Going under the knife

Today I went in for my first ever surgery! I wasn't too nervous...the scariest part for me had been whether I could afford it or not since I don't have insurance. But it was a lot cheaper than I thought and within my budget. Thank the Lord! No really...

I'd actually put off going to the doctor for over a year to check on the growth that was developing on my lower gum. I was avoiding it, hoping it would go away. Finally I couldn't anymore. It was getting larger and starting to scare me. 

So I made an apointment with the oral surgion my orthodontist recommended (a year ago when I last saw him...I stooped going to my orthodontist also so I couldn't be bugged about the growth! I didn't want anyone to know I wasn't taking care of it. I didn't even want to know about it myself!) 

Anyway I did the hard thing and called and then went in. Thinking I'd have to sell at least one kidney to get this thing off! Fortunately it was far below what I thought it would cost and just two days after going in for my apointment, I got the growth removed this morning. Praise The Lord! 

Here are some pics: 

The growth. Eww! 

Peace out! It's out.

Still really sleepy! 

Me and my still half numb/temporarily paralysed mouth! Lol 

Glad to be getting back on track with my health...and doing the hard stuff first. 

Mi Bien Día en Chicago (Composición #1)

This is my first Spanish Composition of the semester. Google Translate does a rough translation which makes some of the sentences sound funny. But if you can't read Spanish . . . I guess you could use it if you really want to know what I wrote about in my first paper. 

     Este año yo fui a Chicago con mis amigos Janelle y James. El día era perfecto porque yo estaba con gentes que yo quiero. Nos despertamos temprano en la mañana así nos podíamos tomar el tren. James y yo nunca tuvimos habíamos tomado la tren. Estábamos emocíonados! Primero nosotros comimos en Chipotle. Chipotle es el lugar favorito para comer de Janelle en todo el mundo! Me gusta Chipotle también. Después de que nosotros comimos, fuimos a explorar la ciudad de Chicago.

     En todos las ciudades que he vistitado, yo tomé fotos de hombres con barbas por el serie de “Men With Beards” en Instagram. En Chicago, yo tomé fotos de doce hombres con barbas. El momento mas divertido en el día fue cuando yo perseguí dos hombres en la calle para poder tomar fotos de ellos y sus barbas.

     Al final del día nosotros fuimos al zoológico en el parque de Lincoln. Pero los animales me pusieron triste. Al final del dia todo fue muy magnífico!

Life Is Busy

I thought my schedule was going to be really open since I'm only taking 6 credits. However, it has been anything but open and it's only about to get a whole lot more hectic!

There's school (part-time—but 3 of those hours are Spanish to it's like 6 credits in itself . . . to me at least!)

Work (on campus and freelance projects—including being a photographer)

Society of Adventist Communicators Conference coming up in October

Volunteer work with the NAD Youth Ministries Department (this has me traveling quite a bit doing promo work on the weekend and this is about to speed up as we near the Just Claim It prayer conference in Miami in February)

I'm also starting up my MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) training again

And having a minor surgery on Thursday morning to remove a growth on my gum (this will help my braces come off sooner than never . . . haha)

I think that's about it for now . . . I'm sure there might be something I'm forgetting . . . like personal projects . . . but oh well . . . this is my busy life. But I wouldn't have it any other way . . . I love it—even Spanish! jaja

Musings in Typography y Español

I've been trying my hand at some handwritten typography. I like it a lot but definitely need more practice! 

Yo necesito más práctica! 

P.S. I'm taking Spanish and need practice in that, too! So if I start posting in Spanish, you know why! Haha...I mean jaja (how you laugh in Spanish! ;)

P.S.S. These were inspired by: http://www.gearaffiti.com/2012/design/hand-drawn-typography/
AND: well . . . I'm still looking for that reference link . . . will add when I find it.

Learning About Violence Against Women

For the past two weeks a large portion of my schedule has been consumed with learning and recording facts and statistics on violence against women. 

It’s a freelance job I picked up this summer for an organization in Maryland. Currently I’m researching human trafficking and it’s effect on women as well as domestic violence against women, rape, and sexual abuse of women.

