UC San Diego

During my time at the University of California, San Diego, I experienced the most challenging moment of my life: the loss of my mom in the Fall of 2019. The discovery of my mother’s health concerns happened towards the end of my first year, and her abrupt passing fell right around the halfway point of my time in the program.It is no surprise that the relationship among art, grief, and loss is certain and necessary. Our ability to create is our ability to process. Our work as creators is always in direct response to our own experiences. We can turn to creators throughout history and see the relationship with their craft change at trying points of their life. This all is clear to me, yet, when in the middle of my own grief and conscious of this inevitable relationship between my experience and my craft, there are times where I can’t help but feel lost at sea without a compass. Adding to this, the collective and universal loss we are all experiencing with the Covid-19 pandemic, it can be hard to see past the present. Graduate school is a major milestone for any person. When I examine my time in this program, it’s clear that this chapter of my life will be marked by immense personal loss. When I look to the future, I am hopeful that my relationship will deepen with my craft, and I remind myself that what I create will be strengthened because of it.