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Katy Schumaker
M.A. Psychology, Art Therapy with Mental Health Counseling, 2008
 As the proprietor of Café Venus, a small and busy Seattle cafe and nightclub, Katy Schumaker might seem too busy to add graduate school to her life. True enough, the university she would attend would have to accommodate her demanding schedule.
"Not only did Antioch have the only Art Therapy program I could find in town, Antioch offered classes that would fit into my busy schedule. The class sizes are small and there is a large emphasis on personal growth and introspection, important characteristics every counseling program should have," Schumaker says.
It helped that the financial aid process was a breeze. "Obtaining partial loans for my education at Antioch was easy as pie. I took out a third of my tuition in loans and the process was incredibly easy and user friendly," she says.
"I have learned more at Antioch than at any other university."
She had an opportunity to spend 10 hours a week for a couple of quarters in a work/study job at the campus Community Counseling and Psychology Clinic. "I had my pay deposited directly into my student account. That alleviated my need for loans.
"My 10 hour a week work/study paid for another third of my tuition and also got me involved in the University on a more personal and professional level. I highly recommend the work/study aspect," says Schumaker, adding that she was enrolled in Students in Service, a program that assists students in their internship. "It is almost covering the cost of my one-credit case consult class and every little bit helps."
She also suggests some employers might assist in the cost of schooling, especially if the current job is in the same field.
She credits a couple of instructors with drawing her into her Psychology studies. "Duncan Holloman and Alma Rolfs were two of the instructors who inspired me the most.
"Alma was my first instructor in Communications and Counseling and the transition into Antioch was smooth because of her approach and methods of teaching. She had an attention to detail that I appreciated.
"Duncan's teaching style was calming and soothing and his insights and attention to each student's particular needs strengthened my learning experience immensely," she says.
Her best memory was attending the American Art Therapy Association conference in New Orleans last year. "We were able to really see how our learning would be put into practice as we took workshops, went to lectures and participated in the rebuilding of New Orleans post-Katrina." To be able to attend, Art Therapy students raised a third of the funds themselves with bake sales and an auction at Schumaker's cafe.
Her Antioch education is having an impact on operating a restaurant as well as on her future career as an art therapist.
"Really, it has benefited both careers I have. But if I focus on the therapist career, Antioch and the Art Therapy program have taught me different ways to approach counseling. Because I went through my own process in basically 'doing what I will be practicing,' there is less of my own internal static cluttering the space between therapist and client," she describes, adding "I have learned more at Antioch than at any other university."
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