Illustration major Patrick Hulse 17 IL finds inspiration everywhere, but especially in childhood memories and family stories.
Patrick Hulse 17 IL says that before he came to RISD he was incredibly shy. But once his Foundation professors made it clear that students need to talk during crits, he began to share his ideas – tentatively at first, but then with increasingly more certainty. “People said, ‘We like what you’re saying, talk more,’” he recalls incredulously. “It was such an empowering experience. I learned at RISD that my voice matters.”
Once Hulse began to share his thoughts, the floodgates opened and his confidence soared. By the middle of junior year, he decided to run for president of the Student Alliance, RISD’s student governing body. “I never in a million years would have imagined myself in this role,” he says. “But the opportunity presented itself and I went for it.”
The Student Alliance is “here to make things happen for RISD students,” Hulse explains. “We serve on academic committees, meet important people and have access to a lot of information that we share with the rest of the student body.”