Photo of Stephen Hillenburg via ConsequenceOfSound.com
It’s important to be creative while pursuing your degree
By Naomi Ambrose, Staff Writer
Last week, Hollywood Reporter announced the passing of Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants. Not only did reading about his death teach me about Hillenburg and the origin of the show, the article also shed some light on the importance of using your creativity while pursuing your degree or any other post-secondary credential.
I’m sure most us are familiar with the routine of getting a degree to help find a job in a related field. While I believe in the relevance of that routine, I also believe in using our creativity to help us in our careers in an unconventional way and not just fixating on the strict path from college to career.
In Hillenburg’s case, the article stated that he “graduated from Northern California’s Humboldt State University in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in natural resource planning and interpretation, with an emphasis on marine resources.” Moreover, in a 2015 Nickelodeon Animation Studio interview, Hillenburg stated that SpongeBob “was inspired by me liking marine science. I focused on that and I never thought the two would come together.”
Like Hillenburg, I never thought that someone could credit marine science for the creation of a fictional cartoon character. Hillenburg proved that unusual ideas can emerge from our degree studies. His background demonstrates why a dash of imagination is so valuable to all academic endeavours.
So, to you who’s majoring in Biology, Physics, or Creative Writing, please take some time to explore the possibility of being creative and making content related to your degree. It gives you a great outlet to show what you know and love about your field. It’s also a good way to help people learn about the subject. You never know, maybe you can create a hit cartoon that can help people who may not be 100 percent interested in learning about mitochondria, atoms, or Newton’s law of gravity. Creating content like this can get people excited about these subjects.
Being creative while pursuing your degree could also be a cool way to help you study. Maybe you can create a study guide in the form of a comic book, video, zine, or any other medium to help you and your peers learn key concepts related to your studies. Adding humour to content can also be a good way to learn and educate others on your degree or area of academic focus. You might dismiss it as irrelevant to your schooling, but this imaginativeness can greatly benefit your learning and others’.
Take some time to explore your creativity while pursuing your degree. You may be the just the person to create the next award-winning cartoon or the next unforgettable, lovable fictional character. At the very least, you can make educational content that will get people interested in your field.
