MY FIRST LINE OF SIGHT

I'm returning to my hectic student life after a lengthy five-year hiatus. I felt extremely anxious and I'm also excited. I had a look back to all those funny bachelor's memories. My heart was trumping and the head was chanting. "Is everything going to be okay?" kept repeating in my head. "How will I engage with my new friends in a totally new world?" etc.

As soon as I entered the classroom, I noticed that I was surrounded by numerous smiling, friendly faces. It was quite intriguing that the space was packed with architectural models. I managed to push all my anxiety aside and attend my first class. 

Belinda, our instructor, gave us a quick overview of the course. Following the introduction, a verse from " Vibrant Matter " was recited by one of our professors, Owen. In Vibrant Matter the political theorist Jane Bennett, renowned for her work on nature, ethics, and affect, shifts her focus from the human experience of things to things themselves. Bennett argues that political theory needs to do a better job of recognizing the active participation of nonhuman forces in events. Toward that end, she theorizes a “vital materiality” that runs through and across bodies, both human and nonhuman.

The verse described a girl strolling down the shore and having varied thoughts as she passed by various items. A beagle store, airborne pollens, a rubber glove in the mud, a plastic bottle cap, and a dead rat on the ground was all that was around her. Then, using our thoughts and opinions about the poem, we were tasked to make an image or a simple drawing about it. Everyone began the task with great enthusiasm. We had chart paper, charcoal pencils, several colored threads, and other stationaries on the table. I thought of giving it a sticking title which goes like "Every Bad Day Promise a Better Tomorrow." I was fascinated on how different each person's opinions and results are as I had a glance on other works. 

Later, our faculty member Carrie Fung led an engaging discussion on the subject "Climate Action Talk Series."

I arrived with a lot of anxiousness and confusions and was able to leave the classroom with a lot of joy and peace. I'm hoping that my passion of art and architecture will see a new renaissance on this day.