This belongs in a graduation speech...

We are artists because we can't help it.
I'll never forget the first week of school here.
I discovered that everyone doodled on their notes in class.
That the bathroom graffiti was often a deep, witty dialogue, accompanied by...creative... illustrations.
Around campus, the student-made flyers advertising yard sales, shows and school events were so beautiful that people would steal them to use as wall decorations.
I'll never forget the first time I turned down an alley and stood dumbfounded in front of a gorgeous linoleum print, pasted on the side of a dumpster.

We can't help but make art.

That first week of school, I knew I was home. I was surrounded by right-brained thinkers and visually minded people; people who got me, even if they spoke another language then me. I was no longer the weird one in my group of friends. Here, when you gush over a Helvetica font on a road-sign, people gush with you. When you lament over a ruined painting or a lost sketchbook, people understand the pain, and mourn with you. When you notice a striking shade of yellow in particular leaf, people will stop and admire it too, and maybe even lend you their camera.

I'll never forget the sense of community I felt here from the beginning.

I wonder how many times we've all looked out our classroom windows and drawn the catholic church on campus. I wonder what our total sum of all nighters has been so far. I wonder if every single one of us has looked at our peers work and wished we had that kind of talent, even though we do.

And yeah, I wonder if we'll all be able to have "jobs" that have to do with art in the future. But one thing I don't wonder about at all is if we'll end up as artists.
We just can't help that.