Editor’s Desk: Maintaining Creativity After Graduation

Creativity has consistently been one of the most important aspects of my life.

When I was in kindergarten, I would spend hours at the kitchen table with a hot glue gun to stick craft puff balls, pipe cleaners and googly eyes together to make my own superhero stuffed animals. My mom later said I was too young to use a hot glue gun.

When I was in middle school, I participated in state-wide creative writing competitions.

In high school, I began to explore making videos, creating hype videos for our sport teams, a talk show with my best friend and a parody of “The Breakfast Club.” 

When college came around, I continued making camcorder semester videos, but it was my classes and The Phoenix where I was able to let my creativity flow.

In video production and editorial design classes, I’ve been able to design my own newspapers and magazines and make videos with my friends about Chicago. With this paper, I’ve gotten to take pictures of some of my favorite artists and bands while continuing my passion for writing.

What I’ve noticed is that a lot of these experiences have felt linked to my academic life. While a good amount of the content hasn’t been for school, it’s always felt like that was the jumping-off point. 

I’ve developed this fear that when I graduate in less than two months, I won’t have the time, energy or motivation for these creative endeavors. 

But in a creative writing class recently, a professor showed us work she’s done outside of the classroom and it helped me realize that the end of my formal education doesn’t need to mark the end of my creativity. Maybe that was obvious.

I recently bought a journal that I vowed would never be for work or class — only for creativity and my own thoughts. I’m excited to see what I write.

Thank you for reading the product of all of our creativity.

Featured image by Austin Hojdar / The Phoenix