melissa grace kreider

            I’m in fabulous Florence, Italy, but I seem to be having to handle with every day stressors. Let’s face it: I am in college, after all! The thing is I’m thousands of miles away from home and have no one to vent to.  

            I found myself a little overwhelmed by my Intro to Fashion Photo class today. We began studio work and I was asked all of the questions, chose all of the lights, and felt frequently at a loss. Being a young freshman in college, I haven’t been formally taught anything past the basics of drawing and design. No studio lighting experience or classes; nothing.  I wanted to be in the Matrix, “plug in” and know everything there is to know about studio work in two minutes. I’m actually very grateful for being thrown into it because so much clicked in one class period!

 If you (and you should) ever have the experience of studying abroad, you’ll realize that everyone in your studio/digital art classes are on a different level. In my case, everyone is a step (or 34,985,723 steps) above me. It gets very frustrating, but that sort of competition pushes me to work harder.

            When you’re learning or taking the initiative to learn, never put down your preexisting knowledge simply because you haven’t been taught something yet. That’s why you’re there: to learn and experience.

            I came to this conclusion while sitting on the Ponte Santa Trinita. I left class feeling walked all over and came to Ponte Santa Trinita (Our Bridge), gave up walking and placed myself on to the ledge facing the Ponte Vecchio. The sun was out and I sat, hovering between Oltrarno (my neighborhood) and the North Centro (the Duomo side of the river) until I calmed down and collected myself.

 Instead of breaking down and crying into my gelato, I found a list of books on studio lighting, downloaded them to my iPad, and planned on devoting my life to them this weekend. Being abroad is teaching me to deal with my stress in an extremely positive way!

            Moral of the story? Don’t feel stupid for not knowing what you haven’t been taught. Learning is a process and there is no way to be a master without once being a beginner.

Ciao for now!

-m.

My view from the Ponte Santa Trinita.