Hello everyone, my name is Kacy Grady! I am a 23-year-old student going on my fifth year living in Boulder, Colorado. I am originally from Tampa, Florida where I spent the first 18 years of my life—plenty of time to realize I needed to head West! I started out at CU studying Humanities, because I have a passion for reading and I was not sure on what exactly I wanted to pursue collegiately yet. The second semester of my freshmen year I took an introductory psychology class as an elective and fell in love with the material. It was something I had never had the opportunity to learn about in high school and it completely fascinated me. After making an A in the course—the first of very few—I immediately switched my major to Psychology. After dipping my toes in the ‘Freudian Pool’ I determined that my true passion was in the field of Child Psychology specifically. Since then, I have taken a job at a local preschool working as a Teacher for kids ages 0-5. I really love going to work everyday and getting to be around such a enthusiastic atmosphere. Eventually, I hope to work with children who have special needs, because I feel that this is an area in our Education system that is undervalued and overlooked.
I signed up for this writing class because I have always been preoccupied with anything art-related since I was a little girl. I enjoy everything there is to offer about the artistic community: the actual artwork itself, visiting museums, learning more about different artists I love, and creating my own work. I will admit that I have never been a big fan of writing, so I figured that maybe choosing a writing class with a topic in which I am interested in would help motivate me to become a more avid writer. When I think of the visual arts my mind immediately is filled with colors, emotions, and well, paint. From previous knowledge however, I know that the visual arts are more specifically, any form of art that is primarily in the visual nature. For example, painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, crafts, ect.
If I remember correctly, rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. It is language that is designed to have a convincing effect on its audience. In no way would I consider myself a rhetorician; I am the worst at trying to persuade and convince people of anything. I even struggle with putting together solid arguments in my day-to-day life. I hope that this course can help me build the proper writing skills that I need to become the rhetorician that I know I can be. I am a very opinionated person; so having trouble relaying my thoughts can be rather frustrating. I feel confident that I picked the right class to help bring out my inner writer and I look forward to getting involved with everyone else!
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Kacy
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Writing on the Visual Arts, Spring 2012 
Hi Kacy! First off, I think it’s wonderful that you want to work with children who have special needs. I have a very close friend who has been working in this field with young children, and she finds it extremely fulfilling and inspirational. I agree that working with special needs children is an area that is overlooked, and we need more people like you who care to really change the system and make it valued in our culture!
On a different note, I think its great that you’re taking this class considering you aren’t overly confident about your writing skills. It’s really important to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new. I’m an English major and for awhile I thought that my ability to analyze a novel and write an essay were the only skills I had, but once I started taking classes (that actually scared me because they were outside of my comfort zone) I started to realize how nice it is to challenge myself and work really hard at something that doesn’t come so easily to me.
I think that because you have such a strong passion for art, that writing on this subject will be enjoyable for you. When you are writing about something you are excited about, it seems to come naturally. You are definitely a great person to have in this class because of your enthusiasm for the art world. I’m also excited for this class because art and writing have played such major roles in my life. I grew up in NYC going to museums every weekend, so I too share that passion with you!
Hi Kacy. It’s good to hear that some one is looking out for our youth. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have some kind of nursing role… helping the elderly or children. Maybe you haven’t read my post, but strangely enough I actually never get the urge to torture young children… just a way of getting people’s attention with a sense of humor. I have a one-year-old niece, and whenever I visit home it amazes me when she comes into the room and just points at me and gets a big smile. She can’t talk yet, but I get a kick out of teasing her for always pooping her pants.
Art is a great outlet for anyone and certainly necessary in my opinion, but nothing beats the feeling of giving back to the community in a positive way. I think it’s important for children to have any kind of genuine connection with older people who can simply listen and appreciate who they are. I hope I will get a chance to see what kind of paintings you do. Good luck with your job…
Thanks! Your response made me laugh! Especially because you make fun of a one year old for pooping in her pants! like she has other options…. haha!
Hi Kacy it is nice to meet you! I think it is really cool that you are a Psychology major. I find Psychology really interesting. It is crazy reading into peoples minds thoughts and actions. After undergrad I am thinking of doing clinical psychology for graduate school. Any thoughts on this? I really like to help people and I think it is great that you want to help out children. It is always good being happy with what you are doing and cool that you enjoy getting up to it. Being happy about what you are doing makes life so much better! Like you I am also not a big fan of writing and I hope this class can help us out!
I’d say if you have any interest in helping people and in psychology then grad school in psych is the way to go! Any ideas of where you would want to go? CU has an amazing Psych department 🙂
Hello Kacy,
It was great to learn about you and your passion for Psychology. I am glad you have found something that you will definitely go far with. I bet working at the preschool as a teacher keeps you on your toes, but what a wonderful experience. You should look into studying Art Therapy if you haven’t already. It sounds like it would fit you into your interests of psychology and art. You mentioned that you enjoy creating your own art work in your Blog and I was wondering what types of art you enjoy making. Have you taken an art class at CU? Your introduction was very enjoyable and I look forward to getting to know you. Best of luck to you!
Hi! Thanks for the response! I have not looked into Art therapy, but it sounds like something that would really interest me seeing as how i love art and helping people! thanks for the advice! I have not taken any art classes at CU just because i havent had room to fit them into my schedule, but I am taking an education class right now called Art for the Elementary Teacher, which is very art-oriented and i get to create my own work almost every unit!
Hello Kacy! I am also very into psy as I am a sociology and psychology major. That stuff is really interesting to me and there seems to be an endless amount you can learn about. It seems that you are also very interested in art, I know many artists who love to write and read also along with their hobby/work.
I agree with you about rhetoric being a way to persuade and get your thoughts and points out there in the most effective way to appeal to reader. It is really a form a art in a way too, being able to convey thoughts and your own perspective in a was that other people can really understand you, but on a deeper level than they would otherwise if you were to just tell them you points or ideas outright. Anyways, I look forward to reading more of your blogs I think this class is really going to allow you to unleash your artistic talent!