Artifacts

Throughout high school I wore a scoliosis back brace for 20 hours a day for four years. I was diagnosed the summer going into freshman year of high school and finished by bracing treatment one week before my senior year started. I went through two scoliosis back braces as I out grew my first one half way through and spent a ton of time at the Mayo Clinic. As a result of my spinal x-rays and appointments, I became very close with my nurse practitioner and orthopedic surgeon and ended up doing scoliosis awareness videos and mentoring on behalf of the Mayo Clinic. My scoliosis is a major part of who I am as my spine will be curved for the rest of my life and it is something that makes me unique and has made me who I am today through the difficulty of my treatment and the social constructs that went along with bracing. My scoliosis bracing inspired me to want to do biomedical engineering on a pre-med track as I want to better the future of those who endure scoliosis treatment.

Throughout college so far in this Autumn semester my sketchbooks have kept me sane. I took art classes throughout high school but I never considered it a part of my character until coming to college. Drawing has been away for me to clear my head and relieve stress since being at college and has made me realize that this is not a skill everyone obtains. When my peers have seen my artwork and complimented it I felt strange and uncomfortable, but have since found some pride in their statements. I believe my artwork will continue to be a large part of my college experience moving forward as my classes and course load will only be increasing. I look forward to exploring art classes here at OSU.