on taking criticism well

OMG how long has it been since I last wrote something!

I am currently taking my very last class as an undergrad and I met with my professor to discuss a bibliography for a project. Before leaving, I told her I was meeting with a career counselor and asked if there were any specific questions I should ask or fields I should inquire on. She told me of a few things, and said something to the affect of "you could go into publishing...well, actually

WRITING ISN'T REALLY YOUR FORTE

so maybe publishing isn't for you..."

I stared at her, mouth agape, not knowing how to respond.

I have seriously considered, upon graduating, keeping my college job as a cashier and focusing on writing a book, instead of pursuing a career in the field of art history. I would absolutely love to become a professional author and devote all my time to my creativity, organizing my thoughts and putting them out there for people to enjoy and possibly learn from or relate to. I've written my whole life, everyone in my family writes, and I just got a subscription to Poets and Writers magazine.

SO

imagine my horror to hear that I'm not a good writer.

I do have to take into consideration that my professor has never read any of my CREATIVE writing and therefore was not commenting on my ability to write as I would like to and the way in which I feel I excel.

HOWEVER

This is now my...fourth class with this specific professor and I have written COUNTLESS papers for her and made high grades on all of those papers; so how can she, purely on an academic basis, say I'm not a good writer? I obviously am a capable writer, but perhaps she feels that writing papers on art history would not be a career I would excel in? I don't know, I don't know why someone would ever phrase a statement like that or say that to someone who is about to go out into the world searching for a job and is probably terrified of that idea, I DON'T KNOW.

What I do know, is that WHEN I publish a book (not on art history), the dedication will read:

To Janice Simon, who once said to me, "Writing really isn't your forte."

And I will personally deliver a signed copy to her.