This article originally appeared in the Rough Draft print issue, in stands August 2025. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date.
A wide-eyed freshman walks onto campus, curious what the next four years will look like. What seems like the next day, but is really 3 years later, a lived senior walks the same campus, soaking it all in one last time. College flies, but in these formative years, college students see the changes in themselves and their work. Emily Williamson and Chelsea Doan reflect on what they’ve learned as art majors going into their senior years.
Fine arts
On the first day of college, Chelsea Doan was unsure if she was ready for this unfamiliar place. Like most freshmen, she felt unprepared and nervous, feeling intimidated by the new faces and the feeling of inadequacy being a fine arts major. “As an art major entering college … I believed I needed to be perfect at art and have everything figured out before I could start honing my skills in a higher education setting,” she said, “however, I realized that everyone else felt just as lost and confused as I did.” Although feeling hesitant on the first day, Doan was optimistic about the artist she would be at the end of these four years.
Doan was required to take eight foundation courses before declaring her emphasis within the major. “I knew that I wanted to study illustration. I researched a lot about my field beforehand and looked at the courses that were offered for this emphasis, and they happened to align with my personal career goals,” Doan said.
As a freshman, she found herself considering how people would view her work instead of following her own artistic vision. She learned that the point of assignments was not to make polished, perfect work but to learn and grow from them. Using the limits of assignment guidelines, Doan was challenged to exercise her creativity and expand her artistic palette.
Later on, she experienced burnout, feeling the pressure to meet major deadlines and pushing herself to her limits. “I would spend multiple all-nighters before the due date and would show up to critique days feeling like a zombie,” Doan said. Her work started to reflect her burnout, and she acknowledged that this was not the way to make her best work. She discovered that she shouldn’t neglect herself for the sake of work or school. “I think, especially for artists, it’s very easy to get sucked into the mindset of having to create the very best artwork we can. It’s not worth it to sacrifice ourselves in order to achieve that,” she said.
Doan participated in creative projects such as a student-directed music video, a short film and painting a full-sized mural on campus. She storyboarded and created concept work for a music video where she watched her drawings come to life through live action. “It was an especially unique opportunity for me as an illustration major because I was helping out with a different type of creative project from what I was used to.”
Actor training program
Overwhelmed is how Emily Williamson felt on her first day of college. “Classes were filled with ice breakers I definitely thought way too hard about,” she said. When classes were finished for the day, she wondered what to do next. Once the day was over, she walked to one of the soccer fields and sat on the grass.
In her freshman year, she was unsure of which interest to follow: social work, sports medicine or acting. What was supposed to be an explorative class led her to audition for the acting program. “I ended up auditioning in November and got an email over winter break that I would be joining the current freshman class,” Williamson said. Having never acted before, she found herself with lots of questions that she didn’t know how to ask. She eventually found her footing, and although still filled with questions, she now knows how to ask them.
Williamson was faced with challenging finals that made her step outside of her comfort zone. “Sometimes our finals are dance and movement-based, one was even singing, which is not a strong suit of mine,” she said. Pushing through these awkward moments and facing her embarrassment filled her with pride and confidence in her perseverance.
Through acting, Williamson learned that she has a unique and unreplicable voice. “The biggest thing acting taught me is that someone can always try to replicate you or your ideas, but they aren’t you,” she said. Acting started with so many unknowns for Williamson, but has become a source of expression and confidence. Although being in the arts is a gamble, “it is worth it to gamble on yourself,” she said.