These topics and how they effect women have always been something I wanted to learn more about especially since I am a women—it’s always good to know what kind of odds and statistics are stacked against you . . . but only so you can crush them while rising above!

To be honest, I read a lot of it through the mindset that these are nothing but facts on a piece of paper, otherwise, some of these stats will really mess with a person.

Like this one that got the better of me and I posted it on Facebook earlier today: “Globally, as many as 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate partners.”[1] Makes me think twice about getting married one day. Forget growing old with a person . . . I’d like to just grow old period!

In one of the studies talking about female genital mutilation (FGM), it said that the more educated a women is the less likely she will be to experience FGM. It's also true that the more educated a girl's mother is the less likely the child will be to experience FGM. I’ve also heard that the more educated a women is the less likely she is to get married. Coincidence?! Alright, well that settles it for me . . . I’ve now decided to pursue a PhD! Maybe even a postdoc! 

But in all seriousness, the stats for all these topics are real and probably under the actual occurrence rate for many of these atrocities simply because these kinds of crimes are not always reported. And because of this, they deserve a second glance. One that once you’ve allowed yourself the numbness to read them, you allow yourself the heart to feel them—for the sake of the women who weren’t allowed the comfort of learning these truths first through ink on blended tree pulp. And once you have felt them, allow yourself to act—to do something so that one less woman out there well have to feel the internal physical and psychological pain these statistics represent.

If you'd like to know more about what you can do tangibly or to make a donation to an organization working to end these crimes, the Polaris Project is a great place to start. The Polaris Project deals specifically with human trafficking, also known as modern day slavery.

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[1] Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence (World Health Organization 2013)

When I grow up I want to be . . .

I think I’ve finally decided what I want to be when I grow up. This is a good thing seeing that being “grown up” or at least having to pay for myself is coming up in about 4 months when I (Lord willing) graduate from college.

Last semester in my drawing II class the professor told us that to be an expert at anything, one must invest 10,000 hours into doing that thing. I figured that whatever it is that I eventually decide to be I should choose to become and expert at that so I can be one of the best. Over the summer I did a lot of graphic design work at my internship and loved every minute of it. I’ve loved designing things since I was a kid playing on my first computer in PrintMaster. I’d spend hours on the program designing cards for friends and posters for my room.

Graduating with my Associate's degree in Graphic
Design from Southern Adventist University
on May 6, 2012.
Copyright: GradImages

And despite doing graphic design in college, I was never settled on what I would finally seek a career in once I graduated. It came to the point where I was actually looking into physical therapy schools in Israel (yes, you read correctly—Israel!) over the summer.

It’s been no secret to anyone that I’ve had trouble deciding on a major and a career. I went from fashion design to theology (not even kidding!) to toying with history then settling in with journalism only to forgo that for an AS in graphic design before returning only to drop journalism to try religious studies and finally realize that I better graduate and a degree in art was the fastest way down the first major aisle—the graduation aisle!

One of my bosses at my internship would ask me periodically if I’d decided what I wanted to be yet. I’d try to come up with something but I was really not sure. My default answer was always something where I can do both design and writing.

Well, I finally decided. It’s graphic design. I want to be the best graphic designer that I can be. And that means investing into achieving 10,000 practice hours in that field. So far, counting my past work and studies in graphic design, I’ve already logged approximately 2,600 hours. That’s the equivalent of working ‘round the clock for 16 weeks straight! I’m looking forward to seeing how my skills improve over the next 7,400 hours! 

On Being Quiet

I like working in solitude. It wasn’t until I read the book Quite by Susan Cain that I have began to really understand myself. At school I’m always searching for a nook or cranny where I can spread out my papers and books away from other people and just be left alone. It’s the introvert in me—it’s me. And I’m okay with that. I don’t get a lot of work done where there are lots of people. I had my worst year academically when I lived with four other girls in an apartment on campus—NEVER AGAIN! I told my mom this summer that I can’t live with people anymore unless they are my parents (because they respect my need for space and quite) and, I suppose, my future husband—who ever the poor soul will be (whoever he is he better be okay with space and quiet, too! haha).

