Wiig attended Roanoke College, but soon returned to Rochester. She attended community college and did a three-month outdoor-living program. She had no performing ambitions at this time. Wiig then attended the University of Arizona, majoring in art. When she took an acting class in college to fulfill a course requirement, the teacher suggested she continue to act. She was hired for a job at a plastic surgery clinic drawing pictures of people's postsurgery bodies, but the day before the job began, she decided to move to Los Angeles and pursue an acting career.