Artists are Poor

When I was a wee lass, I read a brief Picasso biography and had a conversation with my mom that went something like this:

Me: I want to be an artist.
Mom: No, artists are poor. You should be a doctor.

So from a young age, the thing I gravitated to most naturally was put to the side in favor of academic and extracurricular pursuits that would improve my chances of getting into a good college (When I was ten I decided I wanted to go to Yale, although I changed my mind junior year of high school).

My parents didn't discourage my interest in art but it was viewed merely as a hobby. I would take it as an elective during Korean school on Saturdays. Up through middle school it was a required elective and it was definitely my favorite class. I loved art class, and I would stay 'til the last possible minute to work on my pieces. A couple of times I took a few art classes outside of school but it was hard to fit into my already busy schedule and seemed more like a luxury than a necessity.

In high school I had to go out of my way to put art class in my schedule since there were set classes I had to take if I wanted to stay on the AP/Honors track. I remember hesitating somewhat about taking art because it would technically lower my GPA (since it wasn't an honors class).

I couldn't take art until junior year when my schedule opened up for the half credit class, so I was in a class with freshmen, my brother's year. I remember vividly sitting next to this skinny little white kid who was really funny. He was Italian-American but fancied himself a black man, wearing big baggy jeans and gold chains. He would sing Biggie/Junior MAFIA songs. That was how I was first introduced to the song, "Juicy."