I am Shanithia C. Robertson, owner and sole operator of ACaughtDream. I was born in Brooklyn, NY, and learned from an early age to take accountability for myself and my actions. Art was always my passion but due to financial restraints, I was limited to scribbling on scraps of paper during math. It wasn’t until college that I finally started to broaden my artistic view. Sculpture, poetry, painting, art history; I loved them all. Even so, I did not believe that I could support my hobby without a consistent flow of money. As such, I worked a wide variety of jobs through the years in order to support myself through college; earning my BA in Forensic Psychology, with a minor in art, in 2015. My favorite job was for a nonprofit organization that catered to bettering the day-to-day lives of persons with developmental disabilities, as well as traumatic brain injuries. While not directly related to my degree, I enjoyed the work and being with our clients. More so, working in that position gave me the ability to become an extern for the company. This allowed me to earn my Master’s degree in 2018 without taking a significant financial loss.
I continued to explore, coming across writing as a new passion. I felt as though my imagination lacked depth and often fell flat. In order to broaden my understanding of life and its hardships, I joined the army in the summer of 2018. The experience allowed me to be part of the team as well as to push myself further than I thought was possible. After Basic Combat Training I attended Officer Candidate School, where I gained precious insight as a platoon sergeant, squad leader, and team leader. Holding these positions presented a number of one-time opportunities to understand the duties of my future subordinates in order to provide better leadership. Upon completion of OCS, I was ecstatic to have become a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army. Even so, I still had job training to complete. I was assigned to the Chemical Corps Basic Officer Leadership course and completed it in October 2019.
My first real duty station was Fort Hood, Texas, and have remained here since. In early 2020 I was invited to play a game of Dungeons and Dragons with a few friends. Funny enough, I thought the best part was the dice and I quickly began making my own… With RESIN. I’ve been hooked ever since. It wasn’t until after my first rotational deployment that I decided to officially turn my artistic interests into a self-sustaining hobby. Serving is my current duty but art is my soul’s joy.
