Hello! I'm currently in my second year of art school, except my school has quite honestly gone downhill and they don't have the same connections they did pre-covid. they're not like CalArts or some big school that is guaranteed to have these sorts of connections, and honestly, I don't trust the administration in the slightest. the honest truth is that this was my last-choice school and now I'm stuck with it.

I have though, talked with professors and even a few alumni (even one who works on anime now), to try to see how I can get better and how I can put myself out there.

One of my professors even told me very bluntly, "I think you can do it if you stay here and just put yourself out there, otherwise you'll be paying thousands of dollars or more starting over as a freshman at a big art school."

So now I'm trying to figure out how to do it. I've never made a fully finished, polished animation but that is my next goal. I'm constantly working on my art and trying to improve my fundamental skills too so that I can get better at this stuff and try and make something portfolio worthy. I really struggle with finishing things because I'm a perfectionist but I'm trying to get over the perfectionism right now because it's been holding me back for too long.

I just don't know how to put myself out there, who to contact, and how to actually reach people through my art. I really want to be able to get a job in the industry as soon as possible, especially because down the line I'd love to do bigger things like create a show. It's hard because I see all these people who are already big on social media and are able to get gigs so easily, and i wonder if i'll ever have that same kind of appeal. if anything, I feel incompetent compared to 15-year-old prodigies and people already getting noticed, and I've always wanted to be in that same position but i don't know how.