Profile/Interview Assignment

Ian Wilson, 24, is a multi-faceted art enthusiast who has survived an unimaginable
heartache to become the free spirit he is today. A junior at SIU-E, Wilson has had a long journey
to get to where he is today.

Ian began his college career at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale with hopes of
graduating as a pilot and being able to “get away from it all” every day at work. When Ian realized that flying a plane was just a great hobby of his, he had the unexpected happen; his
mother life was tragically cut short at the age of 49. After taking time from school to deal with the loss of his mother, Ian then thought that the medical field was his calling in life. After
realizing that medical school was easier said than done, Ian knew his heart was in the communications field; he is now actively pursuing a degree in mass communications with a focus
on audio and video production. In spite of all of this adversity and change, there is one thing that has remained constant in Ian’s life and that is his extreme passion and appreciation for the arts.

For Ian, being able to express his love of the arts is an irreplaceable constant in his life. Whether he is impressing his friends with his fantastic guitar skills, writing musical lyrics about almost anything and everything, taking or painting pictures, or attending a rock concert, Ian is constantly relishing his inner artist. A self-described “artsy” type, Ian said he enjoys painting “whenever and about whatever is on [his] mind.” Wilson has been playing the guitar for about 5 years and has been writing music for as long as he can remember, but when asked if he had ever performed at a venue, Ian replied, “I perform in front of friends only.” When Ian is not performing for friends, he and his friends can be found enjoying the skills of other artists; a concert junky at heart, Ian said that he doesn’t have a specific favorite genre of concerts to attend because “rock concerts are exciting with all the lights and such,” but at the same time, Ian said, “acoustic concerts are amazing.”

Ian Wilson may have a rough and tough look about him, but once one were to crack his shell, it would quickly become a realization that he is much more in touch with his inner self than one would ever know. He knows he sometimes cares about people too much, he knows that his life has been nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster, but most of all, Ian is well aware that his love for art is what keeps him going.