Reflection

It's hard to believe that I am leaving on my road trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico in less than a week. I have only been back in the United States for 12 days after a semester abroad in Siena, Italy. As I thought, I have just about completely settled back into my Western Massachusetts life, which of course means that it is time to pack my bags and up-and-leave again.

But, coming from a small town (pop. 14,000) where I have lived all 21 years, and after getting a taste of the "college life", a few days at home gets me antsy to leave again. It's been a great town to grow up in, but when I started to see everything else that life had to offer, and started traveling the world, my horizons expanded. Belchertown no longer holds any appeal for me...with the exception of seeing my family and friends.

After spending my first summer home from college, I told myself I could never do that again. I love my independence, feeling free, being adventurous and exploring the world. Living at home after completing freshman year, returning to the same job that I had worked at since junior year of high school - well, they just didn't line up with what I wanted.

This being said, last summer I didn't want to live at home or work the same job again. On a whim, I applied for jobs on Martha's Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts. I had been there on vacation a few summers back, and decided that it wouldn't be such a bad place to return to for a summer. What a wonderful summer - earning a considerable amount of money, making friends from around the world (there is a large percentage of international students who work there during the summer), and returning to the mainland tanner than I have ever been in my entire life!

THIS SUMMER

Twelve or thirteen job/internship applications later and I am heading West to Santa Fe, New Mexico where I will be employed at my #1 summer choice.

For those of you who don't already know, I will be working at The Santa Fe Workshops. http://www.santafeworkshops.com/ The Work/Study position requires me to do, well, mundane tasks: set out breakfast for workshop participants, keep inventory on supplies, take the recycling to town, etc. However, the "study" part of it allows me to take one workshop per week for free (a $1500/week value).

Although I will not be getting "paid" per se (at least not in the monetary form), I am being "paid" in knowledge and skills through participating in workshops led by world-renowned photographers who have shot for the likes of National Geographic, Sports Illustrated and other highly-acclaimed companies. This experience and opportunity is unparalleled.

And one more word: networking. This is the last summer before I graduate from college. I plan on making LOTS of connections with all the photographers coming in each week. Keep your fingers crossed....maybe this will lead to a job post-graduation...?

~

I will update when I get the chance or just need to get something out of my head and onto paper (...internet? computer screen? You get the point...).

Here's hoping for a wonderful summer full of photographing, friendship, learning, dancing, sunshine, wonderful memories, and......FUN! :)


Follow your dreams,

Katie