oh gawd.

This has been sitting in my in box for a few days now, and for that I’m sorry. It’s been hard to write an answer to this without sounding insincere or overly sincere. UMBC and I have a long history, longer than the one with my husband, and most of my friends (we’ll get to that).

I started at UMBC as a freshman in Fall 2005, and this Spring 2013 I will graduate with my Masters in Fine Arts in Imaging and Digital Art. Academically, like most kids right out of high school, I floundered the first year and a half, simply because I didn’t know who I was as a person or as an artist. It was at that time that I decided to get a part time job at commonvision.

Initially, it was a way to make some extra money and to get out of my dorm room. It quickly became a place full of friends, support (thank god for Laura Schraven), and creativity. Literally all of my best friends (I’m looking at you Willie, Gina, Renny, Dann, Adam, Emily, Jenna, Stefanie, Etc.) can be linked back to the commons and commonvision, and without it I would have never met my better half. I felt like I had found a place where I was able to grow as an artist (I still feel this way), but mostly as a human.

As my last day at UMBC is quickly approaching (MAY 17^TH!) I’m feeling a lot of nostalgia. I’m realizing that without this place, I would probably be just fine, but that I wouldn’t be as strong. I think that if my 19 year old self met me today, she would be shocked at how confident, determined, and self sufficient I am. A lot of this was trial and error, fucking up a lot and learning along the way, but I couldn’t have done it without all of the UMBC people in my life who are still helping me today.

So, to answer your question, I’m pretty into it.