Letter of intention

My name is Mia Bødker Nissen and I was born and raised in Århus, Denmark. All my life I have always been told that I was not very clever that I was a slow learner, and that I probably would not do anything meaningful with my life. The first time it happened was in kindergarten. I was sent to a shrink by my language tutor because she thought that I was emotionally unstable. The shrink laughed when I got there and said that I was just a slow learner. It continued throughout the years, but I never really believed it myself, until the day my older sister graduated from Risskov Gymnasium. I remember it as if it was yesterday. She came out of the classroom where her final exam had taken place. She gave me her graduation hat, and I placed it on her head. In that moment I thought to myself “I will never get to experience this”. I was 14 years old when I lost all faith in myself.

Years later in 2011, after I had finished my basic zookeeper course I did not know what to do next. But then one day I was sitting and looking at drawings on tegnebordet.dk and then I saw an advertisement for Visual HF. In that moment I just knew I had to go there.  But when I looked at my grades from ‘folkeskolen’, I knew I probably would not get in, so I went to a youth counselor and asked for advice. The look she gave me was the same look I have gotten my whole life, the ‘you are not good enough to do this’ look. But it did not have the same effect as it used to, because instead of giving up like I always did, I raised my head and said to myself “I am going to prove you wrong. I can make it”. That look became the fuel I needed to keep moving and go after my dreams, and just look at me now, I am in my last year at Visual HF and now applying to Graphic storytelling. On that fateful day in 2011 I learned something new about myself that I will never give up on something that I want, just because someone thinks I should.

Visual HF has been, still is an amazing experience. Sure it had its ups and downs but that is just how life is. I have learned so much here and if this education did not exist I probably would never have been able to complete an HF or STX. From Visual HF I learned what my strengths and weakness’ are in the art of drawing. And my biggest weakness is backgrounds. In the past I never really had that big of a focus on backgrounds, but I have learned that they play a big part in drawing and it something that I am working to improve. In January I also received a much needed reminder that I still have much to learn in Photoshop. I am not a beginner but not a professional either.

Iben taught me a lot when it comes to life drawing and it is something that I will carry with me for a long time. The tough things with this education was the fact that 1500 kr. of my income would go to the school. I survived for a year and a half until I had to take SU loan as well. But it made my life a little easier. And I will continue to take SU loan to help finance Graphic storytelling as well.  

Stories have always been a big part of my life. I would often daydream myself away in class, and create stories in my head. It has always been very easy for me to empathize with the characters in movies, games and books. My mom once told me that when I was a kid, I would cry my heart out to movies, and my mom and sister would maybe squeeze out one or two tears. Believe it or not, but now at 23 years of age, I still cry my heart out to movies, games and books. And it is these kinds of stories that I want to create. Stories that captures the reader’s heart, stories where the reader can lose themselves in, just as I have done so many times myself. The first time this happen to me was back in 2006, when I for the first time watched an episode of Avatar: The last airbender. I was completely lost in the world of Avatar, and I have since then been lost in The last of us, Heavy rain, Red dead redemption, The elder scrolls, How to train your dragon, Spyro, The legend of Korra and many others. And what they all have in common is that they all had something that made me think. Just thinking about The last of us, I still get this rush in my stomach, the same rush I felt when I completed the game over a year ago. It is these types of stories I want to create. Stories that shake up people and make them think, feel and laugh. And the day someone says to me that my creation changed something in them, or helped them in any way. That will be the day where I succeeded, and achieved my dream.