I did it! I had my last class today! I'm a college graduate!

[John Reidy]

Kimber, allow me to join you and the others here on the forum in your celebration.

HIP-HIP, HURRAY!

HIP-HIP, HURRAY!

HIP-HIP, HURRAY!

When life pulls the rug out from under you please remember this accomplishment. You are bright, hard working and successful. Hold your head high and go forward.

Kimber, I feel as though I know you from your writings. I am happy for you. Congratulations.

[Carol Norton]

[QUOTE=Kimber Scott]After thousands of hours (real time), thousands of dollars (real money), enormous amounts of joy and frustration and a couple of epiphanies I finished my degree. Can you believe it?

It will take awhile for YOU to believe it! You are now in the top 3-4% in the nation. You got your degree. Even if no one else knows about it, YOU DO. That part builds in a level of confidence that can never be taken away.

Steven's comments should be the ASU keynote speech. The part about using the same tenacity that got you through ASU in your painting is so on target. Also, the educaton you received WILL enrich your perceptions of your world. Without verifyable statistics, I venture to guess that the portrait world seems to contain a huge number of highly educated people - perhaps more than other aspects of this business.

Bravo, Kimber! :

[Kimber Scott]

Thank you all very much! Steven, you are so right. You may be thinking I'm a younger student, but your words still apply to me perfectly. Obtaining this degree was one more step in correcting some missteps of my childhood and it is very important to me. I don't want to get too personal, but I believe I told, at least, part of this story here before. You see, I got married when I was 16 years old. I dropped out of high school and got my GED.

As a young child, I had dreamed of going to ASU to "become an artist." Every time I drove by the campus with my family, I used to press my face up against the car window and imagine the days I would spend there. I carried those dreams with me into my teen years, but "love" overtook my sensibilities. (What little sensibility I had at the time!) Anyway, I soon became pregnant after my marriage and then I got pregnant again a few months after my first son was born. My husband (who was 10 years older than me) was very abusive and I was divorced by the time my second son was 10 months old. I was 19. Obviously, my whole life had spun terribly out of control. (I must insert here - as it had and still has a huge impact on my soul - that my grandmother, who I was extremely close to, shot herself in the head when I was 18. This was the straw that broke me, I believe.)

I spent the next ten years digging myself into an emotional grave. I went in and out of the Army. I had more abusive relationships and two more sons. By the time I was 29, I was tired and I wanted to be myself again, - that person I'd lost so long ago. It took another ten years to get myself in a place where I was truly happy and confident enough to be me and to believe I deserved the things I had been given. It was like I woke up from a very long sleep.

I am now married to a wonderful man who believed in me enough to support me through school. I have been lucky, as well, to receive commissions and to be able to paint graphics in model homes to help with the finances.

Again, I don't mean to be so personal, but this degree is very important to me in that I feel I've found my way back to my right path. I was lost for a very long time. I am now 45.

So, yes, Ngaire, now the journey begins. I was just on a little detour!

Carol, I've always felt I was a pretty brilliant person who did a lot of stupid things. Now, I have a degree to prove it! :-)

Illaria, I just finished a class called "Women in the Visual Arts." I learned from the class, as well as looking back at my own life, marriage and children have been the death blow to thousands of women's art careers. (No reflection on my children. I love them very much.) Thankfully, we live in a time where it doesn't HAVE to be that way, even though, it often times still is. (Life is very time consuming. Especially for a mother.) Be proud you are still painting and never stop. You are already defying the odds.

Actually, we are ALL defying the odds! Men and women who continue to pursue their artistic dreams are not common in most societies. We are an anomaly. We have risen above the statistics. So, congratulations to all of you, too! You have been more inspiration to me than you know. Now, let's see if I can paint something!

[Patricia Joyce]

Kimber,
CONGRATULATIONS - Whoop and holler till you are hoarse - you deserve it. I, too, spent ten years getting my degree while raising two sons alone and working two jobs. I know the tenacity which you needed to accomplish your goal and I know how gratifying it is. (unfortunately, my degree was in accounting) Kimber, NO MORE SLEEPLESS nights studying and dragging your butt to the classroom when all you want is to stay home and watch mindless TV

It is apparant that you always valued education, dreamed of reaching that goal, hung in there and DID IT!!.

...be very very proud. Steven is correct, this hard work will serve you well in all your endeavors.

Tough women who survive - - - always inspiring. Thank you for sharing your joy...

[Kimber Scott]

Thanks, Patricia! Woohooo!!!!!! LOL!