Yay! I have a bit of direction!

Yes. It's true. I have graduated. It feels odd to be done with school. I feel happy, but I also feel unemployed. haha. It was an exciting moment at 4 AM a couple of nights ago when I figured out what I want to study in graduate school. I have decided that I am would like to attend graduate school for art therapy. This is an alternative form of therapy that can be used on everyone. It is especially useful for people with autism and dementia. Also it can be used to deal with emotional pain and stress. The therapy uses all forms of art such as painting and music. What I want to do is combine these ideas with art history and make a program for elementary school students. The education system in the US is horrible. In California the students are made to take standardized tests. This causes the teachers to only teach the material that will be on the test and it creates a stressful environment for the students. Since art and music are not on the test these subjects are pushed aside and ignored. They are seen as unimportant when in fact they are vital. They teach children how to focus and calm themselves down.

I am quite passionate about this subject matter and it actually coincides a lot with the work that I was doing for my co-ed music fraternity Kappa Kappa Psi. As VP of the Chapter for two years I had to put together a curriculum for the continuing members and the new members. I created worksheets and discussion questions that incorporated elements of art history while examining the strengths, weaknesses and differences between many mediums of art. I also made worksheets specifically for a visit to the Getty museum. I loved creating it! (I know... I'm a nerd, but that's fine. haha)

I know all of you must be thinking, "She was so bad about updating her other blog. Like hell she is going to keep this one updated!" I'm not going to lie. This point is quite valid. I figure now that I am done with school I will have more time on my hands to inform the world of my inane ideas and hobbies. haha.

I miss Roma more and more each day. I miss speaking Italian. I miss having Italian words in my mouth. I don't really know how to explain it. In Italian, dramatic inflection is needed in order to be understood. This is something I find incredibly liberating because the whole day you can be as intense and expressive as you want to be and you will not be considered dramatic. I feel my Italian slipping away. It is as if for everyday that passes, an Italian word dies. I can picture a vocabulary cemetery. "May we take this time to remember 'Arachide.' She was a good word and Cristina used her well." (Arachide is peanut in Italian.) It is so hard to keep a language alive if no one around you speaks it.

I think the thing I miss most about living in Roma is having to problem-solve and experience something new each day. Each time I went anywhere I had to figure out what I was going to say in order to be understood. I was constantly translating things in my head so that I could get my point across. A lot of my fellow classmates found this bothersome and would say things like, "Why don't they know English?" I relished conjugating Italian verbs in my head, figuring out different tenses on my own, and looking up random words in my pocket dictionary. "Hmmm... I wonder what the word for 'donkey' is... 'asino'... and it's masculine... Fascinating!" The constant mental activity spurred purely from necessity and curiosity is something that I miss. After 5 months in Roma, it got to the point where the struggle to understand Italian social norms and to express myself in Italian were comfortable and so rewarding. I remember feeling so proud every time I found a useful source for my art history papers in the chaotic illogical mess that is the Palazzo Venezia Library or even when I successfully haggled with the vendors in Italian for a necklace at the flea market.

These little daily triumphs made me feel as if I could take on anything. It is my memories of the these Roman moments that remind me that I CAN be successful if I try to break down barriers and overcome obstacles by using my problem-solving skills. This reflection has given me new hope for my future career in psychology and a clearer outlook on life.