Digital Photo editing + Poetry collage example

This is a piece I made inspired by the recent slew of anti-trans legislation being pushed in America, as well as my own experiences dealing with the psychiatric and medical system as a trans person pursuing gender-affirming care. 

Final Reflection

 And like that, Winter is over. Spring has come again, and somehow I've grown another year. Keeping this blog has been an interesting experience, and an overwhelmingly positive one. I have always struggled with the notion of my academic creativity and personal creativity being two different planets, and while that still feels true to some extent, this blog has helped me bridge that gap in some way. It's a middle ground, where I can post about whatever I'm working on, while also following the protocol of the larger blogging assignment. It's also been an interesting avenue for personal updates, and it's wonderful to notice the way my posts improved, both in quality and tone, as I began to take better care of myself, both physically and emotionally. On this blog, I shared my poetry, my and my family's art, my projects, and bits and pieces of my personal life. My favorites are by far my draft for my poem "The Aftermath of the Larger Forgottonia Rapture" and my photo-poetry. Overall, I think I will return to this blog throughout college, to continue to share my journey and the projects I make, to keep "The Academic Confessional" living up to it's name.

As a child, I had a blog called "The Sunflower Press". I only made three posts because to me, I had nothing to write about then. My life was that of an unremarkable kid. While I know that child would be proud now for my abundance of life-writing material and art projects, I wish I would have written more about my life then, in all it's fullness and beautiful simplicity. Life is much more interesting at nineteen than it is ten, but much more complicated and exhausting, or so I've learned. And I'll keep learning!

Overall, I feel like keeping this blog has taught me the importance of an easily accessible and not-often-read creative outlet. No matter who I become, or where I end up, creativity and especially writing will be a constant companion throughout my life.