Project Log: BA+BFA

So there's this new thing at Oberlin...

When I came to Oberlin, I was dead set: I would be double majoring in Creative Writing and Studio Art. I made a meeting with a professor, planning to ask them to become my advisor, but when I brought up my plan they told me it was impossible. Even worse they told me that they had seen many people try, and all of them fail!

This threw me riiiight off track. I spent a few semesters farting around in communications and english courses, looking for something to settle on since my plan seemed completely impractical. Around this time, I also somehow got it into my head that I was being totally immature by even pursuing the arts. Since I wasn't at a dedicated art school, how could I expect to be taken seriously?

After a while, I was overwhelmingly convinced I was in the wrong place. So much so, I was considering transferring to a school for fine arts, which would mean totally re-starting my degree, after two years spent working towards a BA.

Then, after far too long languishing in my angst, I decided to get a second opinion, then a third, then a fourth. The resounding consensus? Not only was it possible to double major, it was encouraged! So encouraged, in fact, that Oberlin was on the brink of founding a brand-new integrated arts program, offering a dual degree over five years. By all accounts this was perfect!

Still though, I wasn't sure. My hard-wired resistance to change plus a gnarly case of imposter syndrome made me weary. Secretly, I had given up on the idea entirely. There was too much risk, too much uncertainty, and I wasn't a real artist, anyhow. I was just someone who liked to draw.

Then, the head of the creative writing program mentioned it to me. She was surprised that I hadn't been at an info session. My studio art advisor was similarly encouraging when I landed in his office with about a million questions and the nervous energy of a hummingbird on Adderall. It was my friends who finally managed to knock some sense into me. "Wren," they said, "If this program isn't for you, than I have no idea who it's for."

Ah, what the hell! I took the plunge.