TKC Letters Project - No Mounds of Money

In my 3.5 years at King’s

I can say that freshman year me would be baffled by the person I have become now. Yes King’s has a great education, but upon reflection the education I received comes second to the growth I’ve had as a person. King’s helped show me not only what I wanted out of life, but forced me to grow confidently into myself as an adult.

I came in with a Humanities major with a minor in Technology, Innovation, and Design— a mix of marketing and graphic design that I thought would suit me well to get a job in marketing. The change for me was during my sophomore year at the college. It had always been a set path; get a well-rounded education and go into the corporate world where I would hopefully be rolling in mounds of money in 20 years time. That’s when I realized that I absolutely hated marketing and business and numbers and that it wasn’t just because I wasn’t good at it.

Upon that realization also came the reality I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I quickly changed my minor from TID to Museum Studies despite my mother constantly asking me “Are you sure this is what you want to do? You’re not going to make much money working in the arts field.” But to be frank, I no longer cared nor wanted to be rolling in mounds of money in my 30s. I knew I wanted to work with art and books in highschool, but I set it aside because everyone I knew told me that there was no money in that career.

I forged forward, not knowing what I was going to do or end up post-graduate, but nonetheless persisted. Thankfully I had close friends and amazing Professors who helped guide me toward, what I would consider, a more suitable life path. They encouraged me to push myself into the uncomfortable position of becoming an adult, both the reality of life after being a student for ~20 years and what kind of a person I wanted to be when I “grew up.” Did I want to be unhappy with the quality of my life in return for a comfortable existence? Or did I want to sacrifice some cushion in order to do what God meant for me to pursue?

In today’s world many members of my generation grew up being told that there was a distinct separation between what were hobbies and what was a serious pursuit. Unfortunately enjoying reading and knowing asinine art facts are not considered “serious pursuits.” But it was King’s that showed me that who I was as a person did not have to align with “industry standards” and that life was not about how much money you made. As I wrote in my graduate school application, “Going into college I didn’t know I wanted to be a curator, but since I have begun walking down this path, it seems more fitting every step I take.”

The relationships I forged at this college and the, sometimes extremely uncomfortable, experiences I had taught me that it’s okay to color outside the lines, to speak up for myself, and that character formation comes from surrounding yourself with people who will lift you up, which this college has aplenty.

I would be lying to you if I said I would do it all over again, school kind of sucks, but I would also be lying to you if I said my time at King’s didn’t turn me into the person I am today.