I am a traveler for life; I want to taste food and smell
plants and sleep in beds unlike the food and plants and beds with which I was
raised. I want to traverse oceans and deserts and meet people of different
colors and languages and creeds. I also want the chance to experiment with my
future career in graphic design and digital media. My life as a college
traveler and professional has blossomed in only my second year at Buena Vista
University (BVU), and I am going to tell you how and why.
(Myself at Mary Poppins on Broadway.)
My second semester has been a whirlwind of airplane
tickets, new office spaces, and hours spent in vans, but my first adventure led
me to the Big Apple, of which I took a huge chomp. The BVU Digital Media
Department held an essay competition to see who would be privileged to attend
the NYC12 College Media Association Convention; I was one of four media
students chosen to go. I spent four days and three nights attending sessions by
day and raking through subways, parks, museums, and bakeries by night. I stood in
Times Square on St. Patrick’s Day with my jaw dropped as the flashing lights
and hotdog smells wafted up my nose and clung in my hair. I visited the New
York Daily News, the 9/11 Memorial, and saw Mary
Poppins on Broadway. All this media and design and color and concept: it
inspired me to come home and do my work better at BVU. The New York opportunity
lit the fire in me and helped me just know that this field is the only
one for me.
Four days after my arrival back from New York, I began a
13-month internship as the Communications Assistant at Storm Lake City Hall. I
work in the office of the City Clerk designing citizen and employee
newsletters, golf tournament flyers, committee logos, and metal signs for the
Field of Dreams. My work gets circulated to the entire town. It’s a very
self-driven position with huge repercussions if I don’t meet deadlines.
Professor of Graphic Design Rebecca Frates mentioned this hands-on, real-world
position to me. Working for the government is a unique situation; everything I
write and all the pictures I print are scrutinized to make sure the City of
Storm Lake is represented in the highest light. With this position, I have
learned to work on my own, to trust my own design instincts, and to take
initiative on projects.
My final travel opportunity this year was with Untitled
11, the Art League. We drove the six hours south to Kansas City and peaked into
handfuls of galleries and museums for the weekend, the largest being the
Nelson-Atkins; it has three floors. So many cultures and style types and sizes
and colors and materials and mediums: so many distinct, intricate, and
beautiful ways of expressing ideals and hopes and concepts. As I walked through
the rooms and admired and gawked, I once again felt reassured that the art
world is the world in which I belong. I will always be creating, interpreting,
and recreating, and the travel and professional opportunities BVU has
facilitated have been priceless additions to my academic endeavors.
(Myself experimenting with perspective on the Great Lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City, Kansas.)
way to go, Grace! So proud of you and your accomplishments. You are not only an artist, but quite a writer too. Congrats to you and may God continue to bless you with your adventures. Kim
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