Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Culture > Entertainment

Relatable Things About Being a Creative Person in University

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Wilfrid Laurier chapter.

Let’s face it, none of us have the time to do anything except the things we already do, but we all take on more anyway. If you’re a creative person — be that writing, painting, baking even colouring — it can be difficult to fit in your passions while at university. Here are some things that may be relatable if you’re a painter who hasn’t painted in, well, years or a potter without a kiln. 

Having about a million ideas

Nothing is more inspiring than the things you learn about in class and what you’re experiencing in real life, and there’s plenty to be inspired by in both categories while in university!

But then never having the time or the energy to actually do them

And there’s the downside. You probably have a note in your phone or a notebook full of creative ideas that you never get around to because everything takes so looooooong to be creative and you have midterms!

And when you do want to be creative, you have no ideas

If you do finally have time, you want it to be the perfect project because who knows the next time you’ll have the opportunity! That just means that none of your ideas seem good enough to invest the time in when you could be doing one of the others that seems better. Rinse, repeat. 

Starting five projects and never finishing any of them

This one is way too real. You start it when you think you have time, then life happens. You get a new idea, so you start that. All of a sudden, you’re surrounded by papers and baking supplies. How did we get here? Who knows. 

Signing up to do the creative things for your clubs’ events 

Hell yeah you can bake cupcakes! Do the posters? Absolutely, I could do a poster in my sleep. 

Then doing it all at the last minute 

Honestly, creative things take time. Ain’t nobody have two hours to make a brochure so we just keep putting it off. 

And regretting that… a lot 

Why are we like this, why are we like this, why are we like this?

The self-doubt that comes from Pinterest and Instagram

How are people my age finding the time to do fondant flowers? How are they affording oil paints? 

Especially when they’re younger than you 

What do you MEAN this amazing drawing is by a ninth grader? What ever happened to practicing pain for years? So unfair. 

In fact, self-doubt in general is way too real

Trying new things is so hard because you don’t want to be bad at anything. 

But nothing compares to the feeling of finishing a project 

Just call me Michelangelo. 

Madeline McInnis

Wilfrid Laurier '19

Madeline graduated from the BA+MA program at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2020. In her undergraduate degree, she majored in Film Studies and History with a specialization in film theory. She later completed her Master's of English degree, where she wrote her thesis on the construction of historical memory and realism in war films. If you're looking for a recommendation for a fountain pen or dotted notebook, she should be your first line of contact.