If you have been following my Little Owl Design blog you would know that last week I was planning to share my final blog post from my Intro to Color Series with a post about the color purple. I hope you can indulge me as I share why last week didn’t go as planned and I promise later this week I will share everything I know about the color purple. 

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. – Anthony J. D’Angelo

On Thursday May 23rd I had the honor of walking with my fellow graduates at the commencement ceremony for the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA

I’ll be honest, I almost didn’t go. I was really on the fence about walking at graduation.

  • I was an online student so I never got to know any of the instructors or any of my fellow classmates.
  • I had actually finished in December of 2018 so I was already on to the next thing in life.
  • I’m 48 years old (yes I’m not afraid to share my age) so really I thought I was a bit too old for a graduation ceremony.
  • And finally I actually thought my accomplishment really wasn’t that big of a deal.

Many of my friends and family thought I was being ridiculous and encouraged me to do it, saying I would regret it if I didn’t go and that this was something that was important for my kids especially for my daughter to see.

So, literally at the very last minute I decided to go for it and signed up to participate. I had my husband, Jim pick up my cap and gown since the Academy is near his work and I prepared myself mentally for the day. As the day drew closer I actually started getting very excited it. I even got into the spirit by decorating my cap and I made Alexa, my daughter a matching hair bow to wear on the big day. 

 

The day arrived and thankfully after series of weird rainy days the forecast was sunny and beautiful. The family and I got up early and took BART into San Francisco. 

I joked on Facebook and Instagram  to pray that I don’t trip on stage. Thankfully my prayers were answered.

I am so grateful that I listened to my family and friends and walked at graduation. The day was fantastic, I cried as I marched in and I cried again as I marched out and saw my family. Remember when I said I didn’t think this was a big deal, well I was wrong. It wasn’t until I had the time to reflect on these years that I thought wow, how did I even accomplish it. With work, building a new business, family and all their obligations, running a household and during my final semester, I was selling my house and looking for a new one. Really how did I do it? Well one thing is for sure I couldn’t have done it without the support of the three individuals pictured above. My Family – my rocks – my guiding lights.

I was officially done with school the middle of December 2018, so it’s been a little over 5 months and I really miss it. I mentioned that to my husband about a week before graduation. I thought I was being weird, he said no it didn’t surprise him one bit, he has known me for over 30 years and I thrive when I’m learning. He thinks I’m the poster child for life long learning.

So what is a life long learner to do – well, go back to school. So for the next 2 years I will be focusing on perfecting my craft, I’ll be heading to some design conventions, I’ll attend a few Wordpress camps and I really want to attend Adobe Max and I will start utilizing my membership with Lyndia.com (btw – check your local library to see if they offer a membership. Mine does so as a library member I have access to all the classes for free.) Fast forward to Fall of 2021,  I will be 50 years old, my son Jacob will have just finished his bachelors degree and Alexa will be starting the 4th grade and I will be back at the Academy of Art. Yep, in 2 years I’m going back and this time I will be working toward my degree in Art History. Wish me luck.

 

Until next time,

Karri

Stayed tuned later this week for my final installment in my Intro to Color Series. 

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