Introductions

1. What has been your favorite course of study in or out of school? Why?

My favorite courses in school have been photography and digital art. Photography is my area of emphasis for my Studio Arts major and I have always loved it, and can spend hours doing a photo shoot and refining my photos in the darkroom (I prefer film photography). Digital art was something I hadn't really tried before CU and was suprised with how much I loved working with photoshop, flash and dreamweaver. I am pursuing a minor in the Technology, Arts and Media program.

2. How many pages was the longest paper you have written? Did it include endnotes and bibliography?

My longest paper was 20 pages for my freshman writing class, double-spaced. It included footnotes and a bibliography.

3. Which was your favorite paper? Please tell us about the topic in a couple of sentences.

For my freshman class I wrote a research paper on body image in female college students which included eating disorders, the mass media's protrayal of beauty, and Barbie and it's impact on young girls. It was a topic I was very interested in and enjoyed researching.

4. Is there a particular kind of writing you love to do?

I like any kind of writing as long as I am interested in the topic. I probably enjoy opinion pieces the most.

5. Which books have you read lately: art, fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, poetry, environmental, film? Any comments are welcome.

I am always reading a fiction. I don't think I've gone for 8 years without being in the middle of a book. It is what I do to unwind. In the past two years I have been picking New York Times bestsellers at random and have been really enjoying them. I have recently read Water for Elephants, the Help, and Angeology. I adore historical ficition. That being said I also read all the nonficition and textbooks required by my classes.

6. Which artist or writer really impresses you? Why?

Like I said, I've read hundreds and hundreds of books at this point, so I can't really choose any one. I probably admire the historical ficition authors the most, because they do research of the time and people they are writing about, learn about the real history, then add thier own color to the stories. One of my favorite artists in Gary Uelsman, who is a film photographer who does amazing multiple exposures with film and photo paper in his darkroom.

7. What is your main interest besides writing, art, music, (i.e., the humanities)?

I am interested in health and nutrition. I took a nutrition class and love to get outside to exercise or do some yoga. I am very health conscious and am very interseted in the body and how it processes food and harnesses energy.

8. Please describe briefly an article in a newspaper or a magazine that got you thinking lately.

I read about Michelle Bachmann winning the Iowa Straw Poll last week. I'm vaguely political (democratic) pro-choice and pro-gay, and after reading that article, I read up on Bachmann online. Needless to say, I was apalled. What was Iowa thinking?

9. Which recent cultural event has really impressed you? This can be a museum, a concert, or anything like that, but also a sports game (if you consider this a cultural event, for which there are good reasons).

I isn't super recent, but New York legalizing gay marriage this summer truely impressed me and made me really happy. I read a couple articles about it and they all included photos of couples who had waited outside of courthouses until the clock struck 12:00 am on the day of, and they were able to be married. It must have been such a wonderful atmosphere there.

10. Is there another, non-cultural event that has affected you deeply.

There hasn't been anything that has affected me deeply recently unfortunately. I have been very busy and haven't really been keeping up with the news.

11. Please share with us a thought or an idea that really widened your intellectual horizon. If possible, give a source for this idea so that those who are interested know where to go.

I recently looked at a website for my Digital Media class, called http://processing.org/exhibition/, which is a exhibition of artwork made with the program 'processing', which is the main program I will be using in class. It was really incredible to see all these artists created with the code I will soon be learning. I really enjoyed the One Hundred and Eight piece and encourage everyone to check out the site!