I would like to expound upon my experience thus far in Drawing 1 here at Trinity university. Being a second semester senior and the natural slacker that I am, I believed that drawing would be the perfect class for me. I tell myself I have an aptitude for art, considering both of my parents were studio art majors in college. It seemed to me a perfect fit for my mornings on Mondays and Wednesdays. What better way to start the week than laying some sweet, sweet charcoal lines on paper and making magic with your hands?

Well, I was wrong. I could not have been more wrong. And please don’t misunderstand me here, I think Drawing is a great class that any interested party should partake in. However for me as a completely untalented individual, it has been a struggle. The people in my class have creativity that seems to be endless. When we are assigned to draw a leaf in class they take the challenge head on and whip up wonderful creations that push the limits of light and line weight. And then there is me, stuck in the back perpetually drawing and erasing the same motherfucking line over and over and over until half of my page looks grey and used like some type of sad old dishrag, covered with faint lines that will never make it into the final drawing.

I think the true struggle of taking an intro to art class in the fashion which I have is that you go in thinking it’s going to be fun and easy because back in high school art class meant using the pottery wheel and making cool stuff with clay. However I grossly underestimated the caliber and overall success of our art department here at Trinity. Even intro level courses demand dedication and true effort. It is not wrong to take an art class and believe that it will mesh well with you; it is wrong to take an art class and assume that you will succeed without putting forth any effort.

During a time when Donald Trump is my president, graduation looms ahead, Betsy DeVos now handles my loans and the Patriots have won “” I need a place to escape and create something with my hands (to the best of my ability). Walking into the class and having the opportunity to simply leave everything and anything at the door (including my breakfast, which is a huge bummer by the way, sometimes I want to eat toast and draw), gives me a sense of peace throughout the rest of my day.

To be honest with you, while I originally started this piece to tell you all why Drawing 1 has not been a success with me, I end it in a completely different position. Drawing and studio art in general has allowed me to see what my parents saw, and what attracts so many other people to the arts. The ability to express yourself without saying a single word, leaving it all on the paper, the good the bad and the ugly (but for real, what is line weight? I still don’t know), is a gift that Trinity has given to me in my final semester here.

So that being said, I would highly recommend Drawing 1 to anybody that is interested, you may find out you’re incredible at drawing. For my fellow non-artistic folk, you will discover a newfound sense of humility as you tack up the drawing up that you spent an entire weekend on, right next to a gorgeous piece that took somebody less than two hours to complete. Drawing is legit and you should try it.

It’s huge.