The sun’s setting. This means bad lighting for graduate Elena Chudoba’s and senior Jessilee Shipman’s photo shoot at Rose Park. Standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down at a vacant river, a group of students twiddle their thumbs. They wait as Chudoba unwinds a bundle of white yarn and Shipman positions the students at various areas on the cliff to begin shooting. Each person holds a section of the taunt yarn, forming various acute angles and a series of interconnected triangles among the students. This will be one of the last times Jessilee photographs her friends.
With the 2013 graduation approaching, Shipman prepares herself for art college. In a last-minute turn of events, Shipman attended Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) this past summer for a pre-college program—“an unbelievably big deal.”
After five weeks for photography and design, Shipman earned ten hours of transferable credit. Although the money was not there for Shipman to attend initially, after participating in a competition for SCAD her application fee was waived and she applied. Shipman later earned a scholarship for SCAD which she accepted, registering for the art college two weeks before the due date.
The chaos paid off. Shipman learned an abundance about the field she hopes to excel in. She earned a 3.8 GPA from Legacy and was automatically accepted into SCAD.
Sunset glows in the distance and Shipman puts away the camera. Done for the day. The props packed up and put away in a paper sack and the majority of the students have left. Shipman gathers the equipment and sacks of yarn, books and an array of miscellaneous artifacts. The sun will soon set on Shipman’s career as a high school student as well.
