Happy November!

I can’t believe that it’s November because that also means that I am halfway through my study abroad term in London. It is going by just about as fast as I thought it would, but I am so excited for November because I have some fun travels planned for the month. Since I am halfway through, I figured I should write a bit of “what I have learned” post. Now, I’ve learned a lot, about the city and about myself, but I’ll narrow it down to the art and design things.

Ok here we go!

1. Marywood: It is totally weird to have design class without my teachers and friends from Marywood! I am so used to working with my friends and ask their advice during projects. We have all gotten to know each other as designers and peers and it is really hard not being with them in classes. I have had to learn how to work on things mostly alone without peers’ opinions that I trust.
2. Inspiration: It is so inspiring to design in a place like London! There is cool design everywhere! I find myself obsessing over the billboards in the subway tunnels on a daily basis. You can walk down streets and peek into design studios and see people at their computers working hard.
3. Balance: It’s hard to balance work and fun. This is difficult back in normal life too, but it is hard when you want to take full advantage of the city and the time you have here when you also have papers and projects to do.
4. Books Books Books: I have checked out at least 15 books here so far and that doesn’t even count the ones I used just in the library. Being on the art campus, their whole library is art books and I have been taking full advantage! I love going to the library and browsing the shelves, plus they have really cool places to study. A lot of the education here revolves around independent reading. It’s a different type of learning but it’s very self-reflective.
5. Embrace it all!: At first, I did not like my design class here. I admit it. It is very different from what I know and I had a hard time getting excited about it. But, once I embraced the fact that it was different and that I had to think about it differently, I started enjoying the work more. That goes for any class! If you are able to change your thinking and see how you can grow from the information and the challenge, that class doesn’t seem so bad anymore.

Ok, I’m sure I’m going to think of something else that I should have said, but I have a paper to go work on! So, I am off to the library to surround myself with books about how still life photography changes the way that we see food. That is very broad–you see why I need to work on it!

Here’s a full version of my London doodle brought into Photoshop to add color.