By: Katrina Penaflor Managing Editor
Franklin Rogers now holds a fat portfolio of C minus art pieces to display in his 14-by-14 foot dorm room after painstakingly completing an upper division level art course that he didn’t belong in.
Rogers, a first year exercise science major, made the mistake of not knowing how to locate room 314 in Bellamy Hall, finding himself in the art building by accident.
“I already walked in late. Everyone was looking at me and the professor told me to ‘just take a seat.’ So I did,” Rogers said.
Rogers continued to take that seat for the duration of the term, completely abandoning hope on the English class he wasn’t able to locate on the first day.
Rogers spoke about how he felt intimidated by the skill level and age of his classmates. He often thought he would’ve been discovered by his use of crayons for every art piece, making him an obvious outsider to the classroom of experienced artists.
When asked why he didn’t just stop showing up all together, Rogers replied, “Well, I think at, like, eight weeks in I did think about that. I kept wanting to say something, but at that point I was in too deep. I would’ve just looked like an idiot if I said to my professor, ‘Hey, it’s week eight. I totally think I’m in the wrong class.’”
The professor said he knew from the start that Rogers didn’t belong in the class. “When I asked students to open their textbooks, the kid kept looking at his Biology book, thinking he was blending in.”
He then added, “But, that boy, sitting through my class even though he didn’t need to, using crayons when I asked for watercolors, that’s art.”
Contact the author at kpenaflor12@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalkatrina
