Personal Narrative: Normality

As an individual who’s been drawing and painting since before she could even hold a pen – apparently, I used to spill my grandma’s tea and make shapes with it – art has always been my favorite pastime. It’s tranquil and relaxing, and mixing paints is the most satisfying experience. Thus, it’s no wonder that the activity that I’m most invested in is art.

Throughout my early teen years, I was exposed to different mediums of art and discovered that I could express myself through more channels than just paper. Although Barry found comfort in her 11 x 17 newsprint and some paint, I was able to focus my energy on making music and taking photographs. Without my art teachers, I wouldn’t have the expressive outlet I do today. My childhood was not filled with unhappiness as Lynda Barry’s was, but from both backgrounds, we found a warmth from the exposure of art that the educational system gave to us.

While working as a designer, I developed own illustration style using pens and watercolours. Since these two materials are readily accessible and easy to learn, I believe this method would be useful and enough for the public to express their ideas and bring a sense of pride and accomplishment. Throughout my years of teaching high school students at the Smile Art Institute of South Korea, I successfully aided students in honing their artistic abilities through the use of various mediums including pastels and watercolours – students were taught to create 2D and 3D artworks with precision description. I would like to share these experiences with others, who may think art as “difficult”, or requiring “natural talent”, and become a positive influence in approaching artistic

It was my freshman year of high school when I took Drawing A; I quickly learned that I had a skill that I had previously ignored and began embracing it. Sophomore year, though, was when I truly started using my art. It was during this year that I received a 4 on my AP-Studio Art portfolio, and won four awards at Scholastic Art and Writing in photography. Art gave me a feeling of accomplishment that I didn’t usually get in the rest of my academics, so I always tried my

Once in high school, I put my all into my art. I started exploring different styles and types of art, like design. I applied my skills everywhere: from designing the yearbook for eight years straight to photographing for the Admissions team. I toyed with mediums like acrylic and watercolor as I deviated from the paper I used to use. As time passed, art became who I am: it was what I used to think and feel about the world and I’m compelled to create for

Being able to keep an open mind even in the face of something that is completely new to you is a difficult feat to accomplish for some, including myself. I am a naturally curious person, but also come from a town where there is not much diversity so any sort of deviation from the “norm” has always piqued my interest. One of the most enlightening experiences I have had was as a student in high school when I joined the gay straight alliance club and one of the guests they brought in was transexual. This was the first time I had been exposed to someone who identified in that category and I was interested and unsure of how I would react to meeting this person.

Fucking in your forties with teenagers in the house is reminiscent of fucking in your teens with parents in the house. It is funny how now we think we are being so smooth with our locked doors and many showers at the oddest times, or the cover stories we fabricate and the questions we ask after out of paranoia when it probably isn’t even necessary and most likely only generates the suspicions that you were trying to avoid. It certainly isn’t like the threat of getting caught is a turn on or any motivating factor at all but more the fact that when the mood strikes, that we hate to pass up the opportunity.

The word normal doesn’t apply to someone that’s terrified to throw a gum wrapper in the trashcan. It was a ten-step journey that could transform my life forever. To step out of my chair and making it back safely as if a demon was chasing me seemed simple to others, but mentally draining for me. In order to accomplish my mission, I thought out the steps in my head.

Linda you gave me a secret life you showed me what i actually am. I still remember the day we met. In foodland in normy you were stressing about what u needed for an experiment and i asked u are you okay. You said no im going to fail my science class. So i asked do u need help and well you said yes. And from that day on we were best friends your parents loved me i was apart of your family i skip a day of school to go too your school as a guest. You introduce me to all your friends and i kcked the shit out of the guy bullying you. I dislocated hit sholder and i got i alot of shit for it and i did not care one bit and u told the principle that he punched you in the eye witch he didn't you got your mate too hit you. That day ill never forget i

I am not one to pick up hitchhikers, it’s just not safe, everyone knows that but for some

Following a predestined path is a simple thing to do. Birds flying south. Fish swimming upstream. One mirroring the other, blindly accepting the norm. This is a collective trait in humans that guides us to take the "normal" path in life; however, there is no one "normal" that suits everyone. We grow and flourish in a plethora of divergent environments with different and distinct experiences. If we all tried to follow the "normal" path, it would be toxic. That is why I challenge the idea of the norm.

Normal is a matter of circumstance, this is one thing that I have been told all my life; that’s one reason why I never thought my childhood was that different from any other. I was perfectly okay with everything that was happening. It wasn’t until the day that I sat in a waiting room for hours, with people from my church, waiting for my mom to get out of surgery. My little child’s mind thought that we were just hanging out with the people and that they were being nice by buying my sister and me any candy that we wanted, I didn’t really give a second thought to why we were waiting.

It all started with my nose. The flat bridge was constantly squished and prodded by my little fingers when I stood in front of the mirror. My nose- short and wide- was just the first physical trait of mine that I could differentiate from my peers. In every yearbook that showcased our school’s students, I always stuck out like a sore thumb. Physical features such as this were the only thing I could compare between me and my friends, who were all undeniably white in our Minnesotan town. They had narrow noses with high arches that crinkled when they smiled, which was the image of perfection for a flat-nosed outsider like me. To a child growing into the period of life where everything revolves around outward appearances, the worst possibility was being an outlier in a sea of people complying to the same standard.

studied various art mediums to explore creative talents. In my junior year, I decided to

Once upon a time, in my elementary school years, I dreaded the thought of having to draw for projects. I didn’t enjoy drawing simple stick people and when I attempted to draw anything else I never felt satisfied. So I dropped the pencil, feeling discouraged, and didn’t attempt to draw again. ‘Maybe I’ll be better at something else.’ I thought. I went from wanting to be a firefighter to a kindergarten teacher when I grew up. Even though I sucked at drawing I always enjoyed colors so I could at least have fun expressing it with children. Don’t forget this is a lot of serious thinking for a child in her single digits to even come up with. I always enjoyed cartoons and also anime, though at the time I simply thought it was an American cartoon.