminds me as a fellow artist that sometimes, and at most times art is deeper than what people initially take it for. Art has a deeper meaning and that is clearly what Kristen is saying there. Nature shots gives her a way to appreciate God’s creation. She does not like to do a lot of setup and nature shots lets her be able to not do that.

The outdoors is her inspiration, and also God being the greatest artist of all. As a photographer she has learned how things are and how God has created them. Cityscapes and nature combined helps her become even more inspired to paint. Van Gogh is her favorite painter. The love of his paintings for her comes alive because his paintings are part reality and imagination.

Constructive criticism has helped her grow a lot as an artist. To tie it all together her greatest art triumph has come from being named an honorable mention by Ryan Thompson at her high school. Her greatest failure is ceramics, and dealing with the creation of making pots — which did not turn out well. Also to grow as an artist she is taking more classes in the art field and even a challenging typography class to help her understand the graphics.

To young artist Kristen would say, “To not give up on their art ever. Don’t let anyone put you down, and never give up on a piece of art, because you just have to keep with it. And in the end you will make something beautiful. Even if it does not turn out exactly how you thought it would you will still make something awesome, and be able to grow from the mistakes you made. And be able to apply that to future pieces of art.”

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.