DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

            My journey leading up to my pursuit of photography has been a rather bumpy one. Originally, my desires for my school were solely set around my salary and prestige of the job in which I would have after years of working beyond college. My interests were plagued by being much too widespread, and not concentrated or specific to any particular interest. I wanted to pursue so many different fields, but for mostly all the wrong reasons. After about two years of schooling after leaving high school, I decided to take a step back and reevaluate what it was I wanted most out of my ideal career.

            Upon graduating high school, I was immediately thrown into the whirlwind of a full-time college schedule in a college in downtown Brooklyn, New York City College of Technology, a college part of the City University of New York. I took the necessary placement exams and my advisor helped me narrow my strengths to mathematics-based careers, which at the time was engineering.  Based on my high scores, I went along with her suggestion and embarked on a major in applied mathematics. I was a great thinker, analytically, and math was a strong subject for me during my high school years. The major played to my strengths, but as it progressed to the end of my first year of studies I became progressively unhappy with my choice of major.

            As much as I understood the value of studying a major that my strengths my played to intellectually, I began to wonder how satisfied, or even fulfilled I would feel in a career in engineering. I loved the ever-evolving field of computer technology and still do to this day. However, I realized that I actually strongly disliked sitting in front of a computer screen for extended periods of time. I imagined, if my life beyond college would involve sitting in a cubicle staring blindly into the vast abyss of a computer screen for hours on end, then what was I doing? This was the moment I took a significant step back and decided to reevaluate my goals.

            I knew that taking a break from school was going to be a very unpopular one with my parents, but they understood that I wasn’t willing to waste their money on courses that I didn’t enjoy taking. I decided to begin working to keep myself busy and avoid becoming idle and unproductive. I transferred my coursework over to Borough of Manhattan Community College and simplified my coursework to the liberal art requirements. This was the best option for the time since I knew the coursework would transfer easily to any major I would inevitably decide to pursue. My work experience certainly gave me perspective on the importance of a college degree and made me appreciate every waking moment I spent in the classroom from there on.

            Nearly four years pass before I come to understand what I really wanted to study. By then, I had completed nearly 90% of the basic requirements for most CUNY schools, and knew that it was a crucial moment to settle on a major that I would be able to pursue passionately. The purchase of a professional camera in 2007 had made a significant impression on me. My father had been very fond of photography since his arrival to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1969, and I wanted to continue his love of capturing family moments and events. That desire eventually further evolved and I knew that I wanted to take my camera studies even further.

            I applied to the commercial photography program at LaGuardia Community College in the Spring of 2011 and began my studies the following Fall semester. I had already gained enough comfort with the technical operation of a professional camera. I knew that putting myself in an environment of other photography students and professors with field experience would benefit me greatly. My expectations were matched and surpassed with my enrollment in LaGuardia. My first semester alone helped to fill in the gaps of information I had overlooked in my own self-taught journey into photography, and introduced me to the historical foundations of photography. It provided me with the perspective to appreciate the technology that I held in my hands, as well as setting me on a life-long journey of discovering a vision for a professional portfolio to represent myself beyond college.

            My studies in LaGuardia have fortified my interest in the field of photography with courses in both digital and analog photography. The interaction with students from a vast variety of backgrounds and interests within photography inspire me to appreciate relationships with other both professionally and personally. Courses in public speaking gave me the confidence to network with enough passion and conviction that it has become second nature to every conversation I have with everyone I meet. Granted, I don’t hand out my business card like a free-pamphlet on the street, but I do them within arms reach when I can sense that a connection is being established.

            The upcoming year will be my most important thus far. It will involve an enriching study abroad course in South America for one month in the coming Spring semester with a small group of students. The experience abroad will add to my professional portfolio greatly, as well as providing me with the invaluable rare opportunity to travel beyond the United States on my own. 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.