Power
You won't have much power when you're just starting out as a fashion designer. You'll work for whoever clients or whatever companies with very specific design aesthetics, adjusting what you think looks good to what they think makes money in order to bring home a stable paycheck. Yes, it seems like the opposite of what you want to do, but that's the way the satchel buckles. At this point, keep dreaming of the day when you'll move far enough up the ladder to design your own line, because when you do you'll definitely need to have some sketches ready.
After you stick it out for a couple of years and avoid giving up and moving back to Poughkeepsie, you may start noticing trends that you've been working in start to take off in ways that directly impact your life. Soon, people may come to see you as an expert because of that little that's so in right now flair you've given jeans this year (it's all about the boot cut). Suddenly, you're not following trends; trends are following you.
That means you better have some opinions formed, because the fawning masses that just a few years ago didn't care about anything you made suddenly need you to fill their cocktail conversations. Give the people what they want—but only after you tell them what they're supposed to want.