Thoughts On Drawing

When applying to college, the only thing I was certain about was that I would be going to a school with a good art program.  I like and was good at other subjects, but my interests varied so drastically within each field that there was no guarantee I would always enjoy them.  Both my parents are doctors, but science was always the most painstaking of subjects for me.  I would always rush to get through with my Chemistry and Physics homework so I could dedicate the rest of my night to my AP Art assignments.
Up until my Junior Year, I was positive that I would be attending an arts school.  The summer after my Sophomore Year, I took drawing and design at Parson's The New School in Manhattan, NY.  They were college courses taught by the professors from the school.  That summer, I lived in the dorms, explored the city, but, most of all, worked on completing a portfolio.  It was the true art school experience, staying up all night to complete a piece due the very day after it was assigned.  While in high school I dreaded the all-nighters, I embraced them at Parson's.  However, when the summer ended, reality set in.  It was Junior Year and time to start seriously considering my options for college.  While I loved the atmosphere and lifestyle of being at an art school, I knew that my interests didn't begin and end with art.  I am passionate about English, French, History, and writing as well as fine arts, design, and fashion.  My future slid from one end of the spectrum to the other when I decided that a university education was the best place to explore all my loves.
Both my parents attended Duke, and that originally deterred my exploration of that possibility.  I didn't want to be living in my parent's past, I wanted to create my own future.  However, the more I considered it, Duke became the forerunner for school, not for the maths and sciences it is so known for, but for its art program.  I am not a conventional artist, and Duke is not a conventional art school.  In a drawing by a Duke student, one does not just see an artist but a mathematician, physician, writer, or historian.  Everything I learn outside of drawing class, I can see myself applying to a future piece, whether in image or concept.  There is no art quite like Duke art.