Perhaps this is just a phase, but I really don’t think so. I was like this as a child, also. I just didn’t notice it as much because I wasn’t around a lot of people (I was homeschooled) to see the contrast.

When I came to college I knew nothing of who I really was. It truly has been in college that I grew up.

I couldn't find a photo from my first year
at Southern; this was taken my second year.
But only a few months after my story
took place. I was 18 here and on a class trip
to New England—hence the reason I'm
posing by a map of Vermont . . . haha.

When I arrived at Southern I was an awkward 17-year-old with buckteeth, glasses, long hair, and a wardrobe full of skirts and collared shirts (the dress code of my summer job). I felt weird and probably looked weird as well. My goal was to appear cool and I thought I needed to be more outgoing to get there. I can still remember what is probably the single most defining moment that kicked-off my forced conversion to extrovert-ism. It was a bright July morning in 2008. I stood on the porch of Miller Hall, the language building at Southern, waiting for English 101 to begin. I was either the first or second one there (nerd status—and yes I made an ‘A’ in that class) when a guy walked up. He looked interesting and I thought I should say ‘hi.’ But I didn’t. I was too shy. While I was contemplating whether I could still say ‘hi’ another girl walked up and enthusiastically greeted him. That was it. If I said ‘hi’ afterward it would look like I was copying her especially since I’d been there long before she arrived.

I felt like I’d been rude and missed a great opportunity to get to know someone else—someone who looked like an awesome person to know. They ended up sitting next to each other in class and I sat with this other guy who never acknowledged he knew me after that summer session.

A lot of time in college was spent trying to reinvent myself into that girl. Oddly enough she and I became really good friends and still are to this day. What I didn’t understand then was that she naturally was an extrovert while I was (and am) naturally an introvert. And that’s okay. I have strengths that she doesn’t have in my moments of silence just as she has the power to light up a room with her energy—honestly, I don’t want that kind of social pressure on me. The funny thing is, that guy who I wanted to say ‘hi’ to is a good friend of mine today, and he has been all through college. Not saying ‘hi’ to him on that first day of class didn’t affect anything. 

From Cover to Cover

I saw this cover of Bloomberg Businessweek in the business department and thought it was absolutely  brilliant! 

Remind you of another iconic cover produced before??

How about this one:

On Being A Writer . . . without words

So I guess I can classify myself as a writer. I've done a lot of writing throughout college —and had some of it published. I'm even writing right now . . . but I don't always feel like a writer. Lately I've been personally identifying myself more with art and being an artist or graphic designer specifically. It's not that I've given up on writing but the part of me that loves to craft words seems a bit stale. Kinda like its experiencing a genuine writer's block but one that is lasting more than just a day or two but a month or two.

Words have begun to overwhelm me lately. So much so that I often ask my mom if we can simply not talk. Not because I'm trying to be rude or am upset but just because I can't process a lot of words at the moment. Even my writing has changed—it's shorter, more to the point. I barely say anything at all except what is needed to get the point across. There are still moments like this one where I pour out more than two short sentences. Sabbath morning I journaled a page and a half in my diary and now two days later I'm writing this blog post. But on the most part, I don't have the patience to listen or express myself in length.

I felt this starting last fall when I found it hard to write a research paper I was thoroughly interested in. Then it grew and the following semester I was writing two research papers and finding it hard to describe things well. In May when school let out, I didn't listen to music or hang out with anyone for about two to two and a half weeks. I even journaled about how I felt like I was going through a word detox.

Words are my passion (along with art). They have been since I was a child and had the dream of becoming a writer and artist, but lately words come slow and painfully. And sometimes I'm on a roll and then they just stop. And I'm done. Just like that . . . kinda like right now.

The End ~

Between the lions

Homework and then some...

it's the LITTLE things . . .

 . . . that matter in life . . . big things matter too but the little things are what build up to the big things . . . so this is my blog about my final semester of college and doing the little things that will help me achieve my big goals.