Hello!



For anyone reading this outside my classroom, I apologize for any confusion since I'm writing this (And a number of other future posts.) for an ongoing class assignment.

Despite how long I've been a member of this site, I think this is my first actual blog post on here, or anywhere for that matter. So I'd like to take this time to introduce myself and touch on my experiences a bit, if that's okay...

My name is Jaylen and I've worked in the graphics design field for roughly two-ish(?) years now, working on mainly t-shirts and logos for a screen printing company in Columbus, GA. I was a previous student here at Chattahoochee Valley a little under 2 years ago until I had to withdraw due to a gradual deterioration of my mental health. I almost completely fried my brain from going to school full-time while simultaneously working a part-time internship with full-time hours and illustrating for three to four hours a day to better my digital painting skills. I got so exhausted to the point where I couldn't do anything creative anymore and I stopped drawing altogether for a little under a year. Everything was seen as work and nothing felt fun or rewarding to complete like it used to before I graduated high school. It left me doubting whether or not I should actually go through with pursuing art as a full-time career. Since I was alone when I withdrew from school and I still needed to make sure I had a roof over my head at the time, I began to work as a legitimate full-time graphic designer.

After withdrawing from school and continuing to work as a full-time employee, I did a lot of thinking and re-evaluation. And it made me realize that even though I couldn't really enjoy the process of making art, I never really felt fulfilled doing any other work that wasn't art. Ever since, I've been slowly easing back into making art. And even though I still don't feel the same way about art as I did back when I first graduated high school, I'm very happy that I didn't give up on myself. I am extremely grateful for the knowledge I've gained and I'm glad I had gotten the opportunity to work out in the field for as long as I did. Especially since I was sure as hell that I wouldn't survive.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of this semester. With enough luck and dedication, hopefully I'll be in a much better spot than when I started.

-elm