An Artist who Wonders - Introduction

Hello Steemit! My name is Lucas, and I wonder.
I wonder up things that are really crazy and outlandish.
I wonder if my art is ever going to be good enough to support myself and a family.
I wonder if anyone out there on Steemit cares!

That's me!

I'm an artist from a small town in North Carolina. I dream that someday I will fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming an animator. Or at least have a job in animation. I first became interested in animation when I was watching what I consider to be one of the greatest animated movies of all time, Monsters Inc. I was always that weird kid who had to see every bonus feature he could, even if it meant having to pop in that extra disc. My family had the "Special 2-Disc Collector's Edition" DVD of Monsters Inc. that came with a bonus feature disc that contained games and a tour of the Pixar Offices with behind the scenes magic. Upon witnessing that my career could be fun AND substantial, I realized in grade eight that animation was my calling. Prior to seeing that disc, I had always been fascinated by art and loved creating comics to sell to my family and friends, for the low low price of 5 cent! After seeing the disc and through my high school days I checked out books at the library, watched videos, and joined communities so I could learn as much about animation as I could. From asking many successful animators, I have come up with the perfect method to prepare to be an animator. Practice. So I practiced drawing and took art classes nearly every year. My senior year was 5 art classes, 1 AP Computer Science class, and 1 math. I trained so hard in art. I never was able to create any real animations because I don't have a computer capable of handling a good animation program, and cannot afford to purchase one. The time came to apply to college. I applied to 2, knowing that one would accept me if the other didn't. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, so naturally I would apply to BYU and BYU-Idaho as a fallback. People may think I only applied for BYU because I am a Mormon, but in reality I wouldn't ever want to go to BYU if they didn't have such an incredible animation program. Their department has won a ton of student awards, and have top-notch professors and equipment. Unfortunately, BYU rejected me, and there's no re-applying. That crushed me so bad. Every hope and dream I had for a future in animation temporarily vanished. I had gone all the way from North Carolina to Utah to visit the animation department the past Summer. Was it for nothing? I decided to email the head professor of the animation department with the bad news, having emailed him previously about coming to visit the department. He told me that BYU-Idaho couldn't deliver the level of knowledge of animation for me to transfer from there, but that a surrounding school, Utah Valley University, could. A light at the end of a tunnel.

So here I am. I'm leaving to serve a "Mormon Mission" for two years, and all I can do is hope and pray I can receive a quality animation education from BYU. I will be applying to UVU very soon, as I leave in two weeks.

Feel free to leave a comment asking me any question, whether it be about art, animation, myself, schools, or Mormonism. I want to know what you guys feel :) Thanks!

Will I ever be an animator?

I wonder.