My name is Deanna Rohrbacher and I am an Engineering Science major at SUNY Stony Brook.  I am very passionate about art, music, literature and fixing things. 

I realized my passion and skill towards art only 3 years ago by a fluke.  I had no electives and was forced to take an art class.  A month into the class, which was a beginner’s course, the college level art teacher was making plans for me to be in his class, and giving me the materials normally reserved for his advanced class.  Very quickly, my predilection for creating art work became a passion, and from there a life’s goal. 

Before this, I had always thought that with my science and math savvy, I would become an engineer, and my parents were eagerly supporting this possibility, and were constantly steering me toward this career.  When I told my parents of my wish to discard my dream of becoming an engineer for an artist, they were very taken aback by the suddenness of my decision and quite against it, thinking it just a phase.  They believed that one could not make a sufficient living off of artwork, and that becoming an engineer was the safest, securest and smartest route.  While I had to agree that I would be an ideal engineer, and that I would be successful as one, I wouldn’t be happy.  Engineering was not something I was passionate about, I was just good at it. 

Unable to appease my parents with my seemingly foolish flight of fancy, for a year I found myself unhappy with my situation.  I had a passion, but a very general one that I could not back up with a clear career choice to satisfy myself or my parents.

It wasn’t until my junior year in high school that I realized what I wanted to do.  In my AP art history class, we were learning about old stone cathedrals and how good stone carvers to make the repairs on the dilapidated buildings were hard to find in this day and age of metal and prefabricated buildings. 

I realized then that I could combine my love of art and fixing things into one profession; Art Conservation. 

I’ve since done an incredible amount of research to find that the profession is a very small one compared to all the art that needs their attention.  Also that only a handful of colleges actually even offer a graduate degree in the area (SUNY Buffalo, Columbia, NYU, and UDelaware).  Each program takes only around 8 students a year (Buffalo excluded), and pay the way for any student who gets in. 

So why have I decided to major in engineering?  Well, I hope to excel in the field of Art Conservation, and be of the greatest use in preserving and or restoring our worlds art and architecture, and it was raised to my attention by a tremendous woman, who has been a fabulous help to me, that the field is in need of engineers.  I hope to combine what I’m good at and what I love, and make a wonderful profession out of it.  Even if it doesn’t work out in Art Conservation for me, I hope to still use my engineering degree to my advantage.