Art, Writing, and AI Help Shenango Students Map Their Future Selves
December 2, 2025 - SHARON, Pa. The Lecture Hall Art Gallery at Penn State Shenango is hosting "A Future You," a display created by first-year students in English 15: Rhetoric and Composition. The work blends collage, generative AI, and reflection to help students picture who they might become.
These prompts hit different for new college students. "These questions have a special resonance for first-year college students who are taking the first step on their academic journey," said Elaine Andrews, assistant director of academic affairs and associate teaching professor of English at Penn State Shenango.
How the project worked
- Students built self-portrait collages using magazines, stickers, and colored paper.
- They wrote custom prompts for Microsoft Copilot to generate an image of themselves in a future role or activity.
- They integrated the AI image into the collage and wrote a reflection on what the process revealed.
Andrews connected the initiative to integrative thinking-approaching a topic from multiple angles. The mix of analog craft, prompt writing, and personal essay gave students a full loop from idea to image to meaning.
What they discovered
Collage felt good. "There is something so therapeutic and accessible about collage. There's not that anxiety about needing to be 'good' at it," Andrews said.
AI raised questions. Some students felt their AI images didn't look like them and preferred the collage as a truer expression. The hesitation became its own lesson: tech can be useful, but authenticity still matters.
Why this matters for writers
Writers live between vision and language. This project shows how a simple creative stack-handmade visuals, precise prompting, and tight reflection-can clarify voice and intent. It forces choices: Who are you becoming? What do you want your work to say?
The takeaway is practical: use tactile work to loosen up, AI to prototype, and writing to lock in meaning. You'll see gaps between how you think, what you ask an AI to make, and what feels true.
Try this in your own practice
- Collage your future author self: book covers, places you speak, tools you use, readers you serve.
- Write a specific prompt for an AI image of "Future You." Include role, setting, tone, lighting, and key props.
- Compare the AI output with your collage. What's missing? What feels off?
- Write a 300-500 word reflection: the work you want to do, the skills you need, and the habits that will get you there.
Prompt template you can steal
"Create a portrait of [your name] as a [future role], set in [location], [time of day]. Style: [photorealistic/illustrative/minimal]. Mood: [adjective]. Include [specific props, colors, wardrobe]. Age: [age range]."
For reference on tool options, see Microsoft Copilot's overview page: Microsoft Copilot.
Workshop or classroom ideas for writers
- Run a 60-90 minute session: 20 minutes collage, 20 minutes prompt writing, 10 minutes image creation, 20 minutes reflection, 10 minutes share-out.
- Use prompt pairs: one "literal" future (job title) and one "aspirational" future (impact on readers or community).
- Debrief on voice and likeness: what AI gets right, what it misses, and how to refine prompts without losing soul.
Resources to go deeper
- Prompt craft and exercises for writers: Prompt Engineering
- Tooling ideas for content pros: AI Tools for Copywriting
On display and accessible
The "A Future You" display will remain in the Lecture Hall Art Gallery through the end of the fall semester. Campus leadership funded the project at no cost to students, keeping the focus on creative exploration-not budget.
If you're a writer, consider this your cue. Mix hands-on craft with selective AI, then write until the picture feels honest. That blend is where clearer work-and a clearer future-starts.
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