Seniors,
My last time to get to address you as such and so I use it with some reverence at this point.
I wanted to wish each of you the best as you prepare for your Senior Exit Review this week. Goodness. You're almost there! This is the moment you've been working towards and so now the time has finally arrived. It's "the finish line" or that "light at the end of the tunnel" or "the passing of the torch" or that infamous "fork in the road." However you approach this week you've done so with great style and grace and creativity.
I know each of you will do just fine during the reviews.
Just be yourself, practice a little before you arrive, and please be on time for your appointment. Everything else will fall into place I promise you.
Your Instructors are there to celebrate with you one last time. It's more of a love fest than an exit review. Enjoy this time in front of your teachers where the spotlight is on you one last time.
I also want to wish you all the best as you head out to become those wonderful designers and artist that I know each of you will be...each of you carry a lot of creativity as you head out the doors of the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design.
You'll see just how well prepared you are once you start working full time.
This I know to be true. When you start comparing your education experiences to those you will be working around and their experiences in school, I think you'll have renewed respect for all that came your way while at GSU.
Don't loose your gusto for being creative as it will give you purpose and meaning to a long life.
You'll have choices to make which will either make you the Victim or the Victorious. It will be you who decides which route you wish to take. Choose the high road and you wont' get lost. Make your own path and you won't get lost. Have ownership of your life and you won't get lost. Embrace your mistakes as much as your success...each will make you a more whole person and certainly a person who can weather anything thrown your way.
Listen to your intuition because that is actually your soul speaking to you.
Enjoy every day you get to make art.
Each ending really is a beginning.
Change is change. It can be good or bad.
It just depends on how you look at it and use it.
Willem de Kooning said it best: "I must change in order to remain the same."
Remember that "Hindsight" can be a great equalizer.
Half the battle of being successful is finishing what you start.
"Sticktuiveness" is a great mantra to remember whenever you feel scared of feel like you're ready to give up.
Act don't react when it comes to making decisions. Give yourself time to reflect.
Try to live an authentic life. That doesn't come without compromises.
Be as good a listener as you are a communicator.
Never apologize for what or whom you love. There needs to be more love, not less.
Remember that each day gives you an opportunity to redeem, redefine and redesign yourself.
As each of you head down that old familiar 4th floor hallway one last time after your review, take your time and walk slowly.
Listen to the sound of your footsteps walking away from the familiar labs and classrooms that your life seemed so centered around the past three years.
Listen to the sound of your footsteps as they echo in the hallway and follow you out of the art department one last time...that sound you hear is you walking towards your future. Be proud of all the work you've done and the friends and memories you've made. Hold your head high.
It's been my most sincere pleasure to be with each of you the entire time while you've been in the graphic design program. I never abandoned any of you,not once, and I tried to reassure you as much as I could about your creative path. If I pushed you too hard or expected too much from you it was only because I knew your potential even perhaps when you did not. I just wanted to see each of you succeed. Competition if fierce in your field so my goal was always to make sure you were prepared. Hopefully I did my best in getting you ready. It all belongs to you now.
Oddly enough I probably won't ever see many of you again.
It's just the way it is. It's just Life just being open-ended.
Everyone always means to stay in touch but life happens and we all go our own way.
I want to take this blog moment to say Good Luck, God Speed and have a wonderfully creative and rich life.
Fill it full.
Laugh as you work and live and enjoy all those spontaneous moments with friends and family. A rich life really does exist in the details.
Be sure to tell those people you love that you love them. Nothing worse than words left unspoken.
Never miss an opportunity to tell those around you how much they mean to you.
Live in the moment and plan for the future.
I am always reminded of Shel Silverstein's book "The Giving Tree" and it's message of giving and receiving. Be gracious in both because a life well-lived encompasses both. Sometimes we are the tree and sometimes we are the boy. There is dignity and strength in both. Remember that.
Also if you ever find yourself needing to chat about anything, pick up the phone and call me or come visit me. Always feel you can contact me without reservation.
If you ever want to visit my little mountain hideaway in the North Georgia Mountains, Bear Cub Cabin, the door is always open to you, my extended family of artist and designers. I'll tell you where the key is and you can use it anytime you wish.
It can be your out of town getaway.
Stay healthy and always stay creative and remember I care about each one of you.
Small World, Big Life.
Stan
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