Internship Search

As the month begins to come to a close, I am pleased with my effort to continue my New Year resolution: Find an Internship.
As a journalism student at my university, it is required for all students to have an internship by the time graduation comes around, so whether I want to complete an internship or not, I have to.
Even so, I get super excited with each application I send out. I am really interested in culture; travel, architecture, history, food, and fashion. As a result, I have focused most of my internship search on magazine internships offering opportunities to experience culture
I can’t hope but be optimistic about the kind of opportunities, people, and experiences that will come from the internship.
As nerve-racking as it is to wait for an email or phone call confirming my position as an intern, it is also an exciting and surprisingly freeing experience.
How great is it that I get the chance to do something I love, gain experience in my field of study, and begin a new chapter in my life?

My Passion

In one of my journalism classes this past fall, we had to write a blog post about our passion. I knew I immediately wanted to speak about my passion for architecture, writing and traveling, but I was almost overwhelmed at how to go about this simple assignment.
I am so passionate about traveling and experiencing other cultures that it becomes difficult to put into words at times.
In the fifth grade I somehow decided to become an architect. I had never taken architectural related classes before, nor were either of my parents in the field. I just came up with the idea and ran with it. In high school I took engineering classes which introduced architectural programs to the students, as well as participated in an intensive, 2-week immersive architectural workshop at a university in Indiana, but  other than that I had no experience in architecture. Despite the fact that I lack a talent for drawing and do not come from the most diverse of families, I wanted to be diverse and become a renowned and respected architect, so I started my freshman year in college as an architecture student. After 1-1/2 years, I switched my major to journalism, where I am now, with a minor in architecture.
While I still love architecture and still consider it a passion of mine, more than just designing buildings, I wanted to share my love for architecture with others. I thought writing about it, and expanding my passion into culture as a whole, would really please me.

This passion began when I took a random elective class my junior year in high school, Advanced Cooking. While I love my family I have to confess, they are not the most adventurous of types. I have to respect their lifestyle if I want them to respect the fact that I do not want their way of life, but a more traveled and diverse life.
The cooking class opened up a whole new world to me. I tried foods I didn’t know how to pronounce and learned about new cultures along the way. The class taught me it was very important to give everything and everyone a chance.
The class was made up of multiple graduation classes, social classes, and personalities, but for 70 minutes a day, everyone dropped prior prejudices and just enjoyed the experience. You never know what you can discover by giving something a chance. Try everything once.

What do you desire?

This video showed up on my Facebook news feed after a friend posted the inspirational video to his own page. I love the feeling it gave me – so empowering.

What do I desire?
I desire a life of travel. I want to find a job that allows me to travel around the world – anywhere and everywhere – to experience life in as many cultures as I can. I want to live with the natives, learn their language, eat their food, study their history. I want to know what is out there, beyond my own borders.

Downtown Aurora: Holiday Walking Tour

In small towns, you have to take what you can in terms of entertainment. Within a week of being home, I searched “holiday things to do in Aurora, Indiana” in Google search. Being the art appreciator that I am, I was immediately intrigued by a simple walking tour of building paintings around the downtown shops.

The downtown portion of this small town is complete with window paintings and a full size Christmas tree in the middle of the street. While the adjusted detour is a bit of a hassle, the tree does speak to the small town charm.

A window painting of a downtown shop.

The town’s Christmas tree, centered in the middle of the street.

I used this art tour opportunity to take my Scottish Terrier puppy, Solomon, on a walk we would both enjoy. The walking tour only took about 1-1/2 hours, but turned out to be a great treat.

It amazed me at how obvious many of the paintings were, some blatantly on fronts of buildings and spanning great lengths. I have been in and around many of the shops the artworks surround, but have noticed very few of the paintings before walking past and photographing them.

This painting spanned the entire length of a pharmacy front, depicting the town’s oldest and grandest parade, Farmer’s Fair Parade.

I began walking with my printed tour sheet map in hand, following a strict path, but quickly discovered so many paintings not listed on the map. I eventually began to veer off track in search for dozens of “hidden treasures,” be paintings or other beauties.

This painting was my favorite, though it was not listed on the map.

A cute door front with potential for artwork beside to it.

One painting I found particularly interesting was the painting documenting the Gaff family brewery, Crescent Brewing Company, now Great Crescent Brewery. The Gaff family lived in the historic landmark, Hillforest Mansion, written about in my previous post.
The Gaff family really made an impact, economically, to the town of Aurora, Ind. and I think the tribute of preserving their home and highlighting their business is a special and respectful acknowledgement.

The Gaff family brewery painting.

What once seemed as a tired and run-down town due to vacant buildings and paint chipping off boarded windows, is now seen as a beautiful potential for future featured artwork.

Potential for future beautiful artwork!