Sunday, January 31, 2010

Photography vs. Memories


So, the ice has officially come and gone, which makes me sad in some ways more than others. I'm glad there is no longer a threat of traveling on the roads, since I'm already clumsy enough as it is. I will however, miss the ice on the trees outside my window at home, as well as surrounding the campus at school. It made for some beautiful photographs for my photography class.


Speaking of photography, I've really loved taking this class so far this semester. Although it's my earliest class, at eight in the morning, I don't mind getting up that early to do something I've developed such a passion for. I started taking the class for my minor and because I thought it went well with a Communications degree...I write the articles and then take the pictures, it's a win/win, right? I've gotten some great shots, but they never seem to turn out exactly the way I pictured (pardon the pun). No matter the photograph, I never seem to capture the exact amount of beauty I see when looking at the object through my own eyes. I've also found that some objects/moments that seem the least worthy of pictures are the ones that turn out better than you could ever have imagined. I guess life's funny that way...some things you just have to experience the memories first hand and hold onto them with whatever you've got.


Well, that's all for now! If I want to make it to my early class tomorrow, I must get some sleep :)

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Niche

Since this is my first blog EVER, I figured I should start off by explaining the title. I didn't just randomly name my blog 'Niche' because I simply thought it was a cool word. I guess I should start from the beginning...

My freshman year of college was going to be the greatest...or at least that's what I thought. I went off away from home, not too far, but just far enough. I left everything behind-my high school friends, my family, and my boyfriend of almost 2 years at the time. I thought it would be good to get a fresh start and to become more independent. For the first semester, I had a lot of fun; I missed home, but I met some interesting people, and someone who is now my best friend. When she decided to transfer after that first semester, my college life just slowly went downhill from there. Not that it was her fault or anything-I just honestly had no idea where to go. I missed home terribly, I had hardly any good friends, and I missed my boyfriend and was tired of never seeing him or any of my other friends from home.

I was miserable for quite some time. I tried hiding it from everyone, but my true friends could see the change in my personality. When I finally gathered up the courage to tell my parents that I was unhappy, I was actually surprised at how they handled the situation. They too, had seen a change in me, and were glad I had confided in them. I told them I wanted to look around at more colleges, particuarly one closer to home. My dad seemed at first to be more understanding than my mom. Now that I look back, I know that that's only because my mom wanted me to truly be happy, and not to feel like I had settled. She didn't want me to rush into a decision, just to regret it for the rest of my life.

To make a long story short, I ended up coming back home. I go to school just down the road from my home, but I still live on campus. People ask why I would be willing to pay that much extra to live there, when I could easily commute from home. My answer to this was simple. I wanted to still be independent from from home, but still live close enough to come back if I ever needed to.

Webster's Dictionary describes a niche as a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted. That's the way I felt when I finally decided to come back home. When I made that leap of faith to transfer schools, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I feel that this is truly my niche, as is writing. That's why I labled my blog 'niche.' I feel that just as I found my niche as far as colleges, that writing has truly always been my niche. It's helped me get through some of the toughest situations in my life. Writing is the only outlet that truly lets me express my feelings-writing bears no judgement, it's simply there & allows me to be myself, which is a rare thing...