Amanda Pearson – BFA in Animation – Expected to graduate SP 25

I’ve been a creative person for as long as I can remember. I was always drawing—on my homework, on the small whiteboard hanging in my room, even on myself; I once gave myself a full sleeve tattoo with a pineapple-scented marker when I was supposed to be solving multiplication problems. I would’ve been the kid drawing on the walls had my parents not kept a close eye on me whenever I had colors in my hands. This desire to create paired with a fascination for animation that came from the Tom and Jerry and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit DVD’s my mom would play for me drove me to pursue a BFA in Animation at the University of Tampa. 

Unfortunately, all the filled sketchbooks in the world couldn’t prepare me for actually animating anything. I’d dabbled in it briefly, but when I opened Toon Boom Harmony for the first time in my first 2D animation class, I was sure I was in way over my head. Thankfully, through Dana Corrigan’s thorough and detailed instruction, I was able to not only pull it off but find a strong passion for 2D animation specifically. I was thrilled to be able to take 2D animation II a year and a half later, where I was able to create my own project using everything I had learned in the first class, along with all the improvement I’d made in my artistic ability since then. 

After being here for a few years now, I can confidently say that my strengths lie in 2D illustration and animation. I’ve been refining my illustration skills in softwares such as Clip Studio Paint and Adobe Photoshop in my own time, and have developed new ones in 2D animation during the pursuit of my degree. I love 2D animation and it’s definitely the medium that I am the most comfortable and confident in. On the other hand, I still struggle with Unreal Engine. I haven’t been quite able to grasp it, and I have found that the multitude of things that you are able to do have me a bit overwhelmed. However, I am well familiar with the fact that you will never get better at something unless you practice it, so I will continue to work within the software to get a better handle on it. 

Once I graduate, I hope to find myself working for an animation studio—either for TV shows or films. I’m a very strong storyteller, and I have a devoted passion for bringing stories and characters to life. I’d absolutely thrive in a workplace where I could explore that side of myself more and devote myself to the full spectrum of storytelling. Because I have explored beyond just animation during my academic career—taking classes in film, coding, screenwriting, editing, and more—I see myself being able to adapt to a variety of departments and working in many different skills. I know that I will be able to be a valuable asset to any team in a studio and look forward to exploring those opportunities.