Description

London Embankment by Christiana Bell

A teacher and friend once told me that the best way to process life is to pause and write about it.

I’ve always found the concept of a blog peculiar because I’m never sure who I’m writing for: an online presence almost always implies an audience, even if I’m writing for myself. I suppose I’m starting this blog because I’m at a crossroads and need a place to reflect on and respond to the rapid changes that will inevitably happen over the next few months. So I’m writing primarily for myself, but with the hope that others will be interested in reading my thoughts.

At this writing, I have just graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Sociology and a certificate in East Asian Studies. Though I’ve constantly told myself that the day could not come sooner, I now find myself clinging to the comforts that I’ve taken for granted over the last four years. At the same time, I am excited and overwhelmed by the prospect of pursuing a career in graphic design that I’ve only ever dreamed possible. There are still those who believe that I’m making an ill-informed choice. While I’m not at all confident that it will be an easy ride, I hope that I will be able to prove my critics wrong.

Over the summer, I am interning at Pentagram Design in New York under my hero Paula Scher. Subsequently, I will be traveling to London to work for one year as a research associate at the Royal College of Art’s Helen Hamlyn Centre under the auspices of a Fulbright Grant, creating projects that use graphic design to address social problems. In the fall of 2010, I plan on returning to the US to begin graduate studies at either the Yale School of Art or the Rhode Island School of Design, admissions to which I’ve deferred for a year in order to accept the Fulbright.

This blog will capture my thoughts and feelings as I travel the unpredictable, incredible road ahead. And, hopefully, when I look back on it years down the road, I’ll find myself surprised, awed, and unashamed at the things I tried, failed, and accomplished as a 22-year old.

Per the request of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, I here acknowledge that this is not an official Department of State website or blog. The views and information contained herein are my own and do not represent the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State.