Emily McKelvey

The best experience of attending PCA&D was the sense of community and coming together with 200 other men and women who want to pursue the arts like you. Your classmates become like a second family, and for better or worse, you're stuck together in the journey from hobbyist to professional artist. Did I love everyone in my major? No, of course not, but they all pushed me somehow to become better, whether in helping me along the way or fueling my competitive drive.

Anyone can teach themselves Photoshop or HTML in their spare time, but it's pretty hard to teach yourself how to think critically about your work, how to communicate effectively, how to accept constructive criticism and then use it to better your work. Those are the things that matter. Employers would much rather help teach you a software program than help teach you how to be a team player and take some criticism. I think that's truly where the value lies in attending art school.