Photography Project 1
While
contemplating which stories have most defined my life, it took only a few brief
moments of introspection to realize how vast a role going to school has played
for me. From the time I was in Kindergarten, up until now, as a senior
undergrad, going to school has been central to everything I have done and
become. It is for every memory that I decided to capture pictures illustrating
my days of school and what it’s felt like to have so many learning
opportunities whether they were happy, sad, or otherwise.
For the first
picture, I decided to represent my years in school K-12; at first I had a hard
time thinking of a time that could easily define my years as a grade-schooler. When
I was a kid, I lived and breathed for recess. Playing on the playground,
running around kicking soccer ball in the fields, and playing with my friends
were what tied everything together and made my learning experience enjoying. In
the picture, myself and one of my best friends from sixth grade are posing and
playing on the playground- totally at ease and happy to be there.
In the second
picture is a representation of my first year at Utah State University as a
Freshman. It’s blurry, I hardly remember it; but, it was fun, it was easy, and
it was full of the freedom that comes from moving away from home for the first
time. Being surrounded by strangers was oddly exhilarating for a girl as shy as
I used to be.
The third picture
depicts my sophomore year. That year was extremely hard and extremely dark.
Almost all of my friends left college- going to other schools or other
countries far away. It felt like every waking moment I was huddled over my
books, laptop, or calculator. Studying engulfed my life as an Accounting Major,
and I truly hated every monotonous minute of it.
Naturally, my
next picture would have been of my junior year of college; except that I made a
rash decision. I decided to leave and serve a Christian mission for my church;
like my friends, my own mission took me far away- Japan, to be exact. That’s
when my life started to get brighter. I left everything that I had known and
loved behind and learned through the school of personal experience. It was like
a whole new world, and it was in those years away from school that I learned to
truly be myself and to chase my own dreams.
Eventually the
time I spent learning and teaching in Japan came to an end; I returned to study
at Utah State again. However, this time I did something so drastic that my dear
dad almost cried- my major was changed. In a lot of ways, it felt like I was starting
on a new path in school even though the progress was apparent. The fifth
picture depicts that new trail; there was dirt, twigs, and difficulty along the
way, but it was liberating to finally be studying a subject that wasn’t thrust
upon me. Back then, it seemed like there was still a long way to go to reach
the top.
In the sixth
picture, I am at the pinnacle of my senior year- sporting Aggie blue and
standing in the new Huntsman hall. The wall behind reads: “Accomplished Alumni,”
an aspiration of mine as a senior in the Business School. Many of my days are
spent in the business building, studying ardently and filled with day dreaming
more ambitiously than ever before.
The last picture
represents my future after school. I’m seen standing again with my best friend
from elementary school; and surprise- he asked my dad for permission to marry
me the week before this picture was
taken! As for now, I don’t know what the trail up ahead consists of, but my
life in school, and the people who I met and became friends with along the way
have made me a happier, healthier person- the person that I had always hoped to be.
-Beth
