The Career I Am Striving For

Almost every girl from the time she could talk through her teenage years has had a high ambition of being a nurse, a dancer, a movie star, an airline stewardess, or a housewife and mother. For some reason I never wanted to be any of these. In fact, I never really had a plan for tomorrow. I was always contented to live for toady and take tomorrow as it came. But all of a sudden last year I decided I wanted to go into the field of art. I had always liked to draw and work with clay, but I was never good at either. I had had two years of art in high school, but I didn't really learn anything.

I didn't know exactly what type of art I wanted to do, but I knew one thing---I would never be an art teacher. I could remember how our art classes were and how disappointed the art teacher was.

I have decided to major in art for two reasons--the first is that I like art and the other is that I don't care for many of the other subjects. I was glad when I had decided to go into art work.

There are many things to learn about art. It is very important to be able to draw, paint, and create well; but that's not all there is to art. The basic principles must be learned just as the many techniques. One should know the history of art and artists. But more important than all of these is that one must have a feeling of free expression. There must be emotion.

Many times I have felt like the artist in 'Artist With Carpenter's Hands.' I could see exactly what I wanted to do, but it didn't turn out that way.

Also one must have an appreciation for art. Less than a year ago I thought abstract work was silly and dumb. I only liked realistic work that I could plainly understand. I still don't have a good appreciation for abstract art, but I have learned to like and appreciate a lot of it. Understanding is what counts.

I can sit for hours and hours with a pencil and paper or a block of clay and never need anything else to do. I love every minute of it. I'm still not good. The more I see of art, the more I know 'how good I'm not.' But it's a goal worth striving for, this ambition of mine.

Since I've come to college I've learned a lot and changed a lot of my views. I've even decided it might not be so bad after all to be an art teacher.

Marlene Morelock
April 25, 1958