I once had a student

Once upon a time, in my first year teaching, I had a student who wanted to be a graphic designer. She did not have extraordinary talent, but she had passion and desire. Her husband "allowed" her to go back to school thinking that she would give up after a few months and then she would be quiet about wanting an education. When her husband refused to continue to pay for her education because she was definitely not going to quit, she had to borrow money from her grandmother to keep attending.

During her 8th month, she had a baby. She had the c-section after class on Thursday and had a friend drive her back to class the following Monday. She arranged with other friends ways to care for her newborn so she could attend class everyday, which she did.

When she finally graduated, her husband announced that she was a mother and her place was in the home with their child so he "forbade" her to go find a job and put her education to work. This student put out flyers everywhere she went and gave business cards to everyone she knew so that she could find a way to practice her craft even while she was at home.

Her first free-lance job or two did not go well. One she ended up getting stiffed on and the other was a web site that someone else re-built a few months later. This student came to me and said, I know I have had an education, but I need to learn more and then would stop by every week or two to borrow another book. The whole time she kept taking every freelance job she could get and after awhile she even started building some referral business.

After she won a few Addy awards while working out of her house, her husband finally admitted that she had a real profession and permitted her to go get a real job. Today, 6 and half years after graduation she was promoted to Creative Director for a highly respected design firm. Way to go Amber!!!

I share this because there is nothing more disheartening to a teacher than to see a person with real passion and talent either give up on themselves or let someone else stop them from becoming what they were meant to be. Real students and real designers and people with real dreams, do not let obstacles, circumstances, or other people keep them from living the life they were meant to lead. 

If you have a true passion, you are the only person who can truly prevent you from living it.


"The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone." Harriet Beecher Stowe