It’s a lovely Corinne Bailey Rae afternoon.
Author Archives: thecharalife
The Art of Describing Yourself
In the midst of med school apps a couple weeks ago, I ran across these essays in the NY Times last week. They were a part of this main article that discussed a “new” type of college essays that are emerging, ones where the writers take huge risks in relation to what one usually thinks of concerning typical admissions essays. It got me thinking about my own applications, since the all important personal statement is a large part of the process. Reading the four essays, they were certainly different from what I’d seen before. Sometimes I found myself going, “What are they even talking about?” while reading the essays. But in the end, the essays were fantastic, and they ultimately painted a unique picture of each applicant’s personality and style.
A few days ago, I was reading and came across an artist named Leonid Afremov mentioned in the book. I (naturally) looked him up because the book mentioned his paintings of Paris vignettes; it turns out he’s a Russian-Israeli modern impressionist. He likes to paint things that allow the viewer to see the subject through his point of view. His style reminded me of neo-Impressionism (aka, Pointillism, which is my favorite art period) a bit, so I was instantly drawn to his works. The reason I was so drawn to his paintings isn’t just because they are so colorful. Mainly, I love that the colors, though not necessarily blended, come together to paint a complex picture of Paris: the light radiating off of the Eiffel Tower at night or off of Notre Dame in the afternoon, or reflecting in the cafe windows in early morning aren’t just a spectacular yellow-orange color. The light also returns to the eye as blues, greens, and reds as it works to highlight the rest of the surrounding scenery in each painting – the deep blue skies, the well-manicured trees, the autumn leaves and blaring shop signs.
And I was drawn to his paintings because this is exactly how I want to come across while writing all those answers in the med school secondaries I’m now doing: I want to paint a picture of myself, with specific descriptions and attributes, yet I want all of those values to come together and make a beautiful picture, subtly reflecting and highlighting other areas of my life in the undertones.
Guess I better get to work.
*All photos attributed to leonidafremov.deviantart.com and redbubble.com
His Glory Appears
“You took my place, You showed me grace, At the Cross where You died for me.”
The music from Hillsong is just full of hauntingly beautiful gems such as this (especially the Hillsong Chapel: Forever Reign CD) – the words of each song can uncover exactly what my heart yearns to tell the Lord at different points in my life. With this one, I’m reminded yet again that Jesus’ sacrifice will never get old for me… And I’m truly grateful for that.
Grateful
Yesterday, my family and friends celebrated so much: my graduation, my sister’s graduation, my other sister’s trip to Indonesia, long-time friendships, and even the great weather. I’m reminded daily that I have so much to be thankful for as I enter into this next stage of life, and this song truly begins to reach to the depths of what I feel in gratefulness to God for all He’s doing in the lives of my family and friends. Every time I begin to think of the many things the Lord’s done in my life these past few months, I can’t help but think of how awesome these next few months will be. He’s so unerringly good that I can barely stand it or can’t even begin to explain it. I think I say I’m thankful for things a lot, but in this season of life, I’m really, really grateful for just so much. Over the years, I’ve found that being grateful is the best medicine one can take. When I get in the mindset of thankfulness, other circumstances melt away as I realize that I’m truly blessed despite whatever else may seem pressing.
I also told my sister I’d love to share some of the photos she takes while in Bali, Indonesia, for her photography class, so I’m hoping she’ll email some while there or share others when she returns!
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Also, I’ll be keeping the people of Oklahoma in my prayers; I can’t imagine the stress surrounding the families there right now.
Commencement
I’ve been home almost a week now, and I still haven’t written about graduation. But that’s because it’s difficult to write about a place and people that you love, and yet won’t be seeing for awhile. That’s kind of what this blog started out as: a way to reminisce about Paris, a place I love and enjoy so much. But even though I spent a lot of time in Paris and grew to love it even more than before, Rice is different in that I’ve cultivated so many friendships there, I’ve learned so much about the world and myself, and even though Houston isn’t my favorite place, it can be because of the people there.
Graduation took place this past Saturday, on May 11th. For months, my roommates, friends, and I had been talking about the weather, hoping that it wouldn’t be rainy or humid or hot. If anyone knows Houston, the weather can be four different things before 5 PM. And, since Rice holds their graduation outside, there are bound to be times when things just don’t work out. A few days before, the weather said it would be raining the whole morning of graduation, and then stop right after at noon. I thought to myself, “Really? Really?!” I didn’t want my family to be separated (each graduate gets two “Inclement Weather” tickets if the graduation has to be held inside, because there’s not enough space for everyone’s family and friends to fit in Tudor Fieldhouse, which is why it’s held outside on the quad) on a day that was meant to be spent together with one’s closest family and friends.
So I prayed that it wouldn’t rain. My parents prayed…everyone I knew was praying that the rain would hold off until after the ceremony! And what happened? On Saturday, not only did it not rain during the ceremony, but I didn’t see a drop of rain all day long. It made my graduation day such a blessing, and allowed me to focus on my last day at Rice.
It was a whirlwind of beautiful, hot weather, family, friends, smiles, and tears, and one that I wouldn’t change for anything. Congratulations to Rice’s 100th graduating class, the amazing Class of 2013!