August 18, 2001
2:22pm

Today was my friend Julie's graduation day. Of course, I missed it because I overslept was unexpectedly detained . I almost didn't make it to work on time, either. Responsibilities go right out the window in a cloud of sleepiness.

My own graduation is coming up soon. It's hard to believe that I've already been at Kent State for three years. It's seems like I was a freshman just yesterday. I'm amazed that I'm even going to be able to get out in four years. This school is practically designed for you to be here much longer.

It must be scary to graduate from college. After that day you are thrust out into the real world and generally only have six months before payments of your college loans start to kick in. It's really sink or swim then. It must be really scary if you are unable to find a job. I know a couple of graduates who have been unable to do so. In moments of despair they must wonder what they wasted the past four years on.

My years in art school have taught me one very important thing. There's no way I'm going to be an artist. I'd hate it. The art world is for a much bolder person than I. I prefer steady work.

That's why I want to go to school for animation (after I finish at Kent, of course). It's only been relatively recently that I've realized this would probably be a good career for me. I have always loved cartoons, even way after I should have been "too grown up" for such things.

Animation is a great medium for visual storytelling. You can make characters do the impossible, or create characters that could never physically exist in reality. It could be used for humor, action, or drama (like in many popular anime; Americans don't usually get to see the dramatic side of animation). It can be realistic (like in "Final Fantasy" or special effects work) or innovative (such as the new "Samurai Jack" series by Genndy Tartatovsky on Cartoon Network). Live action and animation can even be combined. (Most people think that's a new innovation but it first began in the 1920s.) There's nothing you can't do with it and that's what fascinates me about animation. The process can be long and tedious, (It takes 24 drawings to make one second of animation!) but the results are fantastic.