For those not yet made aware, I am transferring to Western Michigan University for the Spring 2026 semester for my second Sophomore semester to study Paper Engineering. WMU is the school I initially intended to attend until certain circumstances sent me unregretfully to Indiana Wesleyan University. I learned more about myself, communications, and Christianity at IWU, all of which will benefit me as I now pursue a career in the paper industry.

Here are answers to the frequently asked questions I have received as I share the news.

I really love writing, if you couldn’t tell by a voluntary blog.

As a college student, part of that writing goes toward the famous “essay scholarship” format for earning money. Lucky for me, the topics are typically “write about yourself” or even better, “write about something that interests you”. Piece of cake.

When I was applying for my initial round of scholarships back in 2024, I was sure I would be an artist. After all, those scholarships would be contributing to my Bachelor’s in Studio Arts. However, plans changed and now I’m transferring to an out-of-state school to pursue paper engineering, met with new incentive to apply for more scholarships.

Yesterday I saw something inspiring. Or, more intriguingly, I didn't see something, and that absence itself was what was inspiring.

Sam Blakely is a graduating student of IWU's MLLC, who presented his senior capstone project over a collection of poetry using an experimental form he dubbed "Silent! Verse".

I am a HUGE fan of this form, not only because he paraphrased Syndrome from the Incredibles when presenting it (we'll get to that shortly) but also because…

Similar to the formation of volcanic islands, the initial formation of an interpersonal island looks impressively disruptive. We think of communication as something that "just happens" and most people not studying it as intently as I (Joshua Steely, a Sophomore Human Communications Major) are often led to believe there is little reason to change "how they talk" or interact with others. That's just "how they are". Anything further can be regarded as "manipulative" or "ill-intended" because it doesn't seem to follow this natural flow of human communication. But we all learn how to interact from somewhere, and after pausing to consider these somewheres, most people would quickly admit their imperfections. Were your parents perfect communicators? Your teachers? Your friends or lovers? Seldom do they come close. Therefore the unnaturalness of observing our communication and ways to improve is crucial for our betterment. Sometimes you need an explosion.

Maybe you've noticed a lull in posts. So have I. I'm not pleased with it for one major reason: I'm still writing a bunch! I'm just not writing a bunch about art. And I've framed this blog in such a way that I consider it to be an "art blog" and not a general "whatever" blog. That's mainly to refrain from it ever becoming an outlet for gossip or personal details/rants. I don't think the switch I'm wanting to make will violate that. I want to start posting my writing about Communications. 

"That was a lovely introduction," I started, regarding the words my connection said to the group before I got up to address them, "I'd love to get to know all of you–just a little bit–via a show of hands for just a couple of questions." a couple of nods.

"First, do any of you like art?" and every hand raised.

"Okay, fantastic. Do any of you play an instrument?" A few hands…

"Yeah… instruments actually have nothing to do with this but that's good to know!" a couple chuckles and some smiles. Great start.

"And the last question, are any of you interested in art lessons for your kids?" Only a couple hands went up. That's good to know.

"Alright, that's okay!" and then I went on to explain two things, starting with what people can gain from art and ending with Crate logistics. This first portion I've boiled down to three concepts (though I know from experience there is a WORLD you can learn from art and design). The three are as follow:

This summer I had the privilege of working for 7 weeks at a little church camp called Camp Challenge in Bedford, Indiana. It offers 5 day overnight camps for 1st graders up through highschoolers, with attendances ranging from 50-120 in a week. As a member of the summer staff, I resided in a cabin with 8-12 of the campers each week and guided them through the planned activities and discussions (alongside co-counselors). Luckily for this blog, there was some art! Not a lot, but enough for me to mention it. But of course, alongside mentioning the art projects I think it's worth noting how different age groups interacted with both me and each other. 

I wish I had taken better notes, but the hectic schedule kept me on my toes both physically and mentally, so here is my attempt at coherent thought.

How much instruction is too much?

"How do these bricks look?" she asked for the 5th time. "Gosh I don't know, probably exactly like the last four groups you painted, which I said looked great!" I wanted to retort. But THAT, ladies and gentlemen, would've been rude of me. So I think I said something like, "I'm sure they're just as good as the first side–I trust your artistic ability." 

On the drive back from that project I had to pause and think. How much help is too much? and how little is too little? I don't think I have an answer yet, but here are some ramblings.