My Grandfather is the one who taught me how to draw every since I could remember. When I would struggle with what to draw he would take me outside to draw the flowers side by side. The drawing pads he gave me date back to 2006 and continue today. Art has always been a passion of mine, a way to free myself of reality and enter a reality of my own creation, my drawings. Even though art is not my major, I will always continue to work on it for the skills it has given me in creativity, imaginativity, focus, and concentration.
I joined Alpha Phi in the Spring of 2019 with no clue what to expect, other than new friendships. Alpha Phi provided me with such a strong support system of incredible women who encourage me to be my best self. The women in this chapter have taken me out of my shell and given me the confidence to share my artwork with others. I design custom artwork for Alpha Phi’s media team in a way that combines my love of art with the love for my sisters. This chapter also afforded me so much stability during COVID-19 and easy, accessible ways to stay involved in philanthropy while still being COVID safe.
From the moment I could walk I was put on skis. Both my parents ski, they met in a ski shop, and my mom works in the ski industry. Growing up ski racing afforded me the opportunity to have my first job at age 15 of ski and snowboard assistant instructor for children ages 4 to 8 years old. The job required a lot of manual labor, patience, innovative thinking to keep the students engaged, and a positive attitude at all times. This experience seriously changed my definition of responsibility for the better and helped me grow as an individual to be more independent.
My dad has always said to me that he wants me to have the most opportunities life can offer. This really stuck with me throughout my life given that I was not sure what I wanted to do with so many passions. So I stuck to my dad’s words and just did the best I could in everything to open every door possible. It can be very overwhelming not having every aspect of one’s life planned out, however this philosophy has helped me get through and to have continuous success regardless of what that may be in. When discussing my plans after graduation with my dad, he suggested graduate school as another great way for me to expand my horizons and fine tune my passions for my future career. While this may seem an obvious choice, his advice and the way he presented it made me very excited about it, and for the first time I have an answer to “what are your plans after graduating”.
Another way in which my father has afforded my the incredible opportunity of experiencing other cultures is through trips abroad. Like my father, I love walking around in foreign cities just taking in the basic culture and architecture of the city. Over the years I have traveled to Spain, France, Italy, England, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. Each of these experiences has given me perspective on the massiveness of our world and how different but harmonious other cultures can be to our own. Specifically, the trips to Italy meant the most to me in visiting the city where my family is from, looking at records in town hall of my ancestors, and walking the streets they once walked with our new generation. Here is a story map of my latest trip to Europe.