Introductions

My name is Madison L. True. I am an artist, educator, advocate, and perpetual learner/seeker of knowledge. I am actively pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Art Education from the Ohio State University. I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature with a minor in Education from Clemson University in 2019 and have been teaching English and/or writing professionally ever since. I currently live in the southern United States and teach high schoolers how to use proper grammar, apply critical thinking skills when reading, and how to be the best version of themselves (even if English is not their forte). I sincerely love my job, and I feel fortunate that my work is my life’s calling. 

However, you may be wondering if I am an English teacher, why am I pursuing a master’s degree in art education? You would certainly not be the first (hey Mom & Dad) and will likely not be the last to ask why I changed educational topics for my master’s degree. It seems my life’s Sisyphean task is to relearn that the only life I have to save is my own. I learned this when I realized I was queer at 20, when I left behind my religion at 23, and now I am learning this lesson once again as I begin my master’s program. Maybe a bit heavy for an introduction about myself, but it is True (funny how that became my married last name too).  

The Journey 

Since I can remember, my favorite things were anything that involved art and books. My parents signed me up for art classes at an early age, and I continued to pursue art all the way through my adolescence and into young adulthood. I took every art class my schools offered, joined several different art clubs, and even attended Savannah College of Art and Design’s (SCAD) workshops every summer in high school.  

I always dreamed about going to art school and the deep desire to pursue an art degree has never left me. I have felt its whispers in my dreams and the shadow on my back every time I questioned if I was truly doing what I most wanted in my life. Alas, my worries about job security, financial independence, and doing what seemed “right” trumped my desire to pursue visual arts. As the eldest child/daughter, I was determined to not make anyone worry about me, or my career path. I wanted to prove to myself and my family that I had the chops to make it on my own one day. Unfortunately, this belief concluded that art would not get me there. I put down my brushes, my paint, my canvases, and went towards something else I knew I was talented at, and that would help me achieve the life others would be proud of.  

I was a star student in English class, and I loved to read and write, so it made sense that I would go on to pursue these talents as my professional career path. I graduated college, moved out of my home state, and taught high school English for five years. I left the classroom in 2024 because I was burnt out, confused about my life goals and purpose, and tried out a corporate job that paid me almost double what I made as a teacher. And even then, making the most money I have ever made, securing a job that would prop up a life that included fancy vacations, a big home, and all the books I could buy, I went to bed each night and woke up each morning still deeply unhappy and deeply unwell.  

Saving the Only Life I Could Save 

Mary Oliver, a queer poet from a small town in Ohio and a dear favorite of mine, best sums up the self-discovery of our lives in her poem aptly titled The Journey. The poem reads: 

One day you finally knew 
what you had to do, and began, 
though the voices around you 
kept shouting 
their bad advice— 
though the whole house 
began to tremble 
and you felt the old tug 
at your ankles. 
“Mend my life!” 
each voice cried. 
But you didn’t stop. 
You knew what you had to do, 
though the wind pried 
with its stiff fingers 
at the very foundations, 
though their melancholy 
was terrible. 
It was already late 
enough, and a wild night, 
and the road full of fallen 
branches and stones. 
But little by little, 
as you left their voices behind, 
the stars began to burn 
through the sheets of clouds, 
and there was a new voice 
which you slowly 
recognized as your own, 
that kept you company 
as you strode deeper and deeper 
into the world, 
determined to do 
the only thing you could do— 
determined to save 
the only life you could save. 

Therefore, “[I was] determined to do the only thing [I] could do—determined to save the only life [I] could save,” my own.  I applied for my master’s degree, quit that soul-sucking job, and went back to the classroom. I still love and cherish teaching English, helping kids fall in love with the same literature, poets, and writing that I did as a child. And yet, greatest joy will always be found in the visual arts. That is the happiest life I can lead. Slowly but surely, I will get there one day, one brush stroke, one paint spill, one messy creative process at a time.

Thank you for reading and visiting with me along this journey. I am so grateful to be here.