Eeeek!

I came to a terrible realization last night as I was writing my last post. But let me preface that with some background information first.

I have been contemplating for over a year now going back to school, in a sense. I know that I have some innate artistic skills and ever since my grandfather died a year and a half ago (he was a professional graphic artist), the desire to get in touch with and grow those skills has become much stronger. Partially as a tribute to my grandfather and partially because I was not allowed to develop those skills naturally as a child, so now I wish to honor both him and myself by seeing how far I can go with it. I really want to foster my creativity and see what I can blossom into.

I have been looking at the options available from the Art Institute Online. The schools that are available with the official name of The Art Institute are well-known and well-respected in the artistic communities in this country. It truly means something if you can come away with a degree from an Art Institute. The fact that they have an online division, with very thoroughly thought-out programs and specially trained faculty for their online classes merely adds additional weight. And, of course, I found out that my grandfather had graduated from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, PA many years ago, and the fact that The Art Institute Online is actually a division of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh threw in an extra bit of appeal for me.

Anyway, I have been mulling this over for quite some time and have even filled out (but not submitted) an application to the school. One of the major things holding me back is the money. I really don’t know if I want to invest $15,000 in a Digital Design Diploma program when I cannot expect tangible results that will help me to make that money back easily. 15K is a lot to spend just to satisfy my own curiosity about whether or not I can actually do this. Of course, it would also bolster my self-confidence when it comes to the design work that I already do, but still… there’s not enough solid value attached to it for me to want to make that kind of investment on my own.

I had approached my sponsors at work about having the company help to pay for this additional education, but they were unable to see how it would relate to what I am doing and add value. I won’t bother going into explaining my rationale right now, but I do have a correlation worked out and having a graphic artist in-house would save them from having to throw so many jobs to consulting firms. So, I was back to the scenario of having to pay for everything myself.

Then, all of a sudden, a couple of weeks ago, I received an email in my inbox from The Art Institute Online that I nearly deleted without really looking at it. It was concerning a contest that they are running for a $10,000 scholarship. I ignored it, at first, assuming that I wouldn’t be eligible or doubting that I could ever even possibly have a chance at it. But the seed was planted, and it kept growing in my brain and making itself known to me every once in a while. I finally decided that here was my answer – right in front of my face! I read through the requirements, figured out that I met them and even threw together a rough idea in my head. And that is where things stayed.

So, now we come to last night. I’ve had the scholarship information up on my computer for the past week or so, so I see it every time I go upstairs and work on my computer. Last night, as I was waiting for my piece to scan, I realized that the deadline for entry is TODAY!

Hence the E E E E E E E EEEEEEEEK! Fortunately, some of my best work is done at the last minute, so I am still going to take a shot at it. I am staying home today, taking a half day or even a full day off from work, as needed, and I am going to cobble together all of my thoughts into a coherent and hopefully effective entry.

Once I submit my entry, I will actually need your help, as the scholarship contest has two phases. The first is a public popularity contest. All of the entries will be posted on a website and the public will be able to go and vote for the entries. Only one vote per email address, so those of you with multiple email addresses, I’m counting on you to vote with everything you have! Only the most popular entries will go on to the second phase of the contest, where they will be judged by a panel of professionals.

If it’s meant to be, it will happen for me. I am excited for the chance, at least, but now I need to get to work!!!!!!!!!!!