“My journey to RISD began when I was at a pretty low point in my life. I’d just come out of a terrible, year-plus long postpartum depression and I had made a lot of really terrible and unhealthy decisions for myself. It took a lot of time to come out of that hole I dug myself, and I’m still recovering from some painful experiences. When I did see the light at the end of a super dark tunnel, I could hear that part of me that was begging for creativity and challenge. I was learning to listen to myself and my instincts, and I was learning to listen to other people when they said I could achieve something.
RISD always seemed so cool, but untouchable for someone like me. I never considered myself to be a true creative or artsy type simply because I couldn’t draw. As much as I always wanted to belong in a visually artistic community, my self-criticism and self-doubt was very strong. My colleagues overheard me talking about how much I love jewelry, and how I have always wanted to design it. They are the ones who encouraged me to look at RISD CE for jewelry programs. I looked it up and reached out to the CE office, explaining that at 34 I have zero drawing skills and have never tried anything like this before. I was assured that entering a class with little to no skills shouldn’t be a reason to not take a class, because the skills come throughout the class. Who you are as an artist or designer when you first enter the RISD community is not who you are or what your skill set will be when you finish a class.
We are all experiencing this terrible public health crisis with no reasonable end in sight. Our lives are going to change for a long time and maybe we won’t ever go back to “normal,” whatever that was. I hope people will look to RISD for hope. Art has such an important place in this pandemic and artists provide so much to the communities around them. Now more than ever we need to get our ideas and visions out in the world. All it takes is one class—literally, the first class—to alter how you view yourself as an artist and designer, and to see all the untapped potential in yourself.”
—Meghan Admirand, RISD CE student
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