what i learned from my first year of university
As of almost a week ago, I've finally made it back home from my first year of university. This whole experience has changed me (for the better!) in more ways than I could've ever imagined. Coming back home has allowed me to see the city I've grown up in in a completely different lens, and see the way that I had lived my life before moving away completely different as well. To celebrate, I made a little video collage of my final studio days and reviews with a song I'm really enjoying right now. Feel free to listen along with the rest of this entry!
To start, here are some habits and hobbies that I started this year that I believe flourished because of my environment:
I started this blog in July of 2024, and continued it into this year. Having a completely new environment and new routine gave me endless inspiration to draw from, and endless new experiences to write about.
My dad gave me a random good quality journal he got from his work that he wasn't going to use, and I've turned that into my landing ground for all my non-blog thoughts. All of my diary entries, poetry, essay brainstorming, etc, lands in there. It's been very therapeutic and has helped me develop many blog posts!
After receiving a camera from my best friend this summer, I decided to finally take my documenting mediums to the next step and start making videos! I've had so much fun just compiling footage from different events over the year in minimalistic ways. I get stressed with too much show and editing mish mash, and wanted to just present my days and events as I experienced them, little moments all collaged together. This habit has really helped me appreciate little moments I share with my friends much more, as looking back on my videos I see how finite those moments of pure joy together are, so I must cherish them!
I continued on my people watch sketching hobby that I had developed over high school, and became somewhat notorious within my studio as the nap sketcher. Everyone who would take a nap on the couch beside my desk got a sketch of them, whether they liked it or not! This has really helped me not only improve my capturing abilities in terms of lighting and proportion, but also just gave me another medium of documenting my friends :)
I walked into the year seeing architecture and art as two completely separate beasts in my life, two seperate lives even. As I've made projects for school, I've realized just how much the skills and practices I use for my personal work apply to my architectural work. On the other hand, I find that as I've learned how to think more spatially and design with a more technical eye this year, my personal work has become more architectural by proxy. Not a bad development at all!
After picking classical piano up again slowly over the summer, my skills blossomed completely over this year. Having a piano in the foyer of my school helped me practice every day, and I learned maybe 4 or 5 pieces this year because of that, more than I ever (willingly) had in my life. I also made a few wonderful friends just by them always passing me on the piano and deciding to talk to me. The power of sharing your passions with others!
I've never felt more alive and excited to keep going on in my life than I have now. I feel like I've finally found a direction, albeit a vague one, of why I want to create things and be present in the world. I'm excited to continue developing my personal work this summer, and then to dive straight back into the architecture come September again!