Thursday, October 22, 2015

All around exciting semester

Hello all!
I am sorry I haven't posted in forever, but as we know, time kind of escapes us when we are busy doing what we love.

I think this semester has been a really turning point for me in my life. In high school, I felt I did the things I had to do, not necessarily the things I wanted to because of obligations I had made years before. Looking back on it, I think I would have been much happier if I had just stood up for myself and said enough was enough. It took me a long time to realize I had the ability spend my time doing things that made me happy rather than the things that made others happy.

I think this realization began at the beginning of last semester when I began to train for my marathon. Some could argue that coming to this school was the first thing I did for myself, but I think that the attention my acceptance received contributed a lot to my final decision, so I am not going to count it. My marathon was the first decision I made for myself. I was going to train alone, I was going to run it, and it didn't matter if everyone cared or no one did, because I made the commitment to myself and not to a single other person could stand in my way.

Starting this semester I started making goals for myself. They were small and attainable, and if you ask my mom this was a common theme for me in my childhood. I would make goals for my softball team or goals about running or getting good grades. I'm not sure why but goal setting seems to work for me. My goals this semester were as follows: Get an internship, get an english teaching job, find a service project, get all As, explore one part of Shanghai every weekend, find ways to get rid of my anxiety. (The list varies, and sometimes short term goals are added)

We are now midway through the semester and I have found my internship, gotten an English teaching job, explored new places in Shanghai, managed my grades excellently and I will now be going on a service trip to Cambodia.

NYUSH offers a service trip for 12 students to go to Cambodia every year. As some of you know, my Junior year of High School I took Literature of Service where I read Half the Sky. Half the Sky, in short, is about sex trafficking around the world, and one of the countries the author went to was Cambodia. Even in my junior year in high school I felt called to go there and serve, so when the opportunity popped up, I had to take it. I applied and by some miracle I was granted an interview. In the interview I explained to them very plainly that I was being called to serve there. They were impressed with my passion I think, and the rest is history.

Here's the thing about all the amazing things I've been able to accomplish so far. I am busy, yes but I am only doing what I feel passionate about. I have started to live a lifestyle where I want something, I make it work. I think I can contribute a lot of this drive, happiness, and thought process to my major. IMA has been a huge motivator for me. I wake up most days with the desire to create and learn something new. As the semester continues I am constantly reminded that moving out of business was one of the single best decisions I have ever made. Moving forward I am incredibly excited to be a part of the IMA family. Next semester I am taking incredible classes where I will learn how to use drones, how to make interactive clothing like the sleep shirt, I will also be learning about Chinese cyber culture. There were so many options next semester I am taking a full 18 credit load.  I could not be more excited about my academic courses!

I recently attended a meeting with one of the IMA department heads. He told me something that holds true for me and gave me a bit of a new perspective. He was defining the words in IMA and when he got to art he told me that it has almost nothing to do with fine arts or creation, although thats how most people see it. He told me that Art can be defined as the things we do in life that fill us with the sense of purpose and breathe life into us. Art, in his sense, is the stuff that makes us happy and free. I couldn't have agreed more with his philosophy, because right now my life is, in fact, art.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Love always,
Maddie

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