My Interest
Something that I love (and that I wish I could do more of) is traveling. I grew up going on smaller summer vacations with my family, but I really found my love for traveling when I studied abroad at the University of Cambridge while pursuing my undergraduate degree. It was my first time travelling outside of the U.S. and my first time traveling on my own. Once I got over my nerves of being in a new country with a group of people I had never met before, I found I loved the freedom and the opportunity to explore new places.
I have done some more traveling on my own since then, and this past summer, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to return to the United Kingdom. I stayed in London for a week, and it was not enough time to squeeze in everything I wanted to do. One of the highlights of my stay in London was visiting the Fashioning Masculinities exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington. I earned my Bachelor's degree in History with a minor in Gender Studies, so I found it fascinating to explore the changes in gender expression and how masculinity is performed through changes in men's fashion over time. My favorite part of the exhibit was getting to see the dress Harry Styles wore on the December 2020 issue of Vogue, as well as Billy Porter's iconic gown from the 2019 Oscars, both pictured below.
Another highlight was the day tour I took through the South Downs ending at the Seven Sisters. The tour took us on a beautiful drive through the countryside, stopping along the way to take small hikes and admire the views. One of the stops was to see the Long Man of Wilmington, which is the outline of a man carved into the side of a mountain. The carving is at least 300 years old, though its exact date of creation as well as its purpose is still unknown. You can learn more about the history and theories of the Long Man of Wilmington here. The tour culminated with a hike to see the Seven Sisters, which are a series of chalk sea cliffs along the southern coast of England on the English Channel. Photographs truly don't do this wonder justice, but below you can see a picture of my friend and I on the cliffs.
