Just the Tip is a new(ish) series that highlights one useful tip on a different topic each month or so — covering blogging, business and life lessons I’ve found valuable.
In my final semester of college I looked forward to leaving behind the juggling act of jobs, homework and quizzes. I imagined focusing on one thing: a new job and the stability that would bring. Of course, life didn’t quite follow that tidy plan, but that’s a story for another time.
I also felt nervous and a little sad about leaving school. Without weekly critiques and required attendance, I feared I might stop pushing myself or drift in an unintended direction. Those critiques—though sometimes hard to hear—gave me confidence and steady feedback that helped me grow.
The years after graduation were full of changes: I left my job as a gallery manager, became a high school art teacher despite lacking a formal education background, bought a house, got married, quit teaching, began working on Paper & Stitch full time, moved to different states and moved back again. Through all of that, I never returned to the classroom as a student—until last year.
I’m not sure whether I felt I had finished the student chapter when I earned my degree, never found classes that interested me, or was simply too wrapped up in work to consider it. It was probably a mix of all three, with being busy at the top of the list.
Still, I signed up for a ceramics class a few evenings a week to learn a new skill and feel like a student again. On that first day I felt exactly like a college kid—nervous to meet the teacher and the other students, wondering if I’d enjoy the environment, make new friends, or fall for wheel throwing. As weeks passed and the initial excitement faded, one motivating feeling remained: the desire to learn, to experiment in an area I knew little about (I had slab experience but never threw on a wheel), to challenge myself and to step outside my usual routine.
The course ended after a short run, and I didn’t immediately sign up for a follow-up session. But one lesson from that experience stuck with me, something I had long forgotten yet now seems obvious.
I don’t always have to be the teacher. Being the student can be invigorating.
Having played the role of teacher for many years—through DIY tutorials, styling projects and my time as a classroom teacher—I worried I’d feel like a fraud if I returned to student status. In hindsight that was a silly feeling, but it’s a common hesitation: after time away from school it’s easy to think you shouldn’t go back, even for a simple evening ceramics class.
Jumping into something unfamiliar is actually incredibly exciting. Taking that class reminded me how rewarding it is to learn from scratch. It may have taken me longer than it should to accept that, but I’m glad I finally did.
Since I’m in student mode, will you be my teacher for a moment? What important lessons took you far too long to learn but proved completely worth it in the end? I’d love to hear your stories—whether they echo my experience or are completely different. Share them in the comments below.
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Photography by Kimberly Murray (collaboration with Belong magazine and me)