I like this photo taken a couple of years ago after I had a fresh hair cut. I like it because it captured a bitter feeling with a belief on the top of it. I believe the truth and kindness and equal rights. Nevertheless, I feel a bit sad to see where they do not exist for all of the people.

I was a journalistic TV producer for news and documentary before I moved to America, I had been worked as a producer and freelancing fixer for western media for over 10 years before I moved to America. My husband and I stetted down in Eugene 5 years ago, then we had our son. We are happy about this change as we can breathe free air here and enjoy a peaceful life as we wished. In the past years, I have been thinking a lot about where to start our new life and what I should do for our further in small scale for my family a bigger scale for the society, only recently I nail it down as I was clearly aware of continuing working in media. It is a different media age, media was massively controlled even high jacked by politicians as their tool to empower their regime even spreading fake news on their behaves to sacrificed the right of the public to know about the truth. for some authoritarian countries, it is even worse. It betrayed the basic normal line of journalism and damaged the media’s public credibility. One the other hand social media is taking the role of critical media’s function, but the public still needs its own adjustment to distinguish truth and scam.

I am so glad that I am able to come back to school to have the first step for expanding my knowledge and skills comprehensively and having myself prepared for doing media work in a new environment in the future. As I knew that it is not easy to start academic studies as a non-native English speaker, I will try my best in the following year to graduate and by then I still can see my belief in my eyes in my selfie.

There are both upsides and downsides to abruptly being ordered to stay at home, being forced to drop the main elements of your life and wait while the world gets sick and hopefully heals. Although it’s pretty overwhelming, I feel fortunate to get what I’ve been wanting for a long time. I finally got let off the leash tied to other’s people’s clocks! With this sudden surge of freedom, I feel like I have really gotten to know myself again.

I have been filling my days with long phone calls to old friends, cooking all day, finally working on my line of boujee baby stuff. I have become a little handyman, putting up shelves and building a bed of nails. I can fully immerse myself into any little world I want for days and not feel rushed or guilty. It’s almost like I’ve died and gone to heaven a little bit. I do miss my friends, but it’s been fun to have to think of new creative ways to keep in touch. I’ve been collaborating with so many people now that we have the time and welcome any distractions. Of course, there are flashes of intense realizations as I slowly process all the changes in my life and the world, but I’m certainly glad to be forced to slow down and create my own structure.

This term I switched from Graphic Design to Multimedia Design because it seemed like I would be learning a wider variety of things that I’m interested in. I don’t have any specific plans for when I finish the program. My current focus is to explore, play, learn, and see what I’m drawn to. I like to wear many hats and can see many roads and opportunities coming my way.

by: Traci Crimmins