drifting post

I'm finding myself missing Kent in ways I never thought I would. What I love most about Kent is how boring its establishments are in their diversity, and how much that fact makes the people more interesting. The people I know there (and consider my friends) are some of the most creatively interesting people I have ever met and they inspire me in ways I didn't know others could. Kent is a big art school for those of you who don't know; its best programs are Fashion Design, VCD (graphic design), Architecture and arguably anything in the Art Building. This makes for a diverse group of kids with incredible talent in almost every field imaginable. In addition to the er, professions (majors?) the people choose, since there isn't a lot to do, people have to make things up (tuesday bike nights, brass monkey mondays, hot knees etc). The campus was best defined by the establishment that contained The Barn and The Green Room, until it was closed. Bros and Hipsters. Should I say Indie Kids? In any case, even with this dichotomy, 90% of the campus is comprised of friendly and outgoing people. There is always an art show going on somewhere, or a casting call, or one of your friends is shooting a video and needs your other friend to make the set for it, and a different friend to put together a sound track, they need you to style the actors and so on. I feed off of that creative energy, whether I realized it then or not; I realize it now.
I love the girls I'm here with. But to be constantly surrounded by the same people all the time is really wearing on me. I have always been a bit of a Drifter when it comes to friends and hangouts etc., and to not have the freedom to do Whatever TF I Want is really hard. The city is getting a bit stale to me, and I don't really have the time to go out and find sweet places to chill, and in addition, I don't really feel the desire (or feel comfortable enough) to try to make friends with the locals. Something tells me they're not exactly people I'm trying to get to know. Call it judgmental.
I'm excited to go to NYC.
I don't want to sound like I'm not having a good time here, I'm learning a lot. I'm learning a lot about myself and the Fashion Industry, but in a way it's the same as I felt at Evergreen, in that I don't really necessarily feel like I'm able to get that much creatively or intellectually from the people I'm here with. They're creative, and they're intelligent, for the most part, but I'm very different from them. In this way I'm learning about myself and growing because I'm HAVING to learn from them and with them, and so I guess that is beneficial. This does not include everyone here, let me be absolutely sure to note. There are definitely a few amazing people that I am going to make be life-long friends with me after this.

A good friend told me before I left, "Usually when people [study abroad] they become more laid back, but I don't really see how you could get more laid back..." True. I'm realizing more though how lucky I am to be who I am. How lucky I am that I had the upbringing I had, and how important that is going to be when (if...) I ever graduate and get flung into a professional world. From table manners to grammar, I feel every day increasingly like a more respectable, more intelligent and more well rounded person than a lot of others. Instead of becoming more laid back, I feel myself becoming more confident, more assertive; a more grown up Woman. I would have only with trepidation used the word Woman to describe myself before this experience. I'm excited to actually feel this growth happening. I'm feeling more and more ready to actually graduate and become a Real Human.

"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known."
Chuck Palahniuk