YouTube Helped Me Get Into Art School by Susanna

YouTube Helped Me Get Into Art School by Susanna - September 2024 Scholarship Essay

Right now, we live in a time more saturated with free information than ever before. From hours' worth of online courses available at the tap of a keyboard or the mere touch of a screen, people can take part in fulfilling education beyond the classroom. I am one of many thousands who have taken advantage of this, with YouTube videos being my favorite non-traditional method of learning. In fact, I have YouTube to thank for my acceptance into my dream art school. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it holds the entire truth.

When I chose graphic design as my desired major two years ago, I knew little to nothing about what design was. The idea of this art form that applied to a multitude of career paths was attractive to me, but none of the traditional classes I took taught me about it. I turned the question over in my head for several days. From daily walks to quiet moments in class, I kept asking, “What is graphic design?” However, I was determined not to let this question linger unanswered for long.
During one quiet afternoon, I turned to my reliable old friend, YouTube. After typing in the words “graphic design courses” in the little search bar, thousands of lessons covering the fundamentals of design popped up. From eight-hour-long tutorials to quick five-minute recaps, a sea of information was sitting right before my eyes. From that moment onward, I spent an hour a day watching these videos. The accessible information from these lessons allowed me to thoroughly understand graphic design despite my previous ignorance.

Throughout my senior year of high school, I worked hard to apply the knowledge I learned from YouTube to my design work. From August to January, I developed a diverse portfolio of graphic design projects such as websites, posters, shirts, and card decks. By March, I received my acceptance letter to my dream art school for the graphic design bachelor’s degree program. My acceptance was made possible by the generous designers who shared their knowledge through free videos online.

YouTube and those who post on it continue to assist me in learning outside of the classroom. Presently, I am using the platform to learn about the steps toward financial independence. As an upcoming college freshman tackling tuition and day-to-day expenses, gaining knowledge about financial independence is monumental to making my transition into adulthood easier. I have acquired incredibly useful tips on the management of money and I am slowly incorporating them into my life.

Overall, online videos are my favorite way of learning outside of school. I firmly believe that knowledge is the catalyst for freedom and joy. By leveraging the resources available to us for further education, we can make grand strides to secure our freedom and joy in life. I will continue to use the internet to gather more information, and I encourage others to explore their own paths of self-education. We can make such remarkable lives for ourselves if only we take the steps today, no matter how non-traditional they may be.