Personal Essay: A Cultural Analysis

Over the course of my life, I have fallen in love with three things: the big cities of the world, the fashions on their streets, and the art housed in their museums. However, growing up in a small town in upstate New York, these gems were hard to come by.

I was in elementary school when my parents separated. With my younger sister and I in tow, my mom moved in with her mom. Around that time, my grandmother was diagnosed with melanoma. Whenever my mom took my grandmother to her appointments at Albany Medical Center, she would also take my sister and I to the surrounding museums while we waited for her to finish. The museums always brought me comfort and serenity, feelings that have remained true over a lifetime.

While my love affair with New York City began when I was a toddler, my affair with Europe an culture began more recently. A few years ago, I had the privilege of spending a summer exploring some of the great cities of the world. Culture shock abounded as I took in the treasures surrounding me. From the moment I saw Pythokritos of Lindo’s Nike of Samothrace, my passion was ignited. It was the summer of my artistic awakening. I returned home inspired and eager to learn as much art and fashion history as I could.

My parents had always bargained that they would pay for my
I feel as though every skill I’ve learn and piece of knowledge I’ve gained has all been leading to this. Art History and Museum Studies means gaining to skills to tell the stories of art’s past to a modern day viewer. A well executed exhibit transports the viewer, provoking thought and emotion as they read the curators interpretation of the tale. FIT resides in one of the cultural and artistic epicenters of the world, making it’s physical location more than ideal. More importantly, FIT calls for a higher level of creative thinking. The FIT student doesn’t hide from adversary, she grabs her sketchbook and learns from