I had the chance to talk with Heather Wolfram in Semple kitchen while she made boba tea.
“I grew up in Blue Springs, Mo. I loved high school.” She added comically, “High school was my peak.” Not believing her, I pressed her for more info. She discussed her journey through finding a career she was passionate about.
“My entire life up until high school, I wanted to be a doctor. I used to study anatomy books when I was little; I aced anatomy in high school. And then when I started taking art classes―and I had taken art classes all my life but this time in high school― I took it seriously. I started to take art classes in my junior and senior year in high school, and I just loved it so much. My parents really supported me to be an artist. It was when everyone in my class and I would work on art projects for class and mine was obviously superior in every way to everyone else’s. Now I study studio art at Jewell. I just changed my second major from IDM [Interactive Digital Media] because I’ve found that I am really bad at computer stuff.”
She says her favorite mediums are ink and markers but she also enjoys photography.
“I declared psychology as my second major. I have two different halves, like there’s the creative side and then the scientific side. I’ve always been really intrigued by the subject of psychology, I find it very fascinating. I’m going to be taking a child and adolescent psychology class to see how children develop behaviors. I’m pretty excited about that.”
Additionally, she reflected on some of the things she has learned at Jewell outside of the classroom.
“People may surprise you sometimes, you might go into a situation with a certain mindset and then people can influence you to like open your mind more. When I first came here, I was pretty stuck on being a popular athlete kind of thing and then I realized it’s not all about that and finding your true friends is. You really want to treasure the people who take care of you and help you grow. No matter how bad things get there’s always like that glimmer that gives you hope that things can get better. As cliché as that sounds, it’s been very true in my life lately. When the worst things happen, the best memories or friendships come out of it. That glimmer of hope for me is my friends and my cat, Ronnie.”
08Photo by Sydney GeorgesHeather also shared her life goals and the kind of legacy she plans to leave behind.
“I really want to be in the Peace Corps. I also really like the idea of using my skills to be a war photographer. I don’t want to plan that far into the future because I’m very spontaneous. But I just really want to do something with a strong emphasis on people. I want to use my talents/abilities to help other people, especially in our country, in order for everyone to see the other side of things like transgender issues. I guess everyone deserves a chance to figure themselves out. It’s very hard for someone else to tell you how to think and how to behave or what your sexual orientation is or how you should talk and act if you’re a certain color. Nobody should ever be limited to a stereotype.”