The buzz of presenting in class is something thrilling. Your hands sweat as you prepare to present an idea you barely believed in yesterday. There’s anticipation in the air, the hum of conversation that turns quiet as you start explaining your thought process. You wonder how your ideas will land with your peers and professor, how your storyboard, your copy or your concept will hold up under their eyes. And yet, the uncertainty is what makes it exciting. You listen, take notes, connect dots that seemed far apart and synthesize one-off comments into something more cohesive. 

Texas Creative is built on that tension between doubt and discovery. It’s a program where thinking is the homework and presenting your ideas is the test. It is a space where communication, experimentation and collaboration guide every part of the process.

When I first applied to the Texas Creative program, I imagined a place where ideas could stretch beyond the boundaries of everyday life. Growing up in the suburb of Plano, I found that storytelling — through animation, manga and film — offered me worlds that felt limitless. Storytelling, to me, was proof that human imagination could transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Now, in my final year, that confidence has evolved into curiosity mixed with anxiety. Like many college seniors, I find myself wondering “What comes next?” Yet there’s another kind of uncertainty that feels specific to our generation: the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on creative work. Online, I see endless conversations about “AI slop” and “AI brain rot,” a shorthand for the kind of content that feels generated for clicks rather than connection. It’s easy to laugh at, but beneath the humor lies fatigue, a quiet questioning of what originality means now. 

Still, there’s also a growing awareness among young creatives, a willingness to engage with technology mindfully rather than fear it. Texas Creative provides an environment for that to unfold. 

“Texas Creative is a sequence of classes that prepares you primarily to do creative work in the advertising industry,” said Jim Bosiljevac, an assistant professor in the program. “It focuses on the conceptual part, how you come up with the ideas behind ads and how you tie that thinking to a business strategy.” 

This blend of strategy and creativity forms the foundation of the program. It’s a reminder that ideas don’t exist in isolation. They are always tied to the human experience they aim to reach. 

Creativity, after all, isn’t just a mysterious talent. It’s a skill that can be taught and refined through process, practice and patience. Every critique, late-night brainstorm and failed experiment serves as practice for the kind of thinking that translates business goals into human stories. The program operates like a workshop rather than a lecture hall. Students learn through doing, through the repeated cycle of ideation, failure and iteration.

“You learn through practice and experimentation,” Bosiljevac said. “Advertising requires trial and error. You’re trying to do something that is novel but also makes sense. You’re trying to grab attention, be memorable and strike people emotionally.”

The rise of AI adds a new layer to this learning. It offers efficiency but also poses questions about authenticity. 

“AI is a powerful tool,” Bosiljevac said. “But, the audience you’re trying to persuade is still human. You’re still trying to move people emotionally.”

No matter how advanced the tools become, the work of translating emotion, humor or insight into a message that resonates remains deeply human. A machine can generate a version of a story, but it cannot feel the hesitation before a critique, the shared laughter after an idea lands or the quiet determination to make something better after it fails. The Texas Creative process mirrors this human rhythm. The early portfolio classes emphasize learning the fundamentals of creative thinking without relying on these tools. 

“It’s like learning long division,” Bosiljevac said. “You need to understand how the process works before you can use tools to accelerate it.” 

Once students master the rhythm of ideation, they’re encouraged to integrate AI tools to generate more options and explore new workflows. The technology doesn’t replace the process; it supports it. The goal isn’t to compete with AI, but to use it in a way that deepens our own understanding of how we think, communicate and connect. 

At its core, creativity is a system of problem solving. It’s a way of viewing the world that invites experimentation rather than perfection.

“Not everyone is creative, but most people can be. It’s a skill you can hone by learning to see problems differently, to think through multiple solutions and to test and learn,” said Bosiljevac. 

This mindset extends beyond advertising. Whether designing a product, a dress or an app, the creative process is grounded in the same curiosity, by asking how something might improve someone’s life, even in a small way. In that sense, creativity is both deeply personal and fundamentally collective. It requires self-awareness but also the ability to imagine through another person’s eyes. That understanding is especially important in a consumer landscape defined by immediacy and automation. New technology can streamline production, but audiences still respond to the same qualities they always have: authenticity, emotion and meaning. 

“Consumers just want good content and good experiences,” Bosiljevac said. “They don’t care if a shoe was designed by AI or by hand. What matters is whether it solves a problem or creates joy.” 

Creativity, in that sense, becomes a quiet act of empathy. It reminds us that storytelling, design and communication are not just about outcomes, but that the real value is in the relationships that are built or enhanced. Every advertisement, campaign or concept reflects a conversation between creator and audience. The more we understand the importance of connection through all types of communication, the better we become at seeing others not as data points or demographics but as people with lives, routines and emotions as complex as our own. 

As I reflect on my time in Texas Creative, I’ve realized that the heart of creativity lies in conversation. It’s built on the willingness to listen, to ask and to rethink. Through this, I’ve learned not just about audiences or industries, but about myself. In a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, human connection remains the most valuable tool we have. The stories we tell — imperfect, surprising and emotional — remind us that creativity is not just about producing work, but about understanding one another. The more we practice that understanding, the more we keep the human process alive.