Logan:	Thank you President Smith and Dean Henry. To the class of 2020, welcome. I teach studio art here. I teach things associated with art, but most of my time is actually spent teaching issues of perception. 
	Seeing is a privilege that many of us possess, but it seems to require attention and practice. Seeing is actually really quite complicated. For example, one of the things I frequently hear in class is, "I can't draw hands." Now, you could substitute, "I can't draw faces. I can't draw dogs." Noses. Whatever. The list is really endless. Regardless of the subject, it always worries me immediately. Above all it tells me the student already thinks they know what a hand looks like. If someone knows what a hand looks like, they'll never really see the hand right in front of them, let alone draw it. No one hand ever looks the same twice, as it will never exist in the same time, space or light again. The painter Giorgio Morandi once said something I find quite beautiful and applicable here. "Nothing is more abstract than reality."
	All visual experiences considered this way are distinct. Completely new. Even experiences we might find extremely familiar. The only trick to drawing a hand is the trick to drawing anything: recognize you recognize nothing. Seeing in this capacity allows for experience to create knowledge rather than assumptions informing perceptions. 
	This path toward seeing runs parallel with the path toward learning anything. A big part of learning is forgetting what you think you know and opening yourself to the possibility of a fresh encounter. 
	Seeing color is equally complex. When I teach painting, the conversations about color are the most intense because color is so remarkably difficult to see. Just look at these tree trunks around us now. Somewhere along the line, we learned that tree trunks were brown. The longer and closer we look, the more complex our understanding becomes. 
	Often in place of a careful observation of color, we generalize vast amounts of complex information into seven simple, known descriptors. Red, yellow, blue, green, orange, violet, and brown. There are some perfectly reasonable and justified explanations for making these simplified distinctions. However, our named categories might also limit our ability to experience color. 
	Whatever distinct description we arrive at individually now, in regards to the tree trunks, it will be more complex and more thoroughly seen beyond brown. This process is not always fun or enjoyable. In fact, sometimes it's pretty unsettling. Seeing the world in ways that reinforces what you know, that is comfortable. 
	Beyond being hard or unsettling, self-doubt can get in the way of learning. I doubt myself frequently. Self-doubt is embarrassing, and I for one try to hide it from others. One way to hide is by not fully participating in the thing you doubt yourself capable of doing. But to learn anything, you must accept that failure is unavoidable. Failure is actually a positive step toward learning new knowledge. 
	I'm going to give you a common scenario in any one of my classes. It goes something like this. The student is attempting to draw an apple by looking at the thing. Before the drawing even gets going, the student is looking more at the drawing than the apple. Suddenly, the student is erasing like mad. The actual apple might as well not exist, as the student is so convinced of what an apple ought to look like, they're paying no attention to the real thing right in front of them. 
	The filter of assumed knowledge follows so closely behind the damning judgment of what the student has begun to draw, and I don't think this is a coincidence. So self-doubt is unavoidable. It's understandable to protect ourselves from new, unaccounted for experience with what we think we already know. But this tendency actually hinders perception.
	Why am I telling you all this stuff about drawing and seeing? It's because I'm certain that questioning one's beliefs is at the beginning of learning anything. Admitting failure, responding with change, and the humility implicit in that attitude is also at the foundation of being a decent human being. I think it is worth keeping in mind that a feeling of failure can and should be a part of learning something. Failure is only a negative result if it is the last result. Learning is complex. If done successfully, it will be interwoven with failure and frustration. 
	So expect frustration. It's a part of the process and you will be less frustrated. Have a beautiful and complicated four years here. I wish you all the best. Thank you.