you wouldn't believe how true this is, you're barely seeing any subject that gives you creative liberty until the last year, you spend 80 percent of your time at art school just studying and copying old artists + still life practices until you get into anatomy and composition
This year I got into fine arts and one of the first things the professor told us was that three of our four years would be spent copying and using lots of references because that's the most efficient way to learn. Sharing this so you won't feel ashamed about using references